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Newbie with a question...

J

jace65

Member
Messages
6
Hi,

I'm new to this forum, although I have been "lurking" for some time!

I was diagnosed type 2 at the beginning of November with a hba1c reading of 12.4 and have now started taking Metformin, 500mg 3 x a day. I am waiting to see the Diabetic Nurse in January (the earliest appointment I could get!). I, like many others, have had absolutely no help from my GP so have had to try and get my head around this by myself. This site has been an absolute god send and has helped me understand what I need to be doing.

I now test regularly, first thing in the morning, 2 hours after every meal, and just before going to bed. When I first started testing I was averaging readings of 10 to 12, but after following the advice on here and reduced my carb intake drastically (as well as the metformin) I am now down to readings of 5.5 to 8.5.

My problem is with my fasting reading, and after breakfast! Last night before I went to bed it was 5.5, this morning first thing was 6.8 and 2 hours after breakfast (greek yogurt and a handful of raspberries and blackberries) it was 8.5. This happens most days! During the rest of the day, it slowly comes down to somewhere in the 6's.

What am I doing wrong? I'd really like to keep in the 6's if possible, so any help would be gratefully received.

And thank you again for this brilliant site
 
Hi
Welcome to the Forum. Better to post than to lurk........ I hope you have read the advice that we offer to newly diagnosed in the Greetings and Introductions section. You appear to be doing most things right anyway.

As your morning fasting level is around 6.8 mmol/l which is on the high side of what is recommended (between 4 - 7 mmol/l). You could just be a victim of the dawn phenomenon effect where your body prepares itself for the day by boosting your Bg levels in the morning. One explanation.

Another is this .......
You say that when you go to bed it is around 5.5 mmol/l........now to me as a Type 2 that level is too low, I know if that was my level pre-bed that at some point during the night my Bg would be dropping possibly to hypo levels, below 4 mmol/l, this in turn would then be dealt with by a 'liver dump', essentially the same as DP, boosting your levels again. Try having a small carby snack before bedtime and keep the level a little higher pre-bed. This may then even out the levels overnight leading to a reduction in your fasting levels.

As for the breakfast and 2 hrs after........your breakfast would be too many carbs for me.....so the levels would probably be even higher for me. All depends on the type and amount of Yoghurt/Fruit as well. Portion size. So again you are at the top end of the recommended levels (8.5 mmol/l). Lower is obviously better. Dependent on activity and carb intake the levels will fluctuate throughout the day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Check out the total carbs in your breakfast first ?

Keeping in the 6's all day is possible but not always what some can achieve.........you seem to be doing well and over time I am sure things will improve.
 
Hello Jace and welcome.

I used to have problem with high morning figures, and it is quite common, something to do with your liver dumping glucose in the morning to give you energy when you wake up!

Try a small carb snack just before bed. It might help.

Remember that your present figures are a big improvement over what you used to have, and that they will continue to fall a liitle more as time goes on.

I now only eat breakfasts with zero carbs (well almost) and that keeps my BG low until lunch by which time my numbers are dropping anyway.

Caffeine has been shown to cause some problems for T2s so if you are a big drinker of tea, coffee and coke type drinks you migh benefit from cutting back a bit.

One thing that does work for me is a couple of glasses of red wine at night, this drops my bedtime figure and fasting figure, remember not to drink to much when on Metformin but the general concensus is that a couple of normal sized glasses of wine is OK.

H
 
Thank you both for your reply.

Well, I've been trying different things over the past week to see if I can make any difference! I don't drink tea, coffee or alcohol so non of that can be affecting the numbers. I think I've solved the higher reading in the morning, as I now have an apple at around 10pm and this seems to keep the number fairly good for my fasting reading with no increase from the late night reading. So thanks fo the advise re: a snack before bed

I'm still struggling with the levels after breakfast though! Whatever I eat, it ALWAYS rises :x
This morning my fasting reading was 5.6, brekfast was 2 scramled eggs, 2 rashers of bacon and half a crimbles corn cracker (2gms of carbs). My reading 2 hours later was 8.4!!!

Even when my fasting readings has been in the 6's, and whatever I eat it still goes up to somewhere in the 8's, and occasionally 9.

By about lunchtime it starts to come down, and stays within the 5 to 7 range throughout the day with very little variation.

I keep the carbs to about 8gms for my breakfast when I have fruit and berries, and less when I have eggs etc, but it just doesn't seem to make any difference.

This is the only "spike" that I really have now and don't know what else I can do, unless I'm missing something really obvious???!!

J
 
Can I ask do you take the fasting reading, then immediately have breakfast ? Is there activity of any sort between the fasting reading and breakfast ? I don't want to assume anything here.
 
Hi cugila,

I take my reading and then pretty much have breakfast straight away, so no activity in between (other than feed the dog and cat!!).

I don't normally excercise until later in the day.
 
You might be like me then.....I can take a reading, have an almost nil carb brekkie and yet still the levels will rise despite Byetta with the meal (before). I have a distinct lack of natural Insulin production in the morning but it rises till in the evening I get too much !

I see you were on 3 x 500mg of Metformin, then I read that you reduced it ? What do you take now and were you told to reduce it ?
 
Still on 3 x 500mg Metformin and haven't changed. Maybe confusing me with someone else??

I had the same problem before I started taking the Metformin!

Would eating later help, or is this something I just have to accept? And can I assume it won't have any adverse effect bearing in mind my overall levels seem to be coming down? I can seem to have higher amounts of carbs later in the day without the same spike.

If only things were as simple as the nurse at my practice made it sound,- "just cut out sugar and stick to "diet" foods, and you should be OK". Thankfully she's not the Diabetic Nurse who I still haven't seen yet since being diagnosed back in November! :?
 

No, possibly misread this from your first post ?

Anyway, it is a bit trial and error, how about leaving out the corn crackers for starters, test and see if that makes any difference. Some mornings I can manage a slice of 13g carbs bread then others it 'hits' me !

Diabetic Nurses.......mmmh ! Yes, many seem to just say 'cut out sugar.' That's no help when it's carbohydrates which are the main problem. That's why we always refer to carbs...which contain added sugars in the Advice to newly diagnosed in Greetings and Introductions.

Keep plugging away till you find exactly what suits YOU.
 

That will teach me to re-read my posts!! :roll: I should have said reduced my carbs, and as well as taking the metformin my bg readings have reduced!

Well, I'll just keep trying differnt things and keep reading this forum, it's been far more helpful than my GP practice!!

Thanks for your help.
 
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