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Waking up vs fasting

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grufflybear

grufflybear

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
This is one of those questions which I fear might be silly but which I am assured it is ok for me to ask anyway...

It's about waking up BG levels.... I have worked on diet etc evening before and seem now to regularly "wake up" with levels of between 6.0 and 7.0 I wake up naturally around 7.00 am so I presume any of the pre-wake up surge is taking place since I am rarely forced to wake by the sound of the alarm and only occasionally woken early by the dog slobbering on me. I eat my evening meal before 8 the previous evening and only have the smallest snack around 11.00 pm (few nuts or something). I have woken myself deliberately during the night (around 3:00 am) on a few occasions to check blood and level was mid 5's on each occasion.

So is my waking up level in these circumstances also a fasting level (8 hours with no food) ? Or is is distorted by been affected by the pre-waking up surge and is a fasting level only valid if I wait until after actually getting up and being active.
 
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As I would see it, the fasting level is during normal waking hours, but several hours since last meal. ie. no dawn phenomenon to take into account and normal acitivity levels.

So no, IMO, a waking BG is different to a fasting BG. 🙂

Rob
 
grufflybear said:
So is my waking up level in these circumstances also a fasting level (8 hours with no food) ? Or is is distorted by been affected by the pre-waking up surge and is a fasting level only valid if I wait until after actually getting up and being active.
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I would say your waking up is also your fasting level. You might find that your levels climb higher after you have been up and about a bit (or not, depends on the mood of the fickle Diabetes Fairy!). I found that if I don't eat shortly after getting up my levels continue to rise as presumably my liver thinks I'm starving - eating convinces it I'm not so it returns to its former trickle 🙂

Incidentally, 3 am is considered to be the low point during the night when the liver is least active in putting out glucose, and is the time when parents are advised to test their children in order to check for nighttime lows:

http://diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/07/three-am-club.html :D
 
Robster65 said:
As I would see it, the fasting level is during normal waking hours, but several hours since last meal. ie. no dawn phenomenon to take into account and normal acitivity levels.

So no, IMO, a waking BG is different to a fasting BG. 🙂

Rob
Click to expand...

Seems we disagree!
 
grufflybear said:
This is one of those questions which I fear might be silly but which I am assured it is ok for me to ask anyway...
Click to expand...

The Joslin Guide to Diabetes (i.e. straight from the Horse's mouth) defines a "Fasting Blood Glucose Test" as "a blood test in which a sample of blood is drawn after an overnight fast to measure the amount of glucose".
The FBG is an important concept in the diagnosis of T2 diabetes - two FBGs over 7 and you can join the club. An FBG over 7 at the start of an OGTT and you will be dxed as IFG ( Impaired Fasting Glucose).
I think you might be being a little too precious in trying to distinguish between "waking" and "fasting" tests.
 
I tend to treat my waking level as a fasting level as well on the basis that it is a waking level and I've not eaten for at least 8 hours.

Of course if I ate breakfast and skipped lunch, then my pre-diner level would also be a fasting level.
 
Northerner said:
Seems we disagree!
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I made mine up off the to of my head, so I suspect I may be disagreeing with the medical profession also ! :D

It seems strange to me that the dawn phemnomenon can vary from person to person, but is still used as the yardstick. ie. it's a test of varying liver and other hormonal activity, as well as pancreatic function.

But I guess it should still be controlled by the body in a non-diabetic to stay below the magic 7(ish).🙂

Rob
 
Interesting responses, I am at an early stage in proceedings and like to understand what is going on as I customise my regime, I guess I am a little obsessive about details, but I am about everything in life so that's just my way. Once again I am so pleased that I am live in an era where it is so easy to share information and ideas and gather information by taking part in a forum like this.
 
grufflybear said:
Interesting responses, I am at an early stage in proceedings and like to understand what is going on as I customise my regime, I guess I am a little obsessive about details, but I am about everything in life so that's just my way. Once again I am so pleased that I am live in an era where it is so easy to share information and ideas and gather information by taking part in a forum like this.
Click to expand...

I fully understand how you feel - there's nothing wrong with learning all you can to help you manage your diabetes well which is why there really are no 'silly' questions if something is confusing or concerning you. 🙂
 
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