Is this a normal blood sugar level reading?

[OldTrot]

6.2 mmol

Taken at 5pm, after eating a Turkish delight at 3.30pm and a nectarine and a chocolate mousse dessert at 4pm

Thanks in advance

No, that’s not how it works. Your body should never let it go over 7.8 no matter how much sugar you’ve had. If it does it means your body isn’t producing sufficient insulin and you’re diabetic. That’s literally what diabetes is, not producing enough insulin to keep within the ranges above.

@Cuppasoupmonster Do you mean there’s a problem if your reading goes above 7.5 at any point, including immediately after food, or just after an hour or two?

@Cuppasoupmonster there's literally an nhs chart above showing the indicator for type 2 is 8.5 TWO HOURS after eating

(And that's a target, not a diagnostic criteria which may be even higher)

I had GD twice, I know about tight margins, but there's no point scaring people who are probably fine. A 10 if it was 30 mins after eating that comes down to a 6 two hours after eating is not indicative of a significant problem with insulin resistance

7.8 is the post prandial (post meal, 2 hours after eating) healthy limit. Anything above that indicates pre diabetes or full blown diabetes, and 10 is quite a bit higher.

You can of course get hypoglycemia without being diabetic.

You can but it’s extremely rare and usually due to clinical starvation or a congenital metabolic condition.

I don't have diabetes but do occasionally measure my blood glucose.

I have Addison's disease and because of the effect cortisol and insulin have on one another and the fact there's no at home cortisol test, low blood glucose is the best indicator of low cortisol I have.
I do use an old fashioned finger prick though.

@Cuppasoupmonster
"7.8 is the post prandial (post meal, 2 hours after eating) healthy limit."
That is literally what I said in the post you objected to 😵‍💫

Yes so if @SomethingNastyInTheBallPool is 10 or over that’s either diabetes or pre diabetes that is very close to diabetes.

@MarshaMelrose the numbers you quote look like HBa1c results not finger prick (different scale)

@Lenax me too- along with far too high cholesterol. I'm 61 and the ironic thing is I'm not keen on sweet stuff but I am overweight and have always liked carbs- rice, pasta, bread etc -I'm now gluten free, eat far less carbs - and making sure I do 10,000 steps minimum every day.

Ooo, that's interesting. I thought they were the same. I'm going to go and research that. Thank you.

HBA1C is your blood sugar over the last 3 months. Finger prick is how it’s doing right here
and right now. Both have limits for what is considered diabetic or pre-diabetic.

It does feel as if people are talking at cross-purposes on this thread and as if some people don't really understand what they're looking at.

There's a very big difference between glucose levels and HbA1C, and between fasting glucose and random/non-fasting glucose.

You need to be sure you're looking at the correct range for what you've tested for, or else you're going to get your knickers in a twist for no reason.

@puppacup good body clinic here in Bath but I think they have others. I had bloods taken in the clinic as I'm useless with those home testing kits. They do offer those too

@YukoandHiro i think I understand your mistake. You’re thinking that blood sugars
can be pretty much anything as long as they’re ‘within range’ when fasting or post prandial, am
i correct?

The reason they take readings at these times is because the fasting reading should be the lowest number you get, and post prandial (1.5-2 hours after eating) should be the highest, as that’s how long it takes your body to break down food and ‘spike’. So the highest reading you should get is 7.8, regardless of when that is - for one person that could be an hour after eating, for another person it could be 2 hours. But 1.5-2 is a yard stick as generally that’s the average.

Hope that makes sense.

Same! I'm 31 now but have had high cholesterol & pre diabetes for 2 years now. I love pasta too, not sweets as such but I love sugary hot drinks. Have cut so much out/down but my stats are stil high. I need to get into regular fitness & eat foods that are substantial but not bad for my cholesterol & blood sugars. Good luck with keeping your levels down!

I understood the difference between now and the hba1c average but not that the scales were different.
As I see it now 4 - 7 is normal for finger pricking. And below 8.5 after meals.
Thanks, @NewYearNewUsername23 . I'm still aiming to keep it in the 5s but this was very helpful.

In a nut shell yes. And your post meal reading should be the highest you get, so anything higher than 7.8, at any time, indicates pre diabetes or diabetes.

Cuppasoupmonster, can I ask what your qualification/source of information is?

You sound very authoritative, but your answers are very different to others on here. Are you a specialist health professional?

For what it's worth, my husband and I have both been known to experience low blood sugar after intense, prolonged exercise. I did Zoe partly because of this. What I would call a "hypo" registered in the low 3s on the monitor. I have also experienced a couple of highs including one over 10. So by your definition, I'd be diabetic.

However, my HBA1C over 3 months is 38mmol which I understand is normal. So how can I "definitely" have diabetes?

Your absolute certainty on this could easily send me to the doctors - which is exactly what other people on here have complained about - the worried well taking up valuable NHS resources. So I'd be interested to know how seriously I should take you.

@GoTeamRocket I do understand how you feel. I've had quite a few tests that basically mean at the moment I'm trying to balance a diet being pre diabetic, cholesterol that was double what it should be and a gluten intolerance with needing also to lose weight. I can only imagine trying to keep track constantly on type 1 ! I think a better use of money would be as I did to get a HBAC1 test plus cholesterol twice a year.

@Lenax my cholesterol is now good- but I suspect the statins have sorted that!! I'm going to do a trial and come off and see if they stay down as I've totally changed diet. My HBAC1 though hasn't budged an inch despite a textbook diet, lowish carbs and far more walking which is bloody annoying-

Thanks @Cuppasoupmonster. So this is where I get confused.

Diabetes.org.uk say...

If you have type 2 diabetes (aim to be)

▪︎before meals: 4 to 7mmol/l
▪︎two hours after meals: less than 8.5mmol/l

If you have gestational diabetes

^▪︎Fasting: below 5.3mmol/l^
▪︎One hour after meals: ^below 7.8mmol/^^l^
▪︎If you’re not able to check until two hours – rather than one hour – after a meal, you should aim for below 6.4mmol/l.

Do they say 8.5 because if you have T2 diabetes, your aim is different than if you don't have diabetes? But if you don't have T2 diabetes, you should be below 7.8?

I’m a type 1 diabetic of nearly a decade. I live and breathe blood sugars - I have to! Some of the misconceptions on here are understandable but wrong, so I’m correcting them.

Diabetes U.K. says quite clearly that a reading of 10, under any circumstances, indicates impaired glucose tolerance (pre diabetes) or diabetes proper (see attached chart). It’s literally there in black and white (or red and white!).

What are some posters not understanding about this?!