So, this fasting BG thing….

I have been type 2 for a decade since diagnosis. My fasting blood sugar levels rarely dip under 8, no matter what I tried. For some of us, our bodies just dump glucose when we wake up. I just avoid carbs in the morning. I am not worried about it.

My personal belief is that it’s the single greatest measure of one’s resting metabolism, but whether or not people pay it much attention is a personal choice. I rarely test these days but if I do it will be usually be fasting. Some choose to ignore it and others use it as their yardstick. It’s really an individual thing.

My opinion is somewhere between those of @TeddyTottie and @Jim Lahey in that for anybody who has Dawn Phenomenon I see no point in testing FBG especially for those who have fixed breakfast emus which they know are good for them (or in my case, no meal before midday).
But once everything else is under control, then I see how an occasional FBG can be a way to monitor any further progress, but since this can take years, I am not testing it more than about once per moth at most.

I was walking up with really high blood sugars at one point for a few weeks, then all of a sudden they went down to 5-6mmol/l on waking and have remained that since over the past 2 weeks. My problem is pre/post lunch mid-day. I can only assume that a regular sleep pattern such as set bedtime and waketime helps somehow(?) as that is all I have changed.

markpj31 said:

I was walking up with really high blood sugars at one point for a few weeks, then all of a sudden they went down to 5-6mmol/l on waking and have remained that since over the past 2 weeks. My problem is pre/post lunch mid-day. I can only assume that a regular sleep pattern such as set bedtime and waketime helps somehow(?) as that is all I have changed.

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I think sleep patterns can certainly help or hinder. For what it's worth I find that not consuming any caffeine improves my quality of uninterrupted sleep. Far more frequent and vivid dreams, which I assume is a sign of higher quality deep sleep, but I'm no expert on the subject.

markpj31 said:

My problem is pre/post lunch mid-day. I can only assume that a regular sleep pattern such as set bedtime and waketime helps somehow(?) as that is all I have changed.

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Another thing is that you're using quick acting insulin before your evening meal but not before breakfast or lunch.
Mealtime insulin works on a meal to meal basis, it stays active for 3 to 5 hours. So your mealtime insulin seems to be working well with your evening meal, and your combination of Lantus and gliclazide seems to keep you steady in the absence of food.
But you start to rise after breakfast.

Antje77 said:

Another thing is that you're using quick acting insulin before your evening meal but not before breakfast or lunch.
Mealtime insulin works on a meal to meal basis, it stays active for 3 to 5 hours. So your mealtime insulin seems to be working well with your evening meal, and your combination of Lantus and gliclazide seems to keep you steady in the absence of food.
But you start to rise after breakfast.

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Yup. Although odd thing is today was that I woke up with an 8.5mmol/l and had a big breakfast, much bigger than I normally have - two slices of wholemeal toast (30g carbs), one sausage and 3 eggs. 4 hours later I felt shaky and BSG was 5mmol/l.. I don't get it!

TeddyTottie said:

Am I alone in not worrying about it, all else being under control?

I rarely check my BG first thing in the morning, I have always taken the view that there is really very little I can do to affect it beyond my current efforts so there is not much point in checking it. This is against a backdrop of extremely consistent low-carb eating plus checking my BG response if I introduce a new foodstuff to my diet, or if I have any reason to suspect elevated glucose levels such as flare-up of conditions I associated with raised sugars.

I assume that my if my HbA1c levels are mid-30s then there is nothing much to concern me. Thoughts, anyone? I see so much anxiety on here about fasting BG and stressing over the dawn phenomenon, are we at risk of over-emphasising it’s importance?

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I don't much either. My A1c is now invariably 36-38. 20-25g carbs/day. As far as dawn phenom goes, by 6-7am I have probably been fasting for 10 hours, Using the Libre showed that my BGs dip severely in the very early morning (about 4-5am) and then rise. They'll go on rising (to the mid/high 5s) until I eat something - it doesn't seem to matter what. Then they fall steadily. If I test early, I get a reasonably low reading in the 4 range - if I leave it a few hours it will be in the 5s. This no longer bothers me.

Like you, I will check against a "new" food or food combination, and did a bit more checking six weeks ago after starting some new physically strenuous activities. But otherwise I don't test that much at all these days - I can pretty much predict the reading. So, no, you're not alone.