Postprandial Testing

[LCD]

Postprandial literally means "after a meal". For people with diabetes it refers to blood glucose measurements taken 1-2 hours after a meal. This is known as the postprandial blood glucose level and is an important measurement to take because it shows how the meal affects blood glucose.

Question? If I injection insulin 7:30am (breakfast) again 5:30pm (dinner) and test 2 hours (after meals) would that given me a level, that would be different from a reading at 12:00 (lunch) because I don't do insulin? Wouldn't the noon reading be higher because of no insulin to off set the food?

Question? If my morning and night bs are within range, should I been concerned about testing 2 hrs after meals?

Question? Can I have good morning and night levels and still be too high (over 140 - 180) in between?

[princesslinda]

I don't know the answer to your first question..i'm not on insulin and not that familiar with it.

Regarding your other 2 questions: You can have good morning and evening numbers and still have post-prandial #s that are too high.

If your post meal #s are too high and you don't ever check to find this out, you won't know which foods are causing the spikes so you can know to avoid that particular food. You want to stay as close to normal as you can at all times, the fewer spikes you have, the better.

It might be that you could choose a different meal each day to check your post meal, just to get an idea how you're doing at that particular time.

[fgummett]

For type 2 diabetes, increasingly it seems that the the postprandial reading is the best indicator of good control... perhaps when we have the biggest difficulty is in dealing with a large intake of carbohydrate?

What insulin are you taking and do you only take insulin with breakfast and supper?

Unlike most type 1 diabetes, our bodies are still making insulin so perhaps your injections are just to help that out some.

The best advice I can give, is to test as much as you can... it is really the only way to find out how your body works and how it reacts to the food you eat, activity you do and insulin you inject.

[LCD]

Thanks for the info. I am on Novolog 70/30. I was dx 7/07 and started 30u am and 15u pm with an A1c of 11. I have slowly adjusted my insulin levels depending upon my numbers. I am currently taking 13u am and 8u pm with an A1c of 5.9. I only take insulin at breakfast and dinner. I seem to have good numbers at those times. I will start testing after some meals to see what they are. Thanks for the great info and forum.

[xMenace]

Thanks for the info. I am on Novolog 70/30.

Realize that this is a pretty fixed, inflexible regimen. People on MDI separate the two insulins.

Sure things are fine on "normal" days, but abnormal days can be very demanding. Say you get a Norwalk type virus and can't eat. You either have all that insulin in working on you or you have none at all. You will likely either fight extreme lows or extreme highs. Anything longer than a day will likely put you in the ER. Skipping meals, pizza parties, a late afternoon round of golf, the special times that make us normal are much more difficult for you. Lots do it, but keep an open mind about mdi or pumping.