Freestyle Libré 2

[BigAlan]

Hi folks.

I was in a Costa recently and saw a man checking his sugars by using his phone on the arm sensor. I legged it over and asked if he was testing his sugars. Yes, he was so I asked him if he liked the setup.

Turns out he wasn't diabetic but had a liver transplant so had to check his glucose for that. He was really helpful and I was so impressed I decided to go for a free trial.

Duly arrived and used for 4 days then it stopped working, probably because of the bath water, hey ho. Abbots sent another sensor for me and thats been going good.

Right, thats the back story bit. It has revolutionised my life 100%.

I am having some issues that I would humbly like your imput with if I may.

During the night, the BS is stable at 5.8 to 6.1. Checked several times at toilet visits.lol.

When the wake up, morning alarm goes off and I get out of bed, whinging where the night went, my sugars, will shoot up from 6.1 to 8.5, 8.7, 9.0 etc.

I have a good drink of water and they go down again to 6.7 ish. Why is this please ?

Each toilet visit I have a good drink, maybe 500- 600ml each time but they stay the same as before the drink durinh the night.

When in the gym, the sugars rise from 7.1 to 9.5, 10, 10.5 etc. ( Aerobic or weight, no food taken etc)

I take it this is due to making my muscles work. These sugars, ( they are called Sally.lol. ) soon go down after 20 mins post exercise.

Costa flat whites, / full cream milk, 300mls, reduce the numbers by 1.1, boiled potatoes, 50g, put them up 0.3mmols.

Random times when sat still the BS will go to 10, 10.5 10.6 etc then drop almost imediatly down to 6.1.

Finally, I am getting really paranoid.

FOOD WISE.

I cook at home, all fresh, organic healthy food based on a Carnivor diet.

Big steaks, chicken, Fish, etc. No problems eating copious amounts but I cook for my non T2 wife.

Today I made a quiche with pastry, some pasties and a glorious 10 seed, Granary bread loaf.

I put some on my plate but never ate it because it was carbs. The guilt was absolutly mortifying and I just knew it would raise SALLY from 7.1 to probably 9.1 +. Then, with a lot of cold water, about 700 to 1000ml it would come down but the guilt was overwhelming so I never ate.

Is this normal ?

Any help pointers / answers for my questions would be really helpful


Thank you in anticipation.

Alan.

 

[Lor67]

Alan , I can’t help with your questions , sorry . I just wanted to say , as a newly diagnosed T2, your message resonated with me . I hope you get the answers you need . Keep your sense of humour !
Kindest regards , Lorna

 

[lovinglife]

This is the very reason I’ve never used a CGM, eating disorder in my past that I’ve in the main overcome but I know having a CGM would be more hindrance than help. I’d be obsessing, back to disordered eating and triggering my unhealthy associations with food.

There’s a lot to learn about using a CGM and what & why your numbers mean, I do test with a finger prick, not all the time but new meals/foods, if something doesn’t feel right, and once a month I’ll do a full week of intensive testing just to make sure I’m on track I eat keto Mediterranean diet so all food cooked from scratch, fresh veg, chicken fats from good oils, very little dairy

 

[KennyA]

Hi folks.

I was in a Costa recently and saw a man checking his sugars by using his phone on the arm sensor. I legged it over and asked if he was testing his sugars. Yes, he was so I asked him if he liked the setup.

Turns out he wasn't diabetic but had a liver transplant so had to check his glucose for that. He was really helpful and I was so impressed I decided to go for a free trial.

Duly arrived and used for 4 days then it stopped working, probably because of the bath water, hey ho. Abbots sent another sensor for me and thats been going good.

Right, thats the back story bit. It has revolutionised my life 100%.

I am having some issues that I would humbly like your imput with if I may.

During the night, the BS is stable at 5.8 to 6.1. Checked several times at toilet visits.lol.

When the wake up, morning alarm goes off and I get out of bed, whinging where the night went, my sugars, will shoot up from 6.1 to 8.5, 8.7, 9.0 etc.

I have a good drink of water and they go down again to 6.7 ish. Why is this please ?

Each toilet visit I have a good drink, maybe 500- 600ml each time but they stay the same as before the drink durinh the night.

When in the gym, the sugars rise from 7.1 to 9.5, 10, 10.5 etc. ( Aerobic or weight, no food taken etc)

I take it this is due to making my muscles work. These sugars, ( they are called Sally.lol. ) soon go down after 20 mins post exercise.

Costa flat whites, / full cream milk, 300mls, reduce the numbers by 1.1, boiled potatoes, 50g, put them up 0.3mmols.

Random times when sat still the BS will go to 10, 10.5 10.6 etc then drop almost imediatly down to 6.1.

Finally, I am getting really paranoid.

FOOD WISE.

I cook at home, all fresh, organic healthy food based on a Carnivor diet.

Big steaks, chicken, Fish, etc. No problems eating copious amounts but I cook for my non T2 wife.

Today I made a quiche with pastry, some pasties and a glorious 10 seed, Granary bread loaf.

I put some on my plate but never ate it because it was carbs. The guilt was absolutly mortifying and I just knew it would raise SALLY from 7.1 to probably 9.1 +. Then, with a lot of cold water, about 700 to 1000ml it would come down but the guilt was overwhelming so I never ate.

Is this normal ?

Any help pointers / answers for my questions would be really helpful


Thank you in anticipation.

Alan.

Hi.

Couple of points that might help. First off, whatever method of testing your blood you use, there are inaccuracies. It's acceptable for there to be up to 15% error 95% of the time for most systems in most countries. In practical terms this means that a true BG value of 6.0mmol/l could see a test value returned of anything from 5.0mmol/l to 6.9mmol/l - and that would be "accurate". Most of the time results will be much more accurate, but (imo) it doesn't do to get hung up on single readings or minor differences.

Second point is that while carbs in food is the single biggest influence on BG, your liver is also constantly adjusting BG levels in response to various stimuli. Livers are difficult to control and seem to be slow learners, so they will go on trying to keep us at higher BG levels if that's what they're used to. I think it took mine about six months to adjust. Most of your energy stores are in your muscles already in the form of glycogen (there's about a day's worth) so - for example - in response to exercise the liver is making new glucose to replenish those stores, not to fuel muscles directly. If you're "fat adapted" and essentially running on some amount of body fat as well as food, the situation is a bit more complex.

Many of us get a "dawn phenomenon" where liver action will go on raising BG until the liver gets a signal to stop. I found that three almonds would reassure my liver, and it would stop making glucose: maybe your liver is happy when you have the water.

In general eating anything carby will raise BG. This is perfectly normal and to be expected, and it happenes to non-diabetic people as well. People's BG levels go up and down all the time in response to many things, food mainly. I'm attaching a bit of research done on non-diabetic people using CGMs. This was done to establish what "normal" looked like, but you'll see that it doesn't mean steady BGs. Also a pic of a CGM graph showing a non-diabetic person's BGs in reaction to stress rather than food.

Continuous Glucose Profiles in Healthy Subjects under Everyday Life Conditions and after Different Meals - PMC

This study investigated continuous glucose profiles in nondiabetic subjects. Continuous interstitial glucose measurement was performed under everyday life conditions (2 days) and after ingestion of four meals with standardized carbohydrate content ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Best of luck. Sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[Davidden]

I like the convenience with CGM (Libre 2 Plus) of not having to stick my finger(s) every day, but do find the sensors to be "variable"! This month my DN got me started on Dapagliflozin and reduced my insulin to zero - the sensor I was using recorded falling blood glucose levels, and ended up 100% in range, with my average down to 6.9 - best I have ever had. I did the occasional fingerprick, which was always around 2 higher than the sensor (in the past it has been up to 4 higher!) On Saturday I replaced the sensor, and so far have 4% out of range (upper limit), and my average has risen to 7.7. The only fingerprick so far was just 0.4 higher than the sensor - never had a reading that close before. I am careful with my diet, but not fanatically so, but the signs so far are good, except that I am not sure how accurate the sensors are - I have had them in the past that have recorded 80% out of range!