[log in to unmask] wrote:
> Thanks to Todd's excellent idea, I received yesterday my free home blood glucose monitor.  I suppose I could go back through all of the BG posts from the last several days, but could someone -- preferably Todd himself -- please summarize what I'm going to be looking for?
>
> 1) I have to determine when to take the readings.  I have 10 opportunities, as that's how many strips I received for free and am not planning on buying any.  Should I do one fasting in the morning and then one two hours after lunch or diner?
>
> 2) What are the chances that the numbers I get on my small unit will be close to my actual BG values?  Do I remember, Todd, that you added 10 points to your readings?
>
> Any advice on a strategy for this would be much appreciated.
>
> Jim Swayze
> www.fireholecanyon.com
>   
If you got the same unit that I got, the numbers are "plasma 
calibrated," which means that even though the tested sample is whole 
blood, the reading is adjusted to be what it would be if it had been 
plasma, i.e., 12% higher.  In that case, you don't have to do any 
conversions yourself.  If it's just an unconverted whole blood reading, 
then to be comparable to what you'd get from your doctor's lab results, 
you must add the 12%.  My old glucometer didn't do the conversion, so 
that's why I added points.

It's pretty standard practice to test FBG in the morning, because for 
most people that's the only time of day when they've not eaten for any 
length of time. But because of the dawn phenomenon, it might be somewhat 
higher than it would be if you tested later.  I'd say try a morning 
reading and then, if you normally eat breakfast, try skipping lunch and 
get a mid afternoon fasting test.  Then check 2 hours after dinner.  In 
some ways, the 2 hour postprandial test is the most critical one, for 
revealing insulin resistance.  In a non-diabetic BG should be at or 
close to fasting levels by two hours after a meal.


And my personal goal is to get FBG to 83 or lower, since that is 
apparently what the pancreas thinks it should be.  I am now occasionally 
getting readings that low, but the average is (now) in the upper 80s.  
Your average BG over a period of months indicates what your Hba1c would 
be, but converted to the international scale, which is mmol/liter 
instead of md/dl.  You can do this conversion yourself by simply 
dividing by 18.

Todd Moody
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