Just tested 3.7 - should I be worried?

YES - 3.7 is rather low. It's the walk that brought the level down. Eat some carbohydrate to bring it up a bit. I'm type 1 and at 3.7 I would be feeling clammy and shaky and definitely not functioning effectively.

5.8 is a good level to aim for.

I wouldn't worry about it at all if you are not on any meds. It is a normal level.
Below is copied and pasted from DiabetesUK webiste:

It is important that the blood glucose levels being aimed for are as near normal as possible (that is in the range of those of a person who does not have diabetes).

These are:

3.5–5.5mmol/l* before meals
less than 8mmol/l, 2 hours after meals.

You need to tell your doc how you feel odd and about your big weight loss over the last four weeks. Take a urine sample with you when you visit the doc.

When not caused by medicine and so not in danger of continuing to fall rapidly, 3.7 is perfectly OK.
Hana

As your are a Type 2 diabetic on no medication then you are no different to a non diabetic. You can get low blood sugars just like anyone else and like anyone else your body has built in mechanisms that will kick in a raise your level if it does actually get too low. A Type 1 or insulin using diabetic is told to look out for levels around 4 because of the risk of having a hypo after injecting insulin. If their levels fall below 4 they are advised to take remedial action. You are not Type 1 or taking insulin therefore that rule does not apply to you.

From http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood sugar levels are as follows:

The normal blood glucose level in humans is about 4 mM (4 mmol/L or 72 mg/dL)
The body, when operating normally, restores the blood sugar level to a range of about 4.4 to 6.1 mmol/L (82 to 110 mg/dL)
Shortly after eating the blood glucose level may rise temporarily up to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL)

Click to expand...

Your 3.7 came about because you walked for an hour. I often get that kind of reading after doing similar walking of the dogs. The important thing to realise in the quote is the "is about 4" bit. That's the average and as such some people will have a natural fasting levels above 4 and some below 4. There are a number of T2's on the forum who's natural fasting level is in the 3's and they don't spend the entire time in a diabetic coma. :lol: If your level goes too low (and too low is different for each of us and even what time of day etc.) then you will automatically compensate by something called a liver dump. This will have happened to you loads of times in your life without you ever realising it or you may have felt a bit woozy or nauseous just prior to it happenning. Your liver will release a load of glucose to restore the balance when it needs to. It is the overriding of this liver dump mechanism by an insulin injection that can cause hypos but as you don't inject insulin that isn't a concern.

You seem to be doing amazingly well to so keep it up. I am incredibly jealous of your apparent carb munching capability with the shreddies and the "plenty of carbs" for lunch :mrgreen:

I tested 3.8 about 30 minutes ago. The funny thing is that I walk every day but normally get a reading in the 4's. On Wednesdays I do not do the walk and go to Tesco to do the weekly shop. Every time I do that I get a reading in the 3's. Ergo Tesco is more effort than a walk in the local woods.

This is not a cause for panic and I have had lower readings than this before. I notice that as I approach the lower threes I start to shake a bit so I have plenty of warning.

But Tesco ...........I ask you.

ian1968 said:

I said to my diabetic nurse that I felt like I was having a sugar low, but she said that as a T2 I can't have a sugar low. What is happening with me is that I've changed my diet radically in the last month - cut out all sugar - and I've lost a fair amount of weight in four weeks - about 11 pounds. The nurse said that me feeling odd may be just my body getting used to the new diet, and that my feeling of a sugar low was actually me experiencing a normal sugar level when I'm used to a sugar high.

Click to expand...

Wow! A diabetic nurse who is saying just the right thing; you should be pleased. Only thing I would challenge is that you CAN have a sugar low as can anyone; just need to differentiate that from a dangerous insulin-induced hypo which is different. That's what I think your nurse was implying. So, as (almost) everyone has said, don't worry. Great readings.

Hi there, the thing about Type 2s not on medication cant have hypos is a myth.I was having them as low as 2.2 (felt rather ill)I think maybe this happens in the early stages,I just kept swinging low to high, high to low,I am more stable now on medication, as it does not go into the high teens now.But if you feel ill at this level then obviously it is too low for you x

daisy3174 said:

Hi there, the thing about Type 2s not on medication cant have hypos is a myth.I was having them as low as 2.2 (felt rather ill)I think maybe this happens in the early stages,I just kept swinging low to high, high to low,I am more stable now on medication, as it does not go into the high teens now.But if you feel ill at this level then obviously it is too low for you x

Click to expand...

Think its just the difference on the definition of the word hypo. Anyone, diabetic or not, can get what you had, I have, but I don't think its anything to do with being diabetic. In the end you self correct. Sometimes like you I've felt really ill just prior to correcting and sometimes I have felt nothing unusual. The point is neither of us ended up in a diabetic coma where we could have died which is why an insulin induced hypo is far more dangerous and why insulin users are warned to take action if they see their levels drop below 4.

Levels under 3 without bg lowering medication could be a sign of an insulinoma. A 72 hour fasting test under medical supervision and / or an endoscopic ultrasound would confirm.

H

Ambersilva said:

YES - 3.7 is rather low. It's the walk that brought the level down. Eat some carbohydrate to bring it up a bit. I'm type 1 and at 3.7 I would be feeling clammy and shaky and definitely not functioning effectively.

5.8 is a good level to aim for.

Click to expand...

mugs58 said:

H

Click to expand...

Hi, I'm also a new type 2 diabetes recently diagnosed, was on 2000mg glucophage xr had an opperation on the 9th and was put on xtra pills the 2000mg I take all at night and now in the moenings I take one of diaglucide mr 30mg just taken my sugar and its 3.7 also was wondering my machine is a new one and 5 months old (as long as I've been diagnosed) do you think that its faulty?

ian1968 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm a recently diagnosed - a month ago - T2 on no meds. My BG was 10.4 for a couple of weeks but I'm managed to bring it down to around 5.4-7.8. I did a fasting test for the first time this morning, and it was 4.9. I then had a breakfast of shreddies and semi skimmed milk, then took my children to school which involves about an hour or so of walking. Got back to do a test at 10.50am, about two and a half hours after breakfast, and it was 3.7. I've just devoured my mid morning snack of a clementine!

Should I be worried about a 3.7 reading? Or is it OK?

Click to expand...

The key to your reading is "an hour of walking". Immediately after exercise the reading might be elevated depending on the intensity of the exercise but as a result of exercise the levels will dip which is what it looks like has happened to you. It is always wise to have a quick snack after exercise which is exactly what you have done. Give yourself a pat on the back for the 1 hour walk for the school run and carry on.

A 3.7 is low ....... for me, I would be worried if that was consistent, for others, it's fine. I much prefer mid 4s or really low 5s.

As one esteemed member of this forum often says .... "we're all different"

When I was first diagnosed 9 years ago I had a reading of 30! I'm on insulin and meds now and generally much better but even now I have dips of 2 or 3 and feel terrible until I get it under control. Worst time last summer when I was off to a barbque. I deliberately had a small breakfast and ended up collapsing and being rushed to hospital where I stayed for 3 days!