Another blood glucose question

JedsMom63

I've never been told I was diabetic. But several years ago was told pre-diabetic. Got my A1c down to normal and nothing else was said. Started LCHF in February. Out of curiosity I have been testing blood glucose. My morning numbers have been 94 to 104. Then I started reading that this isn't an accurate determining factor in diagnosing diabetes. So. Have been checking through out the day. Numbers stay around the same. Had once it was 124 after eating. So today am checking every hour just to see. Here's the day so far...

Up at 6 am
Check bg at 7:20 - 104
8:20 - 101
8:30 breakfast {bacon, eggs, butter &a little cheddar}
9:30 - 104
10:30 - 108
11:30 - 102

While 've always been told the morning reading should be below 100 the other reading seem just fine. Anyone see anything to be concerned about?

{last doc appointment he didn't want to do an A1c because he said that would red flag my insurance that there may be a problem

KnitOrMiss

@JedsMom63

You can do an OTC A1C test. I know, because Walgreens keeps sending me coupons wanting me to buy one. LOL I don't know anything about it, but I know that's out there.

I personally would request fasting insulin, but that will probably flag insurance, too. It's a non-standard test, but it can really help you figure out if you're still pre-diabetic. I can't really speak to the other numbers, as my FBG and A1C are still classified as good, but my insulin is chaotic.

KnitOrMiss

P.S. Most "diabetes prevention" stuff is covered by insurance. Meds once you're diabetic aren't. Stupid, but it is what it is. Was the doc thinking your insurance would increase your rate? I don't know why "red flagging" the insurance would be a problem, on it's own. If you're obese or heavier, it's a pretty standard screening test, to my understanding. My docs run it EVERY TIME.

@RalfLott @cstehansen @Sunny_Bunny_ Any comments on the numbers?
@auntstephie321 in for the numbers discussion?

JedsMom63

Fasting insulin? Not morning first thing BG test? I am 5'3" and right now at 197 lbs. was up to 222. My blood glucose at the doc office was 96. He didn't say anything. I'm just kind of wondering on my own how LCHF is doing with my BG numbers. Wish I would have tested before starting this then I would know if this is something different for me or not. I have to believe things are better now because I was totally eating "carb"age and junk before.

cstehansen

I would recommend this short article first.

https://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16

From there, understand that if you are eating at keto levels, there is some evidence that this could result in an elevated AM FBG reading, HOWEVER, the fact that there are no spikes or spikes are not nearly as high as those on the SAD more than make up for this so your A1c (average BG) is still lower.

As an example, Dr Nally mentioned his FBG is consistently around 105, but his A1c is 5.2.

RalfLott

Not anything I'd worry about, but if higher carb meals are part of the mix, you'd want to test after those meals too.

Which meter are you using? Some test higher than others.

A home A1c test might be helpful, if there's a genuine insurance concern.

But no A1c test is as good as frequent BG testing, as there are many avenues for artificially high A1c - hypothyroid, Vitamin B12, folate and iron deficiencies, dehydration, high (even med-high) hematocrit; also, different labs use different testing kits and can produce quite different results.

Sunny_Bunny_

JedsMom63 wrote: »

Fasting insulin? Not morning first thing BG test? I am 5'3" and right now at 197 lbs. was up to 222. My blood glucose at the doc office was 96. He didn't say anything. I'm just kind of wondering on my own how LCHF is doing with my BG numbers. Wish I would have tested before starting this then I would know if this is something different for me or not. I have to believe things are better now because I was totally eating "carb"age and junk before.

I'm sure it's better now.

When you start testing regularly, use the app called MySugr to track it all.
It will give you an estimated A1c. It's not entirely accurate of course, but I think it'll be good enough to be helpful.

Maybe you're running slightly higher because like you said, it was even higher before. So without even knowing, this could actually be good news. I really can't imagine these numbers are somehow higher than before. I can't think of any way that could be possible.
So, keep at it and I suspect you'll be seeing improvement in the coming months.
Maybe consider the frequency of your eating too. Are you going 4-5 hours or more between any meals? Getting a good stretch of time between meals even if it's just after dinner, while you're asleep and until you get hungry the next day, can really help with improving insulin sensitivity.

JedsMom63

Thank you for your replys. I will be reading the suggested article. I usually eat my last meal of the day around 5 or 6 then haven't been eating till noon or 2 the next day. This morning I was hungry

JedsMom63

Today so far
Up at 6:00
BG at 7:15 - 104
BG at 8:20 - 101
8:30 Breakfast - bacon, eggs, butter, little cheese
9:30 - BG 104
10:30 - BG 108
11:30 - BG 102
12:00 lunch - pork chop. Salad w/ bacon bits & ranch dressing. Bit of reduced sugar ketsup.
1:00 - BG 117
2:00 - BG 103
3:00 - BG 113

2t9nty

Those numbers do not look to different from mine. I just had a 122 an hour after supper - 1 cup steamed Kale and 6 oz of roast turkey breast.

I enter mine in the MySugr app. It predicts an A1C of 5.6 at this point. FWIW, I have a diabetes diagnosis and am on metformin.

JedsMom63

Adding the rest of the day 4:00 - BG 94

6:00 - BG 93 (before supper)
Supper 2 chicken legs broccoli with butter & habanero cheese & bacon bits {6 carbs}
7:17 - BG 100
8:20 - BG 117
(Total carbs for today is 11)

bametels

cstehansen wrote: »

I would recommend this short article first.

https://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16

From there, understand that if you are eating at keto levels, there is some evidence that this could result in an elevated AM FBG reading, HOWEVER, the fact that there are no spikes or spikes are not nearly as high as those on the SAD more than make up for this so your A1c (average BG) is still lower.

As an example, Dr Nally mentioned his FBG is consistently around 105, but his A1c is 5.2.

bametels

My experience is similar to this. While I am not diabetic, I was finding that in recent years my levels (FBS and A1C) were slowing rising. Because I have a family full of diabetics this concerned me. Therefore, are some research, I started eating LCHF, then Keto last spring. The results from my physical last fall showed a increase in FBS to a prediabetic level, but my A1C went from 5.6 the prior year to 5.2.

A couple of months ago, based on the great information provided by people in this group as well as reading I've been doing, I decided to start testing my blood sugar at home. My FBS remains in the prediabetic level most days but some days its is less, I estimate, however, that my A1C is down to 5.0.

Interestingly, many days, my FBS is the highest level of the day. I am finding that after the higher reading in morning, my level drops down and stays fairly level the rest of the day, even after meals. Given the trend is downward and the levels stable throughout the day, I'm choosing not to worry about the morning reading. It seems to be the dawn phenomenon, and it goes down pretty quickly.

2t9nty

bametels wrote: »

Interestingly, many days, my FBS is the highest level of the day. I am finding that after the higher reading in morning, my level drops down and stays fairly level the rest of the day, even after meals. Given the trend is downward and the levels stable throughout the day, I'm choosing not to worry about the morning reading. It seems to be the dawn phenomenon, and it goes down pretty quickly.

Join the dawn phenomenon club. Every now and then I get a decent FBG reading, but often it is the highest reading of the day for me too. I have tried to determine what the secret combination was that produced the low reading, and it has defied me so far. I figure the critical thing thing is the average anyway, and the LCHF has removed the peaks.

After being on metformin for a couple of weeks and following the Diabetes Association diet very carefully, my numbers were really pretty bad. I went back to look at them. I did not have a single reading in the 100's. I switched to The Zone and they improved. I switched to LCHF with a carb macro of 50 and the next three days saw my first FBG numbers in the 100's. They were 192, 177, and 152. I liked the trend, and dropped the carbs to 20 net.

My highest FBG for the past few weeks has been 120 (three times). On those days, it has been my highest reading all day. This morning it was 100, and because it has been a brutal day that started with a service at 6 AM and ended after a wedding rehearsal at 5 PM, I have not checked since. I'll do PP at 1 and 2 hours after supper and hit the hay. I doubt they will be under 100, but given the energy expenditure today, and 4 net carbs, I am claiming they will be decent.

JedsMom63

Thank you for all the valuable information. Today's levels have been wonderful. 90 upon waking. Then checked again at 2 right before I ate a little something an it was 85. I'm not having spikes or drops so I think that's good. Downloaded the mySugr app an will keep logging to see what it estimates on A1c
Thank you all again for all your help.