Hi my name is Mike. I am type2 since 2008. I took a BG reading this morning at 09.30. I had nothing to eat. My fingers were clean. My reading was 10.4. Yesterday it was 9.3 at the same time. So I did more readings as well as the 10.4 the next was 11.7, the next 10.3, and the next 11.1. All the readings were at 09.30. How can 4 readings taken at the same time with fresh blood each time. I use a contour next monitor. Does anyone have an answer why the readings were so different please?
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BG readings
- Thread starter Gyproc
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adrian1der
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The meters are not 100% accurate so you are seeing variation due to the error bar on the meter
Amigo
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They‘re all within the margins of difference permitted for these monitors Mike. They‘re not spot on accurate and consistent each time and different fingers, different hand, 1 min difference can influence the outcome. I use Contour too and can get variations larger than this on two different fingers.
The important element in this is your waking levels are too high even at the lowest figure.
ColinUK
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Hi Mike,
When you say that you'd had nothing to eat can you shed some light on when you had last eaten prior to the testing?
Also it may be worth mentioning what kind of levels you are more used to seeing in the mornings if these are somewhat unusual.
Have you habitually self-monitored BG levels since 2008 or is this a new thing for you?
And what's your HbA1C been like since 2008?
When you say that you'd had nothing to eat can you shed some light on when you had last eaten prior to the testing?
Also it may be worth mentioning what kind of levels you are more used to seeing in the mornings if these are somewhat unusual.
Have you habitually self-monitored BG levels since 2008 or is this a new thing for you?
And what's your HbA1C been like since 2008?
Hi Colin
I ate the night before around 9pm. Blueberries, grapes, and an apple. What I thought was good food and 12 hours fasting with a good 8 hours sleeping. I have been monitoring for around 4 years but not constantly as at £28-£30 for the strips it's not cheap and I don't qualify in my area for free strips.
ColinUK
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I’m T2 and also don’t qualify for strips on prescription so buy my own. The choice of meter was really led by the cost of the strips and I settled on a Codefree one. Strips are about £8 a pot of the top of my head.
Testing has really helped me determine which foods work for me and which I need to avoid. It’s also really helped me start to understand when my body responds best to being fed and when it really doesn’t.
Testing has really helped me determine which foods work for me and which I need to avoid. It’s also really helped me start to understand when my body responds best to being fed and when it really doesn’t.
adrian1der
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I'm good with blueberries but my BG struggles with apples and explodes through the roof with grapes. As @Amigo said, your waking BG in double figures is high. I would suggest cutting back a bit on the carbs and see what happens
rebrascora
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Hi and welcome.
As others have said, the BG meters have an error factor which by law is no more than 15% so your readings are all well within the acceptable range. Something else to consider is that blood is not homogenous and can vary from finger to finger and hand to hand as well as obviously other parts of the body. Even just pricking your finger and squeezing it can change the constitution of it, but these factors are all within certain limits so your readings will all be a reasonable reflection of your Blood Glucose level at that time. You should be lookoing at trends and ranges rather than specific numbers.
Obviously those numbers are all higher than ideal. As has been mentioned, fruit contains sugar and therefore needs to be limited. Many of us find that a few berries, like raspberries or blueberries or blackcurrants are a good choice because a small portion gives you lots of nutrients and flavour without too much sugar. Grapes are much higher carb and an apple is also about 15g carbs (equivalent of 3 teaspoon of sugar) so depending upon how many grapes you had with your blueberries and apple you might have had quite a lot of sugar for your supper! Yes these are healthier sources of sugar than several teaspoons of the white (or brown) stuff but not a good choice for us diabetics. Same with complex carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. Our bodies break them all down into glucose which spikes our BG levels, so avoiding or reducing portion size on these foods will also help to improve your readings. That may seem pretty radical if you thought diabetes was all about sugar, but many of us find that we actually enjoy our food more now that we have cut back on these things and we certainly feel a lot healthier and our readings dramatically improve.
If you want ideas of low carbohydrate meals which are enjoyable and filling, just ask or visit the Food/carbs quieries and recipes section of the forum. The "what did you eat yesterday" thread can be quite inspirational, but do remember that some people are Type 1 or Type 2 on insulin and can therefore eat more carbs and inject insulin to cover it, so there will be a variation in carb content of meals. Using your BG meter to test before and 2 hours after eating each meal will tell you if your body coped with what you ate.
As regards your test strips, I would buy a cheap basic meter like the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 or the Gluco Navii as the they are both reliable meters and the test strips are just £8 for a pot of 50 and will enable you to test more economically, but having a structured approach to testing and keeping a food diary with your readings will enable you to tailor your diet to your own particular diabetes.
As others have said, the BG meters have an error factor which by law is no more than 15% so your readings are all well within the acceptable range. Something else to consider is that blood is not homogenous and can vary from finger to finger and hand to hand as well as obviously other parts of the body. Even just pricking your finger and squeezing it can change the constitution of it, but these factors are all within certain limits so your readings will all be a reasonable reflection of your Blood Glucose level at that time. You should be lookoing at trends and ranges rather than specific numbers.
Obviously those numbers are all higher than ideal. As has been mentioned, fruit contains sugar and therefore needs to be limited. Many of us find that a few berries, like raspberries or blueberries or blackcurrants are a good choice because a small portion gives you lots of nutrients and flavour without too much sugar. Grapes are much higher carb and an apple is also about 15g carbs (equivalent of 3 teaspoon of sugar) so depending upon how many grapes you had with your blueberries and apple you might have had quite a lot of sugar for your supper! Yes these are healthier sources of sugar than several teaspoons of the white (or brown) stuff but not a good choice for us diabetics. Same with complex carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. Our bodies break them all down into glucose which spikes our BG levels, so avoiding or reducing portion size on these foods will also help to improve your readings. That may seem pretty radical if you thought diabetes was all about sugar, but many of us find that we actually enjoy our food more now that we have cut back on these things and we certainly feel a lot healthier and our readings dramatically improve.
If you want ideas of low carbohydrate meals which are enjoyable and filling, just ask or visit the Food/carbs quieries and recipes section of the forum. The "what did you eat yesterday" thread can be quite inspirational, but do remember that some people are Type 1 or Type 2 on insulin and can therefore eat more carbs and inject insulin to cover it, so there will be a variation in carb content of meals. Using your BG meter to test before and 2 hours after eating each meal will tell you if your body coped with what you ate.
As regards your test strips, I would buy a cheap basic meter like the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 or the Gluco Navii as the they are both reliable meters and the test strips are just £8 for a pot of 50 and will enable you to test more economically, but having a structured approach to testing and keeping a food diary with your readings will enable you to tailor your diet to your own particular diabetes.
trophywench
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My late T2 mum in law really missed eating grapes which she now regarded as being 'individually packaged little bags of sugar!' and I said yeah, I miss em too mum - and they are!
The little seedless ones are by far the worst because they are so small it's easy to eat more - they are, when all's said and done - SULTANA grapes.
The little seedless ones are by far the worst because they are so small it's easy to eat more - they are, when all's said and done - SULTANA grapes.
SB2015
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Hi @Gyproc , as others have said there is variation in the glucose levels from one hand to the other, in the meter, ..... . However it gives us a picture of what our body is doing.
If I ate that amount of fruit my levels would shoot up, as there is so much glucose in there. I limit my fruit intake, and avoid grapes totally. Blueberries I can manage, as there is a lot less carbohydrates in them. We are all different and your testing can help you to determine what suits you and to choose appropriate portion sizes.
If your fasting tests are constantly above normal it would be worth going back to your Diabetes Nurse and discussing whether you need to make changes to hw you manage your diabetes.
Keep in touch and let us know hw you get on.
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Welcome to the forum @Gyproc
As others have said all BG meters have an allowable margin of error, and while Contour XT meters are one of the more accurate and consistent on the market (hence the pricetag) it is not uncommon to still see variation from strip to strip, and sample to sample. Variation tends to be more likely at higher levels.
If in any doubt, or if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling, you should always check again with a fresh strip, as you do occasionally get a duff one.
This grid shows quite how wide the allowable variation can stretch under the ISO standards
As @ColinUK suggests, there are much more affordable BG meters on the market, of you’d like your self-funding budget to stretch further. Two of the better-performing and most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50
As others have said all BG meters have an allowable margin of error, and while Contour XT meters are one of the more accurate and consistent on the market (hence the pricetag) it is not uncommon to still see variation from strip to strip, and sample to sample. Variation tends to be more likely at higher levels.
If in any doubt, or if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling, you should always check again with a fresh strip, as you do occasionally get a duff one.
This grid shows quite how wide the allowable variation can stretch under the ISO standards
As @ColinUK suggests, there are much more affordable BG meters on the market, of you’d like your self-funding budget to stretch further. Two of the better-performing and most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50
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