Question About Glucose Reading

KevinD6112

6 weeks ago I registered a 12.8 fasted glucose on a blood test. Since then I worked extremely hard on my nutrition (always exercising for years) and got my readings down consistently into the low6s, even a few in the 5s. The last couple days my readings have been high 9s. I havent changed a thing and still work at it just as hard. Is this normal to happen?

samgettingfit25

Have you been diagnosed with diabetes? If so, do you have access (or could you get a referral) to a diabetes educator or dietitian? I am in the US and we use different units for glucose meters so I may be misunderstanding your readings but they look like the units we measure A1C in. I am guessing you are talking about a home glucometer since A1C doesn't change as often as you are testing.

This is oversimplifying it since I am not a medical professional… About the glucometer, as I am sure you are aware, your readings will vary throughout the day depending on what is going on in your body (nutrition, activity, sleep, stress, hormone fluctuations, illness, hydration, alcohol use, etc). A similar is true of morning fasting to some extent. If you compare the days with low fasting glucose to the days that are higher, you might notice patterns. Sleep can be a biggie, waking time can be a factor, evening food or activity, etc. Some people find if they take a walk or do some kind of exercise after dinner, they have better fasted blood sugar. Some find they may need to drink more water in the evening. Some need to work on getting more sleep.

Also, it may vary by country; I was told in the US, there is something like a 20% margin of error for the home tests, so it's important to look at trends rather than individual readings. If you take blood from a different finger you might have different results. That should account for the difference between a 5 and a 9, though. Also, this sounds silly, but make sure your hands are very clean and that you dry them with a clean towel. I heard if there are food particles on a kitchen hand towel that can make your results less accurate. Just a few things to look at and definitely not medical advice.

totameafox

It takes 3 months to see a change in your a1c. A doctor's office won't even check more than twice a year I think. But without knowing what you have done to change your nutrition it's hard to tell. are you staying away from foods with a high glycemic index? are you limiting your servings?

I am a diabetic. I have changed my diet a few times. The first time I took out high glycemic foods like bread, corn, potatoes, cereal and pasta. It did the job.

Now I will eat those things but I am limiting the serving size and it still does the job. I don't track carbs. The way I eat naturally most of the time my sugar intake is less than 20grams.

The best thing to do would be to talk to your doctor. They are the best at being able to help you through your concerns.

samgettingfit25

@totameafox Mine is currently testing me every three months, so I am guessing that varies by the doctor's office and the patient. I am glad I am tested so often since I made a lot of changes at once, and my A1C and day-to-day glucose improved a lot, even though I've only lost about 10 pounds over the three month period. I've been taken off one of the two meds I started. Maybe some doctors test newly diagnosed patients more often. I was told there is no point in testing A1C more often than every three months.

But I believe @KevinD6112 isn't referring to A1C, I think it is the at-home glucometer tests. I saw in a different forum that British people (and maybe others) use mmol/L to measure glucose while Americans use mg/dL.

ETA: my computer glitched and posted before I was done typing about the difference in US and UK glucometer readings.

KevinD6112

someone posted illness as a cause for a higher reading,…,and wow is it ever,…I was feeling ok then boom just super sick with the flu now. I go from zero to really sick in no time, and Im hating it right now

thanks for the replies

samgettingfit25

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

paperpudding

if OP is talking about daily reading " the last couple of days readings have been in high 9's" then he is not talking about the 3 monthly HBA1c readings but home finger pricprick blood sugar readings.

other than foods, one thing that can cause temporary rises is steroids - eg cortisone injections into a joint or prednisilone for an infection or inflammation.