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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 18:28
Lesliean Lesliean is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 175
 
Plan: Rosedale
Stats: 129/125/122 Female 5.5
BF:
Progress:
Default Fbg 106/post 145/a1c 2.8?

Looking for advise! Will take all!

Keto three years now paleo 7 months. Fbg has been 101-103 for years and years (age 59). No one told me this was prediabetes. Started checking postprandiol 1 and 2 hours and getting 101-106 fbg 103-125 one hour and usually 115-120 2 hour.

But after exercise my next meal will cause a 142-186! All this on 45-55 net carbs, 16 per meal.

Then I did a a1c now and it was 4.8 today. How could it be so low when I'm always seeing 103-125 most of the time with spikes to 176?

What do you think of starting metformin?
Thanks
Leslie
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 19:07
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Default

NO! There are so many reasons why your BGs could be a bit high, starting with the fact that home glucose monitors are notoriously inaccurate.

Add in the fact that higher BGs post workout is normal.

Are you using any artificial sweeteners? Especially sugar alcohols? For many people, they spike blood sugars, so that would be the first thing to get rid of, if you are using them.

I am NOT diabetic, and there are plenty of people here who are. But many of them are walking around daily with the BGs that you have, and that is an immense improvement for them.
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 20:21
Ccat69's Avatar
Ccat69 Ccat69 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 472
 
Plan: LCHF/ketogenic
Stats: 163/132/130 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 94%
Location: Upstate NY
Default

If the chart below is right, 4.8 means an average of 86. I am no expert either, but it doesn't sound like you have a big problem and if it were me, no way I'd go on meds. I was getting fasting readings around 110 before this WOE and now they're always under 100. I don't think 100 is a bright line, either.

You are only measuring when fasting (in the morning?) and post meals? There is a lot of time between those readings when you're clearly lower (3am most likely, then the liver naturally supplies glucose and it's higher upon waking).

http://www.diabeteschart.org/mgmmol.html
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 22:53
dex's Avatar
dex dex is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 877
 
Plan: NSNG
Stats: 260/164/185 Female 64"
BF:
Progress: 128%
Location: Seattle
Default

An A1C of 4.8 would indicate an average of 93.58 mg/dL. That would make me want to eliminate any technical/equipment issues.
  1. Your glucometer may be returning high readings.
  2. The A1C test you did may have returned a low reading. (The way your post reads, it sounds like maybe you did this at home, rather than from a lab result. If it was a lab result, then the first thing I would do would be to check the glucometer.)
Either of these can be checked by taking meters with you to the doctor to compare to a blood draw test.

Are you checking your fasting glucose right after you wake up, or are you doing other things first, then checking after you've been up and moving around -- making the bed, getting dressed, brushing teeth, waiting to be hungry, etc.?

Are you checking your BG before you eat as well as the 1 & 2 hour postprandial checks?
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  #5   ^
Old Fri, Oct-28-16, 04:21
Lesliean Lesliean is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 175
 
Plan: Rosedale
Stats: 129/125/122 Female 5.5
BF:
Progress:
Default

I'm doing everything you've recommended. It was a new a1c now home kit so I think it was wrong.

Tested the relion bg numbers again a different meter and it's always lower than the other meter. Retested the fbg this morning and got 103 first and 114 second.

My bg after exercise is usually lower like 93 but than have the meal with 17 grams net carbs and it shoots up to 142-176.

I think I'm in trouble but don't understand enough about beta cell failure. Don't want to lose what I have. I eliminated all artificial sugar and saw no drop. Still testing that.

What type of doctor should I see? My Gynocologist hormone prescribing doctor?
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  #6   ^
Old Fri, Oct-28-16, 04:48
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Leslie, these numbers are far from horrid, not even in the diabetic range yet, much less beta cell failure. Are you in a state you can get a direct-to-comsumer lab test done? First Order a FBG, fasting insulin and Hba1c from a lab, then discuss with your GP. Places like SaveOnLabs, etc. I've used DirectLabs for years, good service.
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  #7   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 08:26
Lesliean Lesliean is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 175
 
Plan: Rosedale
Stats: 129/125/122 Female 5.5
BF:
Progress:
Default

Thank you Janet and all who take the time out of their busy days to share this invaluable knowledge. I appreciate it.

I agree with everything you say. I abandoned the winter squash and reduced somewhat the veggies and left out completely my yummy coconut flour bringing my daily net carbs to around 30 (42 total). This alone brought my bg readings down to 135 or lower. I also dramatically reduced artificial sweetener. It's easy to go overboard, for me anyway. That may have also helped.

Next I keep up the records, try to increase fat which is hard for me as it doesn't satisfy as much as protein. I may add a bit more veggie at dinner as later in the day my bg numbers are lower.

What I've found so far is a fbg of around 104 always no matter what I do. I am prediabetic.

After exercise the next meal is the one to watch. I don't know if its a rebound bg, a mid day effect, or a tired from exercise effect but that is when I need to keep fat up and carbs down.

I'll see the doctor when I have the numbers, when my regular visit comes around, or if I see more above 140 spikes. I'll buy another home a1c kit and see if the last one gave a false low number which is my guess.

And I'll keep reading through all these threads and doing more research on blood glucose issues.
Thank you!
Leslie
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  #8   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 09:23
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Default

The one thing that you might want to try is intermittent fasting, as it makes it easier for your system to lower insulin levels, which can lead to greater insulin sensitivity and, thence, to lower BGs.

But it would be helpful to add the fat that you are talking about, and lower carbs more, before trying that. Otherwise, IF can be really tough.

I have nearly zero carbs in the morning, only accounted for in the 2 eggs and the HWC I have in both my scrambled eggs and my tea. I eat bacon with the eggs, and put some bacon in them. After eating like that for breakfast for about three months, I found that I wasn't hungry till nearly 5 pm. So I don't eat from about 7 at night till 8 am, and then again till after 5. So my insulin stopped rising in anticipation of a midday meal.
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  #9   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 09:28
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Jenny Ruhl wrote about the home meters back in 2010, http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/...and-so-are.html she may have updates. I haven't seen newer reviews for a home kit that were glowing. You are at a great weight, exercise, have eaten healthy for years, so your plan to ask for tests next time at your doctor is good.
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  #10   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 11:04
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by JEY100
Leslie, these numbers are far from horrid, not even in the diabetic range yet, much less beta cell failure. Are you in a state you can get a direct-to-comsumer lab test done? First Order a FBG, fasting insulin and Hba1c from a lab, then discuss with your GP. Places like SaveOnLabs, etc. I've used DirectLabs for years, good service.


Thank you for the directlabs recommendation Jey, I bookmarked it months ago and recently did lots of tests on my DD which eased all of our minds to know that her kidneys are just fine. She had a really bad time in high school after taking Zithromax Z-pac that landed her in the hospital for a week with months of recovery and it's been several years since she had any more tests after that initial year+.
Boy what a tool to be able to take your healthcare into your own hands with tests and then be able to make logical informed decisions based on the results!!
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  #11   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 16:31
Lesliean Lesliean is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 175
 
Plan: Rosedale
Stats: 129/125/122 Female 5.5
BF:
Progress:
Default

According to diabetes educator exercise being a stressor leads to higher blood glucose for 30-1 hour up to 4 hours following exercise. Sure makes sense to me. Now trying lower carb refuel after exercise and experimenting with higher carb later in the evening to see if i tolerate it better >4 hours after exercise.
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  #12   ^
Old Sat, Oct-29-16, 23:57
gonwtwindo's Avatar
gonwtwindo gonwtwindo is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,671
 
Plan: General Low Carb
Stats: 164/162.6/151 Female 5'3"
BF:Sure is
Progress: 11%
Location: SoCal
Default

Coming out of lurking to post...same thing here. My a1c translates to an average pf 108...NOT.

It's rarely under 90. I gets pretty high sometimes because I am not taking care with my eating lately. No way is it an average of 108....UNLESS the strips and/or meter are way off.

So...which is it?
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  #13   ^
Old Sun, Oct-30-16, 06:13
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
Default

My first comment is that home bG meters are scarily inaccurate. I once experimented by taking six readings from the same finger stick, one after the other and got wildly differing readings. I stopped testing for a long time.

That said, last week I tested higher than I wanted after exercise so I went to Dr. Google. I found one explanation I'd never read before:
Quote:
Why Do Blood Glucose Levels Sometimes Go Up after Physical Activity?

When you exercise your muscles need more glucose to supply energy. In response, your liver increases the amount of glucose it releases into your bloodstream. Remember, however, that the glucose needs insulin in order to be used by your muscles. So if you do not have enough insulin available, your blood glucose levels can actually increase right after exercise. Basically, stimulated by the demand from your exercising muscles, your body is pouring glucose into your bloodstream. If you do not have enough insulin available to "unlock the door" to your muscles, the glucose cannot get into your muscles to provide needed energy. The end result is that glucose backs-up in your bloodstream, causing higher blood glucose readings.
http://www.joslin.org/info/why_do_b...l_activity.html

I have no idea if this is substantiated by other resources. Since essentially the first stick in the morning is "fasting" it seems that insulin is already low. Dr. Fung tells us that when we fast, we suppress insulin.
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  #14   ^
Old Sun, Oct-30-16, 08:04
Lesliean Lesliean is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 175
 
Plan: Rosedale
Stats: 129/125/122 Female 5.5
BF:
Progress:
Default

Yes, I saw that and other posts that were very similar. I think something else must be going on having to do with stopping exercise, a corresponding drop in insulin, but a short term build up of the blood glucose that is now not needed. Maybe it has to do with the stress of exercise and other hormones like cortisol involved that delay the 'return to normal'.

My current self experiment is trying to not eat for an hour after exercise to monitor blood glucose and then having a protein MCT shake to keep blood glucose down while my body recovers.
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  #15   ^
Old Sun, Oct-30-16, 14:12
dex's Avatar
dex dex is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 877
 
Plan: NSNG
Stats: 260/164/185 Female 64"
BF:
Progress: 128%
Location: Seattle
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by gonwtwindo
Coming out of lurking to post...same thing here. My a1c translates to an average pf 108...NOT.

It's rarely under 90. I gets pretty high sometimes because I am not taking care with my eating lately. No way is it an average of 108....UNLESS the strips and/or meter are way off.

So...which is it?


Was your latest A1C from a lab or an at-home test? If lab, then check your meter. If at-home, either or both could be wonky.

Meters should be checked against a lab draw (i.e. you do a finger poke test at the same time that blood is being drawn at a doctor's office or lab). I went through three glucometers in the hospital before we found one that worked consistently enough that both I and the doctors were comfortable with me taking it home. (Note: I have T1D, so I rely on a meter to determine how much insulin I need to give myself. For those who aren't insulin dependent, the accuracy/consistency isn't as critical.)
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