Blood sugar readings question

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LilyS

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Type 2
Hi All,

I am newly diagnosed (November 2023) and still trying to get my head around this diagnosis. I have a good understanding of the diet so far and I have a diabetic course booked in for the end of Jan. I have adapted my diet, limited sugar and low carb. (I struggle more with the low carb than the sugar!).

I do have a question I am hoping someone can help me with as the diabetic nurse wasn't really pushing for me to test my blood sugars every day but I have started doing this to understand what foods spike my bloods.
I understand the ideal 'safe' zone is 4-7 mmol, what if after food my reading is between 7-8mmol? So last night before dinner I had a reading of 6.4 mmol, 2 hours after dinner i was 7.4 mmol, so this only increased by 1 mmol but still over 7? Or if its under 8 this is still okay? I didnt have any refined carbs in this meal, only from the vegetables.

Thank you in advance!
 
LilyS said:
Hi All,

I am newly diagnosed (November 2023) and still trying to get my head around this diagnosis. I have a good understanding of the diet so far and I have a diabetic course booked in for the end of Jan. I have adapted my diet, limited sugar and low carb. (I struggle more with the low carb than the sugar!).

I do have a question I am hoping someone can help me with as the diabetic nurse wasn't really pushing for me to test my blood sugars every day but I have started doing this to understand what foods spike my bloods.
I understand the ideal 'safe' zone is 4-7 mmol, what if after food my reading is between 7-8mmol? So last night before dinner I had a reading of 6.4 mmol, 2 hours after dinner i was 7.4 mmol, so this only increased by 1 mmol but still over 7? Or if its under 8 this is still okay? I didnt have any refined carbs in this meal, only from the vegetables.

Thank you in advance!
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It sounds as if you have made a very sensible choice to get a monitor as it really is a valuable tool in managing blood glucose on a day to day basis.
The guidance is to be aiming for 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning readings and either no more than 2-3mmol/l increase from before eating to 2 hours after or no more than 8-8.5mmol/l at the 2 hour post meal test.
So what you are doing is certainly looking good.
Reducing glucose levels too quickly can give issues with eyes and nerves so you could perhaps allow yourself a bit more leeway with your carbs bearing in mind your chosen way has to be sustainable long term so has to be enjoyable. Be guided by your monitor and I'm sure you will see good results when you have your HbA1C done 3 months from diagnosis. What was that result as that indicates how much work you have to do.
If you are following low carb approach you may find this link helpful with some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Welcome to the forum by the way.
 
Leadinglights said:
It sounds as if you have made a very sensible choice to get a monitor as it really is a valuable tool in managing blood glucose on a day to day basis.
The guidance is to be aiming for 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning readings and either no more than 2-3mmol/l increase from before eating to 2 hours after or no more than 8-8.5mmol/l at the 2 hour post meal test.
So what you are doing is certainly looking good.
Reducing glucose levels too quickly can give issues with eyes and nerves so you could perhaps allow yourself a bit more leeway with your carbs bearing in mind your chosen way has to be sustainable long term so has to be enjoyable. Be guided by your monitor and I'm sure you will see good results when you have your HbA1C done 3 months from diagnosis. What was that result as that indicates how much work you have to do.
If you are following low carb approach you may find this link helpful with some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Welcome to the forum by the way.
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Thank you for the insight, I am hoping the diabetes course this month will help.
I havent tested upon waking up, i've been testing once i am at work before breakfast an hour/hour and a half from waking up so i'll test tomorrow morning to see my blood sugar level.
My diabetic nurse said anything in double figures isnt ideal, is that a good rule to go by?

I havent had a 3 month HbA1C follow up test yet, only test I had was my diagnosis. DN said I wouldnt see her / have another test until the summer
 
Those readings look OK.

'euglycaemia' (Normal range) I believe is under 10. Obviously you don't want to be at 10 for a long time, but it's normal for people to go 10 for a brief period of time.
 
LilyS said:
Thank you for the insight, I am hoping the diabetes course this month will help.
I havent tested upon waking up, i've been testing once i am at work before breakfast an hour/hour and a half from waking up so i'll test tomorrow morning to see my blood sugar level.
My diabetic nurse said anything in double figures isnt ideal, is that a good rule to go by?

I havent had a 3 month HbA1C follow up test yet, only test I had was my diagnosis. DN said I wouldnt see her / have another test until the summer
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The before breakfast is a good idea if you are testing the effect of breakfast but people will often test in bed before getting up to check on progress day to day, week to week etc once they have established that the sort of meals are tolerated well as you don't need to test those but only new meals. You don't want to be seeing double figures 2 hours after meals as that would indicate your meal was too carb heavy particularly if your before meal is in the 4-7 range. I would say many people will not be as low as 4 before meals, more like 5-6 but again it will depend on where they are in their journey. These numbers are aims and it will take time to get there and some may not even after years.
So it sounds like you are doing really well but I would ask for an HbA1C certainly before the summer, I believe the guidelines say 3 months and if things are going in the right direction then after another 6 months and then every year.
I hope you have had the foot check and eye screening.
 
Leadinglights said:
The before breakfast is a good idea if you are testing the effect of breakfast but people will often test in bed before getting up to check on progress day to day, week to week etc once they have established that the sort of meals are tolerated well as you don't need to test those but only new meals. You don't want to be seeing double figures 2 hours after meals as that would indicate your meal was too carb heavy particularly if your before meal is in the 4-7 range. I would say many people will not be as low as 4 before meals, more like 5-6 but again it will depend on where they are in their journey. These numbers are aims and it will take time to get there and some may not even after years.
So it sounds like you are doing really well but I would ask for an HbA1C certainly before the summer, I believe the guidelines say 3 months and if things are going in the right direction then after another 6 months and then every year.
I hope you have had the foot check and eye screening.
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I think I will ask my GP for another test as it is coming up 3 months since diagnosis. I have had my eye screening so waiting on the results currently
 
If you're planning on doing a fasting test each morning it needs to be as soon as possible after waking, and before having anything to eat or drink. I test within 5 minutes of getting up, while the kettle's boiling. After several days you'll get some idea of which way your BG is trending.

The pre- and post-meal readings you posted are fine. I was also told by my DN at diagnosis that I needed, at the very least, to be in single figures. One expression I've heard in relation to diabetes and BG is '4 is the floor, 10 is the ceiling', which seems to tie in with what our DNs said.

You're doing well and hopefully that will be reflected in your next HbA1c.
 
Martin.A said:
If you're planning on doing a fasting test each morning it needs to be as soon as possible after waking, and before having anything to eat or drink. I test within 5 minutes of getting up, while the kettle's boiling. After several days you'll get some idea of which way your BG is trending.

The pre- and post-meal readings you posted are fine. I was also told by my DN at diagnosis that I needed, at the very least, to be in single figures. One expression I've heard in relation to diabetes and BG is '4 is the floor, 10 is the ceiling', which seems to tie in with what our DNs said.

You're doing well and hopefully that will be reflected in your next HbA1c.
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Thank you Martin, I will try to get into the habit of testing upon waking up as I am hoping my efforts so far are working and I am going to request another HbA1C test
 
My blood sugar test this morning as 7.0 mmol so i'll continue to test first thing when I wake up so see if this continues
Thanks for all the support
 
LilyS said:
My blood sugar test this morning as 7.0 mmol so i'll continue to test first thing when I wake up so see if this continues
Thanks for all the support
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Sounds like the menu changes you have made so far are working really well for you @LilyS

Hope you get some encouraging results from your follow-up HbA1c that confirm the positive progress you seem to have been making.

Cracking stuff!
 
@LilyS It is still quite soon after diagnosis so those numbers are good.
I needed to keep under 8mmol/l at the 2 hour test to really start feeling better, and when I stuck to the same meals after that my numbers drifted downwards - presumably my metabolism picked up as the pressure of dealing with carbs reduced.
I'm afraid that the concept of refined carbs has no meaning to my gut - if it is carbs they get digested. At first I was puzzled by high readings after eating beans and peas. The only thing I can put it down to is my gut being able to hammer out more carbs than most digestive systems. I now count them as 180% of the listed content and that seems to work out.
 
Drummer said:
@LilyS It is still quite soon after diagnosis so those numbers are good.
I needed to keep under 8mmol/l at the 2 hour test to really start feeling better, and when I stuck to the same meals after that my numbers drifted downwards - presumably my metabolism picked up as the pressure of dealing with carbs reduced.
I'm afraid that the concept of refined carbs has no meaning to my gut - if it is carbs they get digested. At first I was puzzled by high readings after eating beans and peas. The only thing I can put it down to is my gut being able to hammer out more carbs than most digestive systems. I now count them as 180% of the listed content and that seems to work out.
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Hi Drummer, I tested upon waking this morning and my reading was 7 mmol again so I am happy.
However, as you say some natural carbs spike my bloods too. I am still getting used to the dietary changes, and i thought I had found a 'good' pasta solution (ZENB) as its pea based but its almost as high in carbs as normal pasta.
'Luckily' it spiked my blood sugar to 8.00 mmol 2 hours after eating so I am fairly please with that after accidentally having too many carbs.
I am still learning so hoping my carb accidents balance out with my increased exercise and other low carb meals
 
LilyS said:
Hi Drummer, I tested upon waking this morning and my reading was 7 mmol again so I am happy.
However, as you say some natural carbs spike my bloods too. I am still getting used to the dietary changes, and i thought I had found a 'good' pasta solution (ZENB) as its pea based but its almost as high in carbs as normal pasta.
'Luckily' it spiked my blood sugar to 8.00 mmol 2 hours after eating so I am fairly please with that after accidentally having too many carbs.
I am still learning so hoping my carb accidents balance out with my increased exercise and other low carb meals
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It is ALL natural carbs which cause an increase in the sugars in blood - they are broken down into simple sugars, some of which don't show up when testing for glucose.
I've had the concept of healthy carbs pushed at me for so long, so I can be touchy about it, One thing I realised too is that I can get more carbs out of peas and beans than are supposed to be in them. If something is listed at 10% then I need to calculate as though it is 18% carbs. A couple of others have found the same thing, so it could be a genetic quirk.
Whatever fine tuning is needed, eating low carb seems to be the easy way to deal with plain ordinary type 2.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sounds like the menu changes you have made so far are working really well for you @LilyS

Hope you get some encouraging results from your follow-up HbA1c that confirm the positive progress you seem to have been making.

Cracking stuff!
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Its been a little while since my post but i finally had my 3 month test results back.
6.2% / 45 mmol, i am pleased about that, still some work to do!
 
That is an amazing result to come down from 97 in just 3 months. Congratulations! I hope your nurse/GP gave you a big pat on the back because you definitely deserve it. Well done!
 
rebrascora said:
That is an amazing result to come down from 97 in just 3 months. Congratulations! I hope your nurse/GP gave you a big pat on the back because you definitely deserve it. Well done!
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Thank you! I haven't heard from my GP/DN i just saw my test results online on my doctors portal. Really happy with the result so hoping I can keep going to get it reduced further 🙂
 
LilyS said:
Thank you! I haven't heard from my GP/DN i just saw my test results online on my doctors portal. Really happy with the result so hoping I can keep going to get it reduced further 🙂
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That’s brilliant progress @LilyS - you should feel very proud of what you’ve achieved in such a short space of time.

I hope you are feeling brighter and more well in yourself as an encouragement to continue. Sometimes you don’t realise how weary, worn down and lethargic you have been feeling. Erratic and elevated blood glucose levels can be exhausting and are linked with low mood, but this may have come on quite gradually, so for some new members it’s only really when they begin to “lift” that they notice how much better they are feeling.
 
Well done @LilyS . So good to have a measure of all the hard work you have been doing and such a good reduction in you HbA1c. Well done.
 
Top result! Congrats!
 
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