How long in Yellow Zone is Safe?

[pkirk25]

Hi all,

LibreFree 2 user with type 2 diabetes here. I live in Cyprus and pay for the kit myself as it's not available here.

I'm finding that I get glood glucose spikes to 14 or so when I exercise and to 12 or so when I have carbs with my meal. My time in range is 92%. I read somewhere that anything over 70% time in range is good but how good I don't know.

As an example, yesterday I skipped breakfast and went for a run. My blood sugar spiked to 14. Then I had lunch at 1ish which included 2 slices of wholegrain Irish soda bread. My blood sugar spiked to 11. Then dinner included sweet potatoes and my blood sugar didn't spike at all.

Are we safe with spikes like these or are these danger signs?

Thanks in advance.

Patrick

 

[oldgreymare]

Hi all,

LibreFree 2 user with type 2 diabetes here. I live in Cyprus and pay for the kit myself as it's not available here.

I'm finding that I get glood glucose spikes to 14 or so when I exercise and to 12 or so when I have carbs with my meal. My time in range is 92%. I read somewhere that anything over 70% time in range is good but how good I don't know.

As an example, yesterday I skipped breakfast and went for a run. My blood sugar spiked to 14. Then I had lunch at 1ish which included 2 slices of wholegrain Irish soda bread. My blood sugar spiked to 11. Then dinner included sweet potatoes and my blood sugar didn't spike at all.

Are we safe with spikes like these or are these danger signs?

Thanks in advance.

Patrick

Hi @pkirk25,

Many of us would be delighted to be averaging 90+% in range. What does your average blood glucose look like according to your Libre? Even non-diabetics will transiently peak quite high during intensive exercise or after eating, especially high carb meals. This link explains more about why time in range is monitored and how the guidelines have been derived.

Time in range: A best practice guide for UK diabetes healthcare professionals in the context of the COVID‐19 global pandemic

The emergence of continuous glucose monitoring has driven improvements in glycaemic control and quality of life for people with diabetes. Recent changes in access to continuous glucose monitoring systems within UK health services have increased the number ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[pkirk25]

Thanks for the reply. I have some serious reading to do!

In answer to your question, my average is 7.8 mmo/L.

 

[TriciaWs]

As another T2 I would be looking to avoid high spikes when possible. And for me that includes avoiding ordinary breads. Are you measuring your pre-meal BG to compare with 2 hrs after?
Anything over 2 mmols is a spike.
If you are aiming to get into remission, or at least reduce the drugs then I suggest trying low carb?
Exercise and spikes is a different issue and you can only tell by trial and error what works for you. It sounds like you are getting a liver dump of BG so eating protein+ healthy fats before might help?

 

[Zilsniggy]

Hi all,

LibreFree 2 user with type 2 diabetes here. I live in Cyprus and pay for the kit myself as it's not available here.

I'm finding that I get glood glucose spikes to 14 or so when I exercise and to 12 or so when I have carbs with my meal. My time in range is 92%. I read somewhere that anything over 70% time in range is good but how good I don't know.

As an example, yesterday I skipped breakfast and went for a run. My blood sugar spiked to 14. Then I had lunch at 1ish which included 2 slices of wholegrain Irish soda bread. My blood sugar spiked to 11. Then dinner included sweet potatoes and my blood sugar didn't spike at all.

Are we safe with spikes like these or are these danger signs?

Thanks in advance.

Patrick

Most diabetes educators will tell you that you’re looking for your graph to be as ‘flat’ as possible. IE no spikes. Try to stay away from too many carbs if you’re type 2(check out low carb eating). It could also be that for you, exercising is releasing the stress hormone cortisol into your bloodstream and this is also causing spikes. The way to really get on top of your sugars is just to constantly test, so that you can see what foods do to your blood sugar. Test before meals, then 2 hours after. Also, being in Cyprus, with the heat, can affect sugars. This is an individual response and may cause hypos or hypers……we are all individuals and sadly don’t all react the same. Your diabetes is very individual to you. This was something I didnt understand when first diagnosed and is also why most info dispensed to new diabetics is so vague!