Re: How to interpret glucose meter readings

Alan S wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:36:39 -0400, louise
<louise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

As per previous posts, I have just purchased a glucometer.

I got the Freestyle Freedom Lite - it was on sale.

I took my first reading after eating only a little bit (a late) for several hours. The reading was 93. At this point I do not feel tired.

How do I find out how to interpret the readings I get?

What constitutes a high sugar reading - ie, too high?

What consitutes a low reading, ie, my blood sugar has dropped too low.

A reminder - I do not have diabetes but have exhaustion after eating and a serum glucose level of 107.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Louise

Start here:

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm
As Jennifer doesn't post here these days, I'll copy it in
full for those reading through WebTV or similar.

I believe that this was the best advice I received from any
source after diagnosis:

Sounds like you're planning a move to take control of your
diabetes... good for you.

There is so much to absorb... you don't have to rush into
anything. Begin by using your best weapon in this war, your
meter. You won't keel over today, you have time to
experiment, test, learn, test and figure out just how your
body and this disease are getting along. The most important
thing you can do to learn about yourself and diabetes is
test test test.

The single biggest question a diabetic has to answer is:
What do I eat?

Unfortunately, the answer is pretty confusing. What
confounds us all is the fact that different diabetics can
get great results on wildly different food plans. Some of
us here achieve great blood glucose control eating a high
complex carbohydrate diet. Others find that anything over 75
- 100g of carbs a day is too much. Still others are
somewhere in between.

At the beginning all of us felt frustrated. We wanted to be
handed THE way to eat, to ensure our continued health. But
we all learned that there is no one way. Each of us had to
find our own path, using the experience of those that went
before, but still having to discover for ourselves how OUR
bodies and this disease were coexisting. Ask questions, but
remember each of us discovered on our own what works best
for us. You can use our experiences as jumping off points,
but eventually you'll work up a successful plan that is
yours alone.

What you are looking to discover is how different foods
affect you. As I'm sure you've read, carbohydrates (sugars,
wheat, rice... the things our Grandmas called "starches")
raise blood sugars the most rapidly. Protein and fat do
raise them, but not as high and much more slowly... so if
you're a T2, generally the insulin your body still makes may
take care of the rise.

You might want to try some experiments.

First: Eat whatever you've been currently eating... but
write it all down.

Test yourself at the following times:

Upon waking (fasting)

1 hour after each meal

2 hours after each meal

At bedtime

That means 8 x each day. What you will discover by this is
how long after a meal your highest reading comes... and how
fast you return to "normal". Also, you may see that a meal
that included bread, fruit or other carbs gives you a higher
reading.

Then for the next few days, try to curb your carbs.
Eliminate breads, cereals, rice, beans, any wheat products,
potato, corn, fruit... get all your carbs from veggies. Test
at the same schedule above.

If you try this for a few days, you may find some pretty
good readings. It's worth a few days to discover.
Eventually you can slowly add back carbs until you see them
affecting your meter. The thing about this disease...
though we share much in common and we need to follow certain
guidelines... in the end, each of our bodies dictate our
treatment and our success.

The closer we get to non-diabetic numbers, the greater
chance we have of avoiding horrible complications. The key
here is AIM... I know that everyone is at a different point
in their disease... and it is progressive. But, if we aim
for the best numbers and do our best, we give ourselves the
best shot at heath we've got. That's all we can do.

Here's my opinion on what numbers to aim for, they are
non-diabetic numbers.

FBG under 110

One hour after meals under 140

Two hours after meals under 120

or for those in the mmol parts of the world:

Fasting Under 6

One hour after meals Under 8

Two hours after meals Under 6.5

Recent studies have indicated that the most important
numbers are your "after meal" numbers. They may be the most
indicative of future complications, especially heart
problems.

Listen to your doctor, but you are the leader of your
diabetic care team. While his /her advice is learned, it is
not absolute. You will end up knowing much more about your
body and how it's handling diabetes than your doctor will.
Your meter is your best weapon.

Just remember, we're not in a race or a competition with
anyone but ourselves... Play around with your food plan...
TEST TEST TEST. Learn what foods cause spikes, what foods
cause cravings... Use your body as a science experiment.

You'll read about a lot of different ways people use to
control their diabetes... Many are diametrically opposed.
After awhile you'll learn that there is no one size fits all
around here. Take some time to experiment and you'll soon
discover the plan that works for you.

Best of luck!

Jennifer

Reprinted with permission from Jennifer

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
Blog http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com DLife column http://tinyurl.com/5v74xr
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com (The Taj Mahal)

Thanks to all for your help. I did some testing today and thought I'd thrown in the numbers to see what you make of them.

fasting when I first got up 106

1 hour after breakfast 127

2 hours after breakfast 107

1 hour after dinner 134

2 hours after dinner 106


So the numbers seem to go somewhat high one hour after eating, and then go way down to fasting level two hours after eating.

Are they supposed to drop so much between one hour and two hours?

And - are they supposed to go to fasting level two hours after eating?

I'm particularly concerned because it is between one and two hours after eating that I often experience exhaustion. Are they dropping too much too rapidly?

Thanks

Louise
.

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