Two differing readings

[Danny Hyslop]

Hi all. I've just started taking blood sugar readings over the last few days . I have just taken my reading for 2 hours after teatime.

My first reading was 1.9, realising this was very low. I immediately changed the lancet and tester and re did it. The reading came back as 5.8. There was only a matter of 2-3 minutes between readings. Has anyone experienced this? Or know of what the reason is ?

 

[ianf0ster]

It could be a bad test strip. Could the blood drop tested have got diluted? 1.9 mmol is very low indeed , 5.8 mmol is a good figure.
Numbers as low as that (assuming you are measuring in mmol) are pretty much unheard of, since if your Blood glucose was that low you would likely be incapable of taking a test yourself.

Which diabetes medications are you taking - if it's just metformin then there is no need to worry about lows, since it's almost unheard of for metformin to 'cause' a hypo - a hypo being a legitimate reading of below 4.0 mmol.

 

[lovinglife]

The first reading was more than likely a rogue reading, if you had been 1.9 you probably would would have felt it as in shaking, blurred vision, a bit confused, probably unable to function, either a bad strip or not enough blood or if you’d washed your hands and they were still a bit damp

You did the right thing testing again right away- that’s what I do if I get a unexpected reading either low or high 5.8 sounds much more like the correct reading, and a perfect number for 2hrs after food

Going from 1.9 to 5.8 in a couple of minutes isn’t really possible so the take from this is your BG was never 1.9 - can be scary in the moment though

 

[Danny Hyslop]

It could be a bad test strip. Could the blood drop tested have got diluted? 1.9 mmol is very low indeed , 5.8 mmol is a good figure.
Numbers as low as that (assuming you are measuring in mmol) are pretty much unheard of, since if your Blood glucose was that low you would likely be incapable of taking a test yourself.

Which diabetes medications are you taking - if it's just metformin then there is no need to worry about lows, since it's almost unheard of for metformin to 'cause' a hypo - a hypo being a legitimate reading of below 4.0 mmol.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, just on Metformin.