Can you help, please? Unstable blood sugar

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SheilaAnne

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
My BG seems erratic. My libre 2 has bleeped 3 times in last 12 hours showing BG 3.9 going down. Then it seems to shoot up to 9.3! This has been a recurring theme during this time. Finger prick shows wildly different numbers, but still highs and lows through the same period.
Blood lowest 6.4 to highest 9.1. what do I need to do. No medication just diet.
 

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Did you eat something that caused it to rise?

Finger pricks and libre are often quite differnt as they measure different things.
 
You mentioned this has happened over the last 12 hours which I assume was when you were trying to sleep. In which case, i would be suspicious of the low Libre readings. These are likely to be compression lows - false low readings when you apply pressure to the sensor by lying on it.
The higher BG may then be due to the stress of disturbed sleep.
 
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No, just fish at my last meal around 5.30 last night. I feel fine, it's just these numbers are a bit worrying
 
Another question I am afraid, are you on any medication for your diabetes?
 
Your overnight graph on the Libre looks lovely and level (congratulations on that) so I am surprised that you say you have had problems over the past 12 hours. If the finger prick was taken after you got up and shortly after the Libre reading then I am guessing that you are experiencing Foot on the Floor syndrome, a later rising sibling of Dawn Phenomenon, where your liver pumps out glucose in the morning to give you energy for the day ahead. My levels can rise by as much as 6 mmols in less than an hour due to this liver dump of glucose and Libre lags behind finger prick when levels start changing rapidly. I imagine your Libre may well show you up about 8 or 9 by now, It just takes a bit of time to catch on when levels suddenly change.
 
rebrascora said:
Your overnight graph on the Libre looks lovely and level (congratulations on that) so I am surprised that you say you have had problems over the past 12 hours. If the finger prick was taken after you got up and shortly after the Libre reading then I am guessing that you are experiencing Foot on the Floor syndrome, a later rising sibling of Dawn Phenomenon, where your liver pumps out glucose in the morning to give you energy for the day ahead. My levels can rise by as much as 6 mmols in less than an hour due to this liver dump of glucose and Libre lags behind finger prick when levels start changing rapidly. I imagine your Libre may well show you up about 8 or 9 by now, It just takes a bit of time to catch on when levels suddenly change.
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Thank you. Never knew about this! I'll read up on it.
 
helli said:
You mentioned this has happened over the last 12 hours which I assume was when you were trying to sleep. In which case, i would be suspicious of the low Libre readings. These are likely to be compression lows - false low readings when you apply pressure to the sensor by lying on it.
The higher BG may then be due to the stress of disturbed sleep.
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Thanks. It's a lot to get your head round and in my case the only advice was no potatoes, rice, bread, pasta or sugar. That was it. NHS but I think it's lack of staff maybe
 
SheilaAnne said:
Thanks. It's a lot to get your head round and in my case the only advice was no potatoes, rice, bread, pasta or sugar. That was it. NHS but I think it's lack of staff maybe
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Have a look at this link for plenty of info about managing Type 2 with dietary changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
I think the Libre can give too much information and can make people overreact when what is happening is just the normal up and down in levels during the night and day.
 
Leadinglights said:
Have a look at this link for plenty of info about managing Type 2 with dietary changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
I think the Libre can give too much information and can make people overreact when what is happening is just the normal up and down in levels during the night and day.
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Thank you for your response. I received three books I bought from this yesterday but haven't looked at them yet. I'll certainly do that.
 
SheilaAnne said:
Thanks. It's a lot to get your head round and in my case the only advice was no potatoes, rice, bread, pasta or sugar. That was it. NHS but I think it's lack of staff maybe
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Whilst food has the biggest impact on our BG, there other things where a healthy pancreas would just pump out more insulin in response to a glucose dump from our liver and a healthy body would use it.
Our liver “helps out” by dumping glucose to give our body extra energy when we are stressed or ill or starting the day or dealing with hormonal changes. So things like not sleeping well or fighting off a cold or dealing with a difficult family member can also raise our BG.
Some exercise can also have the same impact. However, all exercise will increase our insulin sensitivity which is a good thing.

Add to all of that the limitations of BG testing whether with finger pricks or CGM and it becomes much more of an art to manage than a science to control.

However, there are probably combined centuries worth of experience on this forum to help each other out.
 
Thank you for the advice on my earlier post. I found a post suggesting drinking cold water and I'm delighted to say it's worked! 3.5 pints over the day and I'm back in the 5s. I've been very careful with food today so that has also helped. There is such a lot to learn and one size doesn't fit all. Stay as healthy as you can, a great forum.
 
SheilaAnne said:
Thank you for the advice on my earlier post. I found a post suggesting drinking cold water and I'm delighted to say it's worked! 3.5 pints over the day and I'm back in the 5s.
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Drinking water through the day is great (apparently 3.5 pints is 2 litres which is what we are recommended to drink every day). Be careful not to down loads of water all at once though as doing that in high quantities can be dangerous.
 
SheilaAnne said:
Thank you for the advice on my earlier post. I found a post suggesting drinking cold water and I'm delighted to say it's worked! 3.5 pints over the day and I'm back in the 5s. I've been very careful with food today so that has also helped. There is such a lot to learn and one size doesn't fit all. Stay as healthy as you can, a great forum.
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Glad to hear things have settled a little for you @SheilaAnne

You have to be a little careful comparing readings from different devices (especially with sensors and BG meters as they are measuring different things).

Hope you continue to find the information from Libre helpful
 
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