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Huge difference in readings

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nomunnofun

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So - two years ago I had a random hbA1C which showed 50 - on the verge of diabetic diagnosis. I was 14 stone at the time and am 5ft 9 in. The test was in January and I did overindulge at Christmas. I took some action, reducing my weight to 11st 10lbs and had another test - result now 42 after six months. Six months later and it was 38. All looked good.

Periodically I checked my blood sugar over the last year and I generally got a reading in the 5’s, sometimes high 4’s.

I have maintained my weight and am now extremely fit.

I checked my BS for the first time in a while last week - 5.3 two hours after meals. However something is now clearly amiss. Two hours after my normal porridge, my reading was 12.2! Five minutes later (I was shocked) it read 6.7. I waited another 1/2 hour and it read 11.2.

This has been the case for a few days where I have huge variations without eating in between. I have had 14.3 followed by 5.7 followed by 8.7 at five minute intervals.

Have I a rogue bunch of strips (expiry 3/21) ? Any other logical explanations?

I have now ordered new strips just in case.
 
With a HbA1c of 50 you weren't borderline, you were/are a T2. The official cut-off for prediabetic is 48. And porridge? That'd make anyone shoot up. The big change in readings could be a matter of indeed, a rogue strip, not enough blood on the strip or the meter being rather old by now and not 100% anymore, but.... I'd expect a reading in the double digits on porridge too. It's the carbs that are a problem, (all carbs turn to glucose once ingested) and there's plenty of those in your breakfast... So if your meter is a few years old, it might be useful to get a new one as well.
 
nomunnofun said:
I have had 14.3 followed by 5.7 followed by 8.7 at five minute intervals.
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I'd say you need a new meter and/or strips.

But I agree with @JoKalsbeek that an hba1c of 50 puts you in the diabetic range, so you need to be aware that you'll probably always have to watch your carbohydrate level and blood sugar levels, to make sure you stay in remission.

Good luck and congratulations on achieving the improved health and (hopefully) the remission.
 
Thank you - porridge issue noted. However, normally I would have a reading of 5.7 or thereabouts two hours after taking it. My issue is with the huge variances, especially with no eating in between. I have never had a double digit reading ever until the last week or so and, even then, it could be for a few minutes. I am perplexed and have no real idea what my sugar levels are now. Today, for instance:

Wakening - 5.7
Before breakfast - 5.3
One hour afterwards - 8.7
Two hours after - 12.2 followed by 5.7, 8.7, 6.0, 11.2 and 6.7 at ten minute intervals.
 
nomunnofun said:
Thank you - porridge issue noted. However, normally I would have a reading of 5.7 or thereabouts two hours after taking it. My issue is with the huge variances, especially with no eating in between. I have never had a double digit reading ever until the last week or so and, even then, it could be for a few minutes. I am perplexed and have no real idea what my sugar levels are now. Today, for instance:

Wakening - 5.7
Before breakfast - 5.3
One hour afterwards - 8.7
Two hours after - 12.2 followed by 5.7, 8.7, 6.0, 11.2 and 6.7 at ten minute intervals.
Click to expand...

Well, if you know the readings 2 hours afterwards can not possibly be correct (You can go up or down fast, but not THAT fast), you have to go from the assumption that either your strips, or your meter are off, or both. Even so, if one assumes the reading between before the meal and 2 hours after is correct, you're well past the more-than-a-2.0-mmol/l-rise mark... Meaning that if the readings aren't off, your body is still not responding as it should, and you're putting too many carbs in there. For now, I'd postpone measuring as there doesn't seem to be much point if the machine cannot give a straight answer, for whatever reason. (I am also going on the assumption that you washed your hands prior to testing, and don't use hand lotion, which could skew results). Start over with completely new gear once it comes in, and go from there.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- that might help a little get your blood sugars under control, because you don't want to go over 8,5 mmol/l. (That's where it starts damaging you, after all.)
 
Thanks for your reply. I will await my new strips and see where we are. As I said, I have never had a double digit reading ever until last week, porridge or no porridge!

I have read your link - very helpful. If only I hadn’t been allergic to eggs all my life!

Thanks again.
 
nomunnofun said:
Thanks for your reply. I will await my new strips and see where we are. As I said, I have never had a double digit reading ever until last week, porridge or no porridge!

I have read your link - very helpful. If only I hadn’t been allergic to eggs all my life!

Thanks again.
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No idea what meter you’re using but just as a thought have you changed the batteries recently. If not then try putting new batteries in and see if that makes a difference.
 
nomunnofun said:
Thanks for your reply. I will await my new strips and see where we are. As I said, I have never had a double digit reading ever until last week, porridge or no porridge!

I have read your link - very helpful. If only I hadn’t been allergic to eggs all my life!

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Oh, there's plenty of alternatives... Most T2's are blessed with more than one condition, and quite a few of us have food triggers that make other things flare up... I have to eat around my migraines, IBS and rheumatism on top of my T2, so I can't have all the low carb approved things either. ;) It's not impossible, should it come to that, to go without eggs and still control blood sugars. We have vegans on here, people who only eat meat (carnivores), etc etc... It would have been very convenient though, but yeah... If it's not an option, there's lots of other stuff to try. ;)
 
nomunnofun said:
Thanks for your reply. I will await my new strips and see where we are. As I said, I have never had a double digit reading ever until last week, porridge or no porridge!

I have read your link - very helpful. If only I hadn’t been allergic to eggs all my life!

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Oh, one more thing... If you keep eating carbs, T2 is a progressive condition. So if you eat the same thing you ate say, a year ago, your tolerance for it might've tanked in the meantime.

But again... If your meter's not trustworthy, don't panic for now and just wait to see what a new one with new strips tells you.
 
With new batteries or some that had been sat around? Also really obvious suggestion but were your hands clean? It could be trace contamination
 
So I thought that I would come back, as much of a courtesy as anything else, to update you. (I am prolific on an entirely unrelated forum and it is always nice to hear feedback)

I purchased a gluco navii with 150 strips and also had 150 strips given to me by a surgery for whom I do the finances for my one touch - they have an expiry date of the end of May and would be thrown out!

Armed with so many strips I decided to go mad on testing for a day and the results from my navii for yesterday were as follows.

6am - wakening 6.3
7am - 5.8
8 am Upon eating breakfast- 5.5
9 am - 7.5
10 am - 6.9
11 am - 5.6
12 pm upon eating lunch of a tuna sandwich (I know) 5.0
1 pm - 7.8
2 pm - 5.7
3 pm - 4.8
4 pm - 4.8
5 pm - upon eating dinner
6.pm - 6.6
7 pm - 6.9
8 pm - 5.8
9 pm - 5.1
Final reading - 6.1 (had two sugar free digestives at 9 pm)

Testing with my one touch, using same blood prick where possible, generally grave a reading up to 10% lower.

It does appear that my previous strips were faulty after all.

Nevertheless I have had a reminder to keep an eye on things.

Any cooents on the figures? And I have no intention of repeating that level of testing, ever!
 
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