I am curious. Does what you do (like exercise/activity) and eat the previous day affect your fasting reading the next morning? What affects fasting more, what your bedtime reading was or what your overall day was like? Am I making any sense?
I’m also wondering why the fasting number is so important?
(Even though I’m not technically new to diabetes, I am feeling like I am since I’m paying more attn to it now.)
Fasting BG is really important if your are pumping insulin or using long acting insulin as a basal. Basal rates are set for and vary throughout the day and if they are set correctly your fasting BG numbers should not go up or down and should remain relatively flat. If you exercise a lot the day before there is a very good chance that your fasting numbers will be lower. Typically when you check your fasting numbers you are only going to watch them for 4-6 hours after that you need to eat or you will probably go low.
Fasting BG numbers are important because if your basal rate is too high then your BG will drop throughout the testing period. If your basal rate is too low then your BG numbers are going to go up. I like my fasting BG to be around 85-90 but I have my basal rates set a bit high on purpose to keep my BG low like that.
Dave
Sweeter-
What affects fasting blood sugar? Let’s see. When I exercise my fasting is about 70-80. When I eat a snack before bed and bolus for it, my blood sugar is about 100-105.
When Aunt Dottie (girl thing) visit’s fasting bg’s are slighty elevated.
The dawn phenomenon can cause high fasting blood sugars.
If I eat something too heavy with fats for dinner, my morning fasting numbers aren’t where they should be. Or, if I eat too close to going to bed.
Exercise usually effects me for about 3-4 hours. First high & then low.
In the case of us type twos (in the long term) nothing affects morning FBG more than insulin resistance. What I have found is, the more I treat my condition with insulin resistance lowering strategies, the lower my FBG. What does that mean? Well, basically it’s avoiding a lot of the refined foods that (I feel) got us here, and focusing mainly on raw, natural foods. Also, a daily moderate exercise regimen. A quick look into the lifestyles of those civilizations in the remote areas of Asia and South America where they live off the land and type two diabetes is virtually non-existent, should tell you that it has something to do with their diet and activity level. In my case, since I adopted this basic plan, I watched in amazement as my numbers normalized and my energy level soared.
The fasting number is indicative of many variables. It’s importance has to do with how well you’re managing your disease. To me, it’s an indication of how well I’m keeping my insulin resistance down. Naturally, it has to do with how many carb calories I took in the day before, but the lower my insulin resistance becomes, the less that seems to make a difference.
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Yes they definitely do. Do you have enough test strips to do some testing in the evening - after some exercise - 1 hour, 2 hours? Keep track of the time, how long you’re on the treadmill at what mph/kph and test times. You’ll maybe need to lower your insulin as you get regular in exercise.
A high fat with starch meal in the evening will cause your glucose to rise late evening - and maybe after a time you’re used to testing in the evening. Then it just stays up all night, and voila - you find it in the morning.
Keep asking questions and keep records of your testing. Maybe you’ll find some late evening high results that are there in the morning, too. These kinds of records can help your doc decide what’s best to help even it all out.
Hi Sweeter. A fellow TUer recommended I pick up “Think Like a Pancreas” and I’ve had great control with insulin ever since. It contains detailed information about managing your bgs and how things like exercise, diet, and changes in your body can affect your levels.