blood sugar readings advice please

When are you testing? Random tests won't help you. You need to test immediately before you eat, then again 2 hours after your first bite. Look at the difference between the 2 readings. If it is above 2mmol/l there is something in that meal that your body isn't coping with and needs either avoiding or reducing in portion size. This is something to aim for at the beginning. As you learn which food are OK or not OK you can aim for less than a 2mmol/l rise. Keep a food diary (including portions of carbs) and record your levels alongside this. Soon a pattern will emerge and you will begin to see what different foods are doing to you.

The NICE guidelines for Type 2's says
before a meal between 4 and 7
2hrs after under 8.5

However, these are a bit too generous, and generally speaking it is better to aim for under 6 before meals and under 7.8 at 2 hours, or even lower. The lower the better.

Welcome. Good advice from Bluetit. You are new at this and it takes a while to work out how your body reacts to things and what type of diet works for you. I would suggest you download my fitness pal (it is free) and start recording what you eat. This will allow you to see the amounts of carbs, fats, sugars etc you are eating and then you look at what effects your readings.

I am on a low carb high fat diet and it works for me. I keep my carbs low, I really don't go over 40g a day. However, I also have a huge amount of weight to lose.

You will get great advice on here.

Bluetit1802 said:

When are you testing? Random tests won't help you. You need to test immediately before you eat, then again 2 hours after your first bite. Look at the difference between the 2 readings. If it is above 2mmol/l there is something in that meal that your body isn't coping with and needs either avoiding or reducing in portion size. This is something to aim for at the beginning. As you learn which food are OK or not OK you can aim for less than a 2mmol/l rise. Keep a food diary (including portions of carbs) and record your levels alongside this. Soon a pattern will emerge and you will begin to see what different foods are doing to you.

The NICE guidelines for Type 2's says
before a meal between 4 and 7
2hrs after under 8.5

However, these are a bit too generous, and generally speaking it is better to aim for under 6 before meals and under 7.8 at 2 hours, or even lower. The lower the better.

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Hi Bluetit. Just read your reply and thought I'd put it to the test. I took a BS reading at around 6pm tonight and then had my tea which consisted of pasta, chicken, mixed peppers and a 1/3 of a jar of curry sauce. The reading at 6pm was 8.8 and now 2 hours later 8.4. WOO HOO, I think I did something right.

adrian207 said:

Hi Bluetit. Just read your reply and thought I'd put it to the test. I took a BS reading at around 6pm tonight and then had my tea which consisted of pasta, chicken, mixed peppers and a 1/3 of a jar of curry sauce. The reading at 6pm was 8.8 and now 2 hours later 8.4. WOO HOO, I think I did something right.

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That sounds good but I bet you missed the peak after that lot of carbs. I would try again another day.

Bluetit1802 said:

When are you testing? Random tests won't help you. You need to test immediately before you eat, then again 2 hours after your first bite. Look at the difference between the 2 readings. If it is above 2mmol/l there is something in that meal that your body isn't coping with and needs either avoiding or reducing in portion size. This is something to aim for at the beginning. As you learn which food are OK or not OK you can aim for less than a 2mmol/l rise. Keep a food diary (including portions of carbs) and record your levels alongside this. Soon a pattern will emerge and you will begin to see what different foods are doing to you.

The NICE guidelines for Type 2's says
before a meal between 4 and 7
2hrs after under 8.5

However, these are a bit too generous, and generally speaking it is better to aim for under 6 before meals and under 7.8 at 2 hours, or even lower. The lower the better.

Click to expand...

Hi Blutit. great advice as ever. I have worked out what gives me spikes and when. My after 2 hour numbers generally are good. However, after the odd meal after 1 hour I have spiked at say 10.00 started at 5.5. But back at 6.00 after 2 hours. All my reduced numbers are when I have very low carbs and fats/proteins mixed. This a treat maybe twice a week. I have focused a lot on getting the 2 hour numbers right and still dont think I appreciate the impact of the size of the spike in that first hour. I think my phase 1 insulin production is not great but something kicks in to get it down within 2 hours.I will ask my DN too. Is that first hour SO critical. Any further enlightenment would be appreciated.

beatdise said:

Hi Blutit. great advice as ever. I have worked out what gives me spikes and when. My after 2 hour numbers generally are good. However, after the odd meal after 1 hour I have spiked at say 10.00 started at 5.5. But back at 6.00 after 2 hours. All my reduced numbers are when I have very low carbs and fats/proteins mixed. This a treat maybe twice a week. I have focused a lot on getting the 2 hour numbers right and still dont think I appreciate the impact of the size of the spike in that first hour. I think my phase 1 insulin production is not great but something kicks in to get it down within 2 hours.I will ask my DN too. Is that first hour SO critical. Any further enlightenment would be appreciated.

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As everyone experiences a spike soon after eating a meal with carbs, including healthy non-diabetics, this is quite normal and in my opinion not at all critical. The trick is to get the spike down to an acceptable level by about 2 hours. Non-diabetics do this. Type 2's find it harder and come down much more slowly because their insulin isn't working properly. You only have to ask people on here that test their non-diabetic family. Several do. I believe this is the reason the NHS via NICE have guidelines for 2 hours rather than 1 hour. If the 1 hr was so critical there would be guidelines for it. If you Google about you will find information about this. Most say that generally a non-diabetic shouldn't go much above 7.8 at 1 hour, but this must depend on the meal they have just eaten, but in any event should be well on the way back down at 2 hours..

Personally I have always tested at 1 hour and 2 hours. Initially I was much the same at 2 hours as I was at 1 hour after a carb meal. Not good. Now my insulin resistance has improved I am always lower at 2 hours than 1 hour. Last night I started at 4.7 and spiked to 8.0 at an hour, down to 6's at 2 hours and 5's at 2.5hrs. I regard that as OK for a carb meal that included roast spuds, mushy peas, carrots and gravy.

Others may not agree!

Bluetit1802 said:

That sounds good but I bet you missed the peak after that lot of carbs. I would try again another day.

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Hi Bluetit. Did as you said and tried it again today. Took a BS reading at 6pm which read 7.8, had exactly the same to eat as last night (chicken pasta curry) and 2 hours after I had a reading of 8.4. Looks like this chicken pasta curry thing may be ok.

Personally, I try to keep my blood glucose below 7.8 at all times as nerve damage supposedly occurs when it's above 7.8:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045678.php

adrian207 said:

Hi Bluetit. Did as you said and tried it again today. Took a BS reading at 6pm which read 7.8, had exactly the same to eat as last night (chicken pasta curry) and 2 hours after I had a reading of 8.4. Looks like this chicken pasta curry thing may be ok.
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It may be OK for the future, but if I were you I would concentrate on getting those "before" readings down to under 6 to begin with. You can best do this by cutting out the main culprits for now (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, pastry, cereals). Eat as much meat, fish, eggs, cheese, vegetables, salads as you wish. If you absolutely must have pasta etc. have only a very small portion and fill up with extra veg or protein. Once your before levels are down, your post levels will drop accordingly and you can experiment more with pasta. I still think you are missing your peak by just testing at 2 hours. It isn't an exact science. When experimenting it is wise to test at 1 hour, 2hours, 2.5 hours and even 3 hours.

adrian207 said:

Hi Bluetit. Did as you said and tried it again today. Took a BS reading at 6pm which read 7.8, had exactly the same to eat as last night (chicken pasta curry) and 2 hours after I had a reading of 8.4. Looks like this chicken pasta curry thing may be ok.
View attachment 8712

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If you did without the pasta you would probably be lower than that.
I tend not to want go over 6.0 at any time. Why would you want to have a spike anyway just to have a few more carbs and sugars that you don't need.
Control is very important for T2. You feel better and lose weight if you want and your BP, cholestrol, liver function etc, all come down naturally.
Once you find out what spikes you. You shouldn't risk your future health just to eat another portion even if it's something you enjoy. Carbs are hard enough to get rid off in your diet without having to try this or another recipe done differently.
Sorry if this is harsh but because I'm carb and sugar intolerant it just makes me wonder why diabetics want to try foods that literally harms you.

nosher8355 said:

If you did without the pasta you would probably be lower than that.
I tend not to want go over 6.0 at any time. Why would you want to have a spike anyway just to have a few more carbs and sugars that you don't need.
Control is very important for T2. You feel better and lose weight if you want and your BP, cholestrol, liver function etc, all come down naturally.
Once you find out what spikes you. You shouldn't risk your future health just to eat another portion even if it's something you enjoy. Carbs are hard enough to get rid off in your diet without having to try this or another recipe done differently.
Sorry if this is harsh but because I'm carb and sugar intolerant it just makes me wonder why diabetics want to try foods that literally harms you.

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To be fair, that meal didn't spike him at all yesterday. His readings showed a slight drop, which is why I suggested he tried again because with pasta and a third jar of shop bought sauce would spike anybody. That's why he tried it again. However, I agree he should be eliminating as many carbs as he can at this moment in time.

Yes I agree, I found that giving up carbs was difficult almost akin to giving up smoking, alcohol and it's must be like cold turkey for drug abuse.
I would never think about smoking especially and maybe a drop at a special occasion. Would I want to make myself Ill just so I could have a few chips!
I am very wary now of the reaction to foods and I wouldn't wish for anyone to suffer what I've seen in hospitals and read about what happens if you don't control this condition.

nosher8355 said:

If you did without the pasta you would probably be lower than that.
I tend not to want go over 6.0 at any time. Why would you want to have a spike anyway just to have a few more carbs and sugars that you don't need.
Control is very important for T2. You feel better and lose weight if you want and your BP, cholestrol, liver function etc, all come down naturally.
Once you find out what spikes you. You shouldn't risk your future health just to eat another portion even if it's something you enjoy. Carbs are hard enough to get rid off in your diet without having to try this or another recipe done differently.
Sorry if this is harsh but because I'm carb and sugar intolerant it just makes me wonder why diabetics want to try foods that literally harms you.

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Hi Nosher and thank you for your response. The reason I added the pasta was due to the fact that I have to have them (apparently) in respect to my heart attack recovery. I was told by nurses in hospital that I would need to have 3 meals a day all of which had to contain some form of carbs to help build the heart back up again and as I am new to this game I felt it wise to take this advice. I do however feel a lot better since I have cut down on meal portion sizes and yes I'm losing weight at the same time but again this is something that I need to keep an eye on. I am also taking note of what I eat and monitoring BS levels frequently and as my chart shows I am starting to see an 8.0 - 9.0 range which is where I was told I needed to be (again by hospital staff). By this time next week I am hoping to be in the 6.5 - 8.0 range................watch this space.

adrian207 said:

Hi Nosher and thank you for your response. The reason I added the pasta was due to the fact that I have to have them (apparently) in respect to my heart attack recovery. I was told by nurses in hospital that I would need to have 3 meals a day all of which had to contain some form of carbs to help build the heart back up again and as I am new to this game I felt it wise to take this advice. I do however feel a lot better since I have cut down on meal portion sizes and yes I'm losing weight at the same time but again this is something that I need to keep an eye on. I am also taking note of what I eat and monitoring BS levels frequently and as my chart shows I am starting to see an 8.0 - 9.0 range which is where I was told I needed to be (again by hospital staff). By this time next week I am hoping to be in the 6.5 - 8.0 range................watch this space.

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Hi Adrian,
Yes I understand that, you are doing well. Sometimes the advice is too many carbs and you wonder why nothing happens to your BSLs.
I had years of not knowing or understanding what carbs can do to you. How much exercise can you do, even a short walk can help lower your BSLs.
Let us know how you are doing, you are on the right track.

OOOOPS, sorry Gazza1. Looks like I've highjacked your thread. I'll start another one..........................sorry

Make sure you get enough insulin