Blood sugar levels...should I be concerned??
cenright0
Posts: 80 Member
im am brand new to checking my blood sugar levels (I'm not diagnosed diabetic) for the purpose of understanding how my food effects my hunger/ satiety. I've been low carb for a little over 2 months. I keep my carbs below 50 grams per day (usually theyre close to 35-45).
I never expected to see a high fasting bs reading when I began this experiment but after 5 days of tracking I can now see my early morning fasting level is avg 112!! Here is my data:
I wake with an above normal bs level (is this borderline pre diabetic??) what interesting it goes down from there through the day. Clearly I'm not having sugar spikes because my after meal readings are good. I'm wondering if my fasted level warrants a trip to my doctor or are there things I could try to bring it down on my own? My protein is about 80 grams, is that too high? My fat is always close to 125.
Everything I read says I should be in the 70-80 range for Bs.
I'm 10-15 pounds overweight. Also note I've only lost 3.5 pounds in the 2.5 months. I've kept my calories around 1600 most days. Should I try eliminating dairy?? I'm not giving up on the weight loss goal even if it is suuuuper slow. I do feel better overall since going low carb. I want to figure this bs thing out.
I never expected to see a high fasting bs reading when I began this experiment but after 5 days of tracking I can now see my early morning fasting level is avg 112!! Here is my data:
I wake with an above normal bs level (is this borderline pre diabetic??) what interesting it goes down from there through the day. Clearly I'm not having sugar spikes because my after meal readings are good. I'm wondering if my fasted level warrants a trip to my doctor or are there things I could try to bring it down on my own? My protein is about 80 grams, is that too high? My fat is always close to 125.
Everything I read says I should be in the 70-80 range for Bs.
I'm 10-15 pounds overweight. Also note I've only lost 3.5 pounds in the 2.5 months. I've kept my calories around 1600 most days. Should I try eliminating dairy?? I'm not giving up on the weight loss goal even if it is suuuuper slow. I do feel better overall since going low carb. I want to figure this bs thing out.
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Replies
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According to the UK version of the ADA, your readings would qualify as non-diabetic. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
However, if these results are based on a very low carb diet, it would be interesting to know where you were at when you were eating carbs. You are definitely not on the low end of the scale. If you decide to add carbs back into your diet, I'd recommend checking your sugars again.0 -
Anything above 108 fasting may be considered pre-diabetic. However, the best determination would be to have your A1C checked.
When prediabetic, my fasting average was around 110. Currently, my fasting average is low 80s.
Do you mind me asking what app that is that you're using to track?0 -
Yes! It's called sugar sense.0
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Panda_Poptarts wrote: »Anything above 108 fasting may be considered pre-diabetic. However, the best determination would be to have your A1C checked.
When prediabetic, my fasting average was around 110. Currently, my fasting average is low 80s.
Do you mind me asking what app that is that you're using to track?
Did you bring your level down by medication or diet/ exercise???0 -
Panda_Poptarts wrote: »Anything above 108 fasting may be considered pre-diabetic. However, the best determination would be to have your A1C checked.
When prediabetic, my fasting average was around 110. Currently, my fasting average is low 80s.
Do you mind me asking what app that is that you're using to track?
Did you bring your level down by medication or diet/ exercise???
Diet and exercise. I'm off all my meds.0 -
How old is your meter? Meters should be calibrated at least once a year, or replaced I think (so I was told). I do know that between two meters side by side with same blood sample but different brands, my readings can be up to 15 pts different. Might be worth trying another meter for confirmation? But yes - A1C will definitely tell you what your "real" average has been over last few months.0
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are you watching added sugars in your diet? it all adds up... ive eliminated most sugars from my diet since i started LCHF.0
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Having a morning fasting reading that's higher than the rest of the day is not uncommon. It's call the Dawn Phenomenon. Basically, after so many hours in the fasted state, and at regular intervals while the body is in the fasted state, the liver releases some amount of blood sugar into the system in order to keep the brain functioning (everything else can run off of fat and ketones). Generally, this is a "supply and demand" system and when working properly, does not overly elevate the blood sugar. However, in people with some variation of Diabetes or insulin resistance, this number can go higher -- either because no insulin is produced (Type 1 and late stage Type 2 Diabetics), or because the body is resistant to insulin (pre-diabetes, PCOS, most stages of Type 2 Diabetes, etc).
Apparently, being low carb can also cause the fasting blood sugar to be a little higher (in the 90s and very low 100s apparently isn't uncommon), and it's unclear exactly why (though probably has to do with the body reserving glucose for the brain, a functional state known as "physiological insulin resistance").
If your higher readings are because of pre-existing insulin resistance, you'll likely see it work its way down over time, especially if you start incorporating intermittent fasting, exercise, and/or really tighten up your sugar intake.1 -
How old is your meter? Meters should be calibrated at least once a year, or replaced I think (so I was told). I do know that between two meters side by side with same blood sample but different brands, my readings can be up to 15 pts different. Might be worth trying another meter for confirmation? But yes - A1C will definitely tell you what your "real" average has been over last few months.How old is your meter? Meters should be calibrated at least once a year, or replaced I think (so I was told). I do know that between two meters side by side with same blood sample but different brands, my readings can be up to 15 pts different. Might be worth trying another meter for confirmation? But yes - A1C will definitely tell you what your "real" average has been over last few months.
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Oops!
My monitor is only a couple weeks old it's the reli on model.0 -
Dragonwolf wrote: »Having a morning fasting reading that's higher than the rest of the day is not uncommon. It's call the Dawn Phenomenon. Basically, after so many hours in the fasted state, and at regular intervals while the body is in the fasted state, the liver releases some amount of blood sugar into the system in order to keep the brain functioning (everything else can run off of fat and ketones). Generally, this is a "supply and demand" system and when working properly, does not overly elevate the blood sugar. However, in people with some variation of Diabetes or insulin resistance, this number can go higher -- either because no insulin is produced (Type 1 and late stage Type 2 Diabetics), or because the body is resistant to insulin (pre-diabetes, PCOS, most stages of Type 2 Diabetes, etc).
Apparently, being low carb can also cause the fasting blood sugar to be a little higher (in the 90s and very low 100s apparently isn't uncommon), and it's unclear exactly why (though probably has to do with the body reserving glucose for the brain, a functional state known as "physiological insulin resistance").
If your higher readings are because of pre-existing insulin resistance, you'll likely see it work its way down over time, especially if you start incorporating intermittent fasting, exercise, and/or really tighten up your sugar intake.
Ditto everything here!
I was prediabetic. My FBG was usually above a 5.5 (100) which would put you at prediabetic here. My AIC was a 5.5 to a 6.0. I went very LCHF and my FBG was lower for a few months but it has crept up again. I blame physiological insulin resistance and the dawn phenomenom.
I try not to worry about it much because my carbs can't get much lower. Even while eating as a carnivore, my FBG is higher than I'd like. As the day goes on my BG falls, often after eating breakfast too.
My liver just keeps pushing out too much glucose in the early hours of the morning. The only thing I have found to stop it from rising my FBG is fasting. If I stop eating at 5 or 6 pm my FBG is typically lower than if I eat a snack at 9-10pm, even if the snack is a cheese or a fat bomb and has virtually zero carbs. Fasting for a day or two also brings my FBG way down too... I just don't do that too often.0 -
Looks good to me. Like Dragonw said, it will be higher in the morning.
Recently a coworker was testing his bgs after his doctor told him to. He pegged the meter at over 450. He called the meter company and he had them send him a new one. I heard him talk to the people and asked him if we could check him with my meter. He did and it pegged mine out too. So I checked my bg and it was normal. He was THAT high. He had just had a pop. Like many diabetics, you can be that high and not feel bad. I used to go that high too.
I informed him what he had to do (low carb). But he was resistant. Oh well, he'll have to learn on his own.
Dan the Man from Michigan2 -
There was a recent Keto talk episode with the subject of physiological insulin resistance and a listener submitted question with the exact same situation as you're asking about.
I will see if I can get you a link for it.
KEY QUOTE: “I wouldn’t call it physiologic insulin resistance, but rather glucose sparing. The body recognizes there’s less glucose available…and the muscles preserve the glucose for the parts of the body that need it. It’s a preservation technique for people in long-term ketosis.” — Dr. Adam Nally
http://ketotalk.com/2016/03/16-physiologic-insulin-resistance-grain-fed-vs-grass-fed-how-to-deal-with-keto-naysayers/1
