• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Sample from different fingers

Gudrun

Gudrun

Well-Known Member
Messages
279
Location
Leeds
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Hmmm.. probably a lot less than stuff I like
I have noticed a couple of times now that the sample I take from my left hand is lower than the sample I take from my right hand. This morning I took some (fasting) blood from the middle finger of my right hand and it was 5.8. I thought that was a bit high, and immediately took a sample from the ring finger of my left hand. It tested 5.1.

I read somewhere that there may be a difference in the blood sugar contents between different fingers, but 0.7 is quite a difference. Why does it test so differently? I had washed my hands before testing so it can't be down to some residue.

Does anybody know the answer or is it one of the mysteries we have to live with?
 
I can only guess that your prominent hand/arm has a better circulation system, and the blood supply is refreshed more often ? this would cause a difference I think:confused:
 
This is common and normal. You can also get different readings from the same drops of blood on the same finger ! Our meters are a decent guide but not accurate.
 
It all varies from finger to finger.

Even arm to arm for blood pressure. That is also why we don't test from other areas, as they are known to have wider variances.

I think we have to accept as our bodies vary so much. We can lose circulation in one foot and not another, look at people that get meningitis and lose digits or limbs..if our whole bodies reacted consistently, identically, symetrically we wouldn't stand a chance. Cancer wouldn't just go to one kidney it would be both etc...

Think we have to accept and choose the digits that work best for us.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
mo1905 said:
This is common and normal. You can also get different readings from the same drops of blood on the same finger ! Our meters are a decent guide but not accurate.
Click to expand...

Thanks. There must be a reason behind it, but I just find it odd. It'll be tempting now to check the other hand if I find my BS levels a bit high. Easy way to 'cheat' when recording our readings.
 
Gudrun said:
Thanks. There must be a reason behind it, but I just find it odd. It'll be tempting now to check the other hand if I find my BS levels a bit high. Easy way to 'cheat' when recording our readings.
Click to expand...
Be nice if we could just keep testing various fingers until we found a reading we liked :)
 
That's so weird - I was just thinking the same thing! I just got 10.4 reading post brekkie from index finger (been avoiding that one) for first time for same food as yesterday.

I'm feeling lost!!!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I'm grateful that the technology exists at reasonable cost to get a BG reading mostly within 10% from a droplet of blood in the comfort of your own home!
 
Debmcgee said:
That's so weird - I was just thinking the same thing! I just got 10.4 reading post brekkie from index finger (been avoiding that one) for first time for same food as yesterday.

I'm feeling lost!!!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Deb, that happens to me (and others) also. Sometimes we can eat something with no rise in blood sugar and at other times it spikes us. Sometimes we can eat it in the morning, but not in the evenings.... it's very odd.

The best thing to do is to keep checking it quite a few times and if it ever goes above the recommended limits, have it only occasionally.

I think the general advice is that fasting BS levels should be below 6, one hour after meal no more than 8 and two hours after a meal down to less than 6.5. Anything that reads 10.4 a couple of hours after eating should be avoided or eaten only rarely (even if it didn't raise your blood sugar levels yesterday).

I find that if I don't eat something for a while (say, two weeks or longer) and then have a small portion, it doesn't raise my BS levels, but if I then have it again the next day (or shortly afterwards), it does. I succumbed to some biscuits after not eating any for about 6 weeks and my BS levels were 5.4 after two hours. I thought 'how wonderful....'. A few days later I had some more of the same biscuits and after two hours my BS was still over 9.
 
Tried to prick middle finger and got hardly anything out so test strip failed! Then did ring finger on same setting and bammo! Loads of blood.

Funny how fingers on the same hand have different flow too.

It's quite interesting seeing all this stuff and learning about my body.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Back
Top