Am I recording my bg correctly?

[coby]

After much deliberation I started to use a meter to test my glucose levels four days ago.
A big step for me ... as some of you may be aware!
The question I have relates to this morning's readings.
I never test in the morning as I don't have the time ... but today I awoke at 5.30 and had just enough time to read before and after my breakfast.
I took a reading at 6.15am so I think that's classed as a 'fasting' one ... yes? The reading was 5.6
Then I made my usual home made muesli breafast, adding fresh strawberries and some dried apricots, and doused in almond milk.
I took the second reading exactly two hours after my first mouthful of food (is that right, to count from then?)
Ny reading was 5.2 ... so even lower than the first one!!!
How can that be?
I thought it would probably be about 7 something!
Have I done something wrong or could this be a correct reading?
Many thanks for any explanation/advise

 

[Somersetandy]

Mine are like that sometimes.allways wash your hands prior to testing as it can put your readings out by quite a bit

 

[ChrisSamsDad]

No, that sounds good to me, if you're on target your BG should return to baseline after 2 hours. BG is often a bit higher first thing in the morning is that your body (specifically your liver) brings up your BG level as part of the waking up process. However, 0.4 is just a normal variation.

You can be very happy with this result - if I eat a decent-sized portion of muesli and dried fruit, I'll spike up to about 10 or 12 after an hour and be lucky to get back to 7 or 8 after another hour. You might be interested to test after an hour and then again at 2 hours, most people don't worry too much about the hourly result, but you might see a difference when eating low vs high GI food. I would have thought muesli was low GI, so wouldn't spike as high after an hour, but would take you longer to get back to normal.

 

[Neohdiver]

You might want to test at 1 hour. It is fantastic that you are back down in 2 horus, but the spikes also matter - and you likely missed that. You might want to test at 1 hours after your first bite to get a better picture.

 

[Robbity]

As@ Neohdiver says, it's sometimes useful to test at other times post meals too - depending on what you've eaten, as all "hidden" levels have an impact on you (and your eventual HbA1c test results). So I'd agree with testing at 1 hour - that's when more sugary fruits (e.g. such as your dried apricots)are likely to cause (me certainly!) spikes. I often see a lower post meal level too, and it's generally related to what proportions of carbs, protein and fat I've just eaten. After a while you should be able to see such patterns in your readings, which can be useful in managing your diet.

Robbity

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

5.2 two hours after a carb rich breakfast like that? Are you sure you have diabetes?

 

[chalup]

After much deliberation I started to use a meter to test my glucose levels four days ago.
A big step for me ... as some of you may be aware!
The question I have relates to this morning's readings.
I never test in the morning as I don't have the time ... but today I awoke at 5.30 and had just enough time to read before and after my breakfast.
I took a reading at 6.15am so I think that's classed as a 'fasting' one ... yes? The reading was 5.6
Then I made my usual home made muesli breafast, adding fresh strawberries and some dried apricots, and doused in almond milk.
I took the second reading exactly two hours after my first mouthful of food (is that right, to count from then?)
Ny reading was 5.2 ... so even lower than the first one!!!
How can that be?
I thought it would probably be about 7 something!
Have I done something wrong or could this be a correct reading?
Many thanks for any explanation/advise

Those are very good numbers and as others have said you will have missed the spike at around 1 hour. That your number is back to baseline at 2 hours is a very good sign for you. When you eat your body releases insulin and as a type 2 often a bit too much as it takes a lot of insulin to overcome insulin resistance. If it is a bit too much you will see a slightly lower number at 2 hours, if it is a lot too much you would get wild swings from very high to very low and that is reactive hypoglycemia. It looks to me as if you are doing very well.

 

[coby]

You might want to test at 1 hour. It is fantastic that you are back down in 2 horus, but the spikes also matter - and you likely missed that. You might want to test at 1 hours after your first bite to get a better picture.

Oh well thank you for telling me this, because I thought two hours was the time it would reach the highest reading (I still have so much to learn) and then it would start to return to whatever would be normal for each individual. I will try to remember to do this on Sunday morning as I have a little more time for a change this weekend. Things are still quite confusing for me but I am aware that I'm starting to get to grips with some information now.

 

[coby]

As@ Neohdiver says, it's sometimes useful to test at other times post meals too - depending on what you've eaten, as all "hidden" levels have an impact on you (and your eventual HbA1c test results). So I'd agree with testing at 1 hour - that's when more sugary fruits (e.g. such as your dried apricots)are likely to cause (me certainly!) spikes. I often see a lower post meal level too, and it's generally related to what proportions of carbs, protein and fat I've just eaten. After a while you should be able to see such patterns in your readings, which can be useful in managing your diet.

Robbity

WOW Robbity! Your cholesterol is absolutely amazing! Mine always lingered at around 7 for as long as I can recall, but is down to 6 now. So wish I could get it to a normal level. My GP suggested Statins but I refused.

 

[coby]

5.2 two hours after a carb rich breakfast like that? Are you sure you have diabetes?

Just read your diabetic history there and am wondering if you did anything apart from food changes? If not the best way ... we do at least become far more aware of our own bodies/health and fitness don't we. Congrats on your wonderful results

 

[coby]

5.2 two hours after a carb rich breakfast like that? Are you sure you have diabetes?

NoCrbs4Me I had to smile at you asking if I had diabetes as I'm not yet coming to terms with it even 8 months after diagnosis! I meet none of the criteria for being diabetic, and nobody in my family line has ever had it. I started to get tingly fingers about five months before diagnosis, and couldn't understand why. I was sent to be tested by my Optician after telling him how my eyesight suddenly went perfectly clear on New Years day 2016. I only wear reading glasses, but they became blurry as if something was on them, and I took them off for the umpteenth time while doing some computer work, then noticed that I could see the screen perfectly!!! This lasted for a couple of days then slowly returned to 'normal' for me. I was absolutely convinced that my Optician was wasting his time by having me tested so the shock was immense ( still is).

 

[Neohdiver]

Oh well thank you for telling me this, because I thought two hours was the time it would reach the highest reading (I still have so much to learn) and then it would start to return to whatever would be normal for each individual. I will try to remember to do this on Sunday morning as I have a little more time for a change this weekend. Things are still quite confusing for me but I am aware that I'm starting to get to grips with some information now.

You were probably confused, because the most common medical/diabetes society information is to test at 2 hours and make sure it is below 10 (the American Diabets Association and my doctor's advice). Neither of those entities really seem to care about tight control. To the extent I can help it, I never let mine get above 7.8.

If you are really curious about timing you can test every 15 minutes and get a curve - but it will change depending on how quickly the food converts to glucose. I've never been that curious. But I nearly always find my 1 hour reading higher than my 2 hour reading (one reading last week was 2.8 points higher at 1 hour than 2 - that's the biggest difference I can recall, but it is frequently drops by 1.4 points by 2 hours after eating).

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Just read your diabetic history there and am wondering if you did anything apart from food changes? If not the best way ... we do at least become far more aware of our own bodies/health and fitness don't we. Congrats on your wonderful results

No, just LCHF.

 

[Robbity]

WOW Robbity! Your cholesterol is absolutely amazing! Mine always lingered at around 7 for as long as I can recall, but is down to 6 now. So wish I could get it to a normal level. My GP suggested Statins but I refused.

My results in the 4s are only average, but the 2.7 one is definitely NOT something to be impressed by as it's on the verge of being far too low. Our bodies need cholesterol and will make it independently (generally!) of what we eat.

The figures that you should be interested in though are the breakdown into HDL and LDL rather than the overall figure: LDL should be nice and low.

Robbity