I haven't been on meds long, and haven't known that I had diabetes long either. I was put on Metformin and have been on it for about 4 days. I took my BSL yesterday, and hadn't eatin in about 8 hours, and it was 146(I know just a bit high, but am shotting for lower)How can it be high if I haven't eatin anything that could cause it to be that way? Before lunch it had been 99. I'm really confused about all this. My doc said my levels for right now should be below 140 but really wants them below 100. I am doing exercise and eating a low carb diet(as well as low in fat, due to high cholesterol). I have already lost 5lbs in the first week I knew I had diabetes. I am working hard at making this better, but can't seem to understand why my BSL are still high even though I am not eating anything I shouldn't and taking meds and doing exercise. Anyone know what I should be doing? Maybe I have been doing something wrong. Any help would be great!

Hi, I am newly diagnosed as well and just starting on my metformin today at dinner time. My BS is lower two hours after eating then it is after fasting. There has been some posts on this, but I think it has something to do with the liver puting out glucose after longer periods of not eating. I haven't looked back on this, so since I am totally new at this, I could be way off, but I am sure someone will jump in. I think the key to keeping a lower bs is definitely eating the right foods at even increments throughout the day. Still learning myself how to get my sugars in control. Last friday I went for my bloodwork. I thought I would test my blood sugar first thing in the morning before I left for the lab. I had fasted for 12 hours and my bs was 10.9 (x18 to convert to your numbers). I was dumbfounded because I had eaten really well the day before too. I decided to test again within 10 minutes and my bs had come down to 10.3, I tested immediately and the reading was 9.5. By the time I had made it to the lab ( I found out my results yesterday) my bs was 7.6. I cant figure it out either, other than what they call dawn phenomona. Hope you get the answers you are looking for.

You seem to be more up to speed about this than I. I am reading up on it, but due to brain fog, can't seem to keep alot of it in memory. I just went in to the doc again today, I was only taking it once a day in the am. She has upped it to once in am and once in the evening for two days and then up again to two in the am and once in the evening. I am having to fight the effects of steriods to keep my sugar under control. They make my BSL go really high in the evenings(about 3pm-4pm over 200)and then they drop drasticly. I can't wait to figure this out. I have lost 8 lbs in two weeks, so the diet is working! I'm only allowed to have 14 1/2 carbs a day(I try to eat less than that). They said since I have had to up my steriods I may have to also cut out more carbs, but will have to see. Thanks for the info.

Try testing a standard solution-of specific value(+_20%) (a couple of times at least) and see if read it reads in the right range around the value it suggests it should be. You might have high strips or a meter that reads high. If the standard solution read much lower (25-30% higher or lower) you might have a meter issue. (I like to call it "Brittle Metering")
The doctor should be aware of that. (Few are, I am sorry to say I have noticed. Very recently, my mothers doctor recently was diagnosed as type 2, after treating her for 20 years, and he was shocked!!! how inaccurate these meters can be. Now he reconsiders her meds more carefully!!! He thinks that her "brittle condition may actually be a combination of "brittle metering and the meds inaccurately prescibed to correct the inaccurate meter readings!!) Been saying this for four years.....doctor don't think they can make mistakes with Diabetes!

(and these standard solutions of specific values are hard to get!!)

Hey, wa5ekh....try keeping your "standard solution/meter rant" to its own thread. May I suggest that you INSTEAD make a reference to that particularly long thread in these other posts so things don't get outta hand and confusing again. Please. Thank you.

Lookin4aclue...Diabetes is complicated. Complicated because there are many variables to consider. Diabetes differs for all of us individually - how we present when diagnosed, what our goals are for weight & blood sugars, how we work towards meeting those goals, what eating lifestyle works better than another, what foods affect sugars more than others, how often and how much we eat, etc., etc. All these variables are subject to change as you move forward (hopefully for the better :-) so, it is an ever changing world.

Sometimes Diabetes can get overwhelming, especially if there's too much focus on one area...like say BGL readings. Understand that (yes, wa5ekh...we KNOW meters aren't 100% accurate and they even say so on the package info)...when you do a test, the result is for that moment in time. Your sugars go up and down at various times of the day and levels depend on when, what, & how much you eat, when you take your meds, and when & how much you exercise. Accept that your glucose readings are a pretty good marker for how things are going but don't get too hung up on the actual number because I guarantee...it will go up and down. Thinking in terms of ranges instead of actual numbers helps, especially in the beginning when you're also consumed with learning about food, meal planning, exercise, etc. Be as aggresive about it as you can - and that means learning - and know that it all just can't be learned overnight. But it will come - it does get easier, I promise.

One thing...I found it extremely helpful to log EVERYTHING: I ate (measured and carb counted according to nutrition label or other calculation tables provided to me by CDA), every glucose reading, exercise duration and intensity, and medication doses. I went the one step further that really helped me see some patterns.....I logged the time of day beside every one of the events I mentioned.

Having just been on a continuous glucose monitor for 5 days (takes a reading every 10 seconds and I got to see the results as a graph for each day - really cool!), it confirmed what I could see in my own analysis of my logbook....no matter what I eat at breakfast, I spike and crash and my sugars start to rise every evening till about 3:00am then drop quickly till 7:00am when I get up and then immediately start to spike again. I crash again after lunch and often don't level-off so I go hypo. If I make it to 3:00pm, I start to rise again and that's why I always get a higher than expected reading before dinner (either my liver is pumping out glucose or I've gone hypo and had to injest glucose). Sorry, long story short, it gave me the bigger picture.

To try to explain some of your numbers:
Sometimes when you don't eat...your body (or your meds) isn't telling your receiving cells to take in the glucose from the bloodstream and so the residual glucose just hangs around building up a bit giving you a higher test result. When you don't eat for a long time - like fasting, which you do every night by not eating for a 8-10 hour stretch - your liver also has the ability to let out stored glucose, which it does in most individuals around 3:00am. This outletting is often what produces the high morning readings known as the "Dawn Phenomenon". Also, your steroid use has an effect, too.

Diabetes is also a constant learning process (isn't everything in life :-) . Do your best to learn all you can about Diabetes, try to live a healthy lifestyle/diet including exercise, and try logging. I'm a believer in what's not measured is not managed and at the very least, this is the kind of information that helps your doctors make better decisions with your treatment. If the info shows that you need more meds/higher doses to lower blood sugars...don't be afraid to take them.

Sounds like you're on the right track, though, so keep on it :-) Also know and keep in mind with your readings....your steroids are causing elevated blood sugar readings as well as fluctuating readings (as you've encountered). We're here for ya :-)

Cheers,
- Vikingirl

fireVikingirl-:eek:
"Rants" to you ...answers to someone else. Actually you are saying almost the same thing...except you rely on theoretical ideas...insulin resistance, liver/kidney glucose release-what about Glucogen conversion??, etc.....instead of BG value results ...which you also convert to ...when you suggest diary of food and bg reading...same thing!. I am just "ranting' that metering mistakes are more a part of the diabetic probem ...and have a simple solution...I won't repeat it for YOUR sake....:p ...naaa!....don't use a standard.......you only have relative (-ly uncertain) BGs and results to report or use.


(me thinks u rant a little too...):blob_fire

Unsure if your "problem" reading was in the morning, after sleeping. If so, you may be having a small amount of "morning effect": For many people, their bG naturally goes up in the early AM.

If I didn't have my pump adjusted to deliver LOTS more insulin between 5 AM and 9 AM, I would exceed 250 mg/dL... even if, like you, I had started the night at about 100, and eaten nothing all night.

That's the main reason I'm on a pump, instead of shots.

I'm not an MD, and really shouldn't argue with yours... but I will: If it's only for an hour or two, 140 is not a reading to get "all worked up" about. In contrast, aiming for "100 or better" while you're taking steroids which cause your bG to fly up and down, is IMHO just ASKING for dangerous hypos.

If you don't know whether it's "just for an hour or two", then you need to do more bG tests and have some real data to work with.

If the Steroids cause the problem, then either the steroid regimen needs to be modified, or the target should be less aggressive. Just my unprofessional opinion, I'm NOT QUALIFIED to give Medical Advice. But please do feel free to print this off and ask your MD to discuss my comments.

Riskstar29 You are type 1 and test a lot, right? You seem to realize the importance of hypoglycemia(low bg readings), hyperglycemia and BG accuracy in medication and short term problem diagnosis. Do think it is necessary to use a specific standard solution? Type 2 don't seem to want to deal with the additional issues of this standards testing....what do you think?

I have been testing and everything seems to be ok, seems that I need to snack in between meals(as sometimes like I stated in the first post I go 8 hours without something to eat)As long as I have a snack(doesn't seem to matter what it is, as long as it's only one carb)I can avoid the higher numbers. My doc has put me on higher meds, I take 1000mg metformin in the am, and 500mg metformin in the pm(take them at the same time everyday). I have seen better numbers since the last post, with me eating snacks and taking more meds. I have not had a hypo range as of yet(that I have seen, or felt) The lowest I have been is 80(which was right before bed)But when I wake I always am over 100. I can not adjust my steriod dose(as it is a tappering effect, and if I stop it or go lower to quick I can aggravate my eyes causing the radation I have been doing for this to become less aggresive, and also making me sick, other wise I would have already stopped taking this CRAP!I say that because this has caused me alot of problems) I have been watching my diet more closely and with what they said I should be eating, have also changed it(they allowed to many carbs)I was told I could have 14 1/2 carbs a day, but noticed with a few less per day(mainly in the am and evenings) My numbers were better, and I felt better. I have already dropped 10lbs in just over two weeks(maybe more, as I haven't weighed in a few days) So hopefully I am getting this right, and as soon as the steriods are gone, I can stop taking meds, and manage with diet and exercise. I have noticed I do feel so much better, and have alot more energy eating this way! Thanks all for your input, I think my meter came with a bottle of control soulution, don't they? I haven't used mine yet, guess I should check it out. Are the 14 day averages worth anything or is this just pretty much info not needed?

I'm down to about 5-6 a day on the One-Touch Ultra (for calibrating the Dexcom), but I get about 285 readings from the CGMS. When those surveys ask "how many times do you test" and the highest number is something like "15 or more", I'm offended.

I do get all these tests, and I want to take credit for them! :jester: :jester: (even if they are painless).

I'm with VikingGirl, asking you to leave the 'standard solutions' where it belongs. Please, PLEASE don't invade other threads with irrelevant topics.

Not irrelevant. (...are you a moderator?)