2 hour post-meal BS readings

[pinkjude]

Mod Edit: These new posts were split away from a very old thread to avoid confusion: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/2-hour-post-meal-bs-readings.10173/page-2

I'm very please at the moment with my 2 hour post-meal readings for evening meals, they vary from 7.2 to 7.8 - is this good? i read somewhere that non-diabetics have readings of 8 or below, 2 hour post-meal, is this correct? i tested my partner once after he'd had a high carb meal (ie chips) and his 2HPM was in the 5's. I haven't managed to get them in the 5's (pre-meal, yes) but considering i used to get 8's or higher i'm assuming that i'm doing OK 🙂

I started the low carb diet on the NHS last week. I only started testing this week. MY GP won't prescribe any strips etc but mine cost 7.99 for 50.less if you buy more. I think we should get them on prescription esp as my friend gets all meds free as she has thyroid meds. I was 8.1 waking up, 9.8 2 hours post breakfast, 7.5 before lunch. 8.5 2 hours post lunch. Bearing in mind my last HBa1c 3 weeks ago was 84 I think it may be going down from that. Unsure how to calculate HBa1c from daily readings. My DN did say to take 1 metformin if levels don't fall. Yours are great

 

[pinkjude]

Carina,

I don't do that much testing these days because I really don't need to. Why? Because I've learnt which foods do the damage to my blood glucose levels - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, pizza etc.

My GP prescribes me fifty strips per month which is quite adequate for my needs. I very rarely ever test two hours after finishing eating because I know that my level will be back to 4 or 5 after that time.

I test most often at one hour after finishing eating because I think that is the most important time - i.e. the time that my blood glucose level is likely to be at its highest. That is the level that I am trying to keep down and aiming to keep that level below 7 mmol/l - which I manage to do most of the time.

John

Hi If my HBa1c was 84 what would that be in the figures you show in %?

 

[Eddy Edson]

I'm very please at the moment with my 2 hour post-meal readings for evening meals, they vary from 7.2 to 7.8 - is this good? i read somewhere that non-diabetics have readings of 8 or below, 2 hour post-meal, is this correct? i tested my partner once after he'd had a high carb meal (ie chips) and his 2HPM was in the 5's. I haven't managed to get them in the 5's (pre-meal, yes) but considering i used to get 8's or higher i'm assuming that i'm doing OK 🙂

Non-diabetics can certainly go above 10. Generally, it seems like the best metric to look at, because it features in the most studies, is the the 7.8 mark, and non-diabetics generally spend about 1% - 2% above that, on average. But some non-diabetics spend a lot more time at higher levels; and many never go that high.

For example, I consider myself to have pretty much "cured" my T2D via weight loss, with an HbA1c which has been constant in the mid 30's for the last two years. Most of the time, I don't go above 8 point something if I eat a bunch of carbs, but rice noodles can send me into the 9's or even the 10's. It doesn't matter; the same can happen with some non-diabetics. Fudamentally, I'm a bit more insulin resistant than the non-diabetic average, but not more so than a bunch of non-diabetics.

Why 7.8? Because 7.8 mmol/L corresponds to the round number 140 mg/dL, the units used in the US and other areas. There is no actual valid reason apart from this to care more about 7.8 mmol/L than eg the round number 8 mmol/L.

 

[grovesy]

Just to point out you have replied to a thread that is nearly 10 years old.

 

[pinkjude]

Non-diabetics can certainly go above 10. Generally, it seems like the best metric to look at, because it features in the most studies, is the the 7.8 mark, and non-diabetics generally spend about 1% - 2% above that, on average. But some non-diabetics spend a lot more time at higher levels; and many never go that high.

For example, I consider myself to have pretty much "cured" my T2D via weight loss, with an HbA1c which has been constant in the mid 30's for the last two years. Most of the time, I don't go above 8 point something if I eat a bunch of carbs, but rice noodles can send me into the 9's or even the 10's. It doesn't matter; the same can happen with some non-diabetics. Fudamentally, I'm a bit more insulin resistant than the non-diabetic average, but not more so than a bunch of non-diabetics.

Why 7.8? Because 7.8 mmol/L corresponds to the round number 140 mg/dL, the units used in the US and other areas. There is no actual valid reason apart from this to care more about 7.8 mmol/L than eg the round number 8 mmol/L.

Someone told me my HBa1c of 84 would equate to 13% Is that correct. I average about 9 during the day now so wondered what HBa1c that equates to?

 

[pinkjude]

Just to point out you have replied to a thread that is nearly 10 years old.

Thankyou!!

 

[Eddy Edson]

Just to point out you have replied to a thread that is nearly 10 years old.

Opps! 🙂

 

[grovesy]

No problem I just pointed it out in case you don't get replies from the other posters.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Someone told me my HBa1c of 84 would equate to 13% Is that correct. I average about 9 during the day now so wondered what HBa1c that equates to?

I found this pic really useful:



The top blue numbers are HbA1c in mmol/mol and the white numbers underneath are the same thing but measured in % terms. So an HbA1c = 84 is really equivalent to a bit less than 10%.

The numbers down the bottom correspond to fingerprick BG measures. There are a bunch of reasons why you can't relate these directly to HbA1c measures, but very very roughly, if you average 9 mmol/L over the course of the day, then that might be consistent with an HbA1c of around 60. But that "over the course of the day" would include sleeping time, so it's very squidgy.

 

[pinkjude]

I found this pic really useful:

View attachment 16651

The top blue numbers are HbA1c in mmol/mol and the white numbers underneath are the same thing but measured in % terms. So an HbA1c = 84 is really equicalent to a bit less than 10%.

The numbers down the bottom correspond to fingerprick BG measures. There are a bunch of reasons why you can't relate these directly to HbA1c measures, but very very roughly, if you average 9 mmol/L over the course of the day, then that might be consistent with an HbA1c of around 60. But that "over the course of the day" would include sleeping time, so it's very squidgy.

Really useful thankyou

 

[pinkjude]

I think the key word here is "average". I don't believe there's much value in taking single finger prick readings and cross-referring them with the chart to see what that might be in HbA1c terms. However if you keep a record of your readings and average them over a week, or better still over weeks, that will give you a rough idea of where your HbA1c might be. If I had an HbA1c test today then based on the average from almost 200 finger prick tests over several weeks I reckon I'd be high 30s.

Thankyou

 

[pinkjude]

How many times a day do you tend to test?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

How many times a day do you tend to test?

I think that's a very individual thing @pinkjude - and varies quite a lot between types. Most T1s tend to check more frequently (partly because of the risk of hypos). Many T2s have an intensive 'learning phase' of lots of before-and-after checks to see how their body reacts to diffent foods, which sometimes then reduces down to a far less frequent 'maintenance level' with just mornings and occasional post-meal checks.

I guess it really depends on what you are hoping to learn from each check, and what you plan to do with the information you get 🙂

 

[pinkjude]

Thanks

 

[pinkjude]

I think that's a very individual thing @pinkjude - and varies quite a lot between types. Most T1s tend to check more frequently (partly because of the risk of hypos). Many T2s have an intensive 'learning phase' of lots of before-and-after checks to see how their body reacts to diffent foods, which sometimes then reduces down to a far less frequent 'maintenance level' with just mornings and occasional post-meal checks.

I guess it really depends on what you are hoping to learn from each check, and what you plan to do with the information you get 🙂

Really trying to see if my BS levels are falling over time to get a better HBA1c result