sometimes after a meal i go really low....then very high. for example. last night i had a burger with a bun, roasted root veggies and a bowl of steamed greens. i took the right amount of insulin for the meal, and an hour and a half later my sugar was in the 40's. so i drank 8oz of juice. i checked before i went to bed ...125....good enough. i woke up at 1 to potty and my bs was over 400! i feel fine and its not hormonal...i really think its how i'm digesting food.
any tips?
It is how you are digesting the food. It’s not “normal” but it’s kinda normal if you have the big G!
I take my proper amt. of insulin but I don’t take it til after I’ve finished eating everything and that seems to help somewhat. However when I get low I almost always go high about four hrs later b/c I over eat trying to get my sugars up faster then it hits me later. It’s all a game and you are the winner if you can figure out how to make it work for you!
Good Luck
I can relate! That’s exactly what gastroparesis does to me. Lows after meals & highs hours later is how my endo diagnosed the problem. Makes me reluctant to treat lows because I know I’m going to be high later, but I do.
In case this helps you some, my endo changed me to Humulin Regular because it’s slower to act & lasts longer (about 5 hours for me). I also have Apidra to correct highs. Can’t say that I’ve figured it out yet because gastroparesis is unpredictable, but I’ve experimented a lot with timing. Lately, I’ve been taking 1/2 bolus as soon as I finish eating & the other half about 1.5 hours later.
yeah this made MDI impossible for me so i switched to a pump and learned which foods slow me more and by how much. i was up to 10-12 injections a day and i’m needlephobic.
but now that i have a continuous glucose monitor i’m actually able to ID more food digestion rates. just started eating wild rice again for the first time in two years and i’m going to try whole wheat products next.
point of interest in my recent experience : wild rice ‘hits me’ in about 8 hours after consumption. so i don’t even take the insulin for it right away.
i never take an immediate bolus unless i’m having something like a cookie or some juice which will digest right away. digestion rates are different for me depending on fat and fiber content. that’s the best part about my pump. if i am eating something that i know will take a long time to start acting on my blood sugar, i take a bolus over the course of 1, 2 or 3 or however many hours that food takes for me [this takes a lot of BG readings and experimentation]
if i eat pizza i just set my temp basal to reflect how much insulin i want to take for it, spread over a twelve hour period.
good things to remember with gastroparesis: the more fat/protein/fiber it has, the longer it takes. for me personally, the more fiber something has, the more likely it is to stay in my stomach fermenting and come back up later.
Even in a normal stomach, hamburger takes awhile to digest. I don’t know if you are familiar with the gastroparesis diet, but veggies are not good for gastroparesis. You dinner was a very hard to digest dinner. If you want to eat something like that, it is better to have that for lunch when you can babysit your BS and know when it is starting to go up (unless you have a CGMS). It is better to not take all of your insulin with your meal unless you are eating easy to digest foods. For dinner, I stick to very easy to digest stuff so it is not hitting me in the middle of the night. I put an article on my blog about trying to manage BS with gastroparesis if you are interested in reading it: http://kellywpa.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/managing-blood-sugar-with-gastroparesis/
yea, i only eat meat a few times a year, but beans have been killing me…so i thought i’d step it up a bit.
and, i can’t imagine a meal without a ton of veggies and whole grains…although i have been overcooking them a bit trying to make digestion easier:(
i have a very healthy diet…for someone without diabetes and gastroparesis…lol to top it all off i have celiac…so its whole grains or me.
i have an appt to talk about a pump…its time. maybe that will help some.
off to read kelly’s article…
boedica, if you are eating veggies still, have you talked to a gastroenterologist about the cabbage family? they aren’t just hard to digest but actually indigestible. i was given a very graphic description of what happens when a broccoli bezoar forms and has to be surgically removed. it’s not just an uncomfortable and annoying thing, but in fact very dangerous to eat broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.
not even pureed! there’s something about the fiber structure in those that the strands of fiber tie themselves around each other and block your stomach up.
please check with a GI about what veggies are safe for you.
Boedica, I understand not wanting to give up veggies, but like Marti, said, they can be dangerous. I also have Celiacs & know how much that limits what you can eat. I feel like there are not many things that I can eat that won’t make me sick!
i haven’t talked to anyone yet but my pcp and my endo, but they both agree that the muscle spasms, crazy bloodsugars and the constant full feeling indicate gastroparesis.
i didn’t know about the cabbage family:( my favorite family of all…well, except for the green leafy family.
is there a digestive enzyme that works IN the stomach?
I have better results eating fish, chicken, eggs, nut butters & cheese. Red meat takes forever for me to digest.
My gastroparesis mostly rear its ugly head at dinner. Some nights, I have protein shakes or soup for dinner. I’d prefer not to eat dinner to avoid the evening rollercoaster, but I can’t eat enough at lunch because of my schedule.
I never ate vegetables this cooked before, but now I have to. I love veggies, but strictly limit the type & quantity.
I take betaine hcl (3 capsules) with meals. Don’t know it really helps, but it doesn’t hurt. I chew the hell out of food also & take a long walk after dinner.
My endo says his some of his gastroparesis patients have improved greatly with better BG control. Of course, that’s a Catch-22! Eating low carb has helped my numbers & the gastroparesis.
The gastroenterologist that I went to when I was first diagnosed has the gastroparesis diet on their website. You might want to take a look at it so you know what foods will make things worse for you.
http://www.gicare.com/Diets/Gastroparesis.aspx
Like Gerri said, if you can improve BS control, the gastroparesis can get better. I have seen mine get better. It is a Catch 22 situation like she said, but it is possible.
There is something called Iberogast that is used in Germany. You can buy it here but it hasn’t really taken off here. I used it for awhile & it really helped but then I had trouble finding it so stopped. It seems to have made a comeback.
my gastroenterologist said i have gastroparesis & told me to eat more fiber.i think i'll look for a new one if i find one .
Astounding a specialist would advise that! Last thing you need with gastroparesis is fiber to slow digestion down further.
WOW ;(...I SPLIT THE BOLUS BEFORE & AFTER MEAL...IT HELPS...WHO KNOWS?!?WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ANYMORE......WE TRY & DO THE BEST WE CAN
I was diagnosed with gastroperisis in Jan(lost 20 lbs in 4 weeks). Since then I've learned that red meat is only a rare occurrence and only if it's a lunchtime meal. There are a lot of veggies that I avoid now too. the neighbor brought over split pea soup, wow, it was almost worse than the read meat.. and it was soup!
The other major change was how I take insulin. I have a insulin pump, and recently a CGM (couldn't feel overnight lows). I take my bolus as soon as I eat if it's liquid, soft foods, or at lunch time. But, for dinner or for high fat/carb, fiber, veggie I give a correction if needed up front then square wave for food(insulin delivered over an hour)
now my endo wants me to take in addition to pro-biotics : psyllium or benefiber or fiberbone....i have gastrparesis & irregular peristalsis.i now take align.any ideas???
by endo i mmean gastroentorologist.