Different blood sugar readings?

[MariPanda]

Hey everyone, I joined here after struggling to find some answers hoping those with diabetes can probably answer it better than Google...
So I bought a Glucometer after being worried about the risk level (I know last year I had a glucose of 98mg/dl in may and before that It was 94mg/dl in December 2022).
So I tested it this morning like straight out of bed and went straight to check it was 106mg/dl then family told me to wash my hands to see.. I assuming I dried my hands very great afterwards as they didn't feel damp at all.. I checked and it was 97mg/dl.. what I am wondering is.. Would the 106mg/dl be invalid or would the 96mg/dl be invalid?

I'm kinda freaking out since buying it this past friday checking daily after Saturday (Didn't wash my hands) it read 102mg/dl.. Sunday I washed my hands it was 97mg/dl though.

 

[Andy HB]

Hello MariPanda,

Glucose meters are not 100% accurate and will give a variation in readings from one test to the next. What you found is quite normal. Also, the readings you specified are actually pretty consistent, ranging from 5.2mmol/l to 5.7mmol/l in 'our money' and don't suggest a problem with dirty or clean hands.

Those are also pretty good readings as well. Were they before eating or some time after eating ( normally after 2hrs or so)?

A before meal Glucose range would be 72mg/dl to 126mg/dl.

Two hours after eating it could be between 126mg/dl and 162mg/dl.

So, your readings aren't bad at all.

By the way, to get from mg/dl to mmol/l, just divide by 18.

 

[MariPanda]

Hello MariPanda,

Glucose meters are not 100% accurate and will give a variation in readings from one test to the next. What you found is quite normal. Also, the readings you specified are actually pretty consistent, ranging from 5.2mmol/l to 5.7mmol/l in 'our money' and don't suggest a problem with dirty or clean hands.

Those are also pretty good readings as well. Were they before eating or some time after eating ( normally after 2hrs or so)?

A before meal Glucose range would be 72mg/dl to 126mg/dl.

Two hours after eating it could be between 126mg/dl and 162mg/dl.

So, your readings aren't bad at all.

By the way, to get from mg/dl to mmol/l, just divide by 18.

Amazingly I did check today after a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had at 3PM then checked at 5PM.. The meter read 97mg/dl for me.

 

[Andy HB]

Amazingly I did check today after a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had at 3PM then checked at 5PM.. The meter read 97mg/dl for me.

That sounds very good then. Especially if the sandwich was with white bread (although you may have already passed the glucose peak with that stuff).

Others may confirm my thought, but when you next have a pb and jam sandwich, test immediately before eating and then 1.5hrs later to determine how much your blood Glucose had risen.

Repeat the method of testing before and 2hrs (or 1.5hrs for fast absorbed carbs) after eating for different meals. But only do that one or two times for each different types of meals to get a picture of how you normally respond.

Eventually, you won't need to keep testing except to keep a general eye on things. The ranges I mentioned earlier are then a good indicator of how well you are doing.

But from all the readings you have mentioned so far, I think you are doing ok.

 

[Docb]

I see you are posting from the USA. No problem, we are a UK based forum but welcome overseas members who give us a perspective of how diabetes is thought about and treated in other countries. One simple difference is that in the US blood glucose levels are reported in units of mg/dL whereas in the UK we generally report it in mmol/L. As @Andy HB says,you need to divide your readings by 18 to get numbers we are familiar with.

I would endorse Andy HB's comments that your readings are all quite ordinary. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich for example (something I have never eaten and I doubt if I ever would) would probably give me a blood glucose peak of around 14 mmol/l, which is equivalent to 250 mg/dl. 97 mg/dl, equivalent to 5.4 mmol/l is quite normal.

Were there any particular reasons why you thought it might be worth checking your blood glucose?

 

[helli]

So I tested it this morning like straight out of bed and went straight to check it was 106mg/dl then family told me to wash my hands to see.. I assuming I dried my hands very great afterwards as they didn't feel damp at all.. I checked and it was 97mg/dl.. what I am wondering is.. Would the 106mg/dl be invalid or would the 96mg/dl be invalid?

As others have said, your readings are pretty close and without concern.
However, the reason for washing your hands is to remove any residue on your hands which may be affecting your readings. Food is the obvious thing but three are other things such as ink from books and newspapers. This is why it is often recommended to wash your hands before taking a reading.
Therefore, typically, the reading before washing could be invalid.

The other things worth bearing in mind is that meters are not 100% accurate. They have a tolerance of 15% and our blood sugars are constantly changing. Therefore, it is quite surprising if two readings taken 10 minutes apart were exactly the same.

 

[rayray119]

Yes I see others have got there before but I converted the numbers to mmol/l to see what difference would be. And saw there wasn't really much difference and the numbers are pretty close so with metter variance I wouldn't trust them as different.

 

[SB2015]

I'm kinda freaking out since buying it this past friday checking daily after Saturday (Didn't wash my hands) it read 102mg/dl.. Sunday I washed my hands it was 97mg/dl though

There will be some differences in any two readings as others have said, and washing your hands can make a difference. I don’t do this when out and about and have got into the habit of just wiping away the first drop of blood and then testing the next one, so I guess I am ‘washing’ my finger with the first drop. It is automatic for me now and I then just lick my finger afterwards. That was interesting during covid as I would forget that I had a mask on.