[lisalu]

Although not "officially" diagnosed with Pre-D, because of risk factors and some high fasting sugar levels, I have taken it upon myself to do occasional testing. (I take all the preventative measures like diet and exercise.)

I need a general guide to what numbers I should be looking for. I did a fasting test this morning and it was 118 which doesn't sound so good. I have had only coffee so far this morning, I'll eat a light (200-300 calorie) meal then exercise for 45 minutes and eat my next meal around 2:00-3:00. I'll eat dinner at 7:00

I know my mealtimes may sound weird but after months of tweaking this is what works for me as far as eating regularly scheduled meals. I'm not hungry until 10:00-11:00 in the morning, then I'm hungry every four hours during the day. But after dinner I eat nothing or a very light snack in the evening. Total about 1200 calories for weight loss and it seems to be working.

Anyway, given this meal schedule when should I test and what numbers should I expect to see? I assume my lowest numbers would be right after exercising (which would also be about two hours after I eat).

Thanks for any advice to get me started. I am currently looking for a good MD who can help me manage this.

[xMenace]

Checking Your Blood Glucose - All About Diabetes - American Diabetes Association

Glucose Monitoring guidelines - Google Search

[xMenace]

Your morning fasting numbers are a big indicator of changes. Do that at least once a week.

Your pre-prandials should be around 90 to 100. Your 2 hr post-prandials should be 140 or less; though sites will tell you 180.

I'd recommend a fasting and one meal's pre and post prandials a week plus a bedtime test. You are looking for longer term trends. You don't need to test every meal every day unless you are on insulin or are running high. If you start running high, increase your testing. Beware of meter fluctuations and variability too. If you have a bad test, retest it after washing our hands.

Your meal times are a non-issue.

[princesslinda]

To get a good overview of how your levels are running, i'd check them at different times on different days....one day check pre and post meal #s...one day fasting #s...one day random.

You may find your blood sugars elevate after exercise..I know mine do at times.

Post meal #s should be under 140....personally I like to keep mine in the 120's or less as I have tested my non-diabetic husband 2 hrs after a meal and his #s are regularly under 100 at the 2 hr level. His fastings are generally in the 80's as well.

According to the normal values for fasting blood sugar on my lab sheets, normal fasting blood sugar is 70-99.

The closer to "normal" levels you can keep your blood sugars, the better off you'll be.

[lisalu]

You guys are so helpful. Thanks for taking the time to educate me - my own doctor didn't give me this much info!

So one day of testing for the first time:

AM fasting: 118

Post exercise/before lunch (after a very light breakfast):108

Exactly two hours after lunch: 103

I'll check again at bed time and then maybe just do some random time of days for a while to compare. Funny, so far my fasting level was the highest. ?????

[matingara]

Hi Lisalu!

i am pretty new to this also - being diagnosed Type 2 in July of this year.

i am on the half max dose of a medicine called gliclazide. the Doc said i can stop that if my A1C goes below 6. Based on my calcs (from testing over the last 4 months) i hope to come in at 5.3. i am getting it done next week! fingers crossed!

i started out testing 6-7 times a day. my D. Educator had told me to do it twice a day - but i wanted to know what was going on. she reprimanded me for my amount of testing and i told her flat out that i wanted to understand what certain foods did to me.

i switched to a restricted carb diet and my numbers have been very good for the most part. i have scaled back my testing now and i test 4-5 times a day. after i get my A1C result next week, if it is good, i will probably scale back even further.

the last day i did 7 tests was Nov 9th and here are the results:

fasting/waking: 79
2 hrs after bfast: 77
pre lunch: 83
post lunch: 110
pre dins: 90
post dins:139
before bed: 112
next morning: 97

looking back over the November diary i see that my lowest fasting number was 74. my highest fasting number was 119.

my lowest reading for the month of November was 59 (after skipping breakfast one day).

my highest reading for the month was a 178. post lunch on the 19th of Nov. not sure what i ate. probably a sandwich - bread (of any type) really gets to me.

i hope this info is of some use!



-- Joel.

[matingara]

Originally Posted by matingara

my highest reading for the month was a 178. post lunch on the 19th of Nov. not sure what i ate. probably a sandwich - bread (of any type) really gets to me.

i should also add that after that 178 my bgl dropped to 119 (after exercise) before dinner and then down to 106 AFTER dinner (what is up with that?).

by the next morning it was down to 95.

-- Joel.

[Ronin]

Hi Lisalu!

You have asked a common question from the perspective a a Pre-Diabetic diagnosis.

Fasting levels are used as part of the diagnostic process and the guideline is that FBG levels should be below 100 for someone who is not Pre-D. However, the high FBG needs to be followed up with an HbA1c test that will show your 90 day average BG levels (actually weighted average leaning towards the last four to six weeks). This will confirm where your body is working/not working at managing BG levels. If this shows you in the Pre-D range they you need a Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) with C-Peptide values to diagnose not only if you are becoming diabetic but if you are headed towards Type-2 (high C-Peptide readings) or a Type-1.5 (low C-Peptide readings).

Use your meter to learn about your body and how it works with carbohydrates. Don't be overly concerned about the "numbers" unless they go above 200 post prandial or if the HbA1c says you have a problem.

[sweetblood]

what about 200 plus randoms...what does THAT mean...along with runs of normal bgs no matter what i eat...maybe a wk of bgs under 150 randoms that is...

[sweetblood]

2 hr post prandial is normal UNLESS i take predinisone than 2-3 hr pp is 160-170...what does THAT mean...im so confused...could i be headin to the big D?/

[sweetblood]

BTW...a1c is normal at 5.1 last check...but i DO get hypos in 50s...

[Ronin]

Hi Sweetblood!

Are you on any kind of medication that will influence your BG levels? Your HbA1c would indicate that you do not have diabetes. However, if your BG is fallling into the 50 range and you are not on medications this is probably the indiaction of some other, and potentially more serious, problem.

[sweetblood]

like what kind of problem??

drs just kinda shrug it off or ignore it wen i mention hypos...so i no longer tell drs abt it...

i dont think meds im on influences bg levels, but u never know...

[sweetblood]

i think i just need to eat every 3 or 4 hrs to prevent hypos...altho im always sucking on regular soda so youd think that would prevent hypos...

[drsanjaynayak]

Dear Ronin
how did u know you were a Pre D ... was it a routine test?? or was the Hb 1Ac high and then controlled?? lurking among the posts of prediabetics i have seen many having a high Hb1Ac ( more than 10 sometimes) and then low once they come toknow of their condition
sanjay