May be diabetic, but highly confused after weeks of blood glucose readings, please help

[GreatGateway]

I hope everyone can help, as this is the latest in a series of attempts to try and find the cause of long term chest and sleep problems in my body.

- I used a GlucoRx Nexus meter until I saw it had poor reviews, so I switched to a Accu Chek Performa Nano. Suddenly my blood glucose readings became an entire point higher (mmol). What's the difference?

- When fasting in the morning around 10am my blood glucose is 5.1, same as my HBA thingy at 5.1% However fasting at night or in the evening makes my glucose 5.8mmol for some reason. What changes?

- Some websites say 5.9mmol or higher is predisbetes, and some say 5.0 is type 2 diabetes squarely. I have no idea who is correct. Same goes for post meal. Some say 7.8 or less after 90 mins, others say 6.5. Who's correct?

- I struggle to get blood from my cold hands. My docs say squeezing up my finger to push blood out is fine, but others say it lowers results artificially. Also I can't always warm my hands so I don't know if cold hands affect readings, and I don't know if I should always rub my hands before a reading.

- If you ate loads and loads of sugar, would it be normal to see blood sugar nearing double digits 10-15 minutes after? Do normal people experience this?

 

[Sosgez]

I hope everyone can help, as this is the latest in a series of attempts to try and find the cause of long term chest and sleep problems in my body.

- I used a GlucoRx Nexus meter until I saw it had poor reviews, so I switched to a Accu Chek Performa Nano. Suddenly my blood glucose readings became an entire point higher (mmol). What's the difference?

- When fasting in the morning around 10am my blood glucose is 5.1, same as my HBA thingy at 5.1% However fasting at night or in the evening makes my glucose 5.8mmol for some reason. What changes?

- Some websites say 5.9mmol or higher is predisbetes, and some say 5.0 is type 2 diabetes squarely. I have no idea who is correct. Same goes for post meal. Some say 7.8 or less after 90 mins, others say 6.5. Who's correct?

- I struggle to get blood from my cold hands. My docs say squeezing up my finger to push blood out is fine, but others say it lowers results artificially. Also I can't always warm my hands so I don't know if cold hands affect readings, and I don't know if I should always rub my hands before a reading.

- If you ate loads and loads of sugar, would it be normal to see blood sugar nearing double digits 10-15 minutes after? Do normal people experience this?

I would recommend that you don't diagnose yourself, but get it done professionally. See your doc.
Meter readings can vary enormously. The small discrepancies you mention wouldn't bother me at all.
Don't experiment with sugar like that, it doesn't help.

 

[GreatGateway]

I would recommend that you don't diagnose yourself, but get it done professionally. See your doc.
Meter readings can vary enormously. The small discrepancies you mention wouldn't bother me at all.
Don't experiment with sugar like that, it doesn't help.

Thank you for the reply. What concerns me with the discrepancies is how one minute I can be within normal range, and the next, with virtually no difference, I can be in the diabetic range. It makes it hard to tell which reading is the truth.

 

[EllieM]

Honestly, I think those readings are fine.

If you ate loads and loads of sugar, would it be normal to see blood sugar nearing double digits 10-15 minutes after? Do normal people experience this?

Yes. There's a reason why the diagnostic tests look at the readings after 1 to 2 hours.

I used a GlucoRx Nexus meter until I saw it had poor reviews, so I switched to a Accu Chek Performa Nano. Suddenly my blood glucose readings became an entire point higher (mmol). What's the difference?

Some meters are more accurate than others, but none of them are required to be accurate to more than 15%. If you repeat a reading on different fingers, chances are you'll get a different result. That's just the nature of the technology.

If you're worried, take your figures to a doctor, but I wouldn't be worried if I had figures like that.

 

[Sosgez]

Thank you for the reply. What concerns me with the discrepancies is how one minute I can be within normal range, and the next, with virtually no difference, I can be in the diabetic range. It makes it hard to tell which reading is the truth.

I can give you an analogy on readings. If you asked "What is the temperature of this room?" You could measure it in the middle of the room and get a figure. Near the window you will get a different figure. Near the radiator, yet another figure. If the outside door has just been closed, there will be a disturbance near that place too. Also, it will change with time, possibly within minutes.

Its our expectation that there is one figure that is right that is the problem. They were all right. The meters we use are not terribly sophisticated. My DSN says don't bother with them, as I'm a T2.
HbA1c measurements are much more useful to me as they cover a long term period of weeks or months.
Its extremely unlikely I could ever go hypo, and I would probably know if I were to go hyper too, due to pain and other symptoms.

Our bodies are much more complex than the temperature reading problem. BG can change due to factors beyond just what we eat. e.g. amount of exercise, body clock effects.

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome to the site.

All meters will have a level of inaccuracy. I agree that if you are in any way concerned speak to your doctor. They will probably get your HbA1c tested which gives you a three month average. That will let you know whether you are a diabetic or not.

Whether you are a diabetic or not I would suggest that eating loads and loads of sugar would not be a great thing

 

[JohnEGreen]

My DSN says don't bother with them, as I'm a T2.

My DSN and Doctor said much the same thing they also advised me to eat carbs and told me the eat well plate was a good guide for diet if I listened to them in this respect I would in all probability still have a HbA1c in the sixties I use my meter as a guide as to what foods are OK for me and what ones are not and to keep an eye on blood glucose trends and no they are not highly accurate or precise but then neither is the HbA1c test either for that matter, even the speedometer in your car if you drive has a small error but you wouldn't rip it out and discard it.

 

[TheGreatGateway]

Unfortunately my Hba1c results as well as ongoing blood glucose readings have left me even more confused!

- Hba1c was 5.2% allegedly normal
- During last week I had a moment where my glucose rocketed to 12 mmol7l very randomly while playing a video game lying down.
- Later in the week I experienced two different evenings where my blood sugar dropped to 3.5 mmol/l
- After one admittedly very sugary meal, I noticed my blood sugar was back to less than 5.8 mmol after 2 hours. However after 3 hours it suddenly climbed again to 6.5. Also 45 minutes after the meal it was 8.2 if this helps.

So apparently my fasting glucose and Hba1c suggest I'm not at all diabetic, however my post meal and weird spikes/drops say I do. Who's right? Honestly very scared of missing something big here, as my GP has chosen to dismiss it as mere anxiety. Again.

 

[AloeSvea]

@TheGreatGateway - your GP is right. You don't have blood gliucose regulation problems, your HBA1c is normal, you do not have diabetes. Congratulations!

 

[Sosgez]

Hba1c suggest I'm not at all diabetic,

Congratulations.
Now, for a happier life, stay non-diabetic.
Eat in moderation.
Exercise.
Tracking your weight might be useful, but don't get too obsessive about it. ;-)

 

[Jam&Scones]

I hope everyone can help, as this is the latest in a series of attempts to try and find the cause of long term chest and sleep problems in my body.

It sounds from previous posts that you do not have diabetes (congrats! That is a good thing), but you may want to look at your diet for the issues you mention - I know when I was on a high carb diet, even before diabetes started affecting me, I had chest and throat issues. I did note that going on a low carb diet helped with these and I assume (never proven!) that this was because - acid reflux was causing me to cough, my nose was always blocked and changing my diet to a less... inflamatory one helped improve that a lot.

I also cut out coffee as well as I found this greatly affected me in terms of sleep.

I hope that helps and wish you luck!

 

[HSSS]

I can give you an analogy on readings. If you asked "What is the temperature of this room?" You could measure it in the middle of the room and get a figure. Near the window you will get a different figure. Near the radiator, yet another figure. If the outside door has just been closed, there will be a disturbance near that place too. Also, it will change with time, possibly within minutes.

Its our expectation that there is one figure that is right that is the problem. They were all right. The meters we use are not terribly sophisticated. My DSN says don't bother with them, as I'm a T2.
HbA1c measurements are much more useful to me as they cover a long term period of weeks or months.
Its extremely unlikely I could ever go hypo, and I would probably know if I were to go hyper too, due to pain and other symptoms.

Our bodies are much more complex than the temperature reading problem. BG can change due to factors beyond just what we eat. e.g. amount of exercise, body clock effects.

I like your anology for meters accuracy.

I disagree with your DSN though as will many if not most on here. They see testing as a means to check for hypos and adjust insulin. It can also be used to great effect to see what each meal or food does to you.

It’s often compared to speeding tickets. The fingerprick is the car speedo. The hb1ac is the speeding ticket (or not) a month (or 3, 6 or maybe 12) later. You have no idea by then what caused it. Would you drive without a speedo?

And no you most likely wouldn’t feel the hyper, or not clearly and reliably enough to be sure that was it rather than tired or too much water etc etc. The cumulative effects causing complications you might well feel but by then it’s a bit late and you are playing catch up and cure rather than prevention.

 

[Walking Girl]

Unfortunately my Hba1c results as well as ongoing blood glucose readings have left me even more confused!

- Hba1c was 5.2% allegedly normal
- During last week I had a moment where my glucose rocketed to 12 mmol7l very randomly while playing a video game lying down.
- Later in the week I experienced two different evenings where my blood sugar dropped to 3.5 mmol/l
- After one admittedly very sugary meal, I noticed my blood sugar was back to less than 5.8 mmol after 2 hours. However after 3 hours it suddenly climbed again to 6.5. Also 45 minutes after the meal it was 8.2 if this helps.

So apparently my fasting glucose and Hba1c suggest I'm not at all diabetic, however my post meal and weird spikes/drops say I do. Who's right? Honestly very scared of missing something big here, as my GP has chosen to dismiss it as mere anxiety. Again.

I too would say your A1c is fine, congrats and move on, though I doubt most people with medical anxiety will just do that. It sounds like you are Fairly randomly testing after meals? If you want a real picture of what is happening, perhaps spend 1 week testing consistently, perhaps before eating, then 1 hour or 2 hours later. Most studies show non-diabetics reach “Peak” after a meal at 45-60 minutes.

in your first post, you mention “fasting” at night - do mean with no food for 6-8 hours? Regardless, at night presumably you have been up and running around all day - simply doing that can increase BG. Fasting as defined in diabetes guidelines is generally presumed to mean in the morning before any food or drinks (except plain water), so the morning number is more crucial in a diagnosis.

 

[Sosgez]

I like your anology for meters accuracy.
I disagree with your DSN though
...
And no you most likely wouldn’t feel the hyper

I disagree with my DSN too. I think DSNs don't like prescribing expensive test sticks. But its a false economy on their part. I've had less than 200 sticks from NHS. Bought more of my own, when I could afford such luxuries.

I'm not suggesting I can tell if I'm at 8/10/12..., but when my BG is in the teens I'm getting a lot of neuropathic pains (hot needles) in my hands and elsewhere. I regard it as "food aversion therapy", forcing me to be in good long term control nowadays.

When my BG was 20+ I got even worse vision problems than usual and often passed out for 45 minutes.
Typical reading when I woke was above 24. This always reminds me that :
"Death is your body's way of telling you to slow down."

 

[PaulDK]

I would recommend that you don't diagnose yourself, but get it done professionally. See your doc.
Meter readings can vary enormously. The small discrepancies you mention wouldn't bother me at all.
Don't experiment with sugar like that, it doesn't help.

See you doctor or a reputable diabetes clinic for safety's sake and get diagnosed by a medical professional... but it doesn't seem to me that you are diabetic. Here in Ireland a type 2 diabetic is supposed to aim for 5 to 7mmol 2 hours after meals ... hope this helps