I just took my post dinner test and my monitor is a Freestyle Light. One finger yielded a 76, which freaked me out because I thought I would feel shaky at 76 since I’ve not recorded anything that low in about 7 years. When I was pregnant and on insulin I had a 44, and I remember how THAT
felt, so I was reasonably certain the 76 couldn’t have been real.
Then, I tested another finger and it said 96. Phew. But, still, I haven’t had anything below a 100 in…7 years. The lowest I’ve had in forever is 106,and that was last week after starting Byetta. So I think, okay 96 could be reasonable even though I had about 1/2 cup of brown rice at dinner…still suspicious.
I took a third poke on the other hand and got 139. I’m believing this number given my history, but seriously? Why such a huge variation with the three? Same bottle of strips and same monitor. I washed and dried both hands really well (no food on fingers to skew results) and am stumped. As a type 2 do I need to be so concerned?
im not really sure, but you might wanna check your meter… today i bought another ultra meter, used to be on ultra mini, but im having suspicion on the reading coz there’s no consistency on the results it gave me… now with the new meter, at least i can see a difference of 5 or 8 points when i tested again…
If you squeezed the finger differently and got a lot of interstitial fluid in the test strip the readings can vary. It is also possible to have the BG rise 40+ post meal, particularly rice, depending on the GI (Glycemic Index) of the particular rice.
The lower numbers were off of two fingers on my left hand. And it was almost impossible to squeeze anything out of them. My fingers were really cold, and I felt like I was milking and pushing to get enough for the test. The higher number came from my right hand, but I did take a moment to flex my fingers a lot before taking the third test. All three were within a minute of each other.
I had to look up interstitial fluid–a new term for me. Would it be possible the extra prodding caused the fluid to “water down” the BG level? It would explain a 76…
That 76 was just unbelievable to me…so Yeah, I’m definitely trusting my gut. I just hate the fact that there’s no real way of knowing for sure. If I’d gone off that number alone, I would have headed downstairs for a snack, and then I would have had a high two hours later because I was already at 139. My poor fingers! I’m a knitter and a pianist, and I have always been extra picky about my digits.
I’ll do that, though it’s one of the new ones–less than two months old–that isn’t even using codes anymore and didn’t come with a bottle of stuff to test it with.