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What's acceptable glucose spike after meals.

B

Bayboy

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just wondered if some of you good people could give me some advice.
So I'm T2 and take 3 lots of metformin daily (500mg a time).
My question is, what sort of glucose spike should be considered acceptable. My fasting BG is currently about 6.5 -7. If I reach 10 after breakfast or dinner, is that bad???
 
Hi @Bayboy I wouldn't get to hung up on the CGM readings. As @mashedupmatt said the important question is whether the peak is on or after 2 hours following you meal. If the peak is before that then that is not an issue as our BG goes up and down all the time but 2 hours after the meal is the key point as by that time the peaks should be sufficiently reduced as to be back in range.
In addition check the time in range reading on the CGM app the device normally has a range of 3.9 - 10 and so long as you are in that range for the vast majority of the time the peaks are not as critical.
 
Bayboy said:
Just wondered if some of you good people could give me some advice.
So I'm T2 and take 3 lots of metformin daily (500mg a time).
My question is, what sort of glucose spike should be considered acceptable. My fasting BG is currently about 6.5 -7. If I reach 10 after breakfast or dinner, is that bad???
Click to expand...
The suggested things are to look at readings 4-7mmol/l fasting and before meals and no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase from before eating to 2 hours after as that will indicate that the meal is OK but as levels come down then look for no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
It can be that fasting blood glucose can be higher than at other times of the day before meals as the liver releases glucose in the absence of food.
Make a check of just before your breakfast and after 2 hours to see if it is OK. I think the question is when is a 'spike' actually a spike or just a normal reaction to whatever you eat.
 
It's not clear cut.

What did you eat?

10 at 2 hours after a very high carb meal isn't unheard of, but it should really be back down to < 7.8 at the 3 hour point.
If it was a low carb meal with a lot of fat and protein, going this high is an indication of glucose intolerance.
 
I'd just keep it simple.

- Less than 2 hours after eating: don't care. This is transient "spike" territory, which is pretty meaningless for health.

- After 2 hours, prudent to aim for sub-10. (Sustained levels of 10+ are what really accelerate diabetic damage.)

- As you get things under more control, around 8 can become an appropriate target, in line with what non-diabetics commonly see. But don't sweat this too much: eg two-hour levels above 8 are common enough for non-diabetics.
 
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