Standard BG Levels

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Tom1982

Tom1982

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Hello all. Quick question regarding our daughters levels. Does everyone’s go up and down? Like after dinner will it go to, say 11? Then slowly go down until you “top up again” as Jo calls it!
 
Absolutely.
People without diabetes can have levels varying between 3.5 and 9. I give myself some slack at the top end and target to keep my levels below 10 but don't stress if my levels rise a little higher provided they go back down again.
(At the bottom end, we have to be a little more cautious. Hence a hypo for someone treated with insulin is defined as below 4.)
 
helli said:
Absolutely.
People without diabetes can have levels varying between 3.5 and 9. I give myself some slack at the top end and target to keep my levels below 10 but don't stress if my levels rise a little higher provided they go back down again.
(At the bottom end, we have to be a little more cautious. Hence a hypo for someone treated with insulin is defined as below 4.)
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We still haven’t got a CGM so just been looking at our little glucose monitor. We test Jo 11 times a day on average. Is that too much? As a rule if you checked your levels before bed and found you where at, say, 5.5, would you have some carbs to make sure you don’t go low overnight?
 
When I was diagnosed, very very very few people had CGMs. I tested 4 times a day unless I felt "off". I had no idea what my levels did between finger pricks. There was much less obsession on perfect levels. Nearly 20 years later, I have no complications and had no serious hypos or highs.
I learnt to correct highs and carb count and slowly increased my finger pricks to 10 times a day to account for driving and exercise.

Those diagnosed before me did urine tests a couple of times a day and some of them are celebrating 50 and 60 years with Type 1 diabetes. Things are easier now but I some times fear the new technology is affecting our life/diabetes balance.

Our levels go up and down and we survive.

We are all different. Some of us are ok going to bed with a level of 5.5 but often the target is 7 or 8 before going to sleep.
With an insulin pump, I prefer to suspend my basal than eat something if my levels are below 6. Pre-pump, I would target a level between 6 and 7.

But, remember, we are all different
 
Well - I wouldn't but there again I know pretty much what my own BG does and doesn't do overnight and when it does it because I've had it so long and over the years before they invented CGMs let alone FGMs I've tested every few hours overnight on many occasions to discover that. Hence since I got a pump I have been able to tweak the hourly rates to try and even out all the natural dips and rises.

I honestly don't know what is advisable for a child. And no, I don't think 11 times a day is too much for an adult. I really don't think I'd want to be Jo, thanks though, knowing how anyone else testing my own BG always hurts. Just nowhere near as careful with me as I am!

Remember a student nurse saying to me in 1972 that they were told to practice giving injections on oranges. She was a lovely girl and really trying to be helpful. I said I appreciated that, but - would said orange indicate to me in exactly the same way as my leg did, that it didn't like what I was just doing to it - cos I didn't honestly think it probably could! She considered this and said she saw what I meant, and agreed it couldn't. Then I laughed and told her I reckoned the time to worry was when everyone she jabbed, yelled in pain. And don't worry - I will.
 
helli said:
When I was diagnosed, very very very few people had CGMs. I tested 4 times a day unless I felt "off". I had no idea what my levels did between finger pricks. There was much less obsession on perfect levels. Nearly 20 years later, I have no complications and had no serious hypos or highs.
I learnt to correct highs and carb count and slowly increased my finger pricks to 10 times a day to account for driving and exercise.

Those diagnosed before me did urine tests a couple of times a day and some of them are celebrating 50 and 60 years with Type 1 diabetes. Things are easier now but I some times fear the new technology is affecting our life/diabetes balance.

Our levels go up and down and we survive.

We are all different. Some of us are ok going to bed with a level of 5.5 but often the target is 7 or 8 before going to sleep.
With an insulin pump, I prefer to suspend my basal than eat something if my levels are below 6. Pre-pump, I would target a level between 6 and 7.

But, remember, we are all different
Click to expand...
Nice one. Her meter says she’s in range 62% of the time. But surely that’s a bit of false reading as we will predominantly be checking before and after dinners and so on? Are some people in range all the time?
 
trophywench said:
Well - I wouldn't but there again I know pretty much what my own BG does and doesn't do overnight and when it does it because I've had it so long and over the years before they invented CGMs let alone FGMs I've tested every few hours overnight on many occasions to discover that. Hence since I got a pump I have been able to tweak the hourly rates to try and even out all the natural dips and rises.

I honestly don't know what is advisable for a child. And no, I don't think 11 times a day is too much for an adult. I really don't think I'd want to be Jo, thanks though, knowing how anyone else testing my own BG always hurts. Just nowhere near as careful with me as I am!

Remember a student nurse saying to me in 1972 that they were told to practice giving injections on oranges. She was a lovely girl and really trying to be helpful. I said I appreciated that, but - would said orange indicate to me in exactly the same way as my leg did, that it didn't like what I was just doing to it - cos I didn't honestly think it probably could! She considered this and said she saw what I meant, and agreed it couldn't. Then I laughed and told her I reckoned the time to worry was when everyone she jabbed, yelled in pain. And don't worry - I will.
Click to expand...
Would her basal insulin effect the night time levels? How do you calculate that?
 
Tom1982 said:
Would her basal insulin effect the night time levels? How do you calculate that?
Click to expand...
The purpose of basal insulin is to keep our levels stable in the absence of food, exercise, etc. If her basal rates are correct, her levels should remain stable overnight.
Your diabetes team should advise you on her insulin doses and target levels.
 
Tom1982 said:
Nice one. Her meter says she’s in range 62% of the time. But surely that’s a bit of false reading as we will predominantly be checking before and after dinners and so on? Are some people in range all the time?
Click to expand...
It's really really hard to be in range all the time! With MDI and a Libre 2 I get occasional 24 hours 100% in range (once every couple of weeks I guess). With a pump connected to a CGM (with an algorithm making it a closed loop of some kind) it's probably more feasible to stay in range for longer. Still not easy.
 
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