Confused by blood sugar readings....

Sarah-b

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
6 minutes ago ·
Hello - I'm newly diagnosed Type 2 after having an A1C of 51. My GP has not prescribed meds, just given (pretty sketchy) nutritional advice.

They said a blood sugar monitor was unnecessary but I bought one as I want to deduce which foods cause spikes in myself.

So today I have been tracking my blood sugar and am a bit confused by the results.

Morning: Before food after 2 cups tea 1/2 tsp sugar (am cutting down from 2!!) per cup - 7.8

Lunch - roasted tomatoes, wholegrain multiseed bread, butter

2hrs after - 12.8

4hrs after - 5.1

Tea 1/2 sugar

one hour after - 10.8

Why has my blood sugar jumped from 5.1 4hrs after lunch to 10.8 - all I've had is the cup of tea, was it the 1/2 tsp sugar?

I'm somewhat confused as to what I should be doing regarding my diet, on one hand I've been told to have starchy foods at every meal and on the other to switch to a high protein diet.

It's a minefield!!

Many thanks for reading.
 
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J

Jonnyjibbsuk

Guest
Wish I could help ...but so new to this too...I had spike of 34 the other day form one cuppa with one sugar in it....but did have one rich tea with it too.lol

Am sure one of the wise people will jump on this question and get you the answers
All I can say is the same as I do....breath ,....we will get there
 
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vinylandtrinkets

Active Member
Messages
37
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
when i was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago with BS of 28. something i think it was , high 20's anyway, my GP told me to cut out all sugars in my diet, no fruit until my sugar was below 10 and then only selected fruits ( strawberries at the moment), only brown bread and make sure i check everything i eat
i was give gliclazide and metaformin to take,
i could have natural sugars in foods btu that was it. i to have not been given much info on diet since my bs came down, and you are spot on its a minefield!
personally hun i would cut out sugar and see how your sugars are after that, tesco & asda sell sweeteners that are all natural one is supasweet, i used to have 2 teaspoons in my cuppa but found i only need on of the teeny things now.
i really hope your able to get some good advice on here hun
 
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Happyhels0148

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi just gone onto insulin and now on 6 units after breakfast and after tea , confused that when I'm asked to check my bs it was 6.2 before my tea which my nurse said it's supposed to be for me between 5-8 but now two hours later I'm At 21.2 and quite surprised it's jumped up so high . Is this normal or cd it be what I have eaten ?
Thanks Helen
 

urbanracer

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,186
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Not being able to eat as many chocolate digestives as I used to.
6 minutes ago ·
Hello - I'm newly diagnosed Type 2 after having an A1C of 51. My GP has not prescribed meds, just given (pretty sketchy) nutritional advice.

They said a blood sugar monitor was unnecessary but I bought one as I want to deduce which foods cause spikes in myself.

So today I have been tracking my blood sugar and am a bit confused by the results.

Morning: Before food after 2 cups tea 1/2 tsp sugar (am cutting down from 2!!) per cup - 7.8

Lunch - roasted tomatoes, wholegrain multiseed bread, butter

2hrs after - 12.8

4hrs after - 5.1

Tea 1/2 sugar

one hour after - 10.8

Why has my blood sugar jumped from 5.1 4hrs after lunch to 10.8 - all I've had is the cup of tea, was it the 1/2 tsp sugar?

I'm somewhat confused as to what I should be doing regarding my diet, on one hand I've been told to have starchy foods at every meal and on the other to switch to a high protein diet.

It's a minefield!!

Many thanks for reading.

Hi @Sarah-b
Make sure that your hands are really clean before blood testing. Overall, it's best to wash them with ordinary (bar) soap as the gels can give false readings, especially if they have alcohol in them. Did you wash your hands properly on this occasion?
 

urbanracer

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,186
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Not being able to eat as many chocolate digestives as I used to.
Hi just gone onto insulin and now on 6 units after breakfast and after tea , confused that when I'm asked to check my bs it was 6.2 before my tea which my nurse said it's supposed to be for me between 5-8 but now two hours later I'm At 21.2 and quite surprised it's jumped up so high . Is this normal or cd it be what I have eaten ?
Thanks Helen

Hi @Happyhels0148 , as my answer above, first make sure that your hands are really clean to rule out a rogue influence on blood test results.

What did you eat anyway?
 

June_C

Well-Known Member
Messages
821
Type of diabetes
Prefer not to say
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes, know it alls
Hi just gone onto insulin and now on 6 units after breakfast and after tea , confused that when I'm asked to check my bs it was 6.2 before my tea which my nurse said it's supposed to be for me between 5-8 but now two hours later I'm At 21.2 and quite surprised it's jumped up so high . Is this normal or cd it be what I have eaten ?
Thanks Helen
I hope this is of some consolation. I too was put on 6 units before breakfast and dinner. After a couple of days my bg levels were still far too high, the units were increased to 10. It then took another 2 months before I got my bg levels to stay in single figures for most of the time. Now, 6 months on and a lot of hard work, discipline, understanding carbs, watching what I eat and tweaking the units to accommodate my diet, my levels are now between 5 - 8.5 almost every day. I have to be honest that I still get the occasional spike of 10+ and can't work out what I've done. Be patient, it takes time for you and your body to adjust to this new regime. As others have said here on the forum, this is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Just be patient, you'll get there. It's a huge learning curve we're on. :)
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Sarah-b

Hello Sarah and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It is important to reduce the carbs in your diet to help lower your levels or keep them stable, despite what you have been told. You were right to get yourself a testing kit as, by testing before and 2 hours after meals, you can see which foods you can eat and which you shouldn't. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 140,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
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