Type 2 Trusting my monitor

[charliebarker]

This morning, I had a FBS of 6.1 - which for me so far is low ! huzzah I thought - then decided to check again. In the space of less than five minutes my BS tested as 6.1, 7.1, 7.8, 7.5, and 7.3.......I'm a bit new to this so was wondering is this normal, is it the machine (I've done a QC test) or does my BS really zoom up and down like this ?

 

[RobertMorton]

I believe the meters have something like 15% up or down

 

[charliebarker]

Wow! That seems quite useless!

 

[Robbity]

There isn't likely to be any issue with your meter, and most of those readings are fairly close anyway and are hardly zooming up and down, just gently fluctuating and probably well within any margins for error... It's smply a case of circulating blood moving varying amounts of glucose around your body all the time - it's being used and topped it back up constantly, and you're just seeing these different levels with each test. It's definitely not static!!

Fussing over a single continuous set of spot check tests isn't actually going to tell you much (though we've probably all done it at some point! ). Watching for post meal spikes (not little bumps) is important to see what foods might be best to avoid, but you need also to be keeping some sort of record (either on your meter or a spread sheet, whatever...) of your pre and post meal results and using these to look for trends and patterns over time. And it's these long term results that will tell you how you're coping and act as a guide to what dietary changes you may need to make.

Robbity

 

[charliebarker]

There isn't likely to be any issue with your meter, and most of those readings are fairly close anyway and are hardly zooming up and down, just gently fluctuating and probably well within any margins for error... It's smply a case of circulating blood moving varying amounts of glucose around your body all the time - it's being used and topped it back up constantly, and you're just seeing these different levels with each test. It's definitely not static!!

Fussing over a single continuous set of spot check tests isn't actually going to tell you much (though we've probably all done it at some point! ). Watching for post meal spikes (not little bumps) is important to see what foods might be best to avoid, but you need also to be keeping some sort of record (either on your meter or a spread sheet, whatever...) of your pre and post meal results and using these to look for trends and patterns over time. And it's these long term results that will tell you how you're coping and act as a guide to what dietary changes you may need to make.

Robbity

Post meal spikes haven't been an issue for weeks... I never rise above 1 mmol after eating anything low carb - I'm still trying to get the general levels down, that's why the testing is so frustrating for me - I'm waiting to see the average numbers drop

 

[hankjam]

Probably not from the same droplet...
Were your hands well washed and dried?
They are really trending devices rather than absolutes.

 

[charliebarker]

two of them were from the same droplet ! ha ha ! Always hands washed and properly dried.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I would suggest the first reading of 6.1 was the rogue one as you admit it was low for you. The 7s are all pretty similar to each other. If I saw those results I would discount the 6.1 and average the others for my own personal records. There is nothing unusual in that spread of results. It is unusual to get consecutive readings the same.

Our blood flows very quickly round our bodies. In a very few minutes it has completed a whole circuit. Also the haemoglobin cells are microscopic. One drop of blood on your finger contains many thousands of these cells, and each cell will have a different amount of glucose attached to it.

 

[charliebarker]

I would suggest the first reading of 6.1 was the rogue one as you admit it was low for you. The 7s are all pretty similar to each other. If I saw those results I would discount the 6.1 and average the others for my own personal records. There is nothing unusual in that spread of results. It is unusual to get consecutive readings the same.

Our blood flows very quickly round our bodies. In a very few minutes it has completed a whole circuit. Also the haemoglobin cells are microscopic. One drop of blood on your finger contains many thousands of these cells, and each cell will have a different amount of glucose attached to it.

That's really useful - thanks !