Fasting bloods

[Tazbo]

How do your bloods fluctuate so much from one morning to another I'm pre diabetic

 

[Evesam]

Try to keep below 5.5 but was 5.7 this morning, although I didn't really have much in terms of carbs last night. Perhaps the way to go is to measure 2 hours after meals to see what effect a particular food is having. Sometimes, it's down to the overall calories consumed over a day (I think!). I will enrol on the low-carb programme for 3 months to see if that helps.

 

[Tazbo]

Try to keep below 5.5 but was 5.7 this morning, although I didn't really have much in terms of carbs last night. Perhaps the way to go is to measure 2 hours after meals to see what effect a particular food is having. Sometimes, it's down to the overall calories consumed over a day (I think!). I will enrol on the low-carb programme for 3 months to see if that helps.

I was 7.2 yesterday and 6.5 this morning

 

[JoKalsbeek]

How do your bloods fluctuate so much from one morning to another I'm pre diabetic

In the morning, your liver dumps stored glucose to give you energy to start the day. It's called Dawn Phenomenon, and it happens to basically everyone, but because of our insulin resistance you might be a bit high. As you cut carbs, the glucose stored in your liver will be reduced, and your FBG will do down. Takes a long time though. It's better to keep an eye on the difference between right before a meal, and 2 hours after first bite. (Shouldn't go up more than 2.0 mmol/l). That tells you more about where you're at, and whether your meal was too carby for your body to handle.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Try to keep below 5.5 but was 5.7 this morning, although I didn't really have much in terms of carbs last night. Perhaps the way to go is to measure 2 hours after meals to see what effect a particular food is having. Sometimes, it's down to the overall calories consumed over a day (I think!). I will enrol on the low-carb programme for 3 months to see if that helps.

Calories don't matter, bloodsugar-wise. It's all down to the carbs.

 

[Deleted Account]

How do your bloods fluctuate so much from one morning to another

Because, there are many things that affect our BG - food, alcohol. exercise, stress, illness, drugs, weather, ...

 

[Glink]

Yes, many things affect FBG, including the quality of sleep you had, what you ate the night before, how warm/cool you are, etc.

However, home testing has a pretty big margin of error as well. I have read that home glucose metres have about a 15% margin of error, meaning that the differences between those 2 readings may not mean anything at all. (And that's assuming nothing has happened to the strips that might compromise accuracy.) Frustrating, but unless it's a real outlier, looking at trends might be more useful than an individual day.

ETA - A 15% margin of error effectively means that if the "actual" blood sugar is 6.5, the meter might read anything from a 5.5 to a 7.5, which seems a HUGE difference on the face of it but could be meaningless. Accuracy for lower blood sugars is also better than for higher blood sugars for some reason!

 

[Alison Campbell]

for some reason!

Meters were designed to help prevent hypoglycemia so this is prioritised with higer accuracy levels.

 

[Evesam]

Thanks for this Jokalsbeek. Is it possible then or likely, due to Dawn Phenomenon, that BG in the morning can potentially be higher than it was after meal at night?
Have only recently started measuring post-meal occasionally, so maybe good idea to do this.
Has anyone been on low-carb programme? Is this worthwhile?

 

[Member496333]

I’d go one step further than ‘possible’ or ‘likely’ and suggest ‘almost certain’

Entirely normal to have at least slightly elevated blood glucose in the morning. I’m my experience the measurable effect takes a long time and a lot of discipline to beat. I believe you really need to be returning to good insulin sensitivity in order to get a grip on your liver in the early hours.

 

[T2_2018]

Hi,
Here is an example of what seems to be a fairly repeatable dawn phenomenon pattern for me on a very low carb day, all measured by a Libre sensor which seems to read 1.5 lower than my blood tests (so look at the relative changes rather than the actual numbers).

I got up at about 6am, and had no breakfast but you can see my levels rose by around 1.5 and then just slowly got lower throughout the day. Cheese, salted peanuts, tuna and chicken got me through the day, easily less than 10g of carbs in total all day so I was expecting a flat line day. I guess this isn't a huge "Dawn Phenomenon" but in the past when I tried to measure this with just finger pricks I suspect it used to be a much bigger but after ~6 months of low carb things seem to be going really well right now.

 

[Alexandra100]

easily less than 10g of carbs in total all day so I was expecting a flat line day

You do realise that bg also rises in response to eating protein? Dr Bernstein tells his patients that the effect of protein on bg is about half that of the same amount of carbs. I personally am currently eating under 10g carbs daily, sometimes under 7, but I still see my bg rise more than I want. SO unfair!!! He also says bg can rise after eating pebbles or sawdust, but I have not tried this.

 

[T2_2018]

You do realise that bg also rises in response to eating protein? Dr Bernstein tells his patients that the effect of protein on bg is about half that of the same amount of carbs. I personally am currently eating under 10g carbs daily, sometimes under 7, but I still see my bg rise more than I want. SO unfair!!! He also says bg can rise after eating pebbles or sawdust, but I have not tried this.

Yes, sorry I was being a bit flippant saying flat line day It does go all over the place of its own accord, but now I have a sensor I have allowed myself to try a few different types of carbs and they are so roller coaster that it really helps me appreciate how much control low carbing has even if might not always look that way.

 

[Jaylee]

You do realise that bg also rises in response to eating protein? Dr Bernstein tells his patients that the effect of protein on bg is about half that of the same amount of carbs. I personally am currently eating under 10g carbs daily, sometimes under 7, but I still see my bg rise more than I want. SO unfair!!! He also says bg can rise after eating pebbles or sawdust, but I have not tried this.

Probably due to the stress swallowing rocks & hamster cage liner..?
Could you possibly send a link via PM regarding this factoid?

 

[PenguinMum]

I’d go one step further than ‘possible’ or ‘likely’ and suggest ‘almost certain’

Entirely normal to have at least slightly elevated blood glucose in the morning. I’m my experience the measurable effect takes a long time and a lot of discipline to beat. I believe you really need to be returning to good insulin sensitivity in order to get a grip on your liver in the early hours.

Hey Jim that is a comfort to me. I have been doing this woe for a year and my current HBA1cis 33 but my FBG continues to be mostly in the 6s which does get me down sometimes. I cannot do IF for various reasons but I have cut out snacks to help. I dont think my HBA1c reflects my challenges. Thanks so much. X

 

[Jaylee]

I was 7.2 yesterday and 6.5 this morning

Hi there!
Technically, there is only 0.7Mmol difference in the two (assuming morning?) readings..
Still a safe range.
From my own personal experience as a T1 (so other variables like basal insulin & wot not.)
I can take a waking reading of 5.1? Then after my morning routine before anything touches my mouth. Shower, dressed, walk the dog, defrost the van.. Test in at 6.5 or 7. It's just my liver helping me hit the ground running...

 

[DCUKMod]

Thanks for this Jokalsbeek. Is it possible then or likely, due to Dawn Phenomenon, that BG in the morning can potentially be higher than it was after meal at night?
Have only recently started measuring post-meal occasionally, so maybe good idea to do this.
Has anyone been on low-carb programme? Is this worthwhile?

Evesam, I don't want to deflect the thread too much, but many people have had great success using the Low Carb Programme.

You might find this YouTube video (which is getting on a bit now) useful, as it talks about some of the outcomes.

Good luck on your journey.

 

[AngiH]

Hi, I too am prediabetic and my morning fasting levels are always around 6.5 and I eat very little carb. Today was an exception and I saw 5.8 which was great...but I've no doubt the 6's will be back tomorrow. Good luck, I'm on the Low Carb diet and loving it and how I feel.