Inconsistent values for created_tmp_tables server status variable in MySQL

I log into the (RDS) mysql server with the console client in two terminals, use the same database (not that that should matter), and run the query show status like 'created%' in each. They show a consistent number - no matter how many times I make the query, the answer doesn't change.

But they disagree with each other. Moreover,any time I use a different database, that query gives a different response, though that variable is supposed to be for the whole server.

The MySQL page gives this explanation for the variable:

The number of internal temporary tables created by the server while executing statements.

You can compare the number of internal on-disk temporary tables created to the total number of internal temporary tables created by comparing the values of the Created_tmp_disk_tables and Created_tmp_tables variables.

Can an开发者_高级运维ybody explain why this would be happening? I can't understand how that variable could decrease at all, but the two sessions giving different numbers has me extra-stumped.

According to the manual at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/server-status-variables.html you can request this specific status information both per session as well as globally.

Can you give us the output of

SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE ...

and

SHOW SESSION STATUS LIKE ...