Consistent high readings irrespective of intake

OverItCompletely · Mar 19, 2023

Hi All

So I was wondering if anyone had ever experienced the same-essentially 7 weeks ago my readings shot up from averages of 7 to 8mmol/l to 13mmol/l (and when I say 13mmol/l I mean no matter the time of day, no matter what I do or don’t eat the reading is only between 13.0mmol/l and 13.9mmol/l - no higher and no lower).

To answer a few questions that may be asked:

I’ve checked on a different meter

I’ve not changed meds

I’ve tried fasting and I’ve even tried having a carb heavy day and same result

I test morning (as soon as I wake up) and night (usually between 17:00 and 18:00 prior to dinner)

I do not test before bed but plan to start today.

Diet has not changed (other than the test days)

Thanks All!!

Lobsang Tsultim · Mar 19, 2023

It sounds like it might be something other than diet, and there’s a whole long list of possibilities somewhere. But to be sure, I’d be testing before each meal and then two hours later. If your results at the 2 hour mark are the same as before or within 2 mmol/l, that would pretty much confirm it.
Any other significant things going on? Emotional and physical stress can affect our glucose levels too (and weather, and medication, and infections…).

OverItCompletely · Mar 19, 2023

Lobsang Tsultim said:
It sounds like it might be something other than diet, and there’s a whole long list of possibilities somewhere. But to be sure, I’d be testing before each meal and then two hours later. If your results at the 2 hour mark are the same as before or within 2 mmol/l, that would pretty much confirm it.
Any other significant things going on? Emotional and physical stress can affect our glucose levels too (and weather, and medication, and infections…).

Thanks for the quick response.
I have consistently high inflammation markers but kidneys and liver are all fine (borderline) and no infections or auto-immune markers.
I have major depression and anxiety and have had a “down” phase since January but I have been feeling better for the past few weeks.

I had COVID in 2021 and my taste and smell went a bit crazy-I lost 27 kgs between August 2021 and August 2022 and then weight stopped falling as I was managing more tastes (and therefore eating more) but was still able to have respectable readings each morning and evening.

I would not say there was a noticeable change of any one specific issue/trauma/illness in the last 7 weeks so it feels “random”.

Endo now suggests move from Exenatide to Ozempic….

catinahat · Mar 19, 2023

Hello @OverItCompletely welcome
The tests you are doing are just a couple of snapshot's of your glucose levels, they don't give you any really useful or usable information.
It has told you that something has changed but given you absolutely no idea what.
That's why many of us find testing around meals to be more beneficial.
Test just before you eat, this gives you a base level, then again 90min to 2hr's later. The difference between the two shows how well or otherwise you have dealt with the carbs in that meal.
Generally people who are not diabetic will have processed the carbs in their meal and be back to the base level within the 2hrs.
This is what we aim for, although we usually allow ourselves a little leeway because the meters are not accurate enough to work to absolute levels. So we give ourselves a 2mmol buffer, if our post meal result is no more than 2mmol above our base level then the meal was acceptable. Anything more than the 2mmol and there were more carbs than we can cope with, we then rethink that meal, can we make it less carby, have less of it or even cross it of the menu altogether.
Things change, our response to different foods change, our insulin resistance can get worse overtime. You say your diet hasn't changed but how can you possibly know if your ability to handle certain foods(carbs) hasn't.
Identifying and eliminating the reason for your higher levels has got to be preferable to drugs to force your glucose levels down.

HSSS · Mar 19, 2023

An illness or infection?
a change of ingredients in something you eat or drink?

also how long have you been diagnosed and are you on any diabetes medication?

OverItCompletely · Mar 19, 2023

catinahat said:
Hello @OverItCompletely welcome
The tests you are doing are just a couple of snapshot's of your glucose levels, they don't give you any really useful or usable information.
It has told you that something has changed but given you absolutely no idea what.
That's why many of us find testing around meals to be more beneficial.
Test just before you eat, this gives you a base level, then again 90min to 2hr's later. The difference between the two shows how well or otherwise you have dealt with the carbs in that meal.
Generally people who are not diabetic will have processed the carbs in their meal and be back to the base level within the 2hrs.
This is what we aim for, although we usually allow ourselves a little leeway because the meters are not accurate enough to work to absolute levels. So we give ourselves a 2mmol buffer, if our post meal result is no more than 2mmol above our base level then the meal was acceptable. Anything more than the 2mmol and there were more carbs than we can cope with, we then rethink that meal, can we make it less carby, have less of it or even cross it of the menu altogether.
Things change, our response to different foods change, our insulin resistance can get worse overtime. You say your diet hasn't changed but how can you possibly know if your ability to handle certain foods(carbs) hasn't.
Identifying and eliminating the reason for your higher levels has got to be preferable to drugs to force your glucose levels down.

So got the shock of my life tonight, after eating (what I thought was a healthy low-carb meal) my readings (4 hours after eating) is 20mmol/l!!!

ajbod · Mar 19, 2023

Try washing your hands and repeating the test, also check date of test strips.

catinahat · Mar 20, 2023

OverItCompletely said:
So got the shock of my life tonight, after eating (what I thought was a healthy low-carb meal) my readings (4 hours after eating) is 20mmol/l!!!

Got to agree with ajbod
That suggest that the test was inaccurate for some reason, old out of date strips, faulty strips, or something on your hands affecting the result.
Whenever you get a test result that's higher or lower than expected, you should re wash your hands and test again to confirm.
As I mentioned in my previous post the meters are not the most accurate bit of kit.
The standard they are built to is +/-15% for 95% of the tests, the 95% means that its possible that 1 in 20 results could be way outside the 15% range
They are useful machines, but not reliable enough to get excited over a single result.
Out of interest what was your meal?

Consistent high readings irrespective of intake

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