Confusion on blood reading

[Drummersi]

Hi all.

So I am newly type 2. Over the last few days my blood sugar levels have been within the 8s. When I did my pre-breakfast test I was 8.7. I had a small bowl 40g of oatbran and some raspberries.

I have just done a test and it showed as being 11. I was shocked at this so I did another test immediately and this showed 9.5. The two tests were taken from two different fingers.

Now I don't know which test is accurate and it's left me worried that the equipment I've been issued by my doctor isn't working properly.

Has this happened to anyone else and if so do you know why?

Thanks.

 

[Knighthawk22]

Readings can vary I have found sometimes, can I ask did you wash your hands before testing your bloods as that can make a difference if there is any contamination. You should also wait 2 hours after eating to test your blood levels

 

[Drummersi]

Readings can vary I have found sometimes, can I ask did you wash your hands before testing your bloods as that can make a difference if there is any contamination

Yes. I always wash my hands first.

 

[Freema]

welcome here Drummersi

you could get better numbers by not eating so carb rich foods for breakfast... Oatbran is almost pure carbs and so are rasberries, there is the healthy fibres in both, But in diabetics it is not of much help concerning the total grams of carbs in a meal..

if you ate your rasberries with greek fat yoghurt you would get less carbs in that meal and the same with Oatbran if you ate that with only greek fat yoghurt

But most type 2´s are better off by not eating carbs in their breakfast meal , where their blood glucose is already very raised from the dawn phenomenon, where their liver produces even more blood glucose without even having eaten anything.
so a meal like bacon and eggs, or a big handfull of nuts, or a protein roll from LIDL with cheese would be much better breakfast choises.. if you want lower blood glucose... I think that a blood glucose of 8 is already too high ... so adding more carbs on top of that is not a good road to go...

yes one can get different numbers from different fingers,the biggest and warmest finger is the most reliable as the blood flow is better in warmer and bigger fingers...
But that said if you eat a meal with as much as 40 grams of carbs then you would get a number of 11mmols , so I think you should take that seriously instead of speculating in what number to choose..

you need to count the number of grams of carbs in your meals if you want to get lower and healthier blood glucose in the mornings and also all over the day..
I´ll tag @daisy1

 

[Drummersi]

welcome here Drummersi

you could get better numbers by not eating so carb rich foods for breakfast... Oatbran is almost pure carbs and so are rasberries, there is the healthy fibres in both, But in diabetics it is not of much help concerning the total grams of carbs in a meal..

if you ate your rasberries with greek fat yoghurt you would get less carbs in that meal and the same with Oatbran if you ate that with only greek fat yoghurt

But most type 2´s are better off by not eating carbs in their breakfast meal , where their blood glucose is already very raised from the dawn phenomenon, where their liver produces even more blood glucose without even having eaten anything.
so a meal like bacon and eggs, or a big handfull of nuts, or a protein roll from LIDL with cheese would be much better breakfast choises.. if you want lower blood glucose... I think that a blood glucose of 8 is already too high ... so adding more carbs on top of that is not a good road to go...

yes one can get different numbers from different fingers,the biggest and warmest finger is the most reliable as the blood flow is better in warmer and bigger fingers...
But that said if you eat a meal with as much as 40 grams of carbs then you would get a number of 11mmols , so I think you should take that seriously instead of speculating in what number to choose..

you need to count the number of grams of carbs in your meals if you want to get lower and healthier blood glucose in the mornings and also all over the day..
I´ll tag @daisy1

Thanks for this. I'm only on day 3 of my new T2 life so I'm still trying to crawl as far as what to eat is concerned. I totally understand that 8s are too high but they will drop as a lose weight and get my eating right. And as most people have said on here it's mostly process of elimination with what I can and can't have which is why I test before and after every meal.

I'll get there. My morning blood was better than it was yesterday so that made me a little happy.

Everything else is down to education, patience and perseverance I guess.

 

[bulkbiker]

Everything else is down to education, patience and perseverance I guess.

You re right there..
and who woulda thought that eggs and bacon for breakfast is so much better for your blood sugar than oatbran.. as well as being much more yummy.

 

[carty]

Raspberries are about 11g carb per 100 g so not too bad
CAROL

 

[Freema]

Raspberries are about 11g carb per 100 g so not too bad
CAROL

no but with 40 grams of Oatbran which I guess is around 33 grams of carbs too... then it would be a meal of around 42 grams of carbs.. and thats a lot

 

[Prem51]

I have just done a test and it showed as being 11. I was shocked at this so I did another test immediately and this showed 9.5. The two tests were taken from two different fingers.

Now I don't know which test is accurate and it's left me worried that the equipment I've been issued by my doctor isn't working properly.

Meters aren't 100% accurate. They have an accuracy range of +/- 15%, so two readings could have a difference of up to 30%.
Don't worry too much about that, the readings are more to get an idea of the trend of your readings.

 

[carty]

Yes but if you take away the oatbran and add full fat yoghurt or cream you have quite a good meal
CAROL

 

[Drummersi]

The oatbran came in at 18.9g of carbs per 40g and I only had 40g of oatbran and a lot less than 100g of raspberries. Unless I have got my maths totally wrong (which is possible I guess).

 

[Drummersi]

It was this that I had. I know, it's still 18.9g of carbs. But I am trying to get as low as possible.

Will have to resort to egg and bacon. I just hope it doesn't mess with my cholesterol, which is also high.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/traditional-porridge-oats/mornflake-oatbran/910001828419

 

[bulkbiker]

It was this that I had. I know, it's still 18.9g of carbs. But I am trying to get as low as possible.

Will have to resort to egg and bacon. I just hope it doesn't mess with my cholesterol, which is also high.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/traditional-porridge-oats/mornflake-oatbran/910001828419

you could well find a higher fat diet has a beneficial effect on your cholesterol... if of course you are concerned about it..
have a read of this..

http://cholesterolcode.com/extreme-cholesterol-drop-experiment/

 

[Resurgam]

It seems that high fat equals high cholesterol is a myth.

 

[JPonter]

took a couple of weeks for my numbers to start to drop into "normal" when starting lower carb, they were all over the place just post diagnosis!

I'm sure if you stay low carb they will get better Good luck!

 

[Chook]

Everything else is down to education, patience and perseverance I guess.

Very true. It takes a while to get in to the swing of a low carb diet but its definitely worth it in the end.

If you ever have a weird reading like that again just do another test.

Are your before breakfast readings higher than others during the day? Some people (including me) have something called Dawn Phenomenon first thing in the morning. The liver has its own internal clock and when it thinks its nearly time to get up it likes to give us a little helping hand to face the day by releases some glucose in to the blood.

 

[Johnjoe13]

Hi all.

So I am newly type 2. Over the last few days my blood sugar levels have been within the 8s. When I did my pre-breakfast test I was 8.7. I had a small bowl 40g of oatbran and some raspberries.

I have just done a test and it showed as being 11. I was shocked at this so I did another test immediately and this showed 9.5. The two tests were taken from two different fingers.

Now I don't know which test is accurate and it's left me worried that the equipment I've been issued by my doctor isn't working properly.

Has this happened to anyone else and if so do you know why?

Thanks.

Hi Drummersi, as has been mentioned you will probably find things like oats for breakfast will increase you blood sugar reading, add to this any dawn phenomenon then you'll be looking at a high number for much of the morning. Before coming here I used to have porridge every morning for breakfast and a banana too thinking it was doing me some good, I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as I stopped them both I saw my number fall within days.