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Interesting...

Major Buckmaster

Well-Known Member
Messages
291
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Stuff
So first day of Ramadan and I woke up at 3:30 and had some berries, greek yogurt and some nuts plus 3 glasses of water.

I have a headache a feel a tiny bit dizzy but will monitor that.

I bought a new meter. The same one as @Rachox it is reading much lower than my code free. I have just checked and its 4.2 which is the lowest I have ever had. What would be the lowest I should go?
 
Still metformin. It helps with the weight loss, but I didn't take it this morning.
 
Major Buckmaster said:
Still metformin. It helps with the weight loss, but I didn't take it this morning.
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When fasting I've been down in the low 3's which can feel a bit odd the first time but your liver will step in and boost it up a bit. I got a 3.7 yesterday at 16:00 after having eaten the evening before with just tea and coffee during the day ....didn't notice any difference.
 


Thanks for the reply.

I have been reading that you shouldn't drop below 4. Is that only for people on meds like insulin?
 
Major Buckmaster said:
Thanks for the reply.

I have been reading that you shouldn't drop below 4. Is that only for people on meds like insulin?
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Yes..metformin has very rarely been known to cause hypos and you haven't taken your today anyway so...
The problem for people on insulin is that artificially lowering your blood sugar can be dangerous so if below 4 it is advised to take some glucose to halt the drop. If you are unmedicated this shouldn't be a problem as your body can self regulate.
 

Ah okay. Got you. I was a little concerned but I should be fine. Thank you!
 
Difficult to pin down an arbitrarily safe lower glucose concentration for a T2. Too many variables in play. Mostly though, in an individual who is very well adapted to burning ketones, the brain’s glucose requirements are likely to be lower than that of the average glucose burner, so that’s a factor to consider depending on your diet. If it were me I would monitor closely but also just trust my feelings. If someone had a history of hypoglycaemia unawareness then they’d be wise to pay extremely close attention to the numbers.
 

Thank you.

I will be monitoring closely.
 
Yes I find the Caresens Dual to read slightly lower than the Code Free by about 0.3 on average
 
As mentioned those on insulin are advised not to go below 4 but that is because injected insulin remains active and a 4 could be dangerous if it is trending down. For a type 1 having lots o f bgs below 4 results in a loss of symptom awareness which is a problem if you're trending down and don't resolve it quickly.
If you naturally end up in the range 3-4 that may just be where your brain is happy to be once fully adapted to low carb. I recall an experiment where they put healthy guys on keto and then measured their bgs and found that once fully adapted they had no symptoms of low blood sugar at levels in the 2s! But if you were used tohaving higher bgs (diabetic ones) then you will feel wobbly at lower levels whilst you adapt.
At very low levels of mealtime insulin e.g. when in ketosis or fasting, your glucagon will kick in and result in glucose being released from the liver because your body will naturally want to maintain a stable blood sugar to feed your glucose hungry brain.
 

Thanks. Thats interesting! I didn't go below 4.1 yesterday anyway so all was good until this morning.

I won't be fasting now as I am out of remission for colitis! Ups and downs!
 
Rachox said:
Yes I find the Caresens Dual to read slightly lower than the Code Free by about 0.3 on average
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I like it much better. My code free wouldn't even keep the correct date and time for some reason. I love this new one.
 
Major Buckmaster said:
I like it much better. My code free wouldn't even keep the correct date and time for some reason. I love this new one.
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Yes my code free couldn’t remember the time and date stamp either, that and inconsistent results meant we parted company.
My lab HbA1cs were always a bit higher than the MySugr estimate with the code free. My first HbA1c since using the Caresens Dual confirmed that it does read slightly lower as there was a slightly bigger difference. But I only use the MySugr estimate as an indication of trends anyway.
 

Snap. Same thing. Annoying isn't it!
 
I stopped insulin last December and had my Metformin reduced to 500 mg twice a day. I find that my glucose levels rarely drop below 5.0 mmol/L because even with the Metformin, my liver is able to kick in and bring the level up. Sometimes to over 7 in a couple of hours even with no food. If you regularly have a low measurement that is not corrected you may need to have the Metformin reduced. Just a suggestion to raise with your doctor/nurse.
 
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