Hi, another confused newbie

Ideally, fasting blood glucose levels should be 4.0 to 7.0 for type 2. If higher, then you need to check what you are eating and think about a low carbohydrate diet. Foods like cereals, bread, rice, potatoes have a lot of carbohydrate and cause raised blood glucose levels. Check out the low carb forum on here.

Hi and welcome!

No wonder you are confused if you have been told that! What a load of rubbish. Those sort of levels are causing internal damage, whether before or after exercise, indeed at any time.

If Metformin is the only diabetes medication that you take, you should be aiming for between 4 and 8.5 as follows:

Before meals, fasting, bedtime etc between 4 and 7
At least 90 minutes after a meal, under 8.5

Those are the guidelines from the NHS as recommended by NICE.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html

We all set our own targets. My personal target is between 4 and 7.

Metformin helps, but only in a limited way. It has little impact on blood sugar levels in general. Diet is the key to good blood glucose control. If you tell us what a typical day's food is like, we may be able to help you get your levels lower.

Another one here to recommend the low Carb diet for us

Suffolk said:

Hi my name is Bev I'm 58, just been put on metformin sr struggling with the increase this week from 500m once a day to 500m twice a day,my levels are still 8.6 -10.00 I'm really confused as to what my levels should be
I had a heart attack ,4 stents & a bypass last May , so on all sorts of tablets & now can't keep levels right. Went to cardiac rehab for the first time last week ,they say my level should be between 10 & 13 for excersise so I'm now really confused

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As Bluetit1802 says, levels should ideally be below 8.5. Food causes a BS level spike which gradually increases over the 2 hour period. The best way to control this is your choice of foodstuffs as I have found. As a good first starter, cut bread, potatoes, crisps out and become an avid food label reader. Its shocking just how many carbs or sugar are in food. Just remember that carbs from the items I mention above will be converted to glucose by the liver and this will spike your levels. You'll get there - I know its scary, but the members of the forum are all very helpful and there's always someone who can answer your questions (even in the middle of the night often!)

I don't think that Metformin did anything to lower my levels of BG - or at least my levels did not rise when I stopped taking it. If anything - because I was concerned that it might not be good to stop I went through Christmas and new year without a falter and saw my BG levels falling.
Do watch out for dodgy advice. I put a post on the DiabetesUK site to explain how insulin is the fat producing hormone and it was removed by a moderator as not factual - someone wasn't paying attention in Biology that's for sure -

Suffolk said:

Thankyou all for the replys, can you tell me what amount of carbs per serving is ok if any ,also I believe statins can raise bg Tia

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How long is a piece of string! You set your own carb limits. Everyone has different amounts at different times. Your meter will tell you what your limits are. Low carb is regarded as anything under 150g a day, but for the vast, vast majority of us that is too many. People vary from 10g to 100g, but most are around 50g. You may find 50g is OK for you, you may not.

Personally I have around 30g a day with none at all at breakfast, some at lunch time and the rest at tea time. I find 20g is my maximum at one sitting, probably less than that.

Your tolerance of carbs is a personal thing. Even if you ate the same amount of carbs from different foods it would well give you very different blood glucose levels.
Many find that grains are not good for them, starchy vegetables and sweet fruits are common culprits. I can't eat legumes other than green beans or a small amount of peas.
I have lots of salads, lower carb veges, melon and berries, and do very well.

Hi. I agree with the other posts. Aim to be below 8.5 around 2 hours after a typical meal. Fasting readings aren't that reliable so use the 2 hour post meal readings. That cardio advice may be to avoid going hypo (low blood sugar) during exercise but as you aren't on insulin or the Gliclazide tablet that shouldn't happen. You can always have a bit of fruit etc just before exercise anyway. Note that many medications can raise blood sugar such as steroids, statins etc. I'm not suggesting stopping any of these but Google them to see if they do increase blood sugar. You can always get these meds reviewed anyway with the GP. The key to T2 management is reducing the carbs with Metformin helping a bit.

Good morning @Suffolk my friend I am only in my fourth month since diagnosed,I started out keeping below 50g carbs a day but found that personally it didn't suit me as I needed more carbs to keep me going so now I am on 80 to 100g a day which suits me a lot better,everyone is different and you have to find your own level,I still have my learner plates on and have only all the experienced and lovely people on this forum to thank for getting me this far trust me when I was first diagnosed until I found this forum I was like a frightened rabbit in the Diabetic headlights

welcome Suffolk