After how long after eating is 90 mins, 2 hours and 3 hours?

charlie000

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I know we are supposed to prick test 90 mins, 2 hours and 3 hours after eating. But do we need to consider 90 mins, after allowing our bodies to digest food?

Is factoring in 30 - 45 mins after eating a good amount, and then checking 90 mins after that or what?

What is the best time?
 

bulkbiker

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Most people start timing from first mouthful.. consistency is key rather than absolutes as meters aren't exact accurate instruments.
 

kyler

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I tend to agree with Bulkbiker being consistence is the way to go I test 2hr/2:15 after stating to eat
 

britishpub

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I know we are supposed to prick test 90 mins, 2 hours and 3 hours after eating.

Are we ? There is'nt a rule book as far as I am aware of.

Finger prick testing is in no way an exact science, so there can be no exact guidelines.

Personally I have never bothered with all this testing milarky, but then I'm too tight to buy too many strips.
 
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Bluetit1802

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Testing at any time should be timed from the first bite, not after you have finished eating.

What have you been doing up to now?
 

charlie000

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Testing at any time should be timed from the first bite, not after you have finished eating.

What have you been doing up to now?
I have been testing as soon as I have finished my meal, 90 mins, 2 hours, factoring in the time i started to eat being the result
 

Bluetit1802

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I have been testing as soon as I have finished my meal, 90 mins, 2 hours, factoring in the time i started to eat

Try doing it from first bite, which is the recommended way because glucose hits the blood stream fairly quickly, some foods as soon as it touches the tongue, and this is how OGTT tests are conducted.
 

charlie000

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Try doing it from first bite, which is the recommended way because glucose hits the blood stream fairly quickly, some foods as soon as it touches the tongue, and this is how OGTT tests are conducted.
I will do this tomorrow! So as soon as I take my first bite, do a test? And then when should I do my next test? 90 mins, 2 hour sand then 3 hour?

Right now I am doing 20 hour fasts on a daily basis. I'm very used to it. I easily get in 8 hours of no food or drink except water, and then I test my result is never more than 5.2 but commonly 4.4 - 4.8
 

Bluetit1802

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I will do this tomorrow! So as soon as I take my first bite, do a test? And then when should I do my next test? 90 mins, 2 hour sand then 3 hour?

Right now I am doing 20 hour fasts on a daily basis. I'm very used to it. I easily get in 8 hours of no food or drink except water, and then I test my result is never more than 5.2 but commonly 4.4 - 4.8

Test immediately before your first bite, then at whatever times you chose counting from then, whether it be an hour or 4 hours. Always from first bite.
 

charlie000

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Test immediately before your first bite, then at whatever times you chose counting from then, whether it be an hour or 4 hours. Always from first bite.
I understand now. I don't test as much before my first bite, other than when waking up, and then my first meal is my lunch, as I am fasting.

Tomorrow I will test before hand. 90 mins after my first bite, 2 hours after my first bite, and then 3 hours after my first bite. Is fasting glucose level more important than the post meal ones?
 

Bluetit1802

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Is fasting glucose level more important than the post meal ones?

They are all important. As time passes and we know what to eat, what to expect, and have everything under control, then testing becomes less important, but in order to keep an eye on matters, we often test first thing after getting up and watch out for trends upwards. I personally test morning fasting and before my evening meal. I don't need to test at any other time.
 

charlie000

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They are all important. As time passes and we know what to eat, what to expect, and have everything under control, then testing becomes less important, but in order to keep an eye on matters, we often test first thing after getting up and watch out for trends upwards. I personally test morning fasting and before my evening meal. I don't need to test at any other time.
Do you do any meal tests, pre meal post meal?

I don't have an evening meal, I have a lunch time meal at around 1-2pm. But I do test before bed.
 

Bluetit1802

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Do you do any meal tests, pre meal post meal?

I don't have an evening meal, I have a lunch time meal at around 1-2pm. But I do test before bed.

I used to, but I am 5 years along this journey with a stable diet. I have no need to test after meals unless I am curious or have eaten some new concoction. From time to time I wear a Libre sensor, usually when on holiday, just to make sure I am still on track.
 
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What is the best time?
I test six times a day, when i first get up in the morning is the fasting bgl. Then just before and two hours after the first mouthful of my meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
 
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I understand now. I don't test as much before my first bite, other than when waking up, and then my first meal is my lunch, as I am fasting.

Tomorrow I will test before hand. 90 mins after my first bite, 2 hours after my first bite, and then 3 hours after my first bite. Is fasting glucose level more important than the post meal ones?
The 90min, 2hour, 3hours after food give you an indication of how your body reacts to that food, if they go up you are still getting sugar out of that food, if they go down, you have got all the sugar out of that food and using it, its more about what foods take how long for the sugars working in your body, each food is different, each body is different, my hubby, has a lot of fruit and that works for him
 
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Cocosilk

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I understand now. I don't test as much before my first bite, other than when waking up, and then my first meal is my lunch, as I am fasting.

Tomorrow I will test before hand. 90 mins after my first bite, 2 hours after my first bite, and then 3 hours after my first bite. Is fasting glucose level more important than the post meal ones?

Test at 30 mins and 60 mins as well as just before eating, 90 mins and 120 mins. And then at 3 hours and/or before next meal. Cover all your bases ;) . Then you might see the rise and fall and be able to make a graph and compare it to what looks normal and what looks diabetic. But if your metre is anything like mine, it can vary by 0.6 of a point (probably even more) so the readings may not always be accurate. So check by testing once 3 or 4 times in a row with the blood from the same pin prick. Waste of strips if you have to pay for them but mine were subsidised quite a bit so I was experimenting a lot in the first few weeks. Now, after a few months, I skip tests if I've eaten a low carb meal that I am already familiar with. My fingers are sore. :p

And while you are in the finger pricking mood, test right before you go to sleep, then once between 3am and 4am, and then again when you wake before you get out of bed in the morning, and then again before you eat breakfast if more than an hour has passed between waking and eating breakfast. That way you can also track whether you go low in the night and end up higher by morning, or whether you stay high through the night. You'll have to look up the Dawn Phenomenon and the Somogyi effect and work out what the level in the middle of the night means. And then when you've done all those tests, please post the results here so we can see!

Oh, and the last thing, do this before and after meal testing for at least two different kinds of meals. One meal should have a reasonable amount of carbs in it - make a pasta or a sandwich for example. If you are only eating low carb meals, your levels will look closer to a non-diabetic potentially so you'll want to see how high you spike and how long it takes to return to base after eating a meal with carbs in it to get a real picture of how your body is handling the carbs.
 
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Guzzler

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Test at 30 mins and 60 mins as well as just before eating, 90 mins and 120 mins. And then at 3 hours and/or before next meal. Cover all your bases ;) . Then you might see the rise and fall and be able to make a graph and compare it to what looks normal and what looks diabetic. But if your metre is anything like mine, it can vary by 0.6 of a point (probably even more) so the readings may not always be accurate. So check by testing once 3 or 4 times in a row with the blood from the same pin prick. Waste of strips if you have to pay for them but mine were subsidised quite a bit so I was experimenting a lot in the first few weeks. Now, after a few months, I skip tests if I've eaten a low carb meal that I am already familiar with. My fingers are sore. :p

And while you are in the finger pricking mood, test right before you go to sleep, then once between 3am and 4am, and then again when you wake before you get out of bed in the morning, and then again before you eat breakfast if more than an hour has passed between waking and eating breakfast. That way you can also track whether you go low in the night and end up higher by morning, or whether you stay high through the night. You'll have to look up the Dawn Phenomenon and the Somogyi effect and work out what the level in the middle of the night means. And then when you've done all those tests, please post the results here so we can see!

Oh, and the last thing, do this before and after meal testing for at least two different kinds of meals. One meal should have a reasonable amount of carbs in it - make a pasta or a sandwich for example. If you are only eating low carb meals, your levels will look closer to a non-diabetic potentially so you'll want to see how high you spike and how long it takes to return to base after eating a meal with carbs in it to get a real picture of how your body is handling the carbs.

Wow! I must say I have never done this. Please be aware that the OP is unemployed and self funding test strips.

It would be easier to get a cgm and as the OP has suffered sleep disturbance this would factor in too.
 

Cocosilk

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Wow! I must say I have never done this. Please be aware that the OP is unemployed and self funding test strips.

It would be easier to get a cgm and as the OP has suffered sleep disturbance this would factor in too.

Clearly advice only for the obsessive ;). I was obsessed during my first couple of weeks. I felt like a science experiment to myself. But the cost of strips was not an issue for me and I wake once or twice a night to pee being very pregnant and having toddlers in the house who also wake me so there was not much adjustment to my lifestyle, except I do have sore fingers now...

You only have to test like this for a day and then do the night time thing a week later and you can find out a lot. I think once you work out what your regular meals are doing to you and tweak them (lower the carb element and up the fats and maybe proteins, or just eat a few more veges) you won't have to test much after that once you get confident that what you've just put in your mouth isn't going to give you too much of a rise. Is that how you feel?

And for sure, if you are not sleeping well, that probably affects your morning fasting levels, and possibly overall blood sugar levels, doesn't it? Don't wake yourself up for a test then if you are sleeping soundly. But if you happen to be up in the night for some other reason, do a quick test and see, otherwise if my morning fasting levels were in the normal range, I wouldn't worry about it.
 

charlie000

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Wow! I must say I have never done this. Please be aware that the OP is unemployed and self funding test strips.

It would be easier to get a cgm and as the OP has suffered sleep disturbance this would factor in too.

What is a CGM? Still working on my sleep pattern. It’s the last thing left to get things in order

Gym - going well
Food - going well
General activity - going well

Sleep - not good. I keep falling asleep late around 2-3am, then having to wake up. At 11.

My BG this morning was 4.4mmol, and night before 4.4mmol. I went on a 5 mile walk before my first meal and came gone and my BG was 5mmol.