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Morning blood sugar reading

C

CarolA

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I have come back here after a while away. I had been doing quite well, but somehow have let things slip…..gained back a little weight, eating not so well etc. I had a wake up call when I had my routine blood test and got a late night call that night from the NHS because my blood sugar was measured as far too high, 110mM/litre. My GP gave me a blood sugar meter and told me to measure when I get up, and 2 hours after each meal. I have been doing this now for 3 days, and although the readings are not perfect, they are no where near that reading the hospital got. Now, my question is, I take a reading 2 hours after dinner, and it is within the recommended range (6.2), and then I take a reading when I get up, having eaten nothing and drunk only water since the night before, and my blood sugar is 10! How does this happen?
 
CarolA said:
My GP gave me a blood sugar meter and told me to measure when I get up, and 2 hours after each meal. I have been doing this now for 3 days, and although the readings are not perfect, they are no where near that reading the hospital got. Now, my question is, I take a reading 2 hours after dinner, and it is within the recommended range (6.2), and then I take a reading when I get up, having eaten nothing and drunk only water since the night before, and my blood sugar is 10! How does this happen?
Click to expand...

The reading from the hospital is most likely an HbA1c in mmol/mol rather than mmol/L which is what your BG meter reads. They are measuring 2 different things - the HbA1c (hospital reading) is measuring red blood cells which have been affected by circulating glucose over the previous 3-4 months. Your BG meter is measuring plasma glucose at that exact moment in time.

Great to hear that your 2hr readings are within the recommended range. It might be interesting for you to also check before the meal, so that you can see the difference, and how much different meals have raised your BG levels. Many T2s here use this pairs of readings tactic to fine tune their menu, aiming for a meal rise of 2-3mmol/L or less.

Your raised early morning reading is most likely down to Dawn Phenomenon. A natural release of stored glucose from the liver in the early hours to help fire up the burners for the day. Unfortunately for people with insulin resistance it can lead to high BG levels even when they haven’t eaten.
 
CarolA said:
I have come back here after a while away. I had been doing quite well, but somehow have let things slip…..gained back a little weight, eating not so well etc. I had a wake up call when I had my routine blood test and got a late night call that night from the NHS because my blood sugar was measured as far too high, 110mM/litre. My GP gave me a blood sugar meter and told me to measure when I get up, and 2 hours after each meal. I have been doing this now for 3 days, and although the readings are not perfect, they are no where near that reading the hospital got. Now, my question is, I take a reading 2 hours after dinner, and it is within the recommended range (6.2), and then I take a reading when I get up, having eaten nothing and drunk only water since the night before, and my blood sugar is 10! How does this happen?
Click to expand...
The Dawn phenomenon, the concept is that your body wakes up before you and starts setting you up for the day ahead
 
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