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How to interpret blood sugar readings?

Peridot

Peridot

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I've just got a meter (SD codefree) but I don't feel I have the information I need to interpret the results I'm getting. Is it a case of getting a solid chunk of baseline readings and not worrying until then? Or is there anything I can do in the meantine?

This is what I have:
Monday eve - before meal 6.1, 2 hours after meal 8.2
Tuesday lunch - before 5.7, 2 hours after 7.8
Tuesday eve - before 6.7, 2 hours after 9.1
This morning first thing 8.8
Breakfast - before (3 hours after first thing reading) 7.3, 2 hours after 10.7

It sort of feels as if I'm going in the wrong direction. Or am I worrying unnecessarily?
 
hi,
you are doing fine..please dont worry, most people like their 2 hrs after bloods to be approximately the same as b4, are u type 1 or 2?
 
You need a couple of days worth of readings to begin to see a pattern develop. Already, your 2hr post meal readings seem slightly on the high side. I would be looking to try to reduce these readings slightly by trying different foods with a few less carbs. Testing and not reacting to the results is pretty pointless. Hope this makes some sense ? Good luck, Mo


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To be frank, they seem as though you have got it fairly well under control actually.

When you get little peaks, have a think about what you eat.

Also you may wish to consider switching the order you have your meals and making breakfast your main meal of the day and your evening meal your lightest.
 
It's so useful to profit from your experience - I feel as if I'm flailing around, clueless, at the moment so thank you to each of you.

I am eating very healthily so am at a bit of a loss to know how I could better it. Last night's meal for instance was a salad with squid and breakfast is plain Greek yoghurt with unsweetned stewed bramley apple (about half an apple per portion), a tsp of hazelnuts and 2 chopped up medjool dates (in lieu of sugar/sweetening).

I'm quite worried about what will happen when I do have things that aren't super-healthy. This is not something I'm planning to do often but it will happen from time to time.
 
apples & dates - both have a fair bit of sugar in them. Part of your problem maybe in the line in lieu of sugar/sweetening. Try to get rid of the idea you want sweet things. Sweet (artificial or natural) = bad.

Salads - be wary of carrot ( sugary) and tomatos (likewise sugary) and red pepper.

Really, testing your blood at home is fairly hit and miss with the exception of your 'on waking' - that is closer to the background levels in your blood.

If you want to get a decent overview of what is going on, do it for 2-3 days or so like this and write them down in a similar matrix:-

Untitled.jpg


Strange as it sounds, try and eat the same meals, of the same sized portion, at the same time of day as you did the day before for the entire test period. (sounds boring but there's a reason), You'll see that even then there are always fluctuations which will have been caused by things like how active you were one day compared to the other, and even how warm/cold you were.
 
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What do people have for breakfast? I have to eat at my desk and I must say I was enjoying the yoghurt, nuts and stewed cooking apples. Is this not a good choice?

I have twigged that my salad dressing had balsamic vinegar in it - maybe this is too carby.
 
Peridot said:
What do people have for breakfast? I have to eat at my desk and I must say I was enjoying the yoghurt, nuts and stewed cooking apples. Is this not a good choice?

I have twigged that my salad dressing had balsamic vinegar in it - maybe this is too carby.
Click to expand...
Maybe try it without the apple one day and see if there is any difference in BG levels ? Or try it with a few berries or something. Nobody is saying what you are eating is wrong, you just need to experiment to see what you can still enjoy that keep your levels in the desired target area. That is the whole point of testing. Keep a record and you'll soon fine tune things.
 
Your figures are slightly better than mine were when I was first diagnosed last year. It does take time for them to start coming down. As you eat less carbs, your body produces its own glucose via a process called gluconeogenesis so even if you don't eat any, it will still show up in your bloods. However, over time, the chemical changes induce biological changes and it slowly starts to come down. Give it 12 weeks and see what your readings look like.

"Gluconeogenesis (abbreviated GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, glucogenic amino acids, and odd-chain fatty acids."

Your body needs roughly 230g of glucose per day to survive and your brain needs 60% of it. However, you will live for a few weeks without any food whatsoever and your body will attempt to keep your BG above 4.0. It is always hard for people new to diabetes to tell whether their higher blood glucose levels are due to what they have eaten or due to gluconeogenesis, literally, 'glucose new creation'.
 
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