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Blood sugar after meals

J

johnd1981

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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He/Him
Hello.

I generally take my blood sugar levels mainly before breakfast and then now and again, 2 hours after a meal.
I've managed to get my levels down to below 8mmol/l most of the time. Usually around 6 - 7 most days.

Is there a level we should be aiming to achieve after eating? I randomly decided to check my levels about 40 minutes after eating and I was at 10mmol/l. Is that bad?

Thanks
 
johnd1981 said:
Hello.

I generally take my blood sugar levels mainly before breakfast and then now and again, 2 hours after a meal.
I've managed to get my levels down to below 8mmol/l most of the time. Usually around 6 - 7 most days.

Is there a level we should be aiming to achieve after eating? I randomly decided to check my levels about 40 minutes after eating and I was at 10mmol/l. Is that bad?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum
What is good or bad will partly depend on what medication you are taking and what dietary regime you are following. But generally your aim is 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours after eating or no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase after 2 hours if you are Type 2 not taking insulin that would be a different criteria.
40mins after eating is too soon.
After meal tests are to inform you if you have tolerated your meal so pairs of reading are much more informative, random testing tells you nothing much useful.
Would you like to tell us a bit more about how you manage your condition, your HbA1C and any medication. How long have you been diagnosed.
 
I found that being under 8mmol/l at 2 hours after starting to eat was a turning point. I had decided to aim for 8, and then stayed eating the same meals, but I saw my numbers continue to reduce and assumed that my metabolism was recovering - I also saw almost normal HbA1c at the 6 month test, so decided that it ought to be OK to remain on that way of eating. I did reduce my carb intake from under 50 gm to under 40 gm a day in an attempt to reduce my HbA1c into the 30s, but it remained exactly the same.
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to the forum
What is good or bad will partly depend on what medication you are taking and what dietary regime you are following. But generally your aim is 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours after eating or no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase after 2 hours if you are Type 2 not taking insulin that would be a different criteria.
40mins after eating is too soon.
After meal tests are to inform you if you have tolerated your meal so pairs of reading are much more informative, random testing tells you nothing much useful.
Would you like to tell us a bit more about how you manage your condition, your HbA1C and any medication. How long have you been diagnosed.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
I was diagnosed in 2017 - type 2.
Initially I was on 500mg of metformin twice a day but then was put on empagliflozin however, after losing a lot of weight and doing the low calorie diet, I was off all medication. Then from April 2024 - April 2025 I gradually got back in to back habits and my levels crept right back up and put about 2 stones back on.
My latest HbA1C at beginning of April was 85. It was a major wakeup call and since then I've lost over 2 stones and been following a much better diet. I also try and walk as exercise.
Due to anxiety/dodgy stomach and because my finger prick results were down at around 6 - 7mmol/l the doctor told me to just take 1 x 500mg gradual release metformin per day and then increase to 2 x 500mg per day as my stomach settles.
2 hours after eating the highest my levels have been recently are 8mmol/l so I'm really hopeful that my next HbA1C will look much better.
Thanks
 
johnd1981 said:
Tonight I had my evening meal at about 6:45pm. Just done my bloods now and they were 8.8mmol/l
Click to expand...
Slightly higher than desirable but what was it before you ate as that difference will be a better guide as to whether the meal is ok, no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase is the rule of thumb.
 
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