New to all this testing

[Willsgrandma]

Hi i have been testing for around 6 weeks, my bloods are on average. 6.8/, 7.0 on waking and between 7.8/8.2 two hours after food, can anyone tell me if these are good/non diabetic please…..tia x

 

[KennyA]

Hi i have been testing for around 6 weeks, my bloods are on average. 6.8/, 7.0 on waking and between 7.8/8.2 two hours after food, can anyone tell me if these are good/non diabetic please…..tia x

Hi Willsgrandma and welcome to the forums. Testing is a really good way to work out which foods do what to your blood glucose.

It's recommended to test immediately before eating and then two hours after you finish. That gives you firstly a baseline of where you started, and the second reading shows you how well your body dealt with the carbs (if any) in the food. The generally accepted idea is that the second reading shouldn't be more than 2 mmol/l higher than the first, and not above 7.9. Averaging the readings doesn't tell you much - I would be looking more for meal by meal information.

As you don't have pre-meal readings, it's hard to say how much or whether your levels have risen after food. The post-meal readings (some must have been well over 8?) over would be a little too high for me, and I'd want to reduce whatever carb was in the meal.

Your morning readings may be a result of what is called dawn phenomenon or foot on the floor. What happens is that the liver dumps a load of glucose (that it has manufactured) into the blood stream to get us going first thing. For me and others these are usually the highest readings seen all day, and in the context of reducing blood glucose they are often the last readings to fall. Livers are slow learners.

The other thing is that there isn't a direct read-across from fingerprick testing to HbA1c, as they measure different things in different ways. The fingerprick tests should give you some indication of direction of travel, though. I'm going to attach a graphic that shows very roughly the equivalent levels but use it with a bit of caution. I tried to estimate from this what my A1c would be on the basis of finger testing, and was way out.

best of luck

 

[IanA123]

Hi Willsgrandma and welcome to the forums. Testing is a really good way to work out which foods do what to your blood glucose.

It's recommended to test immediately before eating and then two hours after you finish. That gives you firstly a baseline of where you started, and the second reading shows you how well your body dealt with the carbs (if any) in the food. The generally accepted idea is that the second reading shouldn't be more than 2 mmol/l higher than the first, and not above 7.9. Averaging the readings doesn't tell you much - I would be looking more for meal by meal information.

As you don't have pre-meal readings, it's hard to say how much or whether your levels have risen after food. The post-meal readings (some must have been well over 8?) over would be a little too high for me, and I'd want to reduce whatever carb was in the meal.

Your morning readings may be a result of what is called dawn phenomenon or foot on the floor. What happens is that the liver dumps a load of glucose (that it has manufactured) into the blood stream to get us going first thing. For me and others these are usually the highest readings seen all day, and in the context of reducing blood glucose they are often the last readings to fall. Livers are slow learners.

The other thing is that there isn't a direct read-across from fingerprick testing to HbA1c, as they measure different things in different ways. The fingerprick tests should give you some indication of direction of travel, though. I'm going to attach a graphic that shows very roughly the equivalent levels but use it with a bit of caution. I tried to estimate from this what my A1c would be on the basis of finger testing, and was way out.

best of luck

Dawn phenomenon? 30yrs type 1 and just heard of this a few months ago when put on tresiba. Never had it occur when on insulatard, so I am very sceptical of it all.

 

[KennyA]

Dawn phenomenon? 30yrs type 1 and just heard of this a few months ago when put on tresiba. Never had it occur when on insulatard, so I am very sceptical of it all.

Hi IanA123 and welcome to the forums. I'm not a T1 so I'll just quote Bilous and Donnelly's Handbook of Diabetes 4th edition, Chapter 10. It says:

Basal insulin levels tend to be highest in the early morning, probably in response to the well-described surge in growth hormone and cortisol at that time of day. These counter-regulatory hormones tend to increase blood glucose and this has been termed the "dawn phenomenon".

There are other references in the textbook but the one above seems clear. It seems to be well enough known to make it into the standard NHS handbook.

 

[IanA123]

Hi IanA123 and welcome to the forums. I'm not a T1 so I'll just quote Bilous and Donnelly's Handbook of Diabetes 4th edition, Chapter 10. It says:

Basal insulin levels tend to be highest in the early morning, probably in response to the well-described surge in growth hormone and cortisol at that time of day. These counter-regulatory hormones tend to increase blood glucose and this has been termed the "dawn phenomenon".

There are other references in the textbook but the one above seems clear. It seems to be well enough known to make it into the standard NHS handbook.

Probably? So not accurately?

 

[KennyA]

Probably? So not accurately?

I'm not sure what you're asking. I understand there is still some discussion about the cause or causes of dawn phenomenon, but it's quite obvious that it exists. If you're not convinced by the current NHS handbook, here's a Mayo Clinic reference:

The dawn phenomenon: What can you do?

Take steps to prevent this early-morning increase in blood sugar.

www.mayoclinic.org

and one from the diabetes.co.uk website.

Dawn Phenomenon (Liver Dump)

Dawn phenomenon is the term given to an increase in blood sugar in the morning caused by the bodys release of certain hormones. It is a relatively common phenomenon amongst diabetics.

www.diabetes.co.uk

 

[Junius]

Hi i have been testing for around 6 weeks, my bloods are on average. 6.8/, 7.0 on waking and between 7.8/8.2 two hours after food, can anyone tell me if these are good/non diabetic please…..tia x

The instruction booklet with your tester is probably onerous looking but take it little by little and you'll understand it well. Taking it that your machine is properly set as per instruction book, your machine will tell you how good your blood is. Sounds like your readings are within limits ok, but at the higher end of them. Just keep up the recommended diet, plenty of fruit and vegetables, no added sugar to anything, 2 litres or so of water per day and you'll see the levels fall to mid range within the limits.

 

[MissMuffett]

The instruction booklet with your tester is probably onerous looking but take it little by little and you'll understand it well. Taking it that your machine is properly set as per instruction book, your machine will tell you how good your blood is. Sounds like your readings are within limits ok, but at the higher end of them. Just keep up the recommended diet, plenty of fruit and vegetables, no added sugar to anything, 2 litres or so of water per day and you'll see the levels fall to mid range within the limits.

Watch out for the hidden sugars in fruits and the vegetables too. The up to date recommendation for diabetics is any fruit that ends with …..berries eg raspberries, blueberries and even then limit those but you can experiment as to how many you can eat by testing your BG before you eat them and 2 hours after (more that 2mmol/l Is classed as a spike) Also it is advised to eat vegetables that grow above ground, cauliflower, broccoli, salad vegetables etc as things like carrots, parsnips and swede have too much hidden sugars. The diet sheet that is usually handed out by the diabetic nurse is not up to date!

 

[KennyA]

Watch out for the hidden sugars in fruits and the vegetables too. The up to date recommendation for diabetics is any fruit that ends with …..berries eg raspberries, blueberries and even then limit those but you can experiment as to how many you can eat by testing your BG before you eat them and 2 hours after (more that 2mmol/l Is classed as a spike) Also it is advised to eat vegetables that grow above ground, cauliflower, broccoli, salad vegetables etc as things like carrots, parsnips and swede have too much hidden sugars. The diet sheet that is usually handed out by the diabetic nurse is not up to date!

It's worth checking how you go with swede. It's 9g carb/100g weight (potato is around 16-18g) and I find I can tolerate a small amount of it quite well.

Fruit is high sugar and not something I have eaten at all recently, apart from a raspberry/strawberry/blackberry combo every two/three weeks or so, usually in a sugar-free jelly.

 

[MissMuffett]

It's worth checking how you go with swede. It's 9g carb/100g weight (potato is around 16-18g) and I find I can tolerate a small amount of it quite well.

Oooo I love swede but have avoided it, so I’ll experiment thanks for the info

 

[Junius]

It's worth checking how you go with swede. It's 9g carb/100g weight (potato is around 16-18g) and I find I can tolerate a small amount of it quite well.

Fruit is high sugar and not something I have eaten at all recently, apart from a raspberry/strawberry/blackberry combo every two/three weeks or so, usually in a sugar-free jelly.

The hidden sugar in processed food - cakes, biscuits, cheese, breads etc... is far more worrying though. I just eat away at fruit and vegetables, always checking any tinned fruit is packed in juice, never syrup etc.. and mostly keeping my veg and fruit fresh or frozen only. I have lost 3 stone in four months by sticking to all fresh fruit and vegetables including 'sweet' treats made of oatflakes, egg and fat free yogurt with all variety of added fruit and cooked in airfryer, and my blood sugars remain averaging around 5.4 before food and up to 7 or so two hours+ after food - I have cut all breads made from wheat out completely) Only once did I get a sugar surge but I had eaten a rather large very full dish of fruity treats of mixed melons, bananas and every other fruit you could think of with ricotta, but by the subsequent test it was back to normal again. If we have to worry about sugars in vegetables we're taking this thing too far imo!

 

[KennyA]

The hidden sugar in processed food - cakes, biscuits, cheese, breads etc... is far more worrying though. I just eat away at fruit and vegetables, always checking any tinned fruit is packed in juice, never syrup etc.. and mostly keeping my veg and fruit fresh or frozen only. I have lost 3 stone in four months by sticking to all fresh fruit and vegetables including 'sweet' treats made of oatflakes, egg and fat free yogurt with all variety of added fruit and cooked in airfryer, and my blood sugars remain averaging around 5.4 before food and up to 7 or so two hours+ after food - I have cut all breads made from wheat out completely) Only once did I get a sugar surge but I had eaten a rather large very full dish of fruity treats of mixed melons, bananas and every other fruit you could think of with ricotta, but by the subsequent test it was back to normal again. If we have to worry about sugars in vegetables we're taking this thing too far imo!

You need to do what works for you. If it's working, that's fine. There's such a range of experiences and responses that being dogmatic about diet is a bit pointless.

I agree with you completely about carbs and sugar in processed food. However - I wouldn't eat what you're eating (I wish I could) and for me a rise from "5.4... to 7 or so" after eating would be too much. Cheese (IIRC)_is around 1% carb and I wouldn't lump it in with cakes and biscuits.

I really do need to worry about sugars in vegetables because a 150g "portion" of potato would exceed my normal total daily carb intake. I don't think this is taking things too far - I really don't want the symptoms back again, so like you, I'll do what suits me.