1st Blood Test of the Day

[Grasscutters]

Hi everyone. My husband is now 3 weeks since being diagnosed. His meds have been changed as he was suffering badly with side effects, so all is going well. We now have a meter and he is following a LCHF diet. However his first test of the day before eating breakfast is invariably high at 10.5. Two hours later it is 9.1 and yesterday for the first time, it was 8. 5 . However how do we lower his fasting sugar reading? What are we doing wrong?
Many thanks!

 

[dtennant9]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Grasscutters

Is your husband type 1 or type 2?

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. What is your husband's BMI? What meds was he having before and what now? Are you testing 2 hours after a typical meal as morning fasting tests can be unreliable.

 

[Grasscutters]

Thanks for your replies. He is T2. He was on straight Metformin, and has been changed to Stagid. We live in France, and this is still Metformin but is kinder on the stomach. He takes 2 x 700mg a day. At diagnosis his BG was off the meter, so the results he is getting now are much better, but he is getting paranoid about the first one in the morning. Is the trick to eat something before he goes to bed or does this make it worse?

 

[sanguine]

Fasting blood glucose numbers are often the last to come down. There are a number of factors that impact it, not just what you ate the night before but how well you slept and most of all what the liver does first thing - it will dump glucose into the bloodstream to prepare the body for the day's exertions ahead (Dawn Phenomenon). Also make sure you do the test before showering etc as that can raise BG levels. Just be patient and you will get there in the end.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Yes, @sanguine is right in everything he says. Many people experience Dawn Phenomenon or Liver Dump. There is plenty of information on here about it. Even non-diabetics experience it. It is quite natural and nothing you can do about it, although the Metformin will help once it starts to kick in properly. One way of seeing what is happening is to test at bedtime and see if there is a big rise by morning. Some people also do a quick test if they have to get up in the night for a bathroom visit, just to see what is happening. I'm lucky I don't experience it overnight very often, never have, but I do experience it during exercise.

 

[sanguine]

Yes, @sanguine is right in everything he says.

Lol can I quote you on that? Of course I assume you mean what I said in the post above

 

[Bluetit1802]

Lol can I quote you on that? Of course I assume you mean what I said in the post above

Take it whichever way, it's true!