lindisfel
Expert
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I agree, thats why Kirsty needs to check her BG levels on a long plot before and after meals. Some surgeries seem superficial in their approach nowadays and you have to push them to do more. D.
RH - Preventing Bloodsugar drop overnight?!?!
- Thread starter 1Kirstygrace
- Start Date
Out of interest. I know my bloods should be between 4 and 7 generally(so I'm told). But what would indicate an unhealthy 'spike' soon after a meal/carbs?! I was testing 2- 2 and a half hours after a meal or if I ever felt 'off'. I think I did it once soon after eating and it was in the 7's and I didn't know whether that was good/bad/ or neither, I know I felt tired..
It usually sits around the mid 4's for me generally, or the low 5's on a good day. But if something makes me go off I go in the 3's... When should I test to keep records of my baseline etc and does the timing matter significantly?
It usually sits around the mid 4's for me generally, or the low 5's on a good day. But if something makes me go off I go in the 3's... When should I test to keep records of my baseline etc and does the timing matter significantly?
- Messages
- 21,889
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
We are all so different, I don't think we can answer most of those questions for you.
Your feeling bad at 7 may have been because 15 mins earlier you were up in the 10s. Or it may have been that your bg was rising at the time, and got higher later.
4-7 is generally considered 'normal'
But lots of non diabetics hang out in the 3s quite comfortably
And personally, I don't want to go higher than 7 (although sometimes I do, because I'm human)
The point at which is gets unhealthy, is equally debatable.
Jenny Rhul (on her www.bloodsugar101.com website) would tell you that at numbers greater than 7.8 you are risking long term damage to beta cells (the ones that produce insulin)
The NHS will usually say 'normal people can spike to 10'
- to which I answer 'yeah, and I suspect that if they are spiking to 10 then they are heading in the pre-diabetic and diabetic direction'
General advice on this forum tends to be that if your bg rises by more than 2mmol at 2 hours after food, then you have eaten more carbs than your body can handle. But that advice is handed out to type 2 diabetics, most of whom don't have hypos, and don't have RH.
We RHers tend to have different timings. We often spike faster, drop faster and drop lower than type 2 diabetics. So we need to find out what our spike and drop timings are. And it will vary for different meals/foods since thinks like pastry digest a lot slower than low fat sponge cake. And icecream will spike fast, unless you eat it after Sunday lunch, when your body has to digest the roast chicken and the veg before it really gets to grips with the icecream. See what I mean?
Really, the best thing I can suggest is that you map out YOUR reactions to YOUR foods. You will spot a pattern whereby you can see how fast, how high and the consequences.
Incidentally, this was how I spotted my Gluten Thing. By getting a Freestyle Libre I was able to see the rises, falls and drops on the screen, rather than isolated prick test results. This enabled me to see that the highest fastest rises were from gluten containing foods, and that I only got RH when I had eaten gluten recently.
Your feeling bad at 7 may have been because 15 mins earlier you were up in the 10s. Or it may have been that your bg was rising at the time, and got higher later.
4-7 is generally considered 'normal'
But lots of non diabetics hang out in the 3s quite comfortably
And personally, I don't want to go higher than 7 (although sometimes I do, because I'm human)
The point at which is gets unhealthy, is equally debatable.
Jenny Rhul (on her www.bloodsugar101.com website) would tell you that at numbers greater than 7.8 you are risking long term damage to beta cells (the ones that produce insulin)
The NHS will usually say 'normal people can spike to 10'
- to which I answer 'yeah, and I suspect that if they are spiking to 10 then they are heading in the pre-diabetic and diabetic direction'
General advice on this forum tends to be that if your bg rises by more than 2mmol at 2 hours after food, then you have eaten more carbs than your body can handle. But that advice is handed out to type 2 diabetics, most of whom don't have hypos, and don't have RH.
We RHers tend to have different timings. We often spike faster, drop faster and drop lower than type 2 diabetics. So we need to find out what our spike and drop timings are. And it will vary for different meals/foods since thinks like pastry digest a lot slower than low fat sponge cake. And icecream will spike fast, unless you eat it after Sunday lunch, when your body has to digest the roast chicken and the veg before it really gets to grips with the icecream. See what I mean?
Really, the best thing I can suggest is that you map out YOUR reactions to YOUR foods. You will spot a pattern whereby you can see how fast, how high and the consequences.
Incidentally, this was how I spotted my Gluten Thing. By getting a Freestyle Libre I was able to see the rises, falls and drops on the screen, rather than isolated prick test results. This enabled me to see that the highest fastest rises were from gluten containing foods, and that I only got RH when I had eaten gluten recently.
lindisfel
Expert
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- 5,661
Hi Kirsty, I found I was peaking up to 12+ on carbs in meals after c.1 hr and if I moved around afterwards I could be 3's or even 2's and felt really rotten after 2hours but as Brun says we are all different. If you have low blood glucose in the night or hours after a low carb meal that would be of more concern because the pancreas could be putting out insulin without being triggered by blood glucose. That's why you need some long plots with and without carbs. If I have a large steak my BG stays in the right parish all night and I'm still digesting it the next morning. A bit like a python!
Derek
Lamont D
Oracle
- Messages
- 15,939
- Type of diabetes
- Reactive hypoglycemia
- Treatment type
- I do not have diabetes
Once you stop the fluctuating blood levels, you should get a fasting pre meal reading in normal range, it is usually between 4-7 but I start feeling the rise at about 6.4 (ish).
From that pre meal reading, to find your spike is important but your readings are all important initially. Testing every fifteen minutes after a meal will give you that spike timing especially if it is carb loaded., then you need to know how long you need to eat before you hypo.
So for instance, my pre meal is 4.2, my spike is recorded at thirty five minutes (ish).
My hypo can range between three and half hour mark to four and a half depending on what I have ate. It does vary.
Once you know this, the timing of you testing can determine when you need to eat to offset the hypo.
But, in the long run, avoidance is preferable than running on hypers and eating every time you think you are going to have a hypo.
As an example for how we are all different and onto find our own balance.
Most RH ers avoid fruit, but I don't, it is a different sugar, but it doesn't effect me as long as I have small pieces through the day.
Some can have small amounts of some baddies, I can't!
All carbs affect my blood glucose.
And everything else that @Brunneria has posted is brilliant!
And @lindisfel Is an old hand at this RH lark!
Best wishes
From that pre meal reading, to find your spike is important but your readings are all important initially. Testing every fifteen minutes after a meal will give you that spike timing especially if it is carb loaded., then you need to know how long you need to eat before you hypo.
So for instance, my pre meal is 4.2, my spike is recorded at thirty five minutes (ish).
My hypo can range between three and half hour mark to four and a half depending on what I have ate. It does vary.
Once you know this, the timing of you testing can determine when you need to eat to offset the hypo.
But, in the long run, avoidance is preferable than running on hypers and eating every time you think you are going to have a hypo.
As an example for how we are all different and onto find our own balance.
Most RH ers avoid fruit, but I don't, it is a different sugar, but it doesn't effect me as long as I have small pieces through the day.
Some can have small amounts of some baddies, I can't!
All carbs affect my blood glucose.
And everything else that @Brunneria has posted is brilliant!
And @lindisfel Is an old hand at this RH lark!
Best wishes
Aestire
Active Member
- Messages
- 33
- Type of diabetes
- Don't have diabetes
I'm a reactive hypo also, and before I was diagnosed I thought it was all in my head...because everyone else said so...
Anyway, I find that I can occasionally have a bit more carbs than a typical day if I drink LOTS of water before and during and then almost thirty minutes later, start exercising. Something low stress and slowly get higher. It helped me gain weight back in the day too.
Anyway, I find that I can occasionally have a bit more carbs than a typical day if I drink LOTS of water before and during and then almost thirty minutes later, start exercising. Something low stress and slowly get higher. It helped me gain weight back in the day too.
