Blood glucose level readings

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KKnapp

Newbie
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Morning everyone. A bit confused. I've been told I'm pre diabetic so trying to turn it around with diet and back in the gym etc. What I wanted to know is, do you know why, when I check my blood 2 hours after dinner last night it was 4.8 which is great. I didn't have anything for 12 hours after that and got a 12 hour fasting reading of 6.7 which is too high? Any ideas what causes that? Thanks in advance.

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Squire Fulwood

Squire Fulwood

Expert
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6,107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
A liver dump or sometimes called Dawn Phenomena. If you don't eat your body supplies sugar. Either from food or from your liver the body tries to keep you supplied with sugar otherwise you would potentially die.
 
leslie10152

leslie10152

Well-Known Member
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KKnapp said:
Morning everyone. A bit confused. I've been told I'm pre diabetic so trying to turn it around with diet and back in the gym etc. What I wanted to know is, do you know why, when I check my blood 2 hours after dinner last night it was 4.8 which is great. I didn't have anything for 12 hours after that and got a 12 hour fasting reading of 6.7 which is too high? Any ideas what causes that? Thanks in advance.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
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Welcome to the forum @KKnapp. 6.7 is a good reading. You will find sometimes after a period of fasting your bgl will rise. This can be attributed to liver dumps, which occur due the body being under duress through lack of incoming nutrient or sometimes dehydration. The liver dumps glucose into the blood stream to keep the bidy stable. Sometimes it's timing is less desired!
 
R

ringi

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,365
Type of diabetes
Type 2
"fasting readings" are the last to change when we make improvements, if you always get great results 2 hours after meals, the fasting readings will sort themselves out given time. Also expect BG to go up sometimes when you do exercise, this is not a problem and the benefit of the exercise is a lot more than any harm for having BG higher due to exercise.

Hence the normal advice on this forum is to just test before meals and 2hr after the meal looking at how much BG have gone up, as that seems to result in the most beneficial action being taken.
 
SockFiddler

SockFiddler

Well-Known Member
Messages
623
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hey there, @KKnapp and welcome to the forum!

Don't forget, also, that your BG meter can have some bonkers readings from time to time - there's a variance of +/- 15% which means your readings are mostly there for guidance. Don't focus on the specifics too much - use them to track trends over time, and if you get a test that seems wildly out of touch with how you fee you're doing, don't be afraid to retest, to carry out a Control Solution test on your meter or just to accept that your body is a complex, crazy machine that does things you don't like sometimes.

BUT, having said all that, 6.7 isn't awful for an FBG (I'm assuming you're recently diagnosed?) and, as other posters here have said, FBGs like to stubbornly cling on, Morning Phenomenon can often be a factor and if you're stressed or ill, that'll be a factor, too.

Lots of info on the main site about this - do poke around and have a read:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose/dawn-phenomenon.html

And in the meantime, welcome to the forum, ask LOADS of questions and well done on taking such positive steps to regain control of your health!

Sock x
 
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