Help…complete freak out. Had seen GP who diagnosed pre-diabetes and said fasting blood glucose was 6.6 (after 15 hour fast)….so followed diet, BMI down to between 21-22 from 23-24, 150 hours aerobic exercise etc etc for approximately one month. Bought my own blood monitor yesterday and this morning took my first reading…fasting blood glucose after 12 hours is 8.3.!!!!! Feel in despair. I do know machines show differently but this is a standard Accuchek with strips. What to do?? My efforts have put now put me in worse situation (although I would think if I had had 12 hour fasting with GP might have been closer to the new figure). Last night’s supper was only fillet salmon, french green beans and half an apple with handful of seeds. Tofa

Fasting sugar readings are notoriously erratic because of the dawn effect as your liver releases stored sugar into your bloodstream. So much so that many doctors now recommend not testing in the morning but concentrating on pre and post meal readings.
When you think about it, if you are burning sugars as fuel, a longer fasting time may result in more stored glucose being released than normal as your body needs the fuel.
Try to have a fatty snack before bedtime, I use yoghurt and fruit (full fat of course) cheese, nuts, anything to keep the digestive system working through the night to stave off that dawn effect.

Hi Tofa,
It sounds like you’ve perhaps experienced a blood sugar spike at about the same timeframe in the diet that I did.
If you have a look at the thread ‘ rising fasting blood sugars’ you’ll see that this happened to several people around week 4/5 and lasted a couple of weeks.
Stick with the diet and you will get the results you want. The bedtime snack of cheese, yoghurt or a glass of milk really does help counteract the dawn phenomenon. 🙂

Hi Cherrianne and Bill54, thank you both, will look for thread and will have late night snack….hoping it works. A bit reassuring for me that others have had this experience and to better understand the probable reasons….(felt very tearful that all my efforts were to no avail and I was doomed! ) So does this mean that if I wanted to do a fasting blood glucose I do it 12 hours after the milky snack ?? Perhaps the answer is already on the thread you recommended? Tofa

And I did get the importance of pre and post meal testing ….thank you Tofa

Hi all, after my 12 hour fasting glucose of 8.3 and all your helpful responses, I have now done a glucose test two hours after lunch of fried egg, mushroom and cooked tablespoon ish of barley (heaped), half an apple and bit of red pepper nuts and seeds. Reading at 4 oclock is 11.8. !! I understand from reading threads that normal is under 8.5 for type 2 and under 7.8 for non-diabetics. Is this still aberration? I am hungry and waited 2 hours without having a snack to get a clear reading….what is going on? If tomorrow’s readings are high after nightime snack (please advise if I have supper by 7 and snack at 10. what time should I test in the morning?) what should I do….???? Rather freaked out!! Tofa (PS If I test before bedtime, should that be before or after snack of yogurt/cheese?)

Hi, looked at the packet of pre-prepared barley most closely, this time with my glasses on ….they were wheat berries with glucose syrup and sugar amongst the herbs and spices, but presumably in tiny quantities as did not taste sweet? Sorry I must appear so dense, but it still seems a remarkably high reading? Tofa

Hi Tofa,
I had to google pre cooked wheat berries but came up with one brand that showed 62g total carb per serve, less the fibre (20g), so 42g carb for 1/2 cup, and that one didn’t have glucose and sugars added.
That is quite a few carbs, even if you ate 1/2 that, then you need to add in your 1/2 an apple and seeds.
You appear to have unknowingly eaten a fairly high carb meal.
This is where you need to be very careful with pre- prepared foods and make sure you read the nutritional info panel ( does help if you have your glasses lol!). Captain Lynne and others have found meat with a sugar glaze, and fish with added sugar. Those food manufacturers have a lot to answer for. It really is a minefield for diabetics.
It does seem as though you are quite sensitive to carbs given your high reading after lunch. Even with a low calorie count, some things are just to high in carbs to safely eat. You may need to keep an eye on that as well as calories.
The key thing for me getting my blood sugars down was to keep my carbs to around 50g per day. This worked really well and I got them into the non diabetic range. I used an app and entered all my food into it to help me keep track. More than three months after starting the BSD I’m still doing that but have increased my carbs with no increase in my blood sugars. It definitely helps to teach you which foods are ok to eat regularly, and which foods to have occasionally with low carb meals for the rest of the day.
As far as when to test, like you I had my snack around 10 pm and tested before it. You only need around 20g cheese/150ml milk or couple of tablespoons of plain yoghurt.
Then I would take my morning fasting blood sugar around 7-7.30am.
Like Bill, I found my pre and post meal readings settled into the normal range before my fasting ones did. Once the fasting readings stayed down I was able to drop the night time snack without affecting them.
Good luck with this, keep posting because many of us have been where you are now and can help. 🙂

Hi Cherrianne, its a miracle…4.8 fasting glucose….my first ever normal reading in my life. Hooray, put out the flags. I followed your instructions 2 tbsps yogurt at bedtime and it worked so will keep that up. Thank you for all your investigations on my behalf. I am not sure I can manage an ap at this time BUT may change my mind, so would be interested which one you use. I am trying to keep carbs to 50g, but not always getting it right. Also not quite clear about fruit…..I know the types but am guessing one days worth on the diet is 6 blueberries and 1 apple….??? On the 5:2 which I will move over to at some point, perhaps as maintenance, again not clear on what is permissable in terms of fruit sugars on 5 days….would I dare go to 3 pieces, one fruit with each meal with yogurt or is that too much…..perhaps you can guide me to something I have missed in my reading. I am SO grateful, for your help. Thank you Tofa

Wonderful news! A blood sugar in the non diabetic range, doesn’t it feel good 🙂
You can expect them to be a bit erratic at first as your liver and pancreas shed that stored fat, but by about week six they should settle to a consistent level.
It seems like a miracle doesn’t it? 8 weeks is such a short span of time but makes such a difference to your health. So happy you’re seeing good results.
Strawberries are a good low carb fruit. You can have 6 medium strawberries for 15 cals and 1.9g carbs. 50g rockmelon is 14 cals and 2.8g carb. 1/2 a small mandarin ( about 36g) is 16 cals and 3.2g carb.
I am in Australia and use the Australian easy diet diary. It’s for iPhone and iPad and you can google it and get a link to it in the UK. Very worthwhile to track your intake, and for working out what you can eat to balance your macro nutrients.
There is so much to learn about managing your blood sugar levels. This whole BSD is completely different to the usual advice that you can’t expect to always get it right. The sneaky labelling on food doesn’t help either. Still you are on the right track, and getting the results you deserve.
Keep up the good work 🙂

Oh, meant to say I haven’t any experience of the 5:2, or read up on it so can’t help with your questions.
I’m doing the med style, low carb way of eating. I plan to stick with that for life. I don’t worry about calories, just count carbs and make sure I have reasonable levels of protein and fat. Have been maintaining weight and blood sugar levels, so I’m happy with that.

Hi….I too was planning the med style, low carb way of eating as a way of life for the future but thought I would have to do 5:2 or 6:1 to maintain the benefits, so interested that your glucose levels and weight remain stable. Perhaps its your use of your ap….I don’t have Iphone so would have to look for different version! I have only been counting carbs in pulses, grains, beans of various sorts, in other words , in the most obvious places and ignored those in nuts, fruits etc. which I sort of thought would balance up the fact that I have not deducted the fibre content of the former carbs. Do you include carbs in nuts and fruits etc in your own carb calculations and stick to the 50 gms? I am not keen on counting calories but usually know what I can eat and not eat to stay low. My challenge will be to maintain weight in the future, rather than keep losing, having got into this routine! Perhaps I do need the ap to stay on track?!. Thanks v. much for your encouragements…good to be warned future readings maybe erratic for a while. Tofa

Hi Tofa,
I log everything I eat, so I include the carbs in my milk, yoghurt, fruit, nuts, veg, pulses etc. I count everything lol. I was so determined to conquer the diabetes.
I try to plan my day’s meals in the morning so I can even out the carbs through the day and make sure I get enough protein and fat.
There is a thread called rising fasting blood sugars where a few of us brainstormed the erratic blood sugar issue. If it happens to you, then it’s worth a read as some good info on there.
I’m not really sure about apps in the UK but I’ve seen people on here mention myfitnesspal, which seems popular, and calorieking.
Maybe someone else will jump in with a suggestion for you. 🙂