My Blood Glucose Since Last Time Posted

[Triceraptors]

Hello, I was having issues with blood glucose. I noticed feeling off in November, which happened around 2 years ago as well. My GP assessed my A1c and fasting that were normal. I was sent to endocrinologist because of failing OGTT though. I have been eating low-carb since December. I failed endo OGTT again. I was tested for type 1 antibodies coming back negative. I was told that this diet might have caused insulin resistance and going back to carby diet and seeing what happens should be done. Well, I did in February. Nothing changed, same spikes, same issues.

I was told by another doctor to focus on eating in a way that will not cause spikes. I ended up coming back to low-carb diet. I also went to try to address my mental issues by psychiatrist who prescribed some meds. I was checking my BGs 2-3 times a week when feeling off never coming over 6.1 Today, I feel very unwell, even had to take a nap and this evening after walking, which usually reduces my BGs, it was 6.6 and I was sweating a lot.

Not sure what to do, I thought everything is under control but for the past 3 days, most meals cause me to feel "off" and today was particularly unpleasant. I do not seem to be crashing after such episodes, usually come back to low 5.x mmol/l on the scale.

I am wondering if this warrants coming back to a specialist and get another evaluation. I am very tired of this, my mental issues cause me enough panic attacks already.

 

[Emile_the_rat]

I said in several post before that I think you should look elsewhere for your problems, your blood sugar are normal.

You don’t have spikes when you only get 6-7 mmol after eating, thats pretty good even for non-diabetics.

In this post, and by reading all your other posts on here I can almost for certain say that you do not have any sort of blood sugar related issues.

The only reason I think you’re failing the OGTT are because of your strickt low carb diet, which are known to affect OGTT and make the results false. Every diabetic doctor or endocronlogist should know that you have to follow a normal diet with carbs for even getting use of an OGTT in the first place. Thats one of the reason we have HbA1c as well, because an OGTT can be tricked by diets and therefore give false results.

The reason you feel unwell after eating can’t be your blood sugar. When I feel unwell or sick by carbs I always get blood sugar og 12-13 mmol or even higher, thats a lot different from having 5-8 mmol which are considered normal.

When all; fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, antibodies are negative, and you don’t get spikes over 11.2 mmol after eating I would say you’re normal and that your insulin works just fine.

You mention mental issues, and I think that you keeping track of your blood sugar just makes you even more stressed and anxious, resulting in making you feel sick or ill when eating because you developed some kind of fear of carbs, just a thought.

I think the combination of a mental issue with the part where you convince yourself that you have problems with carbs makes you feel ill or sick when eating something you know have carbs in them. The mental and physical health have a great impact on each other, so if your think your sick it is not unusual to get «iller».

Have you been tested for anything else beside blood sugar related conditions?

 

[Triceraptors]

I said in several post before that I think you should look elsewhere for your problems, your blood sugar are normal.

You don’t have spikes when you only get 6-7 mmol after eating, thats pretty good even for non-diabetics.

In this post, and by reading all your other posts on here I can almost for certain say that you do not have any sort of blood sugar related issues.

The only reason I think you’re failing the OGTT are because of your strickt low carb diet, which are known to affect OGTT and make the results false. Every diabetic doctor or endocronlogist should know that you have to follow a normal diet with carbs for even getting use of an OGTT in the first place. Thats one of the reason we have HbA1c as well, because an OGTT can be tricked by diets and therefore give false results.

The reason you feel unwell after eating can’t be your blood sugar. When I feel unwell or sick by carbs I always get blood sugar og 12-13 mmol or even higher, thats a lot different from having 5-8 mmol which are considered normal.

When all; fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, antibodies are negative, and you don’t get spikes over 11.2 mmol after eating I would say you’re normal and that your insulin works just fine.

You mention mental issues, and I think that you keeping track of your blood sugar just makes you even more stressed and anxious, resulting in making you feel sick or ill when eating because you developed some kind of fear of carbs, just a thought.

I think the combination of a mental issue with the part where you convince yourself that you have problems with carbs makes you feel ill or sick when eating something you know have carbs in them. The mental and physical health have a great impact on each other, so if your think your sick it is not unusual to get «iller».

Have you been tested for anything else beside blood sugar related conditions?

Thank you for your effortful post. As for being anxious, I have been not using my meter in month of April at all because on my diet, I never felt "off". I only grab it when feeling weird. For instance, I can tell when my BG is around 6.0 or above without a meter: I get a bit sweaty and have a headache. And anxiety. I would not be surprised if my BG goes up with carbs. I am surprised when my meals do not contain them much but make me sick.

There is another issue though that might be interconnected. I do not digest large amounts of fats well. I have noticed that when on some occasions the fat is digested, my blood glucose seem to be around 5.2 all the time. However, when they don't, my BG also rise more. For the past couple of days, I had quite a bad diarhea (sorry). And experienced stomach upset along with feeling unwell.

One of the doctors says that it is due to insufficient bile output, so I try to drink something that has bitter taste, such as bitter teas. But overall, I had a problem in digesting fats or a really long time and no one could tell me why. Note that pancreas excrete enzymes to break down fats, but when bile output is insufficient, then pancreas cranks out even more enzymes than needed hence overworking it. At least it was a doctor's explanation. I have a confirmed sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system imbalance. I had to even take a month off from work to get rest. The sympathetic part is constantly on alert mode and interferes with my sleep. Parasympathetic part is responsible for good digestion and since it doesn't want to work, my digestion is rather flaky. I had stomach issues in march where it was refusing to digest. One of the meds from psychiatrist helps with that.

I also have some itching, tingling and found myself getting up to go to the bathroom once a night sometimes. But frequently, I drink a lot of tea in the evening, so it could be because of that.

 

[DCUKMod]

Hello, I was having issues with blood glucose. I noticed feeling off in November, which happened around 2 years ago as well. My GP assessed my A1c and fasting that were normal. I was sent to endocrinologist because of failing OGTT though. I have been eating low-carb since December. I failed endo OGTT again. I was tested for type 1 antibodies coming back negative. I was told that this diet might have caused insulin resistance and going back to carby diet and seeing what happens should be done. Well, I did in February. Nothing changed, same spikes, same issues.

I was told by another doctor to focus on eating in a way that will not cause spikes. I ended up coming back to low-carb diet. I also went to try to address my mental issues by psychiatrist who prescribed some meds. I was checking my BGs 2-3 times a week when feeling off never coming over 6.1 Today, I feel very unwell, even had to take a nap and this evening after walking, which usually reduces my BGs, it was 6.6 and I was sweating a lot.

Not sure what to do, I thought everything is under control but for the past 3 days, most meals cause me to feel "off" and today was particularly unpleasant. I do not seem to be crashing after such episodes, usually come back to low 5.x mmol/l on the scale.

I am wondering if this warrants coming back to a specialist and get another evaluation. I am very tired of this, my mental issues cause me enough panic attacks already.

Triceraptors, I wonder if you have something you eat or drink that doesn't agree with you.

I'll leave the long scene setting piece, but, after load and loads and LOADS of test, my Endo was flummuxed about what could be going on, to cause my symptoms (different to yours). He suggeted I go gluten-free, as "lots of people with auto-immune issues do verery well gluten-free".

When I explained I already ate no bread, pasta or the other gluten biggies, he felt it still worth a go.

Fast forwards a couple of months when I had a experience where I felt like I'd been hit by a bus, with a migraine-like headache, crushing fatigue, then a few days later, gastic issues (I'll spare you the details). It took a couple of weeks to get over.

Since then this has happened a couple of times,, and I have been able to link these events to inadvertently eating gluten. It's in a lot of very surprising stuff!

I'm not necessarily suggesting you need to go GF, but more scene setting for the potential need to go through some life mapping - recording your food diary, blood glucuse rreading - whether feeling well or unwell, any other symptoms you might experience, exercise. You may see trends over time.

I know that's a faff, but sometimes it's almost up to us to narrow things down a bit. Our Docs see us for the odd 15-30 minutes, periodically, whereas we have our bodies 24/7 x 365.

 

[Emile_the_rat]

Thank you for your effortful post. As for being anxious, I have been not using my meter in month of April at all because on my diet, I never felt "off". I only grab it when feeling weird. For instance, I can tell when my BG is around 6.0 or above without a meter: I get a bit sweaty and have a headache. And anxiety. I would not be surprised if my BG goes up with carbs. I am surprised when my meals do not contain them much but make me sick.

There is another issue though that might be interconnected. I do not digest large amounts of fats well. I have noticed that when on some occasions the fat is digested, my blood glucose seem to be around 5.2 all the time. However, when they don't, my BG also rise more. For the past couple of days, I had quite a bad diarhea (sorry). And experienced stomach upset along with feeling unwell.

One of the doctors says that it is due to insufficient bile output, so I try to drink something that has bitter taste, such as bitter teas. But overall, I had a problem in digesting fats or a really long time and no one could tell me why. Note that pancreas excrete enzymes to break down fats, but when bile output is insufficient, then pancreas cranks out even more enzymes than needed hence overworking it. At least it was a doctor's explanation. I have a confirmed sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system imbalance. I had to even take a month off from work to get rest. The sympathetic part is constantly on alert mode and interferes with my sleep. Parasympathetic part is responsible for good digestion and since it doesn't want to work, my digestion is rather flaky. I had stomach issues in march where it was refusing to digest. One of the meds from psychiatrist helps with that.

I also have some itching, tingling and found myself getting up to go to the bathroom once a night sometimes. But frequently, I drink a lot of tea in the evening, so it could be because of that.

Overproduction of pancreatic enzymes will only make your excrement harder, but wouldn’t make any discomfort besides that.

Bile is not an enzyme, and is not produced by the pancreas, but the liver. And if you get gallstones you can get problems with the secretion of bile, this can be seen on a CT scan.

When you eat fat the cells will use glucose to store the fat cells, so when eating foods rich on fat you will get a slower raise in blood sugar. So my guess is that you do not have a problem with secretion of bile and eating fats, because you’re getting lower blood sugar when eating much fat, thats a healthy sign.

I think it is more likely that you either:

1) Eat something you’re intolerant too, like gluten.
Or
2) It’s more psychical, and your symptoms are more triggere by anxiously or stress.

 

[Triceraptors]

Overproduction of pancreatic enzymes will only make your excrement harder, but wouldn’t make any discomfort besides that.

Bile is not an enzyme, and is not produced by the pancreas, but the liver. And if you get gallstones you can get problems with the secretion of bile, this can be seen on a CT scan.

When you eat fat the cells will use glucose to store the fat cells, so when eating foods rich on fat you will get a slower raise in blood sugar. So my guess is that you do not have a problem with secretion of bile and eating fats, because you’re getting lower blood sugar when eating much fat, thats a healthy sign.

I think it is more likely that you either:

1) Eat something you’re intolerant too, like gluten.
Or
2) It’s more psychical, and your symptoms are more triggere by anxiously or stress.

But people should get lower blood glucose when eating more fats because it is less carbs, isn't it? And yes, I meant liver produce bile. I do not have stones or any other particles in my bile ducts or gallbladder, so there is no mechanical issue. I was just told by a doctor that this might be an issue - so called cholestasis, which honestly sounds really weird because it should happen when there is less fats in the diet. Constant bombardment with fats secrete a hormone that makes gallbladder eject the bile. But he still suspects there just isn't enough produced.

To be fair, it seemed like when I did not care about blood glucose levels, I did not have problems, i.e. feeling weird. It happens sometimes and then goes away. I have a lot of anxiety right now because I went to an interview, got a job offer from a CEO himself, and now am puzzled whether to leave my current workplace or not. Previous workplace allows flexible work, this one does not. I'd also need to pay for my own health insurance so all of those issues might have heightened anxiety again...

 

[Birdwoman]

Triceraptors, I wonder if you have something you eat or drink that doesn't agree with you.

I'll leave the long scene setting piece, but, after load and loads and LOADS of test, my Endo was flummuxed about what could be going on, to cause my symptoms (different to yours). He suggeted I go gluten-free, as "lots of people with auto-immune issues do verery well gluten-free".

When I explained I already ate no bread, pasta or the other gluten biggies, he felt it still worth a go.

Fast forwards a couple of months when I had a experience where I felt like I'd been hit by a bus, with a migraine-like headache, crushing fatigue, then a few days later, gastic issues (I'll spare you the details). It took a couple of weeks to get over.

Since then this has happened a couple of times,, and I have been able to link these events to inadvertently eating gluten. It's in a lot of very surprising stuff!



I'm not necessarily suggesting you need to go GF, but more scene setting for the potential need to go through some life mapping - recording your food diary, blood glucuse rreading - whether feeling well or unwell, any other symptoms you might experience, exercise. You may see trends over time.

I know that's a faff, but sometimes it's almost up to us to narrow things down a bit. Our Docs see us for the odd 15-30 minutes, periodically, whereas we have our bodies 24/7 x 365.

I think you have some sort of alergy too. I suffer with things that make me feel like that. I could not work out what was causing it and it turned out to be eating a carrot

 

[Triceraptors]

Also, in coincidence to those issues, I noticed getting winded and tired and sweat like crazy during running. as far as I know, it is quite normal for glucose to rise during exercise, but for me it always reduced. Now, it started to increase, and I have huge headache exercising and then cooling down. Something is definitely off. The only new food I added was brussel sprouts.

 

[Birdwoman]

It does not have to be a new food!! I have always eaten carrots, so I did not even think about them, just I got worse and worse. I found other veggies I liked better and cut down on how often I ate carrots but used to like a roasted one with a roast dinner and after a roast dinner I used to suffer but could not see why. Then some how I discovered it was carrot, gave them up all together and am now fine.

 

[Emile_the_rat]

But people should get lower blood glucose when eating more fats because it is less carbs, isn't it? And yes, I meant liver produce bile. I do not have stones or any other particles in my bile ducts or gallbladder, so there is no mechanical issue. I was just told by a doctor that this might be an issue - so called cholestasis, which honestly sounds really weird because it should happen when there is less fats in the diet. Constant bombardment with fats secrete a hormone that makes gallbladder eject the bile. But he still suspects there just isn't enough produced.

To be fair, it seemed like when I did not care about blood glucose levels, I did not have problems, i.e. feeling weird. It happens sometimes and then goes away. I have a lot of anxiety right now because I went to an interview, got a job offer from a CEO himself, and now am puzzled whether to leave my current workplace or not. Previous workplace allows flexible work, this one does not. I'd also need to pay for my own health insurance so all of those issues might have heightened anxiety again...

Fat are completely different from carbs.

If you have cholestasis your urine would turn dark, and your stooles will be pale and colorless, and in more server conditions you will suffer from jaundice, yellow skin. If you do not have these symptoms cholestasis would be unlikely.

I kind of understand why and how you didn’t have problems when you didn’t care for carbs and blood sugar. Everything can affecting your mental health, and making symptoms feel real when you always overthink it.

Also, in coincidence to those issues, I noticed getting winded and tired and sweat like crazy during running. as far as I know, it is quite normal for glucose to rise during exercise, but for me it always reduced. Now, it started to increase, and I have huge headache exercising and then cooling down. Something is definitely off. The only new food I added was brussel sprouts.

Blood sugar will raise when excercising if you’re either type 2 diabetic or non-diabetic because your liver dumps glycogen to prevent hypos, but if you’re low on carbs your liver does not have glycagen to use, making your blood sugar lower when excercising. So getting lower blood sugar by excercising are normal if you’re on a diet low on carbs.

 

[Triceraptors]

Fat are completely different from carbs.

If you have cholestasis your urine would turn dark, and your stooles will be pale and colorless, and in more server conditions you will suffer from jaundice, yellow skin. If you do not have these symptoms cholestasis would be unlikely.

I kind of understand why and how you didn’t have problems when you didn’t care for carbs and blood sugar. Everything can affecting your mental health, and making symptoms feel real when you always overthink it.

True. I have the same headache right now with normal BG. No idea why.


Blood sugar will raise when excercising if you’re either type 2 diabetic or non-diabetic because your liver dumps glycogen to prevent hypos, but if you’re low on carbs your liver does not have glycagen to use, making your blood sugar lower when excercising. So getting lower blood sugar by excercising are normal if you’re on a diet low on carbs.

Is it actually true though? The liver stores glycogen anyways, whether you are on carby or non-carby diet. In first case, it is chaining of glucose into glycogen and stuffing it into the liver. In second, it is making glucose from amino acids and then converting it into glycogen which is then stored into the liver.

I would just love to get an answer on what is causing those issues because I have been taking steps to calm down, think meditation, exercise and try to not be under stress too much. It just keeps biting me in the butt and it is annoying, I want a diagnosis or a description on how to fix this mess. Neither was provided by any medical professional...

 

[Emile_the_rat]

Is it actually true though? The liver stores glycogen anyways, whether you are on carby or non-carby diet. In first case, it is chaining of glucose into glycogen and stuffing it into the liver. In second, it is making glucose from amino acids and then converting it into glycogen which is then stored into the liver.

I would just love to get an answer on what is causing those issues because I have been taking steps to calm down, think meditation, exercise and try to not be under stress too much. It just keeps biting me in the butt and it is annoying, I want a diagnosis or a description on how to fix this mess. Neither was provided by any medical professional...

I understand your concern and frustration, but I think the problems are more of a phychial character, so I don’t think you will get a specific diagnosis and not prescribded any meds. I know it is not a satisfying and I understanding if it is not an outcome that is easy to accept.

From a medical point of view there is no issue or problems with either insulin or blood sugar in your case, and giving a diagnose or medication could makes thing much worse, even lifetreating :/

 

[Triceraptors]

I understand your concern and frustration, but I think the problems are more of a phychial character, so I don’t think you will get a specific diagnosis and not prescribded any meds. I know it is not a satisfying and I understanding if it is not an outcome that is easy to accept.

From a medical point of view there is no issue or problems with either insulin or blood sugar in your case, and giving a diagnose or medication could makes thing much worse, even lifetreating :/

Yes, I can see how no one in their right mind would intervene. Another thing. I was scouring through the test results and noticed that c-peptide is said to be low. But, I also know which lab it was sent to and it is in very normal range according to their Internet spec. Something I should ask a doctor I think. I find the whole ordeal weird.