Are my sugars too low?

~Sandra · 11-05-2002, 07:28 PM

Ok, I’m having a really hard time controlling my sugars. I know that this forum isn’t very active, but hopefully someone will be able to help!

I’m currently on 1500mg of Metformin. I take 750 mg with breakfast and dinner. I’ve just started to get over the side effects (whew!) and having been testing my blood glucose with more consistency. I’ve been doing some research on target rates but am not sure if they even apply because of the Met. It’s also a bit hard for me because my values are in mmol/L although apparently you just multiply by 19.
An example: I’ve seen that a target value for 2 hrs after a meal is about 120. After my lunch today I was 78. It was a fairly substantial lunch too (crackers and cheese, yogurt and an orange). After breakfast I was 95…but my fasting this morning was 110.
I’m confused! How can my after meal reading be so much lower than my fasting?
Anyone have any ideas? Or any targets for me to try and hit?

DianaG · 11-06-2002, 07:32 PM

Sandra,
Hi! I don't think your numbers are too low as long as you never drop below 60, with 60-75 being an "eat a little something zone."

I have trouble with high fastings and low after breakfast numbers too. The glucophage should help this from happening. If your number is too low before bed then your fasting may be high in the morning. A target for bedtime is 100.

The 120 after meal target is a guideline and that is the high end, so your after meal of 95 was a perfect one.

I have my goal set at 80 for the majority of the day. I don't usually keep it at 80, but that is what I shoot for. Usually, I am more in the 88-105 range.

You might want to talk to your doctor about moving your medicine around a little bit. Instead of 750mg with breakfast, since you are experinencing your lowest number then you might want to take only 500 with breakfast and then take the 1000mg at dinner. The extra medicine at night will work to keep your liver from producing sugar during the night if your body thinks you don't have enough in your bloodstream which may be what is happening now to give you the high fastings.

Aslo, try setting your alarm on the weekend or whatever night you don't have to get up early the next day to the middle of your night, say between 230-4am. Check your blood sugar and see if it is lower or higher than when you went to bed. Then check it again at your normal waking time to see if it is high. If it is low in the middle of the night and then high in the morning then you are getting too low in the middle of the night.

Controlling your blood sugar is trial and error before you get it set into the pattern you want. It takes lots of patience. Just be sure that you know the warning signs of too low blood sugar. I like to stay above 70 because when I get in the 60's I start to get symptoms of hypoglycemia such as shakes, irritability, and disorientation, so always carry sugar tabs or some other glycemic medicine with you and know how and when to use it. Everyone reacts differently to lower blood sugars learn what your symptoms are and be prepared (I sound like a boy scout!

)

Good Luck with your blood sugars especially the fasting. I definitely know how hard those can be.
Diana

Angie02 · 11-06-2002, 07:49 PM

I am IR/hypoglycemic, not diabetic, so I may not be the best person to give you advice on your sugar levels. However, I do have a few suggestions that might ease your frustrations.

First, ask your doctor for an exact blood sugar range that you should be aiming for. That will give you something to gauge your progress by. My doctor said 85 to 115 for me (it never used to go above 70), and I know that I feel best if I keep it between 90 and 110. I also have to eat a minimum of 5 times I day and adhere to the IR diet or I will totally dump insulin. Also, have you tried testing one hour after eating? My levels are highest between 30 minutes and an hour and at two hours are normal again. Your blood sugar might already have surged and dropped by two hours.

I take glucophage xr, once in the morning and once in the evening and I have found that for me, there is a timing issue regarding gluc and food. I have found that if I take the gluc 30 minutes to an hour before eating, it seems to "kick in" about the same time I am eat, and therefore my blood sugar seems more stable. If I take it when I eat, it does not seem to kick in for 30-45 minutes, and that gives my blood sugar time to react to the food that I just ate. Can that be part of your problem?

As for after lunch, I have to be most careful about what I eat at that meal because I am not taking glucophage at that time and it has the potential to go too high or too low. In describing what you ate, maybe it was too much carb at a meal when you are not taking glucophage? The same thing happened to me the other day, and it frustrated me. Maybe you would feel better if you took 500 of glucophage three times a day instead of twice a day? Just a thought.

Hope you feel better soon.

~Sandra · 11-06-2002, 08:20 PM

Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm taking the Met twice a day for the simple reason that it's the only way my stomach will handle it. I've tried 500mg 3 x a day and my stomach can't handle it. It was horrible taking a dose at lunch time and then have the side effects kick in on the hour bus ride home! I guess it's just all trial and error. I know that I really to have to try and introduce more protein into my meals. I guess it's all just trail and error for me!

Angie02 · 11-06-2002, 09:25 PM

I hope you don't mind my straying from the original subject, but can you tell me the significance of testing blood sugars between 2:30 and 4 am? Is this when they are supposed to be the lowest? or highest? I am curious because I am awake EVERY night between 2 and 4 am. Sometimes my blood sugar will be normal, and other times it will be significantly higher than what I am used to and I will feel sick the entire next day. I was going to address this with my doctor at my next appointment, but thought maybe I was overreacting...

DianaG · 11-07-2002, 11:50 PM

Hi. The reason I suggested testing in the middle of the night was because sometimes in some people if they go to bed with a blood sugar that is on the lower side it might keep getting lower while they sleep. Your body is amazing in that it will try to correct your blood sugar to keep you from going into hypoglycemic coma by having your liver produce sugar for your blood stream, so your brain doesn't starve.

The sugar your liver produces works like regular sugar or the sugar in carbs and will raise your blood sugar. This could be why you get a higher number if you test close to 4am and a high fasting when you wake up.

You said when you tested in the night it was higher. Was it significantly higher than when you went to bed? If so, what time did you test? Try testing an hour earlier to see if it is low then. I hope between your doctor and yourself that you are able to keep your blood sugars in a safe range that makes you feel better.

voodoo_child · 11-17-2002, 02:26 AM

Are you type 1 or type 2 diabetic?
and are you being medicated?

The reason why i ask that is because i'm type 1, and am currently on 2000mg of metformin a day. I was told that this would decrease my blood sugars by a lot, so to decrease my insulin as i'm comfortable with. I've been on metformin for about 2 months and have gone from 114 units of insulin per day to 86 units. And i'm still trying to get it down.

I'm shocked that you weren't told this info, cos metformin has given me plenty of hypos.

Talk to your doctor about it and see how you get on

~Sandra · 11-17-2002, 03:19 AM

I'm not diabetic, just glucose intolerant.
I know all about how the Met works and the hypo signs. I've been on it for 6 months and I sure learned fast!
I was just more curious about what the target rates are. Everything I've read relates to diabetics on insulin and I wasn't sure what mine should be.

Thanks though!