Re: How to interpret glucose meter readings


"louise" <louise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:6fe0ljFavm66U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alan S wrote:
On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:04:57 -0400, louise
<louise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

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

Actually, those numbers aren't too bad for a newly diagnosed
diabetic or pre-diabetic. However, they are higher than a
non-diabetic would see.

The peak at one hour is typical of many of us. As I said,
they aren't terrible, but if you want them lower the trick
is to review what you ate and see what can be changed.

What was the menu that led to those?



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)

Morning:

1 scoop unflavored, no sugar whey protein powder with my regular vitamins
and medications
1/2 sandwich on whole grain whole wheat bread of almond butter and no
extra sugar apricot jam
1 cappuccino - 2 scoops espresso, 1 envelope of splenda and 1 tsp of
sugar. 2% milk.
BTW - this is my breakfast every morning - I'm a creature of habit in the
AM

Evening:

BBQd spare ribs - 6 ribs
Thai noodles with vegetables - about 2 cups
Vitamins

Since I've not been diagnosed - in fact, told I'm fine when I "know" from
my body that I'm not (also 30 lbs overweight with limited exercise
ability), I would very much like to get to "real normal" - not "normal for
diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Am I right to be aiming for normal? Or at least a little better?

Also BTW, I'm not sure where you came in on this thread. I take
psychotropic medications that are known to put weight on you. Therefore,
the numbers I gave you are with my taking 500 mg Metformin twice a day.
I'm eventually supposed to go up to 2,000 per day divided.

So, does that mean that without the 1000mg of metformin my after meal
number would be even higher?

Thanks again for all your help.

Louise

Hi Louise,

I've been following your thread, but this is the first time I'm jumping in.

To answer your last question first, almost certainly the metformin is
helping to control your BGs, and you may get even better numbers as your
dose increases.

Next, it is a perfectly reasonable and achievable goal to shoot for normal
or near normal BG numbers, especially since you don't seem to have
progressed too far along the diabetic spectrum. You're absolutely
right--now is the time to be proactive! Yes, it's easy for the doctor to
tell you not worry, but it's not her health is it? On top of that, compared
to many diabetics your numbers are quite good, so it's all relative your
doctor.

Whenever you ingest carbs, your pancreas has to work to put out insulin to
keep the BG under control. Since Type 2's tend to be insulin resistant, our
pancreases have to work much harder and put out a lot more insulin than a
non-diabetic's to lower BG. The thing you want to shoot for in achieving
non-diabetic numbers is not to to eat fast-acting carbs that cause your
pancreas to put out lots of insulin. Additionally, when the pancreas puts
out insulin, it tells the body to store more of your calories as fat, which
adds to weight gain, which increases insulin resistance--a vicious cycle.

While everyone has different tolerances to carbs, for almost everyone the
following behave as fast-acting carbs: potatoes, wheat flour (both refined
and whole, although whole is better)--which leaves out breads, pasta, cakes,
etc., rice (both white and brown, although again brown is supposed to be
better--my body hates them both), fruit juices (might as well drink a
regular soda), some fruits--bananas and grapes are especially sugary, and of
course sugar itself. Since we have been taught to build our meals around
these fast-acting carbs, it's a little tricky to learn to eat differently,
but most of us have found good substitutes. Try eliminating these things
from your diet and I bet you're numbers will improve further. It should
also help you with the weight issue--a tough thing since your med induces
it.

Build your meals around protein and green leafy vegetables--lettuce,
spinach, cukes, zuchinni or yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. The
root veggies like carrots affect us all a little differently. I can eat raw
carrots with no problems at all, but not cooked ones. Don't be afraid of
fats. You may want to watch the calories a bit, but they won't hurt you,
especially the monosaturated fats like olive oil and canola. Nuts are good
for you. For a bread substitute, I eat Mission brand low carb tortillas.
Anything I can put on bread, I can put on one of these tortillas.

You're definitely on the right track, Louise and doing a good job of taking
in all of this information. I know it's a little overwhelming at first.

Keep asking questions!
--
Best regards,
Michelle C., T2
diet & exercise
BMI 21.5


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