I almost never use finger prick tests any more since I started using a CGM on my arm that tells me almost in real-time what my sugar levels are. If that's not an option for you, what I was doing in the past and reasonably accurate (though costly when done so often) was:Hi All - Can anyone tell me if the glucose level 2 hrs after meals is measured in relation to the start or end of the meal. I've been trying to work this out but can't find info on the web. I'm hoping it's the end .
It takes time & discipline. The first few weeks it may feel like nothing is changing because your body has stored too much glucose and when you first start taking it away from your food intake, it will dump from its stores thinking you might be on a nutrient deficit. Eventually that calms down and your blood sugar levels will more closely match your food intake choices.Thank you - I thought that might be the case so it's good to have confirmation. Means I'm not doing as well as I'd hoped tho.
Thanks so much for that encouragement. It's been so helpful in lifting my spirits and assisted with persistence at times of overwhelm. I've been using a 24hr monitor and starting to see the change already - so much more informative than the finger prick. I get a much better indication of how food, rest, exercise and even conversations and thoughts are affecting me. There have been a few ups and downs but all have been useful in helping me understand how my body is working. I went from high glucose levels to states of hypo where levels dropped alarmingly after exercise and during the night. Through internet searches, chats with my young adults and reading posts on the site I realised I wasn't taking in enough carbs, mainly as a result of fear of what I could eat. Things are improving gradually. I'm not yet at the 2 hour after eating mark, but readings are generally moving in that direction.It takes time & discipline. The first few weeks it may feel like nothing is changing because your body has stored too much glucose and when you first start taking it away from your food intake, it will dump from its stores thinking you might be on a nutrient deficit. Eventually that calms down and your blood sugar levels will more closely match your food intake choices.
Thanks for that info. Pure gold.I almost never use finger prick tests any more since I started using a CGM on my arm that tells me almost in real-time what my sugar levels are. If that's not an option for you, what I was doing in the past and reasonably accurate (though costly when done so often) was:
* Check in the morning after I get up
* Check immediately before any major meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
* Check exactly 2 hours after those major meals
* On occasion, check a random time of day out of curiosity
Yes that is quite a lot but I only did it that consistently the first few months after diagnosis about 5 years ago and with diet alone that helped me go from a 9.8 to a 6.2. Roughly the 2 hour mark after a meal is generally going to be the peak of where your blood sugar hits before starting to come down again.
Roughly the 2 hour mark after a meal is generally going to be the peak of where your blood sugar hits before starting to come down again.I almost never use finger prick tests any more since I started using a CGM on my arm that tells me almost in real-time what my sugar levels are. If that's not an option for you, what I was doing in the past and reasonably accurate (though costly when done so often) was:
* Check in the morning after I get up
* Check immediately before any major meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
* Check exactly 2 hours after those major meals
* On occasion, check a random time of day out of curiosity
Yes that is quite a lot but I only did it that consistently the first few months after diagnosis about 5 years ago and with diet alone that helped me go from a 9.8 to a 6.2. Roughly the 2 hour mark after a meal is generally going to be the peak of where your blood sugar hits before starting to come down again.
My diabetes service told me the same as @JayAmericanRoughly the 2 hour mark after a meal is generally going to be the peak of where your blood sugar hits before starting to come down again.
Sorry, this isn't true. The peak BG is generally around 45 minutes or so after eating.
The two hour point is where your BG levels should have been reduced (by your insulin response system) back to, or close to, where they were before eating, which is why you test at that point - it's a test of how efficient your system is at clearing excess glucose. The problem for T2 is that we are often not good at dealing with the excess glucose, so higher levels stay around for much longer.
Here is a link to a small bit of research demonstrating the rise and fall in BG after eating:
Continuous Glucose Profiles in Healthy Subjects under Everyday Life Conditions and after Different Meals - PMC
This study investigated continuous glucose profiles in nondiabetic subjects. Continuous interstitial glucose measurement was performed under everyday life conditions (2 days) and after ingestion of four meals with standardized carbohydrate content ...pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
There's a lot of misinformation about, some of it coming from people who should know better. Have a look at the CGM research posted earlier.
Sorry to butt in to someone else's post, but I'd appreciate your thoughts: I've been checking the trajectory on my CGM (Libre 2 plus - T2D) and my spike hits a peak maybe 50-60 minutes after I start eating, but doesn't go down to previous level for 3 or 4 hours, even if I have a low carb meal (say 10-20). A low carb meal mostly does just about stay in range, though. What might this mean? TIA.Hi and welcome.
The second test is two hours after your baseline (first) test which is supposed to be done right before you start eating. Typically you'll hit peak blood glucose around 40-45 minutes after the food goes in, and by the the two hour mark your insulin response should have reduced this to close to where you started. The information you're getting is therefore about how well your system dealt with the carb/glucose load.
does that make sense?
At what point you start to drop after injecting insulin is rather complex, depending on type of meal, activity, insulin sensitivity, brand of insulin, and different for different people.@Rita16 my understanding of insulin therapy, is it does not follow the general 2 hour 'rule', but I may be misinformed. Tagging @EllieM , @Nicola M , @Antje77
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