What Should My Fasting Glucose Level Be

Hba1c Test For Diabetes Diagnosis

An HbA1c test does not directly measure the level of blood glucose, however, the result of the test is influenced by how high or low your blood glucose levels have tended to be over a period of 2 to 3 months.

Indications of diabetes or prediabetes are given under the following conditions:

• Normal: Below 42 mmol/mol
• Prediabetes: 42 to 47 mmol/mol
• Diabetes: 48 mmol/mol

There are two types of blood sugar levels that may be measured. The first is the blood glucose level we get from doing finger prick blood glucose tests. These give us a reading of how high our levels are at that very point in time.

The second is the HbA1c reading, which gives a good idea of our average control over a period of 2 to 3 months. The target blood glucose levels vary a little bit depending on your type of diabetes and between adults and children.

Where possible, try to achieve levels of between 4 and 7 mmol/L before meals and under 8.5 mmol/L after meals. The target level for HbA1c is under 48 mmol/mol .

Research has shown that high blood glucose levels over time can lead to organ and circulation damage.

Keeping blood glucose above 4 mmol/l for people on insulin or certain medications for type 2 diabetes is important to prevent hypos occurring, which can be dangerous.

Your doctor may give you different targets. Children, older people and those at particular risk of hypoglycemia may be given wider targets.

FREE blood glucose level chart

A Warning Of Developing Type 2 Diabetes

Impaired fasting glycaemia is sometimes called pre-diabetes. This is when blood glucose levels in the body are raised, but are not high enough to mean that the person has diabetes. IFG means that the body isnt able to use glucose as efficiently as it should. This is because a layer of fat around the cells of the body, prevents insulin doing its job and taking the glucose into the cells of the body where its needed for energy. This situation is reversible by losing weight and hence the fat around the cells disappears. If you dont lose weight however, is it unlikely that you wont eventually develop Type 2 Diabetes.

IFG has no symptoms and can often go undiagnosed for years. Although there are no symptoms, many people diagnosed with IFG are overweight. Nine out of 10 people with IFG have high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels or a family history of the condition.

IFG can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes. People with IFG are five to 15 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people with normal glucose levels. However, this isnt inevitable. You can take steps to reduce the chances of this happening. People with IFG also have a slightly increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Long Acting Insulin Not Working For The Entire 24 Hours

THIS WAS THE CULPRIT FOR ME! I would normally go to sleep with a blood sugar of between 6.5 mmol/L and 7.5 mmol/L. Between 3:00 a.m and 4:00 a.m I would have a reading of between 12 mmol/L and 16 mmol/L. I normally took my basal insulin in the morning around 7:00 a.m. Lantus is supposed to be active for 24 hours controlling your blood sugar levels when you are not eating. However, in some individuals like myself, it only lasts about 18 to 20 hours. During long periods of time when we are not eating , the liver releases glucose to fuel the body. In my case, there was no long acting insulin in my body to handle this glucose, resulting in my high fasting blood sugars.

Also note that not eating will not help the issue. One may tend to not want to eat if they have a high fasting blood sugar. Eating and taking insulin will signal to the body that the fasting period is over and there is no need for the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream.

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Why Check Blood Sugar Levels

If you take certain medication, like insulin or sulphonylureas, checking your blood sugars is a vital part of living with diabetes. It can help you work out when you need to take more medication, when you need to eat something or for when you want to get up and move around more.

Routine checks can help you know when you might be starting to go too low or too high . Its a way of getting to know your body and how it works. It can help you and your healthcare team spot patterns too. Do you write your results down? You might find that helpful.

But importantly, it will help you stay healthy and prevent serious diabetes complications now and in the future. By complications, we mean serious problems in places like your feet and your eyes. This happens because too much sugar in the blood damages your blood vessels, making it harder for blood to flow around your body. This can lead to very serious problems like sight loss and needing an amputation.

The higher your blood sugar levels are and the longer theyre high for, the more at risk you are.

Normal Blood Sugar Levels For Adults With Diabetes

Normally, your pancreas releases insulin when your blood sugar, or âblood glucose,â gets high — after a meal, for example. That signals your body to absorb glucose until levels get back to normal.

But if you have diabetes, your body doesnât make insulin or doesnât respond to it normally . That can leave your blood sugar too high for too long. Over time, that can damage nerves and blood vessels and lead to heart disease and other problems.

If you have diabetes, your doctor may ask you to keep track of your blood sugar by testing it at home with a special device called a blood glucose monitor or home blood sugar meter. It takes a small sample of blood, usually from the tip of your finger, and measures the amount of glucose in it.

Follow your doctorâs instructions about the best way to use your device.

Your doctor will tell you when and how to test your blood sugar. Each time you do it, log it in a notebook or online tool or in an app. The time of day, recent activity, your last meal, and other things can all affect whether a reading will be of concern to your doctor. So try to log relevant information like:

• What medication and dosage you took
• What you ate, when you ate, or whether you were fasting
• How much, how intense, and what kind of exercise you were doing, if any

That will help you and your doctor see how your treatment is working.

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What Causes High Morning Blood Sugars

Two main culprits prompt morning highs: the dawn phenomenon and waning insulin. A third, much rarer cause, known as the Somogyi effect, may also be to blame.

The occasional morning high will have little impact on your A1C, a measure of your average blood sugar levels over time that indicates how well managed your diabetes is. But if those highs become consistent, they could push your A1C up into dangerous territory.

Glycosylated Hemoglobin Or Hemoglobin A1c

Reflects average blood sugar levels over the preceding 90-day period. Elevated levels are associated with prediabetes and diabetes. Individuals with diabetes have an increased risk of a cardiac event. A diabetic person’s risk for heart attack is the same as a non-diabetic person, who has experienced one heart attack, having a second heart attack. Aggressive global preventive risk reduction efforts, such as lower LDL targets, diet, exercise and blood pressure control, are recommended.

Goal values :

• A range of 5.7-6.4 percent indicates an increased risk for development of diabetes , and lifestyle interventions may be beneficial.
• A value equal or greater than 6.5 percent is considered diabetic.

Preparation

This test may be measured any time of the day without fasting.

Glycosylated hemoglobin is blood glucose attached to hemoglobin . This test is often called the “diabetic report card.” It reflects the average blood sugar for the two to three month period before the test.

To calculate the average blood glucose level from the HbA1C:

HbA1C level x 33.3 86 = average blood glucose level for the past 90 days. HbA1C can be helpful to track diabetic control over time.

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Avoid Alcohol Before Nighttime

Another good habit is to avoid alcohol before going to bed. This can cause your blood sugar to increase quickly but leave you with low levels overnight. Avoiding alcohol for a few hours before bedtime will help keep the glucose in balance and prevent fluctuations.

If you do drink alcoholic beverages before going to bed try to eat a healthy snack with some carbohydrates to catch that low blood sugar after drinking alcohol.

Stick To Your Medication And Insulin Regimen

Skipping a dose of medication or insulin can be harmful to your body and increase your blood sugar levels.

Its important to stick to your treatment plan and follow your doctors instructions for taking your medication.

Summary

Healthful lifestyle habits can help people manage their blood sugar levels over the long term, such as eating a balanced diet, getting regular exercise, staying hydrated, and getting good sleep.

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Now That Youre Checking Your Blood Glucose What Do The Numbers Mean

Depending on your diabetes treatment plan, your doctor or diabetes educator may advise you to check once a week, once a day or up to 10 times a day . But what does it mean when you see a 67, 101 or 350 on your meter? And what is a normal blood sugar, anyway? Great questions! After all, if you dont know what the numbers on your meter mean, its hard to know how youre doing.

The American Diabetes Association provides guidelines for blood glucose goals for people with diabetes, and the goals vary depending on when youre checking your glucose:

Fasting and before meals: 80130 mg/dl

Postprandial : Less than 180 mg/dl

By the way, these guidelines are for non-pregnant adults with diabetes. Children, adolescents and pregnant women may have different goals.

Your blood glucose goals may be different, however. If youre younger, have had diabetes for a shorter amount of time or are not taking any medicine for your diabetes, your glucose goals might be a little tighter, or lower. Likewise, your blood glucose goals may be higher than what ADA recommends if youre older, have diabetes complications, or dont get symptoms when your blood glucose is low.

Bottom line: talk with your health-care provider about the following:

When to check your blood glucose How often to check your blood glucose What your blood glucose goals are

Diagnosing Prediabetes Type 2 And Type 1 Diabetes

Depending on which country or medical organization you ask, the qualifying numbers for normal versus prediabetes versus diagnosed type 1 or type 2 diabetes can vary slightly. The following blood sugar and A1c the general results are used to diagnosed prediabetes and diabetes according to sources including the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK:

Prediabetes

• HbA1c: 5.7 to 6.4 percent
• Fasting: 100 to 125 mg/dL
• 2 hours after a meal: 140 mg/dL to 199 mg/dL

Type 1 or 2 diabetes

• HbA1c: 6.5 percent or higher
• Fasting: 126 mg/dL or higher
• 2 hours after a meal: 200 mg/dL or higher

Please note: Type 1 diabetes tends to develop very quickly which means that by the time symptoms are felt, blood sugar levels are generally well above 200 mg/dL all the time. For many, symptoms come on so quickly they are dismissed as the lingering flu or another seemingly ordinary virus.

By the time blood sugar levels are tested, many newly diagnosed type 1 patients will see levels above 400 mg/dL or higher. If you do suspect that you or a loved-one has type 1 diabetes, visit your primary care or urgent care immediately and ask for a urine test to measure ketones in addition to testing blood sugar levels and A1c.

Read more about ketones at diagnosis in Diabetes StrongsDiabetic Ketoacidosis Guide.

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Why Is It So Important To Check My Blood Levels

Regular checking and recording of your blood glucose level can reinforce your healthy lifestyle choices as well as inform you of your response to other choices and influences.

Importantly, blood glucose level pattern changes can alert you and your health care team to a possible need for a change in how your diabetes is being managed.

How To Save On The Freestyle Libre With Singlecare

If you dont have it yourself, you probably know at least one person living with diabetes. More than 30 million people in the U.S. alone have the condition. Which means youre likely familiar with the hassle of having to monitor glucose levels at all times. The process involves pricking your finger tip with a needle to test a drop of bloodouch!

When you have diabetes, its crucial to make sure its under control by testing your glucose levels often, based on your doctors recommendation. Luckily, for those who are sensitive to it or just tired of the repetition, there is an easier way: the Freestyle Libre, an FDA-approved glucose monitoring system that works as an alternative to the finger stick.

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How To Support Your Immune System When You Have Diabetes

This post is sponsored by Herbaly Tea. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means I earn from qualifying purchases and no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website! always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting brands I use and love.

If you have diabetes, you may have noticed that your health care provider keeps a closer eye on your health. Theres a good reason for that. Diabetes affects your immune system, and your your immune system regulates your health and well-being. Its like a military defense system that protects your body from foreign invaders.

Know Your Blood Sugar

Blood sugar is the amount of sugar in your blood at a given time. It’s important to check your blood sugar level, because it will:

• determine if you have a high or low blood sugar level at a given time
• show you how your lifestyle and medication affect your blood sugar levels
• help you and your diabetes health-care team make lifestyle and medication changes to improve your blood sugar levels

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Whats Wrong With This Picture

Is there really a threshold? Is 99 a magic number? According to the ADA, normal fasting plasma glucose is anything under 100 mg/dL. By setting this standard and using the term normal, the ADA is telling you that your blood sugar level is fine until it reaches 100. So 99 is fine, and all of a sudden at 100 youre pre-diabetic. Thats only a 1 point difference. Can health plummet in 1 point?

Actually, health exists on a continuum, and so does the health of your blood. The research shows that the lower your fasting plasma glucose , the less likely that you will develop diabetes. Conversely, if your FPG levels are in the upper end of the range that the ADA considers normal, you are at increased risk for developing diabetes. It turns out that the increase risk starts at 86.

This study followed 46,578 Kaiser Permanente patients in Oregon for 10 years and evaluated four ranges of fasting blood glucose :

• less than 85 mg/dL
• 85 to 89 mg/dL
• 95 to 99 mg/dL

What Should Your Glucose Levels Be

In this article:

Blood glucose is a primary marker for determining diabetes risk. The higher your blood sugar, the higher your risk factors. But blood-sugar is not just a marker for diabetes. As blood-glucose levels rise, so does the risk for many other life-threatening conditions, most notably heart disease.

The best way to mitigate your risk is to keep your blood sugar levels at a normal range. What is the target blood sugar level, you wonder? The answer is controversial. The American Diabetes Association delineates certain levels as normal blood sugar levels, but the ADAs normal may not mean optimal.

Whats more, measuring blood glucose isnt the only way to assess metabolic health cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference more on this later.) This article helps to clarify things. Youll learn all about blood glucose: the basics, measurement, management, and what levels are considered healthy.

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Do We Get Better At Using Ketones

Urine ketone strips are considered by many to be of limited use because before too long the body stops excreting ketones into the urine as it learns to use them rather than wasting them.

It seems that your body also adapts to use blood ketones more efficiently the longer you follow a lower carbohydrate diet. Most people move beyond the keto adaption phase as their bodies learn to use fat more efficiently, and their ketone levels reduce further.

You can think of BHB as the storage and transport form of ketones. Your body converts BHB back to acetoacetate to be used for energy.

The BHB ketones that you measure simply tells you how much energy you have stored as ketones in your bloodstream. Unfortunately, it doesnt tell you anything useful about your ability to burn fat for fuel. High blood ketones may mean that you have unused fuel backing up in your bloodstream .

Just like a fuel-efficient car doesnt need a massive fuel tank, you dont need high levels of ketones or glucose in your bloodstream if you have a healthy and efficient metabolism.