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Type 2 Reading 3.2 not on meds

M

MoonStar1970

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello, my reading in waking was 3.2 which is low for me. No symptoms. Had breakfast and glucose tablet and went up to 6.2 after 15 mins and then 2 hours later 7.1. What causes this, do I need to worry? I did google it and scared myself. Thanks
 
Hi @MoonStar1970 & welcome to the forum :)

The title of your posts says no meds but your about info down the side says you are on oral medication, can you just confirm if you are on any medication for your diabetes directly e.g. metformin Gliclizide etc.

This is so forum members can help you better as it does make a difference to any advice or experiences that they can share with you

In the meantime did you retest when you got the low number to check it was correct? If I get a surprising number I usually do another test to confirm, especially if I get a low test and I feel fine.

If you aren’t on any meds then it’s rare for someone with T2 to have a serious or dangerous hypo, our liver’s usually kick in and dump some glucose to counteract the low. Can be scary though I know :) I’m not any meds that can cause hypos so me personally if I’d felt fine with no symptoms I would have just had my breakfast and skipped the glucose tab.
 
Healthy people not on medications can dip briefly into the 3’s, particularly after a long fast (overnight for example) or after strenuous or extended exercise. In and of itself it’s not automatically dangerous but it’s the possibility dropping further that is the worry. Our bodies are designed to sense this low and dump glucose from the liver to compensate. This event is commonly known as dawn phenomenon or foot on floor syndrome. It’s not restricted to dawn/getting up but is most common at that time.

Medications for diabetes can override this ability (particularly things like insulin or gliclazide) and cause lows that continue to go lower without being able to self rectify. The warnings are mostly aimed at this situation. There are a few other conditions and medications that might cause a low too but they are far less common.

So as a non medicated type 2 (ie a disease of high levels) it’s more than likely you would have risen to a normal level anyway just by getting up. If not breakfast may well have sorted it without the glucose tablet, the extent of that rise dictated significantly by the choice of breakfast. If that’s not the case then obviously the glucose tablet is an option. If it happens a lot you may wish to look into patterns of when and what precedes it and have a chat with the dr.
 
MoonStar1970 said:
Hello, my reading in waking was 3.2 which is low for me. No symptoms. Had breakfast and glucose tablet and went up to 6.2 after 15 mins and then 2 hours later 7.1. What causes this, do I need to worry? I did google it and scared myself. Thanks
Click to expand...

If you aren't taking meds, I wouldn't be too concerned. Did you restest to ensure the reading was true? An errant low reading can be caused by a few things, like hands not being completely dry.

For me, if I have a low reading, but food is imminent, I just have my meal, then test again after maybe half an hour. My food will usually be enough to nudge my numbers up a little. If my food wasn't imminent, I tend to have a cup of tea, or coffee with milk in it. Again, that just nudges the numbers. I have never resorted to glucose tablets.

Again, provided you aren't on strong meds, if your numbers go a bit low, your liver will dump some of it's glucose store to prevent any issues. A medically concerning hypo is rare for any otherwise healthy person on my blood glucose lowering meds.
 
lovinglife said:
In the meantime did you retest when you got the low number to check it was correct? If I get a surprising number I usually do another test to confirm, especially if I get a low test and I feel fine.
Click to expand...
Definitely good advice.

I got a 2.8 result yesterday. Washed my hands, tested again immediately after and got 5.1. To be fair though, this is my first obviously wonky result in 3 months of pretty regular testing, so I'll let my BG meter off this one time!
 
Hello, thank you for your replys. No I am not on any meds. I cant seem to change this on my profile, sorry.
 
MoonStar1970 said:
Hello, thank you for your replys. No I am not on any meds. I cant seem to change this on my profile, sorry.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clearing that up @MoonStar1970 it’s very helpful

To change your info click on your name in the top right hand corner, you’ll get a drop down box, click on account details in that. Then scroll down until you reach treatment type, click in the box and you can select diet only in there - hope that helps
 
Hi, I have tried that but it won’t give me the option to change. It’s showing read only.
 
MoonStar1970 said:
Hi, I have tried that but it won’t give me the option to change. It’s showing read only.
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Oh dear, may be a forum glitch - mine is working fine, I will report it to admin for you see if we can get it sorted
 
MoonStar1970 said:
Hi, I have tried that but it won’t give me the option to change. It’s showing read only.
Click to expand...

Are you on the App or on a browser?

If you are on the app, it does have some limitations. I can't completely remember specific details, but it could be worthwhile logging into your account in a browser and trying there. Your login details will be the same.
 
Hi again @MoonStar1970,

If you are using the app is it possible you could try as suggested above by @AndBreathe first to see if that works before I contact admin? Let me know if you try it and it doesn’t work, thanks
 
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