In the span of about 25 minutes, my readings went from 207 down to 153. The whole story is that I went to take my numbers 2 hours after breakfast this morning and then realized that I had only gone about 90 minutes since eating. So I took them again 25 minutes later and came up with (what to me) seems to be a big difference in that short span of time.

The main reason I ask is that I've probably not been as careful as I should be about taking readings just before eating and then exactly 2 hours after. I didn't think there would be that much of a change if I was a bit off in my timing. Now I'm wondering if that's true or not. Do I need to be more careful about getting readings taken exactly on time due to this ? Thanks :wave:

Your blood sugar levels usually peak at about 1 to 1 1/2 hours after a meal, and then start coming down. In normal (non-diabetic) people, the peak is sooner and the blood sugar goes down faster. In diabetics, the peak can be a bit later and it takes longer for the blood sugar to go back down.

When they say to test 2 hours after a meal, they actually mean two hours after you START eating, not after you finish.

As for how exact you have to be...probably not that exact every single time, as long as you're close to "exact" most of the time. 5-10 minutes shouldn't make much of a difference, but maybe a half hour off is too much.

As for blood sugars changing rapidly...us insulin-dependent diabetics are, unfortunately, all too used to that. I've had days where I've done everything right...counted carbs correctly, taken the right amount of insulin, no unusual exercise, and still my numbers yo-yo'd up and down all day...sometimes going from the mid 200's to the 50's and back up in the space of a few hours. I don't think it happens to that extreme in people who are not on insulin, but still...blood sugar is constantly fluctuating. What you try to do is spot trends rather than hitting a specific number.

Ruth

In the span of about 25 minutes, my readings went from 207 down to 153.
deb9020,

It is quite possible for your blood sugar to have spiked like that. It depends on what you ate for breakfast. If it was high-carb, like cereal or toast and fruit your blood sugar would go up very quickly and come down quickly too.

To figure out how different foods affect your BG levels, you really need to test an hour after eating and then again an hour after that. You will get a much better idea of how you BG level is moving. You can then start thinking about how to stop the spiking. ;)

Cheers,

Mark