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When should waking/fasting blood test be carried out?

Hooty

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Should it be as soon after waking as possible, or any time between waking and eating breakfast?

Thank you
 
Depending on what you do before breakfast, you can usually treat your fasting on waking as your pre-breakfast level. I always did when I tested my breakfasts, which I no longer do. I was able to do that because after the pee, hands wash, test upstairs, all I do is come down stairs unwashed and in dressing gown, make breakfast and eat it.
 
I test as soon as I wake up while still in bed, then get up, have wee (if I need one) and head straight downstairs for breakfast, so my waking/fasting reading is my pre breakfast one. I shower and dress once I’ve eaten :)
 
Ok, so pretty much first thing, which is what I’ve been doing. Thank you!
 
Upon waking but I have to wash my hands. I use a vitamin C face serum on my face which contaminates my hands, otherwise, it causes my sugar readings to be off the chart.
 
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For me there already is a big difference between testing in bed right after waking up and 20 minutes later after having a pee and making coffee. So it might be informative to test right after waking and before breakfast just to see if there's a big difference for you.
 
Antje77 said:
For me there already is a big difference between testing in bed right after waking up and 20 minutes later after having a pee and making coffee. So it might be informative to test right after waking and before breakfast just to see if there's a big difference for you.
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That’s interesting. In your case, which do you take as your fasting reading? (And out of curiosity which reading is higher?)
 
Hooty said:
Should it be as soon after waking as possible, or any time between waking and eating breakfast?
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Whenever suits you, as long as you follow the same regime every time in order to make the tests relevant.

In my case the same time is never.
 
Hooty said:
That’s interesting. In your case, which do you take as your fasting reading? (And out of curiosity which reading is higher?)
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The second one is higher. They're both fasting,and I'm not the only one who experiences this. It's known as 'feet on the floor effect', a close cousin to 'dawn phenomenon'. Many diabetics of many types experience this. It's basically your liver thinking it's being helpful by dumping glucose in your bloodstream to get you going for the day. Should you find you experience this you could do a search for it in this group or on google, but if your numbers are stable after waking up I wouldn't bother if I were you :)
Hooty said:
In your case, which do you take as your fasting reading?
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My diabetes nurse used to ask me my fasting readings and I have asked her if she means the 5.6 one or the 11.8 one of the same morning. She doesn't ask anymore :P

I'm (most likely) a type1 on insulin so we have a whole different version of diabetes, but this liver dump can affect all types, which is why I wanted to mention it.
For me, since I found out I can simply inject for it before getting out of bed my morning numbers have been a lot better, which obviously isn't relevant to you!

Good luck!
 
Wow, that’s a big increase, how interesting @Antje77 . Glad you can adjust your insulin to cope with it. Thank you for your reply.
 
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