• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Help needed to interpret BG reading

S

smidge

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,761
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi there!

Can anyone help me to interpret an odd BG reading please? Last night 1 hour after tea my BGs had gone to 11.0 (oh dear!). I was worried about this and as I was still awake at 12.30 (4 hours after tea) I took an extra test and it had come down to 6.6. I was happy with this and went to sleep. Now, I swear I didn't eat anything in my sleep :D but when I woke up at 7.00am, my BGs were up to 6.8. How did they go up while I slept!!! That was still a good fasting result for me as it is often as high as 8.2. I don't understand how it goes up overnight when I haven't eaten for many hours. What causes it and is there anything I can do to bring fasting BGs down? I'm currently diagnosed as Type 2 (although there is some doubt about the diagnosis and I'm waiting to see a specialist) and am not on meds at the moment. If anyone can explain what's going on with my fasting BGs I'd be very grateful!

Ta

Smidge
 
Your bg levels will fluctuate minute by minute, hour by hour. It is just a part of the bodys own metabolism. It is really nothing to be concerned about unless the levels were very high or very low in the morning. You don't always have to eat anything for this to happen at any time of the day or night.
 
Oh ok. I thought it was just about what I eat. So what is a reasonable reading for a fasting BG?

Thanks

Smidge
 
You might try Metformin SLOW RELEASE instead of the normal tablet, to see if it irons out this problem.

This means the medication takes place throughout the day.

My local chemist says that a lot of people are now on it - although doctors don't seem to want to tell you, as I've been told that Metformin on it's own is cheaper.
 
I have exactly the same problem - a high reading in the morning despite the fact that I have not eaten anything for 12 hours. Yet can keep my levels between 5-7 during the day.

Spoke to the diabetes nurse and she said this was normal as the liver creates sugar during the night if it detects your levels are dropping - she called it sugar dumping. Nothing you can do about it apparently.
 
Hi crystalsue. Thanks for the info. I know if I don't eat between breakfast at about 7.00am and lunch at about 12.30pm, my BGs can be as low as 4.2, so it is possible they do go lower than this overnight. This is why I'd be concerned about medication designed to lower BGs. Mine really do bounce around all over the place. I wonder if I eat something before bed, they wouldn't go low and so my body wouldn't produce the glucose? I don't really want to have to accept there's nothing I can do about it because it causes my average BG to be higher which means I have to work even harder and deprive myself even more to keep any control of my BGs. I think I'll try to wake up in the early hours one morning and do a test to see if they are low at that time. Does anyone know what would be the best time in the morning to try this? I'm seeing the consultant at the end of November, so I'll ask him about it and report back.

Smidge
 
Smidge
You don't need to get up in the middle of the night. Just check your bg level immediately before bed. If it is low then just have a small carby snack which will help to keep your levels a little higher through the night, therefore hopefully avoiding the worst of what is known as the dawn phenomenon. So it isn't true to say nothing can be done about it. It is something that can happen to anybody - Diabetic or not and is just the body's way of preparing you for the day.

In answer to your earlier question as to what is a good fasting level - the 2010 NICE guidelines are that it should be between 4 - 7 mmol/l. I personally aim for around 5 - 6 mmol/l as this avoids any chance of a 'Liver Dump' which should happen if your Bg drops too low. Your bodies inbuilt protection system. As a T2 this will happen at some point below 4 mmol/l - everybody's response will vary.
 
Back
Top