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fruitblast

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Hello all, Sorry if this is a bit long winded but I need advice

I was diagnosed with pre diabtes or possibly full diabetes around the time Covid started, was given no advice or any contact from the surgery since and which lulled me into a false view that it was not serious.
After much nagging from the family I bought a Fibre 2 setup and started using it 6 days ago.
At first the readings seemed ok apart from one spike after eating cornflakes, the readings 2 hours after eating were
around the 5 mark.During the first few days I was snacking between meals so to get more solid data I cut that
out and started to get scary results.
3 days ago I drove to walk the dog , checked my level on arrival it was 3.5, I dismissed as a random fault reading but
it continued to fall to 3.2 at which point I had a couple of biscuits and it rose to a normal level.
The next day I was still not snacking and it hit the low 3,s again several times and i had to eat to bring it back up.
Today I had a nap a few hours after eating and the reader gave a longer slow sugar alarm which woke me up, the reading
was 2.9 but rapidly rose to 4.5 without any action.Seems to me that I have (without being flippant), some form of anti
diabetes where the sugar level is going too low when fasting, I cant find any info on Google about constant low levels,only low dips and hypos
As far as I know I havent had a hypo but must have been close to it over the last few days.
Cant get to see the Doctor till Thursday so I am going to have snack to keep my levels up till then but I am worried that
I may have a hypo during sleep and be unable to do anything about it as I live alone and have no means of getting help.
I was hoping the readings were not accurate from the sensor but checked with strips today and the reading is
about 0.2 higher on a blood sample so the readings are close to true.
Any thoughts or advice will be very much appriciated

Chris
 
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Hi @fruitblast , welcome to the forum.

The Libre sensor is known for reading a bit off in some people. I use them myself, but I don't believe it when it says I'm below 4 without double checking with a fingerprick.
For me, the Libre usually reads up to 2mmol/l lower than blood, although for others it reads very close to blood.

If you felt fine when the Libre said you were low, a hypo is very unlikely.
 
I have checked the readings twice with a blood strip and both times they have been within 0.2 so I have reasonable
confidence the system is ok, however I would have thought that I would have had some hypo indications when it shows
low 3 readings but from what I have read they dont really kick it till the mid 2,s.All i can do is keep the levels reasonable
until I can see the Doc and get the proper tests done to find out if there really is a problem.
 
fruitblast said:
I have checked the readings twice with a blood strip and both times they have been within 0.2 so I have reasonable
confidence the system is ok,
Click to expand...
Despite what some people suggest, Libre is not consistently out by the same amount. It is calibrated to be most accurate between about 4 and about 9. This is why it is always recommended to test with finger pricks when high or low.
Sensors can also be unpredictable during the first 48 hours as our bodies become familiar with the alien object inserted in our arm.
 
Thanks for the reply, the way I feel doesnt correspond with the readings but as I said i have checked with blood strips
and unless they are both out,the readings are almost the same.I do have a different strip reader and strips, it might
be worth me treble checking a couple of readings
 
yes the sensor showed 3.2, the blood strip 3.4, i know there is a small difference due to the sensor using fluid rather
than blood and also the time lag between the levels, think one is 15 mins behind the other but i tested when the level
had been constantly low for around 30 mins.
 
fruitblast said:
yes the sensor showed 3.2, the blood strip 3.4, i know there is a small difference due to the sensor using fluid rather
than blood and also the time lag between the levels, think one is 15 mins behind the other but i tested when the level
had been constantly low for around 30 mins.
Click to expand...

Hmm, there are conditions where non diabetics can be hypoglycemic, and it's also possible for non diabetics to have lowish readings
Continuous Glucose Monitoring Profiles in Healthy Nondiabetic Participants: A Multicenter Prospective Study - PMC (nih.gov)

I'm surprised that you aren't getting any symptoms (even if only hunger) if you're down to 3, though glucometers are allowed to have a 15% error.

Though at 3.4 I don't personally think you are in any danger of going unconscious. The reason T1s treat hypos is that the injected insulin in their system can make them go much lower....
 
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Thanks for you reply, I know there is a rare condition where tumors on the pancreas can cause overproduction
of insulin.Regarding sympoms, being of advancing years,maybe I am putting some stuff I have had for a while
down to my age, I do get tired quickly and prone to sleeping too much in the day, always wake feeling hungry.
One thing I have had years is periods of extreme itching for no obvious reason ,had every test going but the Doctors
never found the cause.
No point in second guessing, I dont pretend to have any medical knowledge, hopefully the doc can throw some light on
it tommorrow.
Didnt get any alarms from the Fibre last night, the reading was 4.4 when i woke up
 
Wouid it be ok if I posted reader screenshots in the reactive hypoglycemia thread, seems a lot stuff there seems to relate to my condition , current reading is 3,2 :(
 
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