I noticed the other night I was high for a long time after I ate. ( my very first high)
We went out to eat at a local restaurant here and I forgot to test before we left.
At 1:37 PM CST my BS was 92
We ate at 4 PM… All I had was some Fried Shrimp, Coleslaw, HushPuppies ( 2), and some Tatertots ( way too many if you ask me) and I couldn’t stop eating them. I know thats bad .
My BS at 8 PM CST was 149 still!!!
I am scared to even think about what it was an hour after I ate.
Then at 9:09 PM CST my BS was 82.
That’s quite a drop.
I had that also happen last night due to drinking some bottled Lemonade that I didn’t know had pure sugar in it until the 2nd glass!
I remembered to take my BS before we ate at 6 and it was 95 at 4:55 PM
at 8 pm it was 139!
My BS didnt come down until 9:42 PM and it came down to 112.
The next morning my BS was only 112. For some reason I run in the low 100’s in the morning.
Starch is the enemy. Potato for sure, hush puppies likely( anything bread like) and cole slaw is always suspect due to most having sugar added. Those numbers didn’t look that bad actually. A brisk walk or moving around a lot only 10 minutes or so after eating would work well to get numbers in line in less than two hours. If you took 1 unit maybe two of humolog of other short acting be sure to check levels again when food wears out. Walking and swimming count as one or two units for me so sometimes it is a choice, either go out and move or take a unit with lite meal, two if it is resturaunt or food non diabetic prepares, ie. sauses, starches, etc. You can keep the starches if you bolus for them, I just usually avoid the whole swing trip.
Food that is mostly carbohydrate, like potatoes or bread, will send blood sugar levels up quickly and to high levels. Of course the blood sugar level will moderate some depending on the amount of home-grown insulin you produce and your overall insulin resistance.
When high carbs are mixed with high fat, then blood sugar levels tend to go high and stay high. Mixing in protein will also produce this effect.
As @mark19 pointed out, starches really boost blood sugar levels. Dr. David Unwin observes that starches are simply made up of long strings of glucose molecules “holding hands.” From the instant those starches enter our mouths, we secrete an enzyme called amylase that slices those bonds and turn that starch quickly into essentially pure glucose.
Here’s a chart that Dr. Unwin published showing different types of bread and the number of teaspoons of table sugar that can produce an equivalent effect.
As a point of reference, a blood sugar level of 100 mg/dL in a typical male is equivalent to approximately one teaspoon of sugar circulating in the blood.
I suggest that you keep a journal for a while to track what you eat and how your body reacts blood sugar-wise. Since we all vary a bit in our metabolisms, it’s good for each of us to closely observe how we respond to various foods.
If you want to change your eating habits based on post meal blood glucose levels, that’s called, “eating to your meter.”
A wake up blood sugar of over 100 mg/dL is not normal. My first finger-poke this morning was 105 mg/dL – after 37 years, my efforts are still a work-in-progress!
Non-diabetics usually wake up between 70 and 90 mg/dL. The culprit for elevated waking blood sugars is often large meals eaten too close to bedtime. If you want more normal waking blood sugar levels, it’s a good idea to stop eating at 3-4 hours before bedtime and avoid any evening snacking. A brisk 15-minute walk after dinner will also help a lot.
You actually don’t have horrid numbers, but you don’t have normal numbers either.
You might fall into ranges a lot better by a few adjustments. Just keep an eye on before and after and adjust as needed. I bet as @mark19 suggested a walk would help a lot towards helping drop those numbers. Activity really helps. I am a type 1 and I use an exercise bike to bring down a too high number.
Potatoes are a quick rise, but the other problem is the fat that was probably with those tater tots and hush puppies. Fat delays absorption and then it has a tendency to be a stubborn higher level for a longer time.
My husband still likes having treats, potatoes, bread etc, so he has learned to moderate his food. Higher carb meals earlier in the day so he can “work” it off by yard work or a walk after. Choosing to only have one suspect food a day. So mashed potatoes and spaghetti would not be at the same meal or even the same day. And portion control. He used to sit down with the box of crackers and eat until he wasn’t hungry. Now he counts out a portion and only eats that amount.
He’s done quite well now for years just by modifications, but everyone can be quite different so you have to find out what works for you. But I would work on adding exercise, portion control and look at what you are eating. Read the label of everything! Carbs, fats and the portion being measured. A cup of soup having 2 servings, 2 servings in a small bag of chips? Yea they sometimes do that to make the numbers look better. So read everything, it can be eye opening to what you are consuming.
A type 2 has insulin resistance, and that means your insulin your body is producing isn’t working as well as it should, You also end up making more insulin to make up for it and then you get more insulin resistant. In other words, it usually gets worse unless you get a handle on it.
If I eat a carb meal I exercise. Lowers my blood sugar(also am and pm medication) every time . I walk ( 2-3/miles )and garden daily. I then eat lower carb rest of my meals. Nancy50
Most every restaurant recipe for coleslaw contains sugar. When you don’t control the cooking you have to assume worse case scenario.
Dancing after dinner helps
@mark19 I am a type 2 and I only take Metformin once a day.
@terry4 I have a book that I write down anything important in it. I watch my salt intake and write how much salt I ate, I write my BG readings in it, Confirmation numbers. Its how I keep track of everything! lol.
On the breads I only eat Whole wheat.
On the BG in the morning I read that 70 to 130 is normal for fasting for a diabetic.
I ate at 6 pm last night and my BG this morning was 118. My mother just tested hers and it was 117.
@marie20 I do portion my food… If it says I can only have 1 cup of canned soup thats all I eat. If it says I can have 5 crackers with my soup… Well, I might over do it a bit and go a couple over that but I count it in my book and I test 2 hours after I eat.
I think your journaling will serve you well. It’s a smart habit.
I accept this statement but prefer to look at my blood sugar levels in comparison to healthy people without diabetes. I concede that as a person with diabetes I will never be able to conform to the blood sugar experience of healthy non-diabetics.
But I find that Ok. I’d much rather target normal non-diabetic blood sugars and fall short than to shoot for the easier to hit diabetic numbers more successfully. For me, I know that reaching for the ideal will influence my ultimate glucose levels for the better.
I guess it’s simply a matter of psychology. If shooting for an ideal and always falling short demoralizes you then targeting the better end of diabetes numbers may reward you and sustain long-term motivation.
For me, targeting healthy non-diabetic numbers keeps it real and I think has positively influenced my overall game. There’s no right or wrong answer here. Whatever helps you stretch and sustain, that’s the right target for you.
I think that’s a great way to look at it. We can aim for normal, but don’t hold ourselves to it.
Keeping in range can feel defeating and depressing.
When I look at my time in range, and it’s 100%, I feel like YESSSSSSS, when I’m at 85% I feel like I’m a failure.
But really it’s the nature of the disease and we will never be perfect
If I’m an archer shooting at a target, do I aim for the bulls-eye or shoot for the outer rings?
It’s the reaching for the ideal that produces better numbers for me. It’s a mind game and I consider my brain and attitude as my most potent asset. I am under no illusion, however, that my diabetes doesn’t undermine my performance.
It’s all perception and framing. I would take more satisfaction in 85% of ideal than in 100% of a lesser target. As I wrote earlier, there is no right or wrong answer. We are each motivated differently.
@CWM030 Then we all have the I don’t care episodes and eat something more than we thought we would. It happens.
I would maybe suggest because your numbers aren’t bad to maybe watch what you are eating at the same meal. The high fats also throw a loop in creating the long lasting effect. And maybe a walk afterwards might really help, it forces our bodies to use insulin better. Just some suggestions.
By the way I didn’t get type 1 until I was 46. From my teens I had yearly blood work drawn and my fasting level when tested always fell within 100-103. When I started testing in my 30’s at home, same thing. I didn’t have an issue and I never caught my blood sugars even after eating going above 135. So waking up to low 100’s doesn’t seem so bad to me,
It went against the grain to aim for lower because I was never running lower, but I do now, only because aiming for lower numbers (95) helps me maintain under 105 which is what I really want.
I was also thinking regarding highs Especially after thst load of carbs in one meal period … if this is a frequent pattern or BS being ‘low” it seems your meds … insulin?? Metfotmin? Glyperide? Similar or other?? I’m curious about med routine given this example.
If you ate a more balanced amount of carbs, sugars etc, how do your BS run??
I agree with others who suggested doing a good diary for a brief period of time to evaluate accordingly.
Like Timothy, and I don’t mean this in any judging or negative way. I know if I ate what you described, I would easily be 3-350 if I didn’t properly dose carbs for meal bolus.
But I must say that I have complicated craziness with mine so hard to generalize
Hopefully you can get it figured out soon! Its a ebb and flow process
It is definitely harder to control blood sugars when eating out. I think under those circumstances, your numbers are great. My endocrinologist and CDE would be ecstatic. Your HbA1c must be quite low. Would you mind sharing that information. Thanks
Chris,
That’s wonderful. You seem to be managing your condition with great results. I have had type 1 for the last 6 years. I am 66 years old now. I know the management of type 2 is different, but it sounds like you are handling it well.
Jane
Thank you for saying this! You’ve been a voice of reason in my conversations with my doctor about how my target numbers should be much closer to a non-diabetic’s numbers.
I’m T2 and “mostly” LCHF. After losing a substantial amount of weight and learning to better regulate my eating habits and exercising more, I eventually brought my A1c down to what I consider a good range (5.3 and 5.6 for the latest 2 check-ups).
Then my doctor suggested I should stop using Trulicity and only use metformin because I was now well below the A1c of 7 threshold. It took a serious conversation about how my numbers only came down due to the combination of all my efforts and how for me, an A1c of 7 was just the bare minimum—not the target number, to get him to agree that removing one ‘leg of the treatment stool’ would cause all my efforts to backslide. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
An A1c target of < 7% is a goal set for a population of diabetics. In fact, most people with diabetes do not meet that goal. I think, for T1Ds, only one five are able to drop below 7%. So, for the current population of diabetics, that is a reasonable goal for people to stretch to meet.
But you are only one patient in front of your doctor. Population goals can help frame your personal goals but your goals need to be optimized for best effect.
Congrats on sticking up for yourself with your doctor. At least your doctor is flexible enough in his beliefs to incorporate your values into your mutually agreeable plan. I imagine your doctor enjoys your desire for better glucose health. He probably sees ten patients without your goals for every one he encounters like you.
Thank-you for the nice feedback. I sometimes wonder if my belief that diabetics can do so much better in the blood glucose game if they develop the right mindset, discipline, and persistence. Our high tech tools certainly give us the option to pursue glucose numbers closer to a healthy non-diabetic’s glucose levels.
Keep up the great work! Have you ever looked into the Virta Health program?
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