Most significant readings

[bluecurlylegend]

If you were limited to only 2 Blood Glucose Tests per day which tests would you make ? Fasting and last thing at night ? Before and after a main meal ?

 

[Alison Campbell]

First see if you are purchasing the cheapest test strips. Are you paying more than £9 for 50 strips?

Before and after meals testing a variety of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

 

[pleinster]

No question - it would be before and two and half hours after the main meal. That said, after a while (with the aid of a food diary) you would know what certain foods generally do to your blood sugar, so you would only really need to test before and after any new foods. I would only test at night if I really suspected it might be low (and if no meds like Gliclazide are involved this is less likely to be an issue). The waking/fasting level can be useful but is, I would say, less significant than pre and post meal readings.

 

[Juicetin]

Fasting and after the largest carbs of the day meal

As above, I do fasting and after evening meal.

 

[bluecurlylegend]

First see if you are purchasing the cheapest test strips. Are you paying more than £9 for 50 strips?

Before and after meals testing a variety of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

£17.99 for 100 strips from Amazon so I can't complain about the cost. But what you say makes sense to me. Thanks for the reply.

 

[bluecurlylegend]

No question - it would be before and two and half hours after the main meal. That said, after a while (with the aid of a food diary) you would know what certain foods generally do to your blood sugar, so you would only really need to test before and after any new foods. I would only test at night if I really suspected it might be low (and if no meds like Gliclazide are involved this is less likely to be an issue). The waking/fasting level can be useful but is, I would say, less significant than pre and post meal readings.

Thanks for the reply. So in my case, Prediabetic and no medication, if my reading after a meal hasn't exceeded 7.7, that should be acceptable ?

 

[bulkbiker]

Thanks for the reply. So in my case, Prediabetic and no medication, if my reading after a meal hasn't exceeded 7.7, that should be acceptable ?

Depends on your before meal reading.. if it was 6 before the meal then fine and if it had been 4 before the meal then not so fine. Is there a particular reason that you are limiting yourself to 2 readings per day?

 

[Chook]

For me the best comparison one is the test immediately before dinner. For my second test I would then probably go for the one just before lunch although if that was high the next day I'd then test 2 hours after breakfast and the following day it would be fasting - just to see when the high tests are starting.

 

[ringi]

About 2h after the evening meal as it seems to be the most stable reading I get, therefore the best one to track long term. Then use the other strips to experiment on meals etc, but not everyday.

 

[pleinster]

Surely a reading after the meal doesn't inform you a whole lot without the reading premeal..other than to let you know if it's a bit high or a bit low? If you are looking to learn about the impact of foods, before and after are the only effective way to tell.

 

[pleinster]

Thanks for the reply. So in my case, Prediabetic and no medication, if my reading after a meal hasn't exceeded 7.7, that should be acceptable ?

Generally, I would say it's ok. It is within the acceptable range (that is up to 8.5mmols post meal for a Type 2 IF that is not more than 2mmols of a jump from premeal)..but it would be good to know how it compares to the premeal reading.

 

[leslie10152]

Thanks for the reply. So in my case, Prediabetic and no medication, if my reading after a meal hasn't exceeded 7.7, that should be acceptable ?

That sound good.

 

[bluecurlylegend]

Depends on your before meal reading.. if it was 6 before the meal then fine and if it had been 4 before the meal then not so fine. Is there a particular reason that you are limiting yourself to 2 readings per day?

I'm thinking about becoming a miser !
Seriously though, I've only been doing this for a month and most of my readings are within non diabetic readings except for my fasting reading which is stubbornly in the low 6's. I think I've got a grip on what foods and how much of it raises my glucose level too much and I've found out what a difference an hour's steady cycling does, so the only reading I can't seem to influence is my fasting reading. I know, I know, it's taken me nearly seventy years to get into this condition so I'm not going to fix it overnight...

 

[bluecurlylegend]

For me the best comparison one is the test immediately before dinner. For my second test I would then probably go for the one just before lunch although if that was high the next day I'd then test 2 hours after breakfast and the following day it would be fasting - just to see when the high tests are starting.

Thanks for that, that could be a good way to highlight any pattern.

 

[ringi]

Surely a reading after the meal doesn't inform you a whole lot without the reading premeal..other than to let you know if it's a bit high or a bit low? If you are looking to learn about the impact of foods, before and after are the only effective way to tell.

My readings for over a week have all been 5.5 or below two hours after the evening meal, yesterday it was 6.5. That has told me something has change and I need to find out what. By only doing 1 reading a day, I have test strips left from the 2 per day the question allowed, I can now use these strips to find out what is going on.

I think it was two ice-creams over the weekend that "fill up the space in my liver", today's reading is 5.7 so it seems to be getting back on track.

The problem is that a meal has to be "very bad" to have much effect on the post meal reading, but can make other meal have more effect by reducing the "buffer", hence testing before and after each meal does not tell me much.

(I have cut out all the easy carbs and aim to keep doing so until I have lost a lot of weight, hence I am no longer BG driven on what I eat.)

 

[bluecurlylegend]

I would also say that the spike time differs with each person. Mine is earlier rather than later. Average is about 2 hours, but I would have the same meal and test myself 1 hour, 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours before doing something later than the norm like 2 1/2

I would also be testing with at least 20 grams of carb to make sure a spike was possible, just to set my norms. Then and only then would I set the time after the carbs meal for the day. Bodies definitely differ.

Yes, I think I'm going to have to start being more exact about how much carbs I'm consuming with each meal then my readings would be more relevant.....hopefully ?

 

[bulkbiker]

I'm thinking about becoming a miser !
Seriously though, I've only been doing this for a month and most of my readings are within non diabetic readings except for my fasting reading which is stubbornly in the low 6's. I think I've got a grip on what foods and how much of it raises my glucose level too much and I've found out what a difference an hour's steady cycling does, so the only reading I can't seem to influence is my fasting reading. I know, I know, it's taken me nearly seventy years to get into this condition so I'm not going to fix it overnight...

That's very true it took about 12 months of pretty strict very low carb for my FBG to get down in the 5's all the time. Fasting does help if you want to try it.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

If you are being economical then you might consider skipping a few days and then testing comprehensively.

You seem to have established a baseline to work from.

I tend to have short bursts of testing then a rest from it for a while.

 

[bluecurlylegend]

kinda depends on how routine are your routines? Eating the same breakfast every day, then skip that one. But even some vegetables can differ in the individual responses and how close you are to prediabetes or no diabetes is going to allow a pop back that is quicker. Have an infetion? You better test. Once, when an antibiotic wasn't kicking in, I went to 635 and that happened within hours!

On vacation and not as in control of the old diet? More testing. Eating out where the kitchen might be slipping in an allergen like MSG or adding a balsamic reduction to that salad that usually is a non spiker? After church or at some other communal event while the personal who baked it claimed it has low carbs? They might be confused and doing that dairy free egg free standard that uses coke or seven up to raise it and a ine inch square is really 60 carbs. So, surprises eaten you'll know whether to ever trust again? More testing

Thanks Contralto, as you can see I'm getting a lot of good advice here, much appreciated....

 

[bluecurlylegend]

That's very true it took about 12 months of pretty strict very low carb for my FBG to get down in the 5's all the time. Fasting does help if you want to try it.

Thanks bulkbiker, once I've got myself settled into the Low carb regime I'm going to try fasting. I'll keep you posted.