Just to let people know how my experimental home monitoring is going, now I have invested in a home monitor. Maybe I ought to say don't try this at home, but for me and my condition it has been really interesting and I am keeping a completely open mind.
1. Home monitors are easy to use if you don't mind pricking your own finger!
2. Strips are expensive so I am using them sparingly
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3. I have had two totally different readings at different times of the day. 6.6 during the day and after eating a forbidden food (pork pie actually, but it was after a long swim!) and 4.9 twice ,fasting, first thing in the morning. I take from this either the monitor is inaccurate or always monitor under same conditions.
4. Haven't taken statins for a month, fingers are not so stiff and painful and monitor is telling me TC is 4.9.
Is monitor inaccurate? Do statins take longer than a month to lose their effect?
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Aliwally
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Thanks for this, Linda. Maybe I should book myself on a training course!
I have just read about a pioneering lipidologist who lived with the Eskimos and ate nothing but seal meat for three months and measured the effect on his own lipids.
The monitor cost £60, so I will be extremely miffed if it is giving me inaccurate readings!
A pack of 5 strips and lancets cost nearly £13, but you get one box free when you buy the monitor and a voucher to get the next lot half price.
I have been checking my glucose for about 2 years so am used to pricking my finger, although It was daunting the first time. I have type 2 diabetes in my family and readings at the high end of normal so definitely don't want that as well. Diet and exercise has an enormous effect on my glucose levels so monitoring it is really worth it.
I find your comments interesting ... I watched a video by one of the suppliers demonstrating how to take blood and in each test he suggested wiping away the first drop and only picking up the next from squeezing the finger a bit. Also of interest is that some doctors prefer using the finger prick method for instant results where as blood taken at the lab normally only gets to the doctor the next day ... similarly with INR tests.
All Cholesterol tests should be done after fasting for about 14 hours. Anything eaten during this time would give you an elevated reading, especially fatty food. Even peanut butter which is supposed to be cholesterol free, I gather can give you a false high reading. A couple of tests after fasting and only drinking water during that 12 or so hour period will give you an accurate idea. Does your tested also give you LDL readings ... I tried to purchase one but because I am not a doctor, I could only get one to take total Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Glucose. Yes the test strips are expensive but our medical system in Australia only allows one test a year paid by med insurance. To keep monitoring your own, you need a machine but if possible, the more advanced one. Any ideas on that? Have you watched the Video by Johnny Bowden and Dr Stephen Sinatra regarding the great Cholesterol Myth. An education! I'm also off statins and feel better for it.
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Help!! advice needed, total cholesterol levels 9.1!!
Confused.
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