I'm reaching my wits'end... high fasting/overnight levels. I really need some advice/encouragement

christmassun said:

I'm a T2 diabetic. I'm 32 and male and I've been working hard to get things in to control since diagnosis.

I've really perfected my diet, where I've managed to completely stop binging on crisps, chocolates, cakes, and freezer favs such as chips, fish finger sand smileys. I eat good genuine food, for example, home cooked chicken/fish/meats with green leaves at times I cave in and do have crisps (they're in the house due to my partner).

But my fasting/waking up glocuse upon finger pr*ck test is always around 6.5mmol - 7.5mmol, if I have a carbs above 20g or so (trying to stay in keto) then that is higher and it doesn't go down until after I eat something in the morning, or I do some cardio in the morninig which is impossible for me due to work at the moment.

I really need some advice as I feel depressed... and don't know how to progress

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Fasting blood sugars are the last to come down, as it's more about your liver dumping stored glucose to help you start the day, than what you've most recently eaten. Your body decides, not you. And even then, a bad night's sleep or stress, a virus or whatever, can throw a wrench in and make it dump more. The numbers around your meals are more telling about whether your bloods are responding to your diet than the fasting tests are. Do you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite? Because if the difference between those two numbers is 2.0 mmol/l or less, you're rocking it.

My husband is the same, always has a high reading in the morning. He did what Jo above says, he concentrated on the later readings during the day and they were good.

You are actually doing brilliantly!

I'm another whose first-thing reading was very slow to come down and is still the highest of the day even though now in non-diabetic figures. Hold fast - it'll happen.

My husband mainlines junk food of every variety, so there is plenty in this house too, but he has the decency to keep it out of sight. Would your lady do that? It's very helpful and I don't feel the slightest desire to eat any of it because it's "his" not "ours". Having plenty of food about that you can eat and enjoy is also useful.

I've been pretty obsessive over about a year or so, pushing down my BG and insulin. Just because I had a spare CGM, I'm checking what it's showing as a comparison to the same kind of "first thing in the morning" test you are doing - this was the first day.


Now - if I only had that ~9 reading - I would feel that the last year was a complete waste of time.

However - I know that at that point, I hadn't yet eaten a thing, and this was just my body responding to me doing some excercise before breakfast.

As @JoKalsbeek puts it - though I hate the phrase "dumping" because it carrys a lot of negative connotations, your liver is just doing what it thinks is right, based on your individual needs, and where your personal "normal" is for blood glucose - and this is being measured by your pancreas, but could be overruled by your brain (hypothalamus trumps pancreas in the game of "who's in control of energy demand", unless you have an infection, in which case all hands to the deck).

If you know you are keeping the sugars and starches off your plate (and for me, this really was a year long journey, they are so well hidden in ingredient lists, it's a rabbit hole in itself learning not to kid yourself that you really are keeping them off your plate) then your insulin will be low, and over time, things will change - don't allow yourself to worry day-to-day; it doesn't help. If you absolutely, positively have to measure something every day, then plot as a running average - or better still a monthly average - something that shows long term trend.

You should feel good about what you are doing - it will pay off...