What’s the Normal Range for Blood Sugar?

Last updated: May 9th, 2022

If you have been told to watch your blood sugar levels, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. There is a lot of information to understand, and it’s hard to keep track of all of the different numbers and what they mean.

In this article, we will break it all down for you so that it is easy to understand. Let’s start by reviewing the basics of how blood sugars work and learning why it’s so important to keep your blood sugar levels in check. Then, we will get into what blood sugar levels to aim for, how to monitor your levels at home, and what to do if your numbers are higher than they should be.

Blood sugar basics: what is blood sugar?

The term “blood sugar” refers to the sugar, or glucose, that is floating around in your bloodstream at any given time. Blood sugar, or blood glucose is the main source of sugar found in your blood, and comes from the food you eat.

If you are monitoring your blood sugar, it is important to keep these numbers in check according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Your blood sugar needs to be in the right range for you to be healthy. At least some glucose is necessary for your muscle, liver, and some other cells to use as fuel so they can function.

At least some sugar is necessary for your cells and organs to function properly. When our blood sugar levels get too low, it is called hypoglycemia. Without enough glucose as fuel, we lose the ability to function normally. This can make us feel weak, dizzy, and sweaty. And it can even lead to loss of consciousness.

On the other hand, blood sugar levels that get too high are also harmful, this is called hyperglycemia. Our blood sugar levels can get too high when we don’t have enough insulin, or when our insulin isn’t working well. This is the case for people who have prediabetes or diabetes. If it isn’t treated, high blood sugar can lead to serious problems that can be deadly

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that keeping blood sugar levels in the target range is vital. It can help us prevent serious health concerns like heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease, for example.

A blood sugar chart can help you remember which levels you should opt for!

Different levels and what they mean

The ranges of safe levels of blood glucose depend on factors such as what time of day it is and when you last ate. Safe levels of blood sugar are high enough to supply your organs with the sugar they need, but low enough to prevent symptoms of hyperglycemia or complications of diabetes which follow the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) guides. Dangerous levels of blood glucose are outside of this range.

The target levels can also vary if you have diabetes. For example, if you are diabetic and are monitoring your blood sugar, you might get a reading of 65 mg/dl. That is considered to be mild hypoglycemia, and you would be wise to eat 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates and retest your blood sugar in 15 minutes.

If you were not diabetic, you probably would not know that your sugar was low because you would not test and because you would not symptoms, and you would not act.

That is fine because your body is capable, under normal circumstances, of raising your blood glucose to healthy levels when needed, even if you have not eaten. It is important to keep them in control to help prevent issues like heart disease or nerve damage.

Looking for the best prediabetes diet? Learn what foods are best to help you manage your prediabetes.

What are “normal” blood sugar levels?

You might want to measure your blood sugar before meals to get a baseline, and then two hours after your meal to measure your “normal blood sugar level”. Your doctor might also suggest measuring blood sugar before bed to be sure you have been eating well throughout the day and can go to sleep with peace of mind.

These are considered within the range of “normal” for blood sugar:

• Less than 140 mg/dl if you do not have diabetes.
• Less than 180 mg/dl if you have diabetes.

Levels in the Morning

The best time to check blood sugar levels in the morning is right when you wake up and before you eat anything. This gives you a glimpse of what may be happening overnight, and it gives you a baseline for the day.

What should my blood sugar level be when I wake up?

These are goal levels, according to The Joslin Diabetes Center:

• Under 100 mg/dl if you do not have diabetes.
• 70 to 130 mg/dl if you have diabetes.

The dawn effect can often lead to a high morning measurement in diabetes. This is your body’s tendency to get ready for the day by raising blood sugar by increasing levels of counter-regulatory hormones – the ones that counteract insulin as in normal blood sugar. For people with diabetes, you do not have the capacity to counterbalance this rise in blood sugar, so levels can be dangerously high.

Ways to lower your morning blood sugar value include:

• Eating dinner earlier
• Checking your medications – making sure you are taking them properly and asking your doctor if they are correct
• Going for a walk after dinner
• Including protein with your dinner

Blood Sugar Levels 2 Hours After You’ve Eaten

Many foods have types of carbohydrates called starches and sugars. When you eat foods with these types of carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into glucose, which is a type of simple sugar, and releases the glucose into your bloodstream. Aside from glucose produced by your liver, food is the main source of plasma glucose.

Two hours after eating, your blood sugar levels rise. They rise more when you eat more carbohydrates, when you do not eat fiber, fat, or protein with your carbs, and when you eat certain types of carbohydrates, such as refined sugars and starches.

These are target values from The Joslin Diabetes Center, which include levels for people with diabetes:

Blood Sugar Levels During Pregnancy

The NIDDK states that gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that occurs during pregnancy if you were not diabetic before getting pregnant. Healthy blood sugar during pregnancy can help lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later. It can also lower the risk of your baby being born prematurely, at a high birth weight, and having respiratory problems.

Blood sugar and insulin levels during the first trimester of pregnancy tend to be lower than usual, but they rise during the late second and early third trimesters. You can be diagnosed with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). [7]

These are the steps for the 2-step strategy.

• Drink a solution with 50 grams (200 calories) of glucose – about the amount in 1 16-oz. bottle of a soft drink
• Get your blood drawn after 1 hour. Ig the value is high, retest‚Ķ
• Fast overnight
• Drink a solution with 100 grams (400 calories) of glucose – about the amount in 12 peanut butter cups
• Get your blood drawn immediately and after 1, 2, and 3 hours

Or, your doctor might use the 1-step strategy with a 2-hour OGTT:

• Fast overnight
• Drink a solution with 75 grams of glucose (300 calories – about the amount in 2 cans of soda)
• Get your blood drawn immediately and after 1 and 2 hours

These are some values to know from NIDKK related to gestational diabetes and healthy blood sugar in pregnancy.

Hemoglobin Chart

Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying protein in your red blood cells, but it is highly relevant to blood sugar levels. Sugar in your blood attaches to hemoglobin, creating what is called glycated hemoglobin, or A1c (or Hba1c). High blood glucose levels lead to more hemoglobin being glycated.

Measuring your A1C is an alternative to measuring fasting blood glucose. Measuring blood glucose directly with a finger prick (glucometer) or a blood draw at your doctor’s office lets you know your blood sugar at that moment, while the A1c value you get provides an estimate of your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.

For example, if your A1c value is 7.8 (a reading between 140-199 mg/dl) would be considered high.

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Printable Blood Sugar Chart

A blood sugar chart showing goal values can help you quickly gauge how you are doing with your monitoring. This chart shows what to aim for throughout the day if you have diabetes or not. [9]

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You can also click here for a printable blood sugar chart showing target values at different times of the day for diabetics and non-diabetics.

Blood Sugar Level Chart by Age

Blood sugar levels tend to rise with age due to an increase in insulin resistance and decrease in insulin sensitivity. In one study by the National Health Institute (NIH), each extra decade of age was linked to a 2.7 mg/dl increase in fasting glucose, and a 4.5 mg/dl increase in 2-hour post-prandial (post-meal) glucose levels.

How to Reduce Blood Sugar

You can take steps to reach your blood sugar goals as soon as you find out that it is high. This is how to reduce blood sugar if you have a single high reading that may be dangerous:

• Ask your doctor what to do if you missed a dose of insulin or another diabetes medication
• Ask your doctor if your medication types and doses are still appropriate for you
• Drink water to dilute the sugar
• Exercise (if safe) for 15 minutes
• Eat a small protein snack, such as a hard-boiled egg, 1/2 ounce of peanuts or pistachios or other nuts, 1/2 cup of beans, or 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or cottage cheese

If you have chronically high blood sugar in prediabetes or diabetes, you can follow this treatment plan:

• Exercise regularly, assuming your doctor approves it
• Lose weight if you are overweight or obese
• Eat a higher proportion of vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, and fruit
• Limit sugary foods and beverages, fried foods, refined starches, and processed and fatty red meats
• Beware of starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, which can spike your blood sugar. Check out our guide of which veggies to avoid!

Glycemic Index Calculator

If you have been tested, then what? A blood sugar level calculator can help you put the results into terms you can understand after you have used a glucose meter. For example, it can convert mg/dl into mmol, or mmol into mg/dl, depending on which value your test results state for glucose levels.

A calculator can also change A1C into EAG, or estimated average glucose.

Calculate yours with the American Diabetes Association’s calculator!

Fasting Blood Glucose Level Test Preparation

What should you do if your doctor orders a fasting blood sugar test? The preparation is the same as when you take a fasting test for cholesterol. First, be sure to find out if you need to schedule an appointment for your test (some people need to; others have providers that do not require an appointment for blood tests). Ask your doctor what time is best to take it.

Then:

• Schedule your test if necessary
• Ask your doctor if you need to change any of the medications you take on the morning of the test
• If you normally drink coffee or have caffeine, ask your doctor if that is okay. It may not be, since it affects blood sugar levels
• Fast for at least 8 hours before your test. Usually, an overnight fast is most convenient
• You can drink water

How to Check Your Blood Sugar Levels of Urine at Home

A home urine test can show if you are excreting glucose in your urine. That only happens when blood glucose is high, and not if your values are within a healthy range. The urine test uses a test strip and is simple to do, but is not very precise.

Blood Glucose Tests

Blood tests are more common urine tests for measuring blood sugar. They are precise, quick, and not overly painful. A blood-testing machine is also called a glucometer. It is not being overly dramatic to say that a good home glucometer can be life-saving if you have diabetes, since monitoring with a blood sugar chart is one of the top strategies for controlling it.

A good home glucometer:

• Is simple, fast, and accurate
• Is easy to set up and use
• Pairs with a diabetes smartphone app so you can see your values instantly, track them over time, and get coaching and feedback

Lark Diabetes Coach comes with a complete home glucometer kit that is shipped to you and is easy to set up. The Lark app walks you through setup and reminds you when to take your blood sugar.

Blood Glucose Test | Heart and Vascular

What is a blood glucose test?

A blood glucose test is a tool that is used to measure how much glucose you have in your blood. Glucose is the body’s main source of energy. As you eat, your body will convert carbohydrates into glucose.

Why is a blood glucose test recommended?

Your doctor may order a blood glucose test to determine if you have prediabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes. Diabetic patients are not able to produce enough insulin — the hormone that controls the amount of sugar in your blood. If left untreated, high blood sugar levels can cause severe organ damage.

Your doctor may also order a blood glucose test if he suspects you are hypoglycemic — your glucose levels are too low.

How is a blood glucose test performed?

A blood glucose test involves taking a sample of blood from your finger and analyzing it in the lab. In some patients, a larger sample of blood is taken via a vessel in the arm.

How to prepare for a blood glucose test?

A blood glucose test can be performed after not eating food for a certain amount of time (fasting) or non-fasting.  

If you are having a fasting blood glucose test, you should not eat or drink within eight hours of the test. 

If you are having a non-fasting blood glucose test, you can eat or drink up until the time you have the test.
Fasting blood glucose tests are more accurate than non-fasting blood glucose test. If you have abnormal results on a non-fasting test, your doctor may repeat the test as a fasting test.

What are healthy blood glucose levels?

A healthy blood glucose range on a fasting test is between 70 and 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). A healthy blood glucose level on a non-fasting blood glucose test is under 125 mg/dL.

What are unhealthy blood glucose levels?

An unhealthy blood glucose level on a fasting test is above 100 mg/dL. If you have a blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dL, you may have prediabetes. If your blood glucose level is 126 mg/dL or higher, you may have diabetes.

An unhealthy blood glucose level on a non-fasting test is above 140 mg/dL. If you have a blood glucose level between 140 – 199 mg/dL, you may have prediabetes. If you have a blood glucose level above 200, you may have diabetes.

How often do I have to be monitored if I have high blood glucose levels?

If you have high blood glucose, your doctor will work with you to develop a plan outlining how often you should check your blood sugar. He or she will take into consideration what type of diabetes you have and your treatment plan. 

If you have type 1 diabetes, you may need to check your own blood sugar as many as 10 times a day, including before and after eating or drinking.

Patients with type 2 diabetes will need to check their blood sugar a few times a day as well. Timing may be dependent on the type and amount of insulin you have been prescribed daily.

Some type 1 diabetic patients opt to have a continuous glucose monitor that can continuously monitor glucose levels and alert you when your blood sugar gets too high or too low.

Risks of a blood glucose test

There are very few risks associated with a blood glucose test. Risks may include:

• Excessive bleeding
• Fainting or lightheadedness
• Infection at the site where blood was drawn
• Hematoma if blood pools under the skin

Find a heart and vascular doctor nearby

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What level of sugar is considered normal? | Eternal questions | Question-Answer

01/14/2017 00:01

Maria Voluyskaya

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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Weekly “Arguments and Facts” No. 7. Games with death 15/02/2017

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Q&A from the newspaper:

Weekly “Arguments and Facts” No. 7 15/02/2017

When we talk about measuring the level of sugar in the blood, we actually mean the determination of the amount of glucose, which is the main source of energy and ensures the functioning of all organs and tissues. Hormones affect blood glucose levels. Insulin is the main hormone that lowers blood sugar, it is produced in the pancreas, in its beta cells. Increases the glucose content of many hormones: glucagon, adrenaline, norepinephrine, glucocorticoids (cortisol, corticosterone) and others.

Both high and low glucose levels are possible.

The norm of glucose in blood from a finger on an empty stomach is from 3.3 to 5.5 millimoles per liter of blood.

An indicator of 5.6-6.6 mmol/l is normal after a meal, and on an empty stomach may indicate a violation of glucose tolerance. This is not yet diabetes, but a violation of insulin sensitivity, which must be detected and treated in time, before the condition turns into diabetes.

A fasting sugar level above 6.7 mmol/l almost always indicates the presence of diabetes mellitus.

In turn, a decrease in the sugar index below 3.3 mmol / l indicates the development of hypoglycemia, i.e. a low sugar level.

What are the symptoms of high blood sugar?

If the blood glucose level is more than 6.7 mmol/l, specialists speak of hyperglycemia, i.e. elevated sugar levels.

With a mild degree of hyperglycemia (up to 8.2 mmol/l), the main symptom is increased thirst. However, with the further development of hyperglycemia, the symptoms will certainly increase: blood pressure drops, ketone bodies increase in the blood, which leads to severe dehydration.

A further increase in blood sugar leads to hyperglycemic coma. It occurs if the sugar content is more than 33 mmol / l.

With the progression of hyperglycemia, the patient develops ketoacidosis. This is an emergency that requires the patient to be hospitalized. With an increase in the glucometer reading above 55 mmol / l, the patient develops a hyperosmolar coma. Complications of hyperosmolar coma are deep vein thrombosis, acute renal failure, and pancreatitis. Mortality in such a coma often reaches 50 percent.

What are the symptoms of low blood sugar?

A reading below 3.3 mmol/l indicates hypoglycemia, i.e. low blood sugar. In this case, the following symptoms are observed in a person:

• increased irritability;
• excessive sweating;
• weakness;
• hand trembling;
• dizziness and muscle weakness;
• blurred and blurred vision;
• nausea;
• strong feeling of hunger;
• numbness of extremities.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia increase if the glucometer reading falls below 2.2 mmol/L. With the progression of the condition, hypoglycemic coma inevitably develops.

Does the blood glucose level depend on the age of the patient?

Yes, it depends. The norm of blood sugar in children differs from the norm in adults. So, in children up to a year, the glucose level is 2.8-4.4 mmol / liter, up to five years – 3.3-5.0 mmol / l, in older children – the same as in adults. If the child has a sugar level of 6.1 mmol / l or higher, this requires contacting a specialist and taking a blood test.

Under what conditions should blood sugar be measured?

A blood test for sugar is performed on an empty stomach, that is, before donating, you can not eat or drink anything for 8-10 hours. If the patient ate food before measuring blood for sugar, the numbers change dramatically. In addition, before the analysis, you need to get a good night’s sleep. The accuracy of the result can be affected by an acute infectious disease, therefore, during the period of illness, blood for sugar is usually not checked.

See also:

• Does weight loss reduce the risk of stroke? →
• How to remove extra centimeters in the riding breeches zone? →
• What is serotonin? →

blood glucose test

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experiment of the Finnish biohacker Ilmo Stremberg — Personal experience on vc.ru

Testing a sensor for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels from the Finnish startup VERI in the Reminder publication.

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A new sensor for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels from the Finnish startup VERI has not yet entered the market. I managed to get early access to it at the very end of 2020.

Before that, like most non-diabetics, I knew little about the importance of blood sugar and even less about how to control it. But in just two weeks of testing, I reached a completely new level of understanding the work of my body. The English version of the report on this experiment can be read on my personal blog.

Why measure blood glucose if you don’t have diabetes?

For diabetics, continuous glucose monitoring helps keep blood sugar levels within a more or less safe range to avoid worse complications. For everyone else, doctors recommend donating “blood for sugar” no more than once a year. Let’s say you took this test and made sure that your glucose level does not exceed the maximum allowable value. Why measure again?

A standard one-time fasting finger or vein blood test is like a snapshot. It does not show how your diet and lifestyle affect carbohydrate metabolism in the long term. According to the standards of the American Diabetes Association, the norm is no more than 5. 6 mmol / l of blood plasma on an empty stomach.

But many recent studies have convincingly shown that even within this norm there are indicators that are more dangerous and less dangerous. For example, if the glucose level exceeds 5.5 mmol/L, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is three times higher than at 4.6 mmol/L. Namely, diabetes often sets the stage for deadly pathologies: cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Diabetes is usually preceded by so-called pre-diabetes. According to the estimates of the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States it affects more than 25% of the population, and in Finland it is slightly less than 20% (in Russia, according to estimates, approximately the same figures. – Reminder) . This means that nearly one in five post-meal blood sugar levels are higher than normal and stay at their peak for longer than a healthy person. But on an empty stomach can be normal. Bye.

Levels Health, also a real-time glucose monitor, recently published an excellent guide to blood sugar levels based on the latest medical research. Here are the indicators in it called optimal.

The risk of disease is not the only fact that convinced me of the importance of this indicator. Productivity – physical and mental – directly depends on the level of glucose in the blood. Sluggishness and fog in the head are very often associated with sugar fluctuations, but this factor is usually not taken into account at all.

Continuous blood sugar monitoring is for you if:

– You are striving for longevity and maintaining physical fitness.

— Want to eliminate a potential factor in reducing productivity.

– You have relatives with diabetes – a predisposition to it is often genetically transmitted.

How does VERI work and what does it measure?

Veri means blood in Finnish, but you won’t see it when you insert the sensor. This is a coin-sized round applicator that attaches to the forearm. Although it has a thin, flexible needle to measure sugar levels, it is painless to insert under the skin.

After an hour of calibration, VERI is ready to go. Its readings can be taken with a smartphone by bringing the camera to the sensor (gadgets of this type are already on the market, we wrote about them in detail in our review – Reminder) .

All data is processed and visualized in the VERI application – so far only on the iPhone. In the near future, the developers plan to add a personalization mechanism to the application, which will calculate the minimum and maximum values, taking into account age, weight, diet and other individual parameters.

The difference between VERI and other wearable glucose sensors is that it does more than just measure sugar levels. The manufacturer calls this device a “compass for metabolic health.” In practice, this means that it registers some more interesting indicators.

• Stability Index – Calculated based on three indicators: 1) peak blood glucose immediately after a meal, 2) glucose level two hours after a meal, and 3) the number of minutes during which the glucose level after reaching the peak value exceeds the norm. For example, when I ate a fresh salad with salmon, my stability index was close to ideal – 9/10. The surge in glucose levels was minimal, and after two hours its concentration steadily returned to the average.

• Metabolic flow: summarizes and rates a range of indicators on a scale of up to 100. The two most important are: 1) how much time per week the sugar level is in the optimal range (+/- 1 mmol / l) and 2) how much the glucose concentration deviates from the average level during the day. The best indicator is less than 0.6 mmol / l.
• Number of blood sugar spikes per day. Ideally, there should be no more than one. Here is one such peak that I recorded in the morning.

Another useful option is the ability to take photos of food in order to establish a correlation between the stability index and the consumption of certain foods. Even more convenient, products can be sorted by this criterion.

This is a very simple and visual way to determine which food suits you best. In addition, there is the ability to monitor your sugar levels during workouts and integration with the Apple Health app so that all sensor data is automatically uploaded to your personal cloud journal.

While testing VERI, I noticed a couple of shortcomings. Four times in two weeks, the application recorded a gap in the data – in the range from 2 to 10 hours. It also turned out that when visiting a sauna or with strong cooling, the sensor can give incorrect information.

One sensor costs 129 euros and lasts for two weeks. At the end of this period, you receive a final report in which all indicators are summarized. Here’s what happened to me: the average glucose level is 4.3 mmol / l.

Experiment progress

To make the results of the experiment more revealing, I decided to start by asking three simple and specific questions:

1. Does the blood sugar level depend on a 30-minute walk after dinner?

2. Does standing work affect glucose concentration?
3. Is there a relationship between blood sugar fluctuations and sleep quality?

During the experiment, only parameters such as the choice of products for lunch, a walk and position during work varied; the rest of the conditions (breakfast menu, sleep and wake-up times) remained unchanged.

Walk after eating

For the first two days, I ate a standard 30cm Subway tuna sandwich for lunch. According to the official information of the manufacturer, it contains 75 grams of carbohydrates, including 9 grams of added sugar. Enough to cause a spike in glucose immediately after a meal.

Indeed, the index of stability on the day without a walk turned out to be 7 out of 10. But the next day, when I walked only half an hour after lunch, it went up by as much as two points. Other indicators also differed greatly. Based on this trend, if I had increased my walking time by another 30 minutes, I would not have experienced a post-lunch glucose spike at all.

Standing work

This test was inspired by a study that found that two hours of standing in an office reduced post-meal glucose peaks by as much as 43%.

On the day of the experiment, I increased my standing time to 3 hours and ate a decent 600 grams of salmon lasagna. The result was stunning, especially considering that lasagna is not the healthiest food: according to the resource Myfitnesspal, my portion had 60 grams of carbohydrates.

So, the stability index is 10 (maximum), the glucose concentration at the peak is only 4.8 mmol / l, and after two hours – 4.5 mmol / l.

Holidays and sugar

My experiment partly fell on the New Year holidays, which gave me the opportunity to check how disturbances in the usual eating rhythm affect the glucose balance. Spoiler: The worst metabolic rate of the entire experiment was recorded by the sensor on Christmas Eve after a large portion of rice pudding with blueberry sauce.

I made a graph of metabolic flow fluctuations, compared them with my diet and found a clear pattern: the worst indicators fell on those days when I often had a snack – I ate chocolates, bananas, gingerbread; the highest were strongly correlated with healthy eating such as fresh salad and physical activity, including standing.

But not all tasty food turned out to be equally harmful. For example, kombucha, raisin curd, blueberry smoothie, and collagen protein bar, on the other hand, improved my metabolic rate by 9-10 points. As a champion of healthy snacks, I was especially pleased.

Sleep and sugar

There is scientific evidence that blood sugar levels and sleep quality are related. Sleep problems increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and frequent fluctuations in blood sugar levels are observed in people with sleep apnea.

To test this connection for myself, I took the sleep tracking data collected during the experiment with the Oura ring and compared it with the VERI scores. The clearest correlation was found between the number of glucose peaks and the quality of sleep. The more sugar spikes I had during the day, the worse I slept the next night.

Terminals

Of course, a two-week study without benchmarks is not enough to draw far-reaching conclusions.