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BS HIgh All Day?

lucylocket61

lucylocket61

Expert
Messages
6,394
Location
Wrexham
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
My DSN has me taking my fasting morning reading. I told her it is around 7.4 most mornings.

She said that if it starts off high in the morning, it will remain high all day. But gave me no idea of how to lower my reading. Said that losing weight and metformin will gradually take care of it.

My experience is that it reduces during the day, but she doesnt believe me and has told me to stop sticking my finger as it is making me anxious and 7.5 is nothing to worry about.

Am I right to think that low carbs and exercise is reducing my bs levels during the day or is it co-incidental? and is 7.4 in the morning too high or not?
 
Dear Lucy,

My fasting from bed are always c. 6/7 but it is NOT true that if readings are high in the morning they will stay high all day. I am not sufficiently qualified to help you further - I am sorry.
 
Hi Lucy!

When I was with the Diabetes specialist Nurse last week at the hospital,she told me that fasted morning readings need to be 7 or below and that is the target I'm aiming for,I believe many Type 2's levels reduce during the day as breakfast time is when any insulin resistance is at it's highest so you may find 2 hours after breakfast you are running at a lower level than when you first woke and tested.(I may have got this completely wrong so I apologise in advance if I have)
 
Hi Lucy! It's nonsense to say that if it starts high it will be high all day. Also nonsense to say that metformin will take care of it. Metformin will help a little, but it's the weight loss (lowering insulin resistance) and diet (lowering the blood glucose response to food) that will help you.
Fasting BG's always seem to be the last to come down when we reduce carbs to control BGs, so don't get over concerned. The Dawn phenomenon seems stronger when we're first diagnosed and for some time after as well. Just stick to your carb routine. It helped my morning levels a little by making sure I ate NOTHING two hours before bed. If you go to bed with raised levels, we don't then do much (well, much of the time!) to lower them. An endocrinologist told me that T2's on diet only/metformin tend to "straight line" during the night unless we go to bed with very high levels. Also worth a ten minute only fairly vigorous exercise 1 hour after the evening meal (could be just walking up and down stairs) to get the peak level down quicker and further.
Personally, I'd ignore fasting levels for now and stick to testing two hours after eating. If you're not below 7.8 then, cut out some of the carbs in that meal next time.
 
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