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Low reading after dinner?

M

Max87

Member
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Hi everyone,

Bit of background, I was told I was Type 2 this time last year, was massively overweight and in bad health.

Since then I've lost a load of weight, come off metformin for 3 months and feel great.

I've always been told not to worry about taking my levels by my GP as I have been doing well but I do them every now and then just to keep an eye on things...

As I said I don't take anything, just lots of exercise and sensible eating. Here comes my question:

2 hours after my evening meal which was a quorn curry with brown rice my level was 2.8. Earlier in the day I had been to the gym but had 3 biscuits after lunch.

Does this sound right? I have ordered a kit off Amazon earlier today to see how I react to other foods but in the last 6 months I've not seen my levels go above 4, regardless of the time of day.
 
2.8 is very low, so low it makes me wonder if it was a one off abberation.

Sometimes meters will give an odd reading, if you supect this just do it again and compare.

Your curry looks good for carbs, (some in the rice, depends on quantity) brown rice is a bit slower in hitting your BGs so shouldn't cause a big spike.

I would have expected to see something around the 6 to 7 mark after your meal, but then we all vary.

The gym activity will continue to have some effect for the rest of the day, but not enough to get down to 2.8, at that level you would be shaking and feeling not at all well.

I have been down as low as 3.8 after the gym but it picks up quickly whether I eat or not (liver dump).

H
 
Tonight I'm having a steak with jacket potato, so I will take my readings 2 hours after that and report back.

No gym for me today either so lets see what effect it has...
 
Update, here is what I have eaten today:

3 egg omlette with quorn sausage for breakfast

Large salad with chicken, cucumber, a big helping of crotons and mayonaise, 1 whole meal pitta all for lunch

Fillet steak with a medium sized jacket potato and low salt/sugar baked beans.

2 hours after eating my reading was 3.8

Thoughts? Ps no exercise today.
 
It may be that with the weight loss and regular exercise you are much more insulin sensitive. As long as you feel ok I would not worry to much about readings between 3.3 - 4.0 mmol/l these are the sorts of levels normal non-diabetic run at. Again your 2.8 mmol/l is a little low but then glucose meters are most accurate between 4 - 7 mmol/l and to be honest even then they can be up to 1 mmol/l out some of the time.. I would say as long as you felt OK then not to worry.. you could always test a 2nd time if you needed to.
 
Got my own testing kit through today so I will see what other foods do to my levels.

Could my diabetes only effect me if I am overweight, I know the old argument of once a diabetic always a diabetic but my readings are a little mysterious...
 
Max87 said:
Could my diabetes only effect me if I am overweight, I know the old argument of once a diabetic always a diabetic but my readings are a little mysterious...
Click to expand...

My own experience has led me to question the "once a diabetic always a diabetic" mantra. When I was diagnosed as type 2 15 months ago my fasting level was between 7 and 8, my HbA1c was 7.2 and two hours after a GTT my level was over 12. After losing about a stone and a half in weight and no medication, my levels on all these tests are what the NICE guidelines would classify as normal. My GP, while somewhat puzzled by the results, was quite willing to take me off the diabetic register as according to all their measurements I am not diabetic. However, if I was to put the weight back on presumably my levels would rise again. Therefore my insulin response is not 100% efficient and so it could be argued that I am effectively still diabetic but fortunate enough to be able to control it through lifestyle choices.
 
Had a few more tests done after dinner, all below the 5 mark.

I might be going out for a pizza tonight so I will make sure to test after that, is it frowned upon to do this sort of "research" to see how high my sugar goes in a way?

It may sound silly but I am just curious as to what this will do to my levels, not just an excuse to eat ****.
 
Nothing wrong with the occasional piece of "research", as long as you don't become a full time researcher. However, the danger is that if things like pizza and chips don't effect your blood sugar too badly then the temptation is to eat more of them and this can lead to a gradual reversal of the beneficial weight loss. Before you know it you'll be back where you started - over weight and with high blood sugars.

I think pizza can be a fairly slow release carb, so it may be worth testing at 3 and 4 hours as well.
 
Didn't have a pizza in the end as I didn't feel like having one which is good :D

For lunch 2 hours ago I had a white baguette with chicken tikka, a few crisps on the side and salad.

Reading just now was 7.7 and I think my meter reads a tad high.
 
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