Yesterday before I left work I checked my BG and I was 106 but I was still feeling bad with a pounding headache, so I ate a yougart I had in the office fridge before leaving work. I had to do a quick errand at Target, and decided since I wasn’t feeling any better that I was just going to cheat.
There was a Panda Express across the street and I had never ate any of their food before but I took a chance and ordered fried rice, cream cheese Rangoon, and a diet pepsi (yuk!). I wish I hadn’t bought it–didn’t drink but a couple of sips. Headed to the hospital to visit Mom and ate. I told her about how I felt. She asked me, “Do you think you might just be hungry?” I was shocked at the question. But after I ate I felt better.
I didn’t do a 2 hour check afterwards, but I did check my BG at bedtime and it was 129. I slept through the night. This morning it was 96. I haven’t had carbs in I don’t know when. Good grief.
But you had fried rice from Panda Express, definitely carbs.
Hope you are feeling better.
Maureen
Sorry, couldn’t help pointing out that rice is a carb.
doesn’t that sound like someone who “cheated” and “haven’t had carbs in I don’t know when”? put the two together and it should say she “cheated” by eating carbs. no???
I know…never ate there in my entire life. And I do feel better. That’s just too weird. Can you be carb-starved? Is that possible? Not doing it again…but I’m feeling better today. I ate eggs and bacon for breakfast and had a 99 reading before lunch. Ate a Caesar salad and yougart for lunch and just now had a 123 reading.
This is really kinda good. You seem to have recovered enough to be handle some carbs. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can eat sustained carbs, but a meal here and there should probably be fine. You might test two hours after your meal and maybe you can relax a bit and have a desert or a treat on the weekends and still do just fine.
Oh o.k. so maybe since I’ve been eating a lot of high protein and veggies (spinach, kale) this week with my diet, that I needed a little carb. Didn’t even think that was possible. But today I’ve felt better. Still going to be good.
Sorry if my southern writing confused you pastel. Yes I am aware that rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread are carbs. In my post, I was saying I hadn’t ate carbs in a very long time. As Brian pointed out my body accepted the meal with no fuss. That part was a surprise to me.
I think if you read the original thread this thread makes more sense. I’ve been low carbing forever with high readings. Now I eat a carb meal and have excellent reading. Ironic huh?
Yes, I did think your message was a little contradictory. Never mind, just a misunderstanding, thanks for writing.
I am on an Australian group for diabetics and we have our own diabetic dietitian, she recommends a low GI diet, in other words carbs are ok if they are low GI. Personally I think whatever suits your body best is the way to go. Looks like you may have found a good way for you to eat.
Maureen
It sounds to me like you just bolused correctly for the meal. No? Technically speaking, we can all “handle” carbs if we take the proper amount of insulin. I just choose to avoid large amounts of insulin.
The studies have shown that LowGI foods are not particularly helpful for many diabetics as carbs of all kinds require insulin. If you don’t have enough insulin being secreted, it doesn’t help that a food digests a bit more slowly. Beyond that, more recent research finds no health benefit to low GI foods even for normal people.
Low GI food was a fad supported by the grain industry to fight the popularity of low carb diets. The studies could never be reproduced and tests of low GI vs high GI foods showed them raising blood sugar identically in people with diabetes.
If you’re still not on any insulin or meds yet I would think it’s a good sign too, especially with the fasting of 96. Maybe you have recovered some function? Or maybe your bg was on the way down, you were hungry and it was going to drop so the meal didn’t have much effect and stopped a hypo. Are your hypos reactive hypos or something else?
I’m not sure anymore Meee. When I went to the original endo back in 2005 he said I was hypoglycemia–I thought he said reactive hypoglycemia–that I was not diabetic. But I needed to eat protein to keep my levels from dropping. Fast forward to August 2013, and the same endo is saying I’m diabetic, but that it’s not uncommon for hypoglycemia patients to become diabetic; plus the steroid factor, genetics (autoimmunity, diabetes history in family)–his words not mine.
I do that—like have the month I will be high or rollercoasting and then half the month I’m also normal. It’s almost like my diabetes has a split personality. Weird. The first half of this week I was high; then the middle of the week something changed and now I’m have more regular to low numbers. It’s exhausting.
Sometimes I think my pancreas works and then takes a mini-15 minute break, and then works again. The second endo talked about insulin but I think it was going to be bolus for meals only–again we were supposed to have follow-up meeting and I got froze out by his office staff.
That’s the reason I wonder is there any other tests I can ask this endo about that would show if my pancreas is taking “mini-breaks” (don’t know scientific term). My non-fasting BG was 86 but my A1C was 6.5 so there are hills and valleys I would think, and my meter shows the same highs/norms/low norms (low for me).
I think if it’s reactive you will go low at some point after eating something carby. I had hypoglycemia before my diabetes too and as far as I know it wasn’t reactive so I wrote it off to not eating enough for long periods when I was active.
Sounds horrible, and it sounds like you’re like me, your D has multiple personalities
I always felt ill when taking steroids too, I only took them for short periods and once for 3 weeks when I had bronchitis with worse asthma, but I remember once feeling I might pass out, I had palpitations, dizziness, sweats etc. I wonder if my bg was high then from them.
That is bad you were froze out… can you try calling back again and again until you get a result? Sounds crazy to me.
Here are some links on reactive and other types of hypoglycemia- it can also be related to a reaction to cortisol and epinephrine. Apparently some people go hypo after a non carby meal.
The studies have shown that LowGI foods are not particularly helpful for
many diabetics as carbs of all kinds require insulin. If you don’t have
enough insulin being secreted, it doesn’t help that a food digests a
bit more slowly. Beyond that, more recent research finds no health
benefit to low GI foods even for normal people.
I don’t know about others, but moderate or low GI foods help me a lot (long term T1, pump user) because I can pre-bolus for them and my CGM line remains perfectly flat, even if I eat 40-50 grams of carbs in the meal. For high GI foods, even with a pre-bolus I end up spiking. But of course, this is different than people who are not on insulin, and even if you are on insulin, if you don’t pre-bolus then there’s probably not a whole lot of difference.
As for your diabetes having a split personality, @Kate25, I don’t know how old you are, but could it be due to hormones (monthly cycle, I mean, not steroids)? My insulin needs change hugely throughout the month because of hormones, as in I need to take 20-25 units more or less as hormones shift throughout the month (my total daily dose ranges from about 35 units to 60 units throughout the month, so 25 units is a huge chunk of that) .
I also find the weather, allergies (and medications I take for them), stress level, illnesses and infections I’m fighting (that I may not actually feel), and a billion other factors can affect my insulin sensitivity and blood sugars. Maybe your pancreas is able to keep up during “low need” times but then struggles during “high need” times.
O.k. so its not reactive hypoglycemia because both the endo and my cardiologist have had me doing low carb way before the hypoglycemia diagnosis and that was 2005 for good heart health. The endo just said to always have a source of sugar with me in case I have a hypo episode (back then).
One of my maternal grandfather’s brothers (there was a total of 7 siblings all diabetics–all had treatment regiments) had to eat small meals every two hours in or maintain good sugar control. I was a just a little girl so I don’t remember much–I don’t know if he was having hypos. One of their sisters she had to go once a year to the hospital and spend the day, where the endo would run tests related to her blood levels–never knew what that was about either.
The office staff says he’s booked up until late July even though my follow-up appointment was canceled by his office because they had to close that day. I asked if I could get a telephone consultation which is $50 (an additional $10 out of pocket+$40 copay), and they said they’d have to check with the doctor and get back with me but they wouldn’t respond back. I pushed for a walk-in and they said “well if someone cancels, we’ll give you a call.” I haven’t heard back from them.
So my PCP has given me a referral to an endo in his office, it processed today. I filled out the electronic request that I would take any time/date she has available in the next two weeks. I hope to heard soon.
Yeah, I wish my levels would choose a place a stay–I can work with low by eating something --don’t want to be there, but understand it. High makes me feel weird, but up and down just makes me anxious and kind of wacky.
Yes I am aware that rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread are carbs. In my post, I was saying I hadn’t ate carbs in a very long time. As Brian pointed out my body accepted the meal with no fuss. That part was a surprise to me.
