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

HbA1C is far more reliable than blood glucose as it shows a sustained pattern over a period of 3 months.

When you say you measured over 10 - do you mean glucose rather than HbA1C? And what type of reading was it - fasting, two hours post-meal or a completely random glucose reading?

🙄OFGS

What?

To be fair, that's not quite what the Diabetes UK chart shows.

Random glucose readings can be up to 11.1 and still be considered within the normal range.

It's what I said before - people need to be explicit when they're talking about the readings they're taking. Knowing the type of reading is important, and it would be useful if people referenced that when posting their numbers.

As the mum of a type1 who literally as to monitor their bloods to stay alive why on earth are non diabetics getting worked up about bloods being 6.2 & 4.5?
Try having a child in DKA with bloods over 30, then you really have something to worry about. Try having to correctly work out the correct amount if insulin to give your DC multiple times day, knowing that a miscalculation by a tiny amount could cause your child to have a potentially fatal hypo, again that is really something to worry about.
It really annoys me the misconceptions in real life and on this thread.
For type 1's monitoring your bloods is not a choice it is vital to stay alive.
Sorry for the rant but this thread has really wound me up

NICE guidelines for t2DM diagnosis do not match Diabetes UK.

HbA1c of 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) or more.
Fasting plasma glucose level of 7.0 mmol/L or more.
Random plasma glucose of 11.1 mmol/L or more in the presence of symptoms or signs of diabetes.
If the person is symptomatic, a single abnormal HbA1c or fasting plasma glucose level can be used, although repeat testing is sensible to confirm the diagnosis.
If the person is asymptomatic, do not diagnose diabetes on the basis of a single abnormal HbA1c or plasma glucose result. Arrange repeat testing, preferably with the same test, to confirm the diagnosis. If the repeat test result is normal, arrange to monitor the person for the development of diabetes, the frequency depending on clinical judgement.

Also: get a hobby instead of poking, prodding and measuring yourself to provide free data to big tech.

Thanks for trying to understand this.

The spike was after a normal lunch which I ate on other days and had very little response to. So it was a bit baffling.

I ate a bit later than normal at 1, and by 2 my blood sugar showed this huge spike. It then came down pretty quickly. I ate my usual pre-exercise snack around 4, got a brief spike but crashed down again to 3 ish at about 5.30. I was cycling home to go for a run and got what I think of as a hypo. Cold, clammy, sweaty, shaky, needing to eat urgently.

It was very disappointing as I had adapted my meals along zoe guidelines, and these were foods that I'd eaten with no issues on other days. So I have no idea what was going on.

However, I wasn't that bothered until cuppasoupmonster said those readings meant diabetes. Which is very different to what my HBa1C says. Very confusing.

Why? It’s got nothing to do with your child (or me), our conditions are a separate issue.

As a Type 1 diabetic, I recently got told by my triathlon obsessed colleague that I was 'so lucky' to get my libres on prescription because he had to pay for his, then tried to tell me what i was doing wrong with my blood sugar. I also had a friend that was on the same trial banging on at me on a night out about how interesting it was monitoring her blood sugar and how she was excited to scan her libre to see what was happening every time she had to do it.

I don't have issues with people using diabetic tech for recreational or research purposes, but please remember to be sensitive to the diabetics around you. Depression and suicide is high amongst people with T1D because it is fucking relentless, you have to think about it every minute of every day from when you're young until the day you die.

@BishyBarnyBee a post prandial reading of 10+ indicates pre diabetes or diabetes. It may not reflect on your HBA1C immediately, and it may resolve itself if you’re exercising a lot and watching what you eat anyway. But in isolation it isn’t a ‘normal’ healthy reading.

Can my fellow type 1s chill out please. Remember type 2 swallows up the funding, the more people that want to keep an eye on their sugars and pull them back before they reach that stage, the better. If it winds you up there’s an exit button but our sad stories don’t mean other people can’t ask questions about their own health.

Well they might be getting worked up because cuppasouppamonster is telling them they have diabetes!

I can see how annoying this must be if you have Type 1 diabetes, but really you need to take it up with Zoe! They are promoting personalised nutrition based on how your body responds to carbohydrates, fats and your personal gut biome. That means lots of people who don't have Type 1 diabetes are trying to understand their data. They are paying for the privilege, they aren't taking up NHS resources, it really isn't any skin off your nose. And in theory it might help some of them eat better and prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes- which is a massive problem in this country and does consume huge amounts of NHS resources.

This was a SIMPLE question. At no stage did I mention type 1, kids, unwell people nor did I gloat about my 'amazing bloods' etc etc

Maybe some of you set up a thread to discuss the issues you've experienced or are experiencing?

It's not a good thing when we've got posters crying / flouncing / being really annoyed etc off the back of one question that I really felt was answered by post 2..

Some is us type 2s are type 2 through no fault of our own.

I'm not swallowing up any funding.

Most are, to be fair.

Ah right, OK.

I don't think you have anything at all to worry about and there are no indications from what you've written that you're diabetic. Disclaimer - I'm not a doctor, just a randomer on the internet who knows a bit about these things 😊

Read what @Twentywisteria wrote above - it's excellent advice and covers everything in a nutshell.

Food sends your blood sugar up, and just an hour after eating your body is still dealing with it. The fact that it reduced very quickly shows that your body is able to deal with it efficiently, and take the necessary actions.

That's a perfectly normal reading after eating. And the fact that you might get different readings on different days is also normal. It's not a perfect science and the readings can be influenced by lots of different factors.

The fact your HbA1C is spot on is fantastic, and you can be very reassured by that.

Re the hypo - in non-diabetics it's pretty unusual to have these as a matter of course. If it was a regular occurrence I'd suggest going to your GP to get your bloods checked.

However, it is slightly different during exercise - and you say you were cycling. There is something called exercise-induced hypoglycaemia which you don't need to be diabetic to suffer from. It's more common in diabetes, obviously, but it can happen to non-diabetics too.

Exercise demands glucose from the body and there are various factors which can make it difficult for your body to keep up with that demand, including the type of food you've eaten. So it's not out of the question to suffer a hypo, even if you're not diabetic.

Exercise by itself can lower blood glucose - which is why it's recommended as a way to help control blood glucose (not usually by itself but part of a raft of measures). It's not just about losing weight - even if you're a healthy weight, exercise can help with glucose control.

Does this happen regularly when you exercise or was it just a one-off? And when you say you've adapted your meals - have you exercised regularly on this new diet and been OK?

@OldTrot

its not on you! You can't say 'Hi' without offending someone & causing a bun fight these days!!

id be DElighted with that after a small salad right now, let alone actual food!!

im a diet controlled diabetic, except when I jump off the wagon then I'm an uncontrolled diabetic FED UP with it!!

after hauling my arse back into the fucking wagon I'm struggling to get my numbers under control.

I just want to be normal!!! 😫😫😫😫😫

My comment wasn't directed at anyone specific on this thread, just pointing out that a huge rise in the use of medical technology for recreational uses is currently making life harder for those who have to live the conditions the tech was developed for. If people are a bit sensitive about it, they have probably come across a lot of this recently.

I have type 2 diabetes but am in remission. 3.8 isn’t bad but isn’t ideal. If you’re diabetic and go under 4.0 you should treat it. If you’re not diabetic your body should do this naturally.
Even without diabetes sugar levels can fluctuate with different food, exercise levels and illness.
I’d strongly recommend anyone with concerns to get tested. It can be done at a pharmacy and if it highlights anything you can follow up with a doctor.

Don’t use references for people with diabetes if you haven’t got diabetes, they have a different reference range, my blood sugars are 3.1-3.8 even after a big meal, that would be a hypo for someone with diabetes, but it’s perfectly normal for me. You need to look after reference ranges for non-diabetic people.

Thanks again, random internet person!

I don't think I'd ever had a hypo until, many years ago, my new and very fit boyfriend dragged me up a mountain and I came over all cold clammy and woozy. He told me it was a hypo, I ate something and was fine. Over the years, occasionally one or other of us will experience similar and we would refer to it as a hypo. Usually in the afternoon of a hard day's cycling or hill walking. Sometimes cycling home after work. I kind of assumed it was pretty normal for people who exercise. So not a one-off, but not all the time either.

My main reason for joining Zoe was that when I try to lose weight, if I exercise and get over hungry, I worry about hypos. I thought some of the dietary changes - reducing carbs, eating "Zoe friendly" snacks - was having some effect in "flattening" my blood sugar. However, what was baffling about this one was it was the same food that I ate today with a much flatter graph. It doesn't really make sense!

Looking at twentywisteria's guidance - my fasting glucose is always around 5 and my HBa1C is way below what the NICE guidelines say - but I am definitely experiencing big spikes after meals. I now can't work out if worrying about this is self-indulgent or an urgent necessity!

@BishyBarnyBee the libre isn't that accurate, they're notorious for being a couple of points off the actual because they are reading interstitial fluid instead of blood glucose, hence why diabetics are told to confirm a low or high witha blood glucose reading. You were probably hovering around 4.

Also your body will regulate your blood sugars, your feeling clammy is just a need to eat, not a hypo like a diabetic would have from injecting too much insulin. If you had checked your blood glucose when you were 'hypo' it would likely have still been in or very close to range.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

I think post prandial is normally 2 hours after eating isn't it? The problem is that the guidelines are from when only finger pricks were available. A CGM or Libre can show a spike that wouldn't have shown up on the old fashioned tests. Also worth bearing in mind that the Libre can be out quite a lot so it could actually be a reading of 8 mmol.