How am I doing?

[qimqim]

Type II, Metformin 1am + 2 pm

After two weeks of strict diet and increased exercise I got my FBGs from around 8 to around, and below, 6. Before meals I am around 5.

But take today:

8am FBG 5.7
12 prelunch 4.9
lunch: good dose of spaghetti w/home made meat sauce + coffee
1 hour after lunch 8.2
2 hours after lunch 6.1

Are these normal diabetic measurements?

qim

 

[sugarless sue]

The 'spike' one hour after eating was caused by the starchy pasta ,two hour reading is fine,you seem to be doing OK Qimqim.

 

[qimqim]

I KNOW that I am diabetic, bur are these measurements not what you would expect from a non-diabetic?

qim

 

[MaryChristine]

Hi qimqim

I have these figures from DiabetesUK, January 2009, for "normal range" blood glucose level, that is, the range of a person who does not have diabetes:

Before meals: 3.5 - 5.5 mmols/l
Two hours after meals: less than 8 mmols/l

Hope that is what you wanted to know.

Best wishes
MaryChristine

 

[sugarless sue]

I KNOW that I am diabetic, bur are these measurements not what you would expect from a non-diabetic?

qim

They are also measurements from a well controlled diabetic!!

 

[Iolanthe]

You want to try my levels at the moment (am seeing a consultant on Tuesday) - talk about spiking.

Waking 9.1
Just taken 2 hrs after salad 3.9

Yesterday
Waking 7.3
2hrs after breakfast 9
2hrs after dinner 9.2
Before bed 4

These are fairly typical

 

[qimqim]

In fact, the good news are over.

at 2.30, as I wrote, 2 hours after my lunch, the BG was down to 6.1. However, at 3pm I ate a medium sized, rather sweet apple. 1 hour later, I had 11.2! After two hours, I was down to 7.7. I expect it will go down into the 5s by dinner-time, helped by the jog I have just done, but it is frightening to see what a single apple can do!

Any explanations?

Thank you

qim

 

[fergus]

Looks like those apples are best avoided then qim.
Many are increasingly bred for sweetness and some varieties are far sweeter than people realise. Not only that, it can be a particularly bad combination of sugars - glucose to send your bg skywards, and fructose to cause your liver to go into triglyceride production overdrive.

fergus

 

[totsy]

unfortunately apples and grapes do this to me too, its trial and error as with everything else in the diabetic world

 

[qimqim]

Now, it's gone the other way.

After 11,2 at 4pm and 7.7 at 5pm, I had a 1/2 mile jog and now at 7pm I have 4.3.

Isn't that too low? I am starting to get worried at the way it goes up and down after eating.

qim

 

[totsy]

no , 4.3 is fine

 

[Dobbs]

I had a nasty shock with eating some grapes yesterday - just five or six innocent-looking grapes, as part of a very low carb lunch, and I was 9.8 afterwards! Which is the highest it's been for a while. It's true that some things just have to be avoided.

 

[qimqim]

Thre are two things that keep confusing me:

a) the apparent ease with which I recover (11.2 to 4.3 in 3 hours). I always thought diabetics had a lot of trouble bringing levels down to 'normal'.

b) do these peaks also happen to 'normal' people? Would they reach 11 or 12 mmol/l just after a meal (in the first hour, say)? Could they get that high with one sweet apple?

 

[totsy]

its very doubtful a non diabetic would get that high,
ive tried testing my non diabetic relatives and whatever they eat none of them have ever reached over 8.8mmol, as for the drop, your metformin will be making this happen because as a type 2 you still have some insulin

 

[Trinkwasser]

Diabetes is progressive - unless controlled.

IMO you are currently at the bottom end of the range. Half the pasta or half the apple with some cheese would probably give you better numbers.

You have exactly the right attitude - testing to find what different things do to *you*, which may differ from what they do to others, and may differ according to time of day too.