Readings not dropping ?

[bluecurlylegend]

I've been LCHF for nearly two and a half years now and have lost about 20 kilos. I'm 175cm tall and my present weight is 85kilos. My blood pressure was previously borderline high is now 105/73 which seems ok.
I feel better overall than I have for years ! I'm a 72 year old male. My last HBa1c was 37mmol/l. The only medicament I take is a very small amount of Levothyroxine which has only made the numbers on my blood test results better.... I've never felt any symptoms before or after starting the tablets.

I became concerned nearly three years ago when my annual blood test indicated a fasting glucose result of 6.49mmol/l alerting me to a pre-diabetique state. No HBa1c test was performed. I was advised to lose some weight, take more exercise and eat a balanced diet.
Ever since my mid thirties I'd been doing exactly that ! I was cycling over 6500 miles a year and eating low fat and sometimes verging on vegetarianism. But my weight over the years had been slowly but steadily rising until with the threat of diabetes I decided to rethink the whole nutritional regime I'd been following.

Then I discovered Diabetes.co.uk !

So far so good...what's the problem ?

I got a Codefree meter almost right away, learned how to use it and have kept records of all my tests.

But....for the last two and a half years my Codefree readings have hardly varied.
After sleep.....6.4 mmol/l
Before evening meal.....6.4 mmol/l
After evening meal....6.5 mmol/l

I take some coffee with 20gm butter and 15gm of coconut oil in the morning with 120gm of full fat home made yoghourt, rarely eat lunch and have one main meal in the evening, trying to keep my carbs below 20gm.
I sometimes fast for 48 hours and my blood glucose averages out at 5.5 during that. Very occasionally , for experimental purposes only, do I eat off-piste and the Glucose spikes are immediate.

So why are my readings constantly somewhat high ?
Should I be concerned ?
My doctor won't prescribe medicament like Metformin because my HBa1c at 37mmol/l doesn't indicate diabetes .

Any advice, consolation' even tell me to get a grip.... ?
(Please, no hugs, a firm handshake will suffice. I can't help observing due decorum for a man of my years.)

 

[bulkbiker]

My Codefree constantly read 1 mmol/l higher than my Tee2 hence I swapped meters..
Any chance you could get an HbA1c to check what your averages really are?

No hugs given note!

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I've been LCHF for nearly two and a half years now and have lost about 20 kilos. I'm 175cm tall and my present weight is 85kilos. My blood pressure was previously borderline high is now 105/73 which seems ok.
I feel better overall than I have for years ! I'm a 72 year old male. My last HBa1c was 37mmol/l. The only medicament I take is a very small amount of Levothyroxine which has only made the numbers on my blood test results better.... I've never felt any symptoms before or after starting the tablets.

I became concerned nearly three years ago when my annual blood test indicated a fasting glucose result of 6.49mmol/l alerting me to a pre-diabetique state. No HBa1c test was performed. I was advised to lose some weight, take more exercise and eat a balanced diet.
Ever since my mid thirties I'd been doing exactly that ! I was cycling over 6500 miles a year and eating low fat and sometimes verging on vegetarianism. But my weight over the years had been slowly but steadily rising until with the threat of diabetes I decided to rethink the whole nutritional regime I'd been following.

Then I discovered Diabetes.co.uk !

So far so good...what's the problem ?

I got a Codefree meter almost right away, learned how to use it and have kept records of all my tests.

But....for the last two and a half years my Codefree readings have hardly varied.
After sleep.....6.4 mmol/l
Before evening meal.....6.4 mmol/l
After evening meal....6.5 mmol/l

I take some coffee with 20gm butter and 15gm of coconut oil in the morning with 120gm of full fat home made yoghourt, rarely eat lunch and have one main meal in the evening, trying to keep my carbs below 20gm.
I sometimes fast for 48 hours and my blood glucose averages out at 5.5 during that. Very occasionally , for experimental purposes only, do I eat off-piste and the Glucose spikes are immediate.

So why are my readings constantly somewhat high ?
Should I be concerned ?
My doctor won't prescribe medicament like Metformin because my HBa1c at 37mmol/l doesn't indicate diabetes .

Any advice, consolation' even tell me to get a grip.... ?
(Please, no hugs, a firm handshake will suffice. I can't help observing due decorum for a man of my years.)

With a beautiful HbA1c like that, I'd be doubting the meter. Time to try a different one and see whether that makes more sense, reading-wise.

Firm handshake given.
Jo

 

[HSSS]

I’m going to hazard a guess (assuming you’re meter isn’t the issue) that you are missing a lot of lower numbers with your testing. It might well be that you are catching your liver dumps. Dawn phenomenon in the mornings and potentially another after effectively fasting much of the day. They aren’t awfully high and the hb1ac is excellent. My testing at those times is similar it with a higher hb1ac (low 40’s ) and I’m more than happy not taking meds at this stage.

A friendly squeeze disguised as a handshake from me.

 

[bluecurlylegend]

Thank you all for you prompt replies and words of encouragement.
My wife and I both bought Codefree meters at the same time. She regularly got readings in the high 4's and low 5's while I was getting readings in the mid 6's. We swapped meters to test but we still got the same results.
So as Mark suggested I have went over my official blood test results carried out by our local laboratoire and it would seem that my Codefree meter over-reads by an average of 0.8mmol/l. This is based on me having taken finger prick tests within 15 to 20 minutes of having blood sucked out of my arm.
Applying this correction factor to my results makes them look much more respectable I suppose.

5.6mmol/l after sleep,
5.6mmol/l before meals
and 5.7mmol/l after meals.....all averages of course.

I know I wouldn't get results like this if I didn't stick closely to a LCHF regime, trust me, I've been caught out by the occasional hidden carbs. It just shows you how important it is to test your blood glucose regularly.

Again, many thanks to you all for your time and good humour....​