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Prediabetes - should I be concerned about BS readings?

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Allell

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I was diagnosed with Prediabetes last Aug when my fasting BS reading was 6.7. I immediately researched and changed to a low carb diet (around 50g a day). Since Aug I have lost 3 stone and now have BMI of 22. My HBA1C was checked last month and it was 33 so I felt quite reassured although I’m conscious that it’s only 33 presumably because I’ve reduced my carb consumption. The last few days I’ve tested my fasting BS at home and had readings of 6, 6.1 and 5.7. Im getting concerned as my morning readings when I take them (not regularly) are usually around 4.8 - 5.4 so they seem to have crept up. Does that mean that I’m prediabetic or not? Can a non diabetic person get higher readings sometimes? I haven’t changed my diet at all in the last few days.
 
Everyone may have variations in glucose levels all the time whether or not they're diabetic and it's not only food that effects them health, pain, stress, various medications, exercise, etc can all have an impact. Your few minor variations are well within your meter's acceptable margins of error and are not any cause for concern.
 
Allell said:
I was diagnosed with Prediabetes last Aug when my fasting BS reading was 6.7. I immediately researched and changed to a low carb diet (around 50g a day). Since Aug I have lost 3 stone and now have BMI of 22. My HBA1C was checked last month and it was 33 so I felt quite reassured although I’m conscious that it’s only 33 presumably because I’ve reduced my carb consumption. The last few days I’ve tested my fasting BS at home and had readings of 6, 6.1 and 5.7. Im getting concerned as my morning readings when I take them (not regularly) are usually around 4.8 - 5.4 so they seem to have crept up. Does that mean that I’m prediabetic or not? Can a non diabetic person get higher readings sometimes? I haven’t changed my diet at all in the last few days.
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Often our fasting levels are the highest of the day and even 5 years on since I managed to get my hbac1 down from the 90s to the 30s my fasting tests sometimes are higher than I would like but if I wear a CGM - libre to see glucose at different times of the day and also when I finger prick at different time of the day can see what the range is like overall which I find reassuring. Your hba1c is a better indicator than fasting bgs as this is just a particular moment in time whereas the hba1C is an average over the last few months. When you wake up your body naturally produces a lot of cortisol to help you to wake up and this puts up your blood pressure and more importantly your blood sugars to get you ready for the day. In the same way when we are stressed for example or exercising the cortisol produced gives us an increase in blood glucose to deal with the stressful situation or exercise. I find stress still puts mine up but important bit is managing it and making sure that goes down afterwards! I'd imagine that this is just a natural fluctuation - maybe take a few more reading in the day rather than focusing on your fasting one.
Well done too on the changes youve made and the magnificent health improvements youve made to date - congratulations on your achievements.
 
shelley262 said:
Often our fasting levels are the highest of the day and even 5 years on since I managed to get my hbac1 down from the 90s to the 30s my fasting tests sometimes are higher than I would like but if I wear a CGM - libre to see glucose at different times of the day and also when I finger prick at different time of the day can see what the range is like overall which I find reassuring. Your hba1c is a better indicator than fasting bgs as this is just a particular moment in time whereas the hba1C is an average over the last few months. When you wake up your body naturally produces a lot of cortisol to help you to wake up and this puts up your blood pressure and more importantly your blood sugars to get you ready for the day. In the same way when we are stressed for example or exercising the cortisol produced gives us an increase in blood glucose to deal with the stressful situation or exercise. I find stress still puts mine up but important bit is managing it and making sure that goes down afterwards! I'd imagine that this is just a natural fluctuation - maybe take a few more reading in the day rather than focusing on your fasting one.
Well done too on the changes youve made and the magnificent health improvements youve made to date - congratulations on your achievements.
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@Allell: You might possibly find it helpful to set yourself some reasonably wide (and adjustable up or down!) target ranges for meter readings to try to keep within. I was able to set these up on my meter for fasting, pre and post meal results, and it was more helpful to know how often I was able to keep within these ranges over time than to be fussed over individual figures. And I could refine them if/when I was managing to keep well within these targets.
 
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