[Sign4once]

Short summary. Just learned I was type 2 diabetes a last month or two. Brought some glucose meter , strip and all the goodies for self-testing. I went crazy on the test for the first few days, and brought more, but since than I've lost interest. Why? Because the numbers threw me off everytime.

It's more of a concern of mine that the numbers are high after eating, and that's usually the concern of mine. My numbers are otherwise very normal in almost every situation. Woke up? 80 or so, afternoon before eating or taking medicine? 70-100. It varies but it remains below 100 and above 70 every time I test.

So, when I started testing after I eat, I tested myself at a hour and 2 hours afterward. Numbers of it? Like 144 and than to 120 respectively. But I keep reading online to test a hour or two afterward, so that's what I did. But to keep seeing what happen, I tested myself every 10 minutes after my initial bite to see what's my peak glucose is at. Well, it goes from 30 minutes after I eat to a hour after I eat is when my glucose is at highest. Sometime even less. And those numbers do increase by a lot, because when I tested it, I was eating rice.

I ask around and people's like "no, only test yourself a hour or two after you eat" but I point out that my numbers that long after I eat often goes back to fasting numbers. And I'm not talking to any doctor since I got no insurance, otherwise I've woulda known that I was diabetic or pre-diabetic a lot earlier. But that's a another story altogether.

So, what do you guys think? I do take 1000mg of metformin twice a day, usualy when I woke up and when I eat dinner (12 hours differences or so) but lately, I've been lapsing on my testing and what I eat. Like, just a few hours ago, I ate some pasta, hmm soo good, but my numbers were around 140 afterward. Weird, eh? But of course, I didn't even check when I tested it, it was or coulda been 30minutes or 2 hours later.

So, my question to all of you. Would peak glucose numbers be a concern? No matter the time that It was taken, or...

Is it the sustain glucose number that's a concern to diabetes complication? My number aren't regularly stable, it increase to around 200 when i ate rices once but these days, it rarely goes above 160 and when it does, it drop down to 110 or below within 30 minutes to a hour.

Thanks,

p.s: yea, I write a lot of stuff for no reason, but ya know my concern now, eh?

 

[Shanny]

Welcome to our forum, Sign4once. For whatever obscure reason the professionals focus strongly on our fasting numbers and they continue to recommend the 2-hour postprandial test. But many of us have come to the same conclusion as you, that the 1-hour postprandial reading is the one to be concerned with. A lot of us don't test at 2 hours anymore unless we're introducing a new food and we need to know how long it affects us.

You've been able to determine your own personal rhythm here, in that you spike between 30 and 60 minutes after a meal. If you are keeping a food journal, it is also showing you which foods cause the spikes and how high the spikes go - which should then tell you to limit or avoid that food, if you're interested in lowering your levels.

Rice and pasta are some of the main offenders for driving our numbers high, so these, along with bread, potatoes, sweets, etc., are the things we begin to limit in our diets.

I still test when I first get up in the morning before I eat anything. But I don't usually test at the 2-hour interval anymore. If I introduce a new food to my meal, I test at 1 hour.

Here is another recent thread where the same subject came up: http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes/2794-when-test.html#post15050

 

[diabetes86]

OK you have a idea for when your numbers are the highest (when you spike). now adjust your food so that you never go over 140 (many Md believe that any time you go over 140 your doing damage to your body.) at that time.

you dont have to test every 5 minutes you now know about when you spike. Use that as a guide to test from now on.

 

[breezeonby]

Short summary. Just learned I was type 2 diabetes a last month or two. Brought some glucose meter , strip and all the goodies for self-testing. I went crazy on the test for the first few days, and brought more, but since than I've lost interest. Why? Because the numbers threw me off everytime.

It's more of a concern of mine that the numbers are high after eating, and that's usually the concern of mine. My numbers are otherwise very normal in almost every situation. Woke up? 80 or so, afternoon before eating or taking medicine? 70-100. It varies but it remains below 100 and above 70 every time I test.

So, when I started testing after I eat, I tested myself at a hour and 2 hours afterward. Numbers of it? Like 144 and than to 120 respectively. But I keep reading online to test a hour or two afterward, so that's what I did. But to keep seeing what happen, I tested myself every 10 minutes after my initial bite to see what's my peak glucose is at. Well, it goes from 30 minutes after I eat to a hour after I eat is when my glucose is at highest. Sometime even less. And those numbers do increase by a lot, because when I tested it, I was eating rice.

I ask around and people's like "no, only test yourself a hour or two after you eat" but I point out that my numbers that long after I eat often goes back to fasting numbers. And I'm not talking to any doctor since I got no insurance, otherwise I've woulda known that I was diabetic or pre-diabetic a lot earlier. But that's a another story altogether.

So, what do you guys think? I do take 1000mg of metformin twice a day, usualy when I woke up and when I eat dinner (12 hours differences or so) but lately, I've been lapsing on my testing and what I eat. Like, just a few hours ago, I ate some pasta, hmm soo good, but my numbers were around 140 afterward. Weird, eh? But of course, I didn't even check when I tested it, it was or coulda been 30minutes or 2 hours later.

So, my question to all of you. Would peak glucose numbers be a concern? No matter the time that It was taken, or...

Is it the sustain glucose number that's a concern to diabetes complication? My number aren't regularly stable, it increase to around 200 when i ate rices once but these days, it rarely goes above 160 and when it does, it drop down to 110 or below within 30 minutes to a hour.

Thanks,

p.s: yea, I write a lot of stuff for no reason, but ya know my concern now, eh?

Hello and welcome to Diabetes Forum! Sounds like you are testing enough to know what time food spikes your blood sugar. I don't usually test 2 hour post meal. I take insulin and that keeps my spikes down. I test when I get out of bed and that is my fasting reading and I consider that reading to be the most important reading of the day. If I can stay under 90 fasting, then I usually have no problems keeping all my numbers for the day in my target range. I test before meals and snacks so I know if I need to correct my meal time bolus up or down depending on the reading. I take my meal time insulin after I eat because I have gastroparesis and this works well for me. I always test before going to bed to make sure I am in my target range. There is a wealth of information to be found on the forum and you can search any topic that you might be interested in. I hope that you have time to visit the forum often. Take care.

 

[Sign4once]

Cool

Thanks for the fast response guys. I appreciate it, wealth of info here. So, first thing I learn is threw away the 2 hours testing away, since I'm assuming based on my peak glucose that after 2 hours, it'll go down. And that 30minutes to 1 hour is the best time to test after my initial bite.

And curiously, I was eating something when I read the response and decided to try the test again 30minutes into my bite, and got a reading of 144. Strange reading considering what I ate was a bowl of noodle with next to no noodle. Maybe 2-3 string of it, and the rest was vegetable and meat. I'll give it a another test in a another 30 minutes.

And I've been reading the people's responses by the link you and searching and people really do more than 4+ a test a day? That's strange, in my opinion. My fasting number when i woke up, almost everytime I test, is below 90. And I don't know about you, but the lancet I got is a pain to work with. I have to get a deeper penetration to get blood out,and it's a pinch everytime I do it. So, and often time, the pain linger after a few hours of doing it. So, I'm just a bit skeptical of that many testing.

And a question before I finish, but is it the peak glucose or the sustain glucose that causes complication? Peak is 30 to a hour and after 2 hours, should be down near fasting level, so I'm assuming that a high peak glucose would mean it stays at that higher level longer and take longer to come down and by doing so, causes complication. I don't know, lol.

Uh, also. What do you guys think is the peak or at least normal sustain glucose number after eating? 140 seem higher than I though, but if 140 should be at it's peak, than I would need to eat less and less than. Diabetes's sorta depression. Because no matter what, a Chinese-American household has nothing but rices in it and noodle.

Thanks.

 

[onaughmae]

I test anywhere from 5-8 times a day. More if I am sick. I use an insulin pump and am really working to keep my blood glucose as tight as possible. My fingers barely even feel the lancet anymore....but then I have been testing for *many* years.

 

[Sign4once]

To my message above

Well, I tested myself 30minutes afterward and it was 126...apparently, I forgot I also ate a pear as well.

pure sugar right there. lol.

 

[breezeonby]

I test at least 5x per day. If I go low, then I have to test more. When using insulin, you need to test before eating and that includes meals and snacks. I have gotten used to the feeling that you get when using a lancet, sometimes it can sting a little but there is no way around it. I am currently using the Renew Advanced Lancing device and the lancets are very thin. Sad to say, but the Renew system has been discontinued.

 

[jeremiahtren]

really

OK you have a idea for when your numbers are the highest (when you spike). now adjust your food so that you never go over 140 (many Md believe that any time you go over 140 your doing damage to your body.) at that time.

you dont have to test every 5 minutes you now know about when you spike. Use that as a guide to test from now on.

When your numbers go over 140 thats bad?

 

[lia]

I do take 1000mg of metformin twice a day

This is aside from your question, but Dr Richard Bernstein (The diabetes Solution) suggests that it's better to go on insulin than the oral glucose lowering tablets. Much less side effects, more natural, and the cost per meal is less.

There have been a couple of studies lately that suggested diabetics who did go straight to insulin had better results, and they were happy they did. My experience too.

Would peak glucose numbers be a concern?

I had the same concern. I do not test at my after meal peaks. I test 4 hours after the injection because I want to know if I am completely back to normal. If I'm not, I will inject more or eat a bit to bring it back to 85.

When your numbers go over 140 thats bad?

Just referring to the same doc and book I mentioned above, he doesn't like anything over 100. If it is, he recommends an injection. He actually has a way to keep it below 100 even after meals. Part of this is practically no carbs, just protein. I don't go that far, but it's really nice to understand what he is talking about, and why.

I can relate to the confused part. The forum I spend most of my time at, I seriously considered the user name 'baffled.'

best wishes

 

[diabetes86]

Use the side of your finger tip for testing, very Little pain (fewer nerves on the side of the finger tip)

Yes, both the peek and sustained BGL over 140 is bad.

 

[Sign4once]

Thanks

Thanks for the reply, even though I though it wasn't gonna happen. As for insulin, I would refuse until necessary to take them. Compare to oral, taking insulin would be using more of my time and effort as well as the needle. Plus, it's bring me down quite a bit with diabetes already and taking insulin would probably lead deeper depression.

And yea, it's almost next to impossible to eat anything without carb and more strongly so in this household. Plus, if I don't, I'll just get depressed and mess up my blood glucose by refusing to eat anything. And that's sorta common in the first few weeks.

And if anything else, if my fasting number after say 3-4 hours is below 100, I'm happy. Anything above is a cause for concern, even though my after meal numbers 30 to 1 hour is above 140 most of the time, I don't considered it much concern. Mainly because report tell me to go 180 or below and some reported to go 160 or below, so 140 below is the new norm now? Only in this forum, apparently.

Plus, referring to the doctor about after meal number below 100, damn...that'll be next to impossible and I doubt it should be attempted. Not only is normal people suppose to peak at 125, but protein food would cause other complication rather than what carb would do. And if it's a actual meal and not some strange food that wouldn't fill you up, it's not a food in my opinion.

On a last note, I find it amusing is that I read somewhere that they don't know why depression is a symptom of diabetes. Maybe not to everyone, but considering to some people, half to two-third of their food chance is limited, and learning of a major life change, than that would qualified as sorta semi-depression. Uh, I probably didn't make sense in that sentence. And none of these have research to be look at, though it feel like it should be common.

Best of luck, and thanks for the number but I gotta keep it real, and hope for the best.

 

[lia]

I did want to edit my post, but guess there is a time limit to do that. I don't think anyone should try to keep glucose numbers that low without reading and understanding Dr Bernstein's system. At least for me it would have been a disaster.

I wasn't really cheerful about finding out I had diabetes, but wasn't depressed. I had known something was wrong for some time. My doc at that time was an idiot. When I mentioned problems, she said "Oh, you look healthy."

I was one of those people who get diabetes without being overweight. I did have about 10 pounds extra at that time. Some bodies are just meant to be skinny, and that's all it took.

When I did find out what the problem was, it was practically a relief. Now that I knew what the problem was, I could get to work on it. I did that, maybe just a bit passionately. I have never had a 3 month average that was above the normal zone.

 

[Sign4once]

Interesting

I was slightly overweight but since than I've more than 20 pounds from that weight and only 5 pounds above my ideal weight now. And that's 20 pounds in two weeks. I'm not sure how healthy that is...


As for symptom before hand, I guess I was one of the people who had no side effect before it happen. And after I find out and limited my carb and medicine, I find some very interesting problem that happen. For one, just two weeks ago or so, my leg would numb or feel like sleeping if I rest anything on my foot/leg, like my other foot or a laptop. Numb very fast, in less than a minute or so. And after waking up and going to work after eating something, I would feel dizzy and lightheaded(just happen today) and it stop after I drink something. Strange, eh?

Thanks.