Is it possible for a diabetic test kit to go wrong?

[Deja Q]

At 7:15PM, when I left to go out, my glucose level was 73. I was a bit sweaty and had a slight headache, and hungry, but nothing severe.

When I got home and tested at 8:30, I took another as I wasn't feeling any better: it was 84. An immediate re-take said 86.

I ate or drank nothing when I was out, but I did do some walking and carrying. Surely that would not have made a difference?!

:shrug:


I've since then eaten about 6oz of peanut M&Ms too :blush: - and am feeling better. (hah, for how long?)


Should I be concerned about an invalid glucose reading at 7:15, 8:30, neither, or something else?

Thx!

[Warpy]

1. The readings look consistent with your symptoms

and you were lucky it wasn't any worse. The next time you feel like that, EAT FIRST and then take your glucose reading. The food won't affect your glucose for at least half an hour.

Eating first will make a high reading worse, of course, but you're more likely to go unconscious from a rapidly dropping glucose level than you are from a high one.

Contact a nurse educator about your diabetes. Your primary doc can refer you to one. It sounds like you need some basic information that hasn't been supplied to you as yet.

Good luck.

[Deja Q]

2. Thx for the advice. They still pawn it all off as anxiety though...

And, at this point, let them. I know what's going on and it's far worse. Well, I hope it is and I'm praying that it is.

Either way, one of us is going to look bad. May as well be them. What I've read states to contact the doctor if conditions x, y, and z exist. I have done so. It's just anxiety.

All I need do is wait for condition v to take hold and maybe they'll listen then. There is no symptom of anxiety that involves coughing up red... (and blood sugar goes UP in people with anxiety. Not DOWN...)

[Warpy]

3. A blood sugar of 73 is NORMAL

unless you are a diabetic. My advice was for diabetics, only.

[REP]

5. He's Not Diabetic

I'm diabetic, and 73 mg/dL is normal for me ... but I do tight control (HbA1c of 5.9% 7/18! Yay me!).

[REP]

4. All Readings NORMAL

Normal non-diabetic readings are between 60mg/dL and 150 mg/dL. Hypogylcemia in NON-diabetics is extremely rare and are usually due to severe liver/gastrointestinal disease. Hypoglycemic readings would be under 59 mg/dL.

The liver produces and secretes glucose. You hadn't eaten, so your normally-functioning liver introduced glucose into your bloodstream, raising your nomal glucose level from 72 to 86.

You're not hypoglycemic, thanks be! If you were, you'd be very, very sick with horrible, horrible symptoms - much worse than anything you've ever described here. I'm so glad you're healthy!

[Deja Q]

6. All Readings NOT NORMAL.

I won't proceed to argue, except why the heck am I prone to sweating, getting dizzy, and keeling over - even with mild exertion? Why must I eat something what seems to be every hour or two without starting to feel nauseated? (which might be a coincidence, nausea gets worse with exertion. You think that's healthy and normal?????????

I've had coworkers close to calling an ambulance - THREE times. They've gotten food for me pronto because, right now, I'm not diagnosed with everything even though I'm sweating buckets and feeling confused. That is not healthy. If you all think it is healthy, then you must be from a parallel world where human physiology developed differently.

Okay, I am glad it's not hypoglycemia (in your eyes) - except what isn't one thing must obviously be another because I am not envisioning what's happening. It's happening. Other people see it. Would you point me in a different direction? I'm tired of feeling sick all the time.

BTW, here is a chart from: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/hypoglycemia/index.htm

Normal blood glucose levels in people who do not have diabetes
Upon waking (fasting) 70 to 110
After meals 70 to 140

Target blood glucose levels in people who have diabetes
Before meals 90 to 130
1 to 2 hours after the start of a meal less than 180
Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) 70 or below

Note the source. It's government. Is your information is entirely accurate? For the general public or just you? Or is the government wrong in what they say? :) But I've had readings below 70 and I sure as frick have felt VERY sick. I've had many readings at or very near to 70 and have not felt well. They may be lower-normal, but that doesn't mean I'm chirpy proper healthy because of it. I know what being sick feels like.

Please get to know me (and official sources, I've read many that corroborate the government's and have gone into more detail about the symptoms and yes, they do match what I am experiencing) before you condemn me with the "I am glad you are healthy" stuff. I really don't like being treated as if I'm making it up when I am not making it up. Now maybe it's not diabetes (even though it runs big-time in my family tree) and is something else, but I do know enough and have proof -- and the nurse who I talked to agreed with me on the results I had shown her -- to know something is not right. With luck I'll get the results confirmed before things get too much out of control, but trust me, I do feel quite sick. So please don't tell me I'm not.

[REP]

7. The Government is Wrong

I got my information from Kaiser Permanente (which no longer uses government materials) and the American Diabetic Association. I also got it from numerous studies available on PubMed.

I didn't say you weren't sick - I said you probably didn't have the horrible liver disease and/or gastrointestinal disease that causes true hypoglycemia in non-diabetics, and that I was glad of that. I know you have an anxiety disorder (as I do), and I know that is an illness.

Diabetes is a terrible disease, characterized by very HIGH blood glucose. Diabetics may experience hypoglycemia if overmedicated or if they fail to eat.

[kineneb]

8. symptoms of low blood glucose level

http://www.diabeteshome.ca/what-is-hypoglycemia

Symptoms

Mild:
-sweaty
-shaky
-hungry
-racing and/or pounding heart
-dizzy
-weak
(I would add nausea in here)

Moderate:
-moody/dizzy/anxious/nervous
-sleepy
-blurred vision
-unsteady
-slurred speech
-confused

Severe:
-unconsciousness
-coma
-seizures

Hubby's glucose levels have gotten down to 40, at which point he went into seizures and had an unpleasant trip to the ER. At 2am.

My suggestion is to eat slightly more, and perhaps more often. One wants to keep glucose levels around 100-120. The symptoms you mention are "just" low blood glucose; I experience them if I do not eat regularly. Please be aware that what is low for one person may be normal for another. That is why the recommendations are given as a range, not just a single number.

Your medication(s), if you take any, may need to be adjusted. Otherwise I would recommend a check up by a specialist. I have lots of experience as a caretaker for a insulin-dependant diabetic person. PM me if you need to.