As a rule, a fasting blood glucose is taken first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything except water. This reading will tell you how well your basal, or background (long-acting) insulin is working. If you don’t use insulin, it will indicate how well your own body is doing with insulin production based on current treatment.

Each person with diabetes will have a target blood glucose range that they want to achieve at any given time of day. Self-monitoring of blood sugar is an essential component of diabetes care. These targets are generally given to a patient by their healthcare team and will often indicate a range of acceptable blood sugar levels.

If your fasting blood sugar is running over your target range for a few days in a row, your healthcare team may suggest an increase in your basal insulin, or a change in medications or lifestyle. The key with analyzing any blood sugar variations is to establish a pattern by charting and monitoring your blood sugar values.

The Dario blood glucose meter can assist you in storing your blood sugar values and giving you a good visual picture of the readings, both in the short-term and over time. The meter is also fully equipped with a “share” feature to allow you to share your information with your healthcare team and any caregivers that will be helping you find solutions to potential roadblocks, and to help cheer you on as you make good progress!

What can cause a HIGH fasting blood glucose?

– Increased production of glucose by the liver in response to a decrease in insulin production by the pancreas or insulin ineffectiveness. This may be caused by the following1:

  • Dawn Phenomenon – release of certain hormones in the middle of the night facilitating the liver to release glucose into the blood stream.
  • Somogyi effect – known as the rebound effect following an episode of hypoglycemia in the middle of night. In this case the body reacts by releasing hormones to signal the liver to convert the storage of glycogen into glucose.

– Health conditions such as stress, illness or injury, or psychological factors.

What can cause a LOW fasting blood glucose? 2

  1. Exercise during the day that is not part of your usual routine may cause low blood sugars.
  2. Intensive exercise towards sleep, especially in insulin users.
  3. High doses of basal insulin.
  4. Certain medications; for example, antibiotics the fluoroquinolone family. (Check with your healthcare provider or pharmacist)

The above are just a few reasons why your fasting blood sugars may be above or below your target range level. Of course, at times medications may need to be adjusted to help blood sugars stay within range. This can be done with the greatest accuracy if you have taken daily fasting readings for an extended period. The more information that your healthcare team has, the better they will be able to pinpoint the cause of blood sugars out of your target range.  Logging meals and snacks is also vital to diabetes management.

There are several points during the day that blood glucose should be measured, and the number of readings you need to achieve the best diabetes will be determined by your healthcare team. Each reading you get will tell you how well your insulin or medications are working and help you make important decisions concerning medication dosing and meal planning.

You can see from this brief description that the more information you record, the more accurately your diabetes can be managed. Stay well!!

  1. ”Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular and Related Complication and Evidence-Based Complementary treatment” edited by Robert Fried and Richard M. Carlton, 2019.
  2. American Diabetes Association Standard of Care – 2019.

Units of measurement, which are shown in some of the photos and videos, represent US standard units

DAR-0127 RevB