Strange numbers again

[gowest12]

Hi again I posted yesterday regarding strange numbers and I know I was advised not to check again but I did today as I couldn’t help it! And the same thing has happened and my breakfast was very low carb 2eggs chicken breast and a little left over cabbage from last night . I woke again with fasting number of 6 had my breakfast and went aquarobics and swimming then came home and didn’t check anything until 1.30 and my reading was 5.9 again! This is 3 hours after my exercise something seems really wrong to me??! A few weeks ago I was having the same breakfast and after swimming or exercise my numbers came down more into the 5’s. The same thing happened yesterday it was 2 hours after and I had 5.9 again. I’m not experienced with testing but I thought such low carb breakfast should have me lower by this time in the afternoon???? And why has the pattern changed ? I’m eating the same low carb. It makes me wonder if my prediabetes has gotten worse. I’m not really understanding if the other week exercise gave me different results. I just don’t know what to. My numbers seem very strange particularly the morning to afternoon I’ve noticed this often. Sorry for posting again but I’m not really understanding any of this now and it seems like such a big effort to even get just normal numbers never mind good numbers!!!! I would say I am around 30-40 carbs a day now. Any more advice would be appreciated. Also I am new to exercise

 

[bulkbiker]

Numbers of 5-6 are perfectly normal not sure why you are worried?

Edit to add if you average 5.5 mmol/l then your next HbA1c should be somewhere near 32 mmol/mol perfectly normal.

 

[gowest12]

Numbers of 5-6 are perfectly normal not sure why you are worried?

Edit to add if you average 5.5 mmol/l then your next HbA1c should be somewhere near 32 mmol/mol perfectly normal.

It’s the amount of time it stays at 6 that seems very strange to me. Like from fasting to after exercise which is about 5 hours later. I would love hba1c of 32!!! For some reason I thought after all the exercise it would be lower

 

[bulkbiker]

It’s the amount of time it stays at 6 that seems very strange to me. Like from fasting to after exercise which is about 5 hours later. I would love hba1c of 32!!! For some reason I thought after all the exercise it would be lower

Exercise, depending on the intensity, can sometimes raise sometimes lower blood sugar levels.
At the moment in your shoes I'd be celebrating my great numbers.
If you can stay under 6 for the majority of the time you'll be fine.
Well done!

 

[catinahat]

fasting number of 6 had my breakfast and went aquarobics and swimming then came home and didn’t check anything until 1.30 and my reading was 5.9

You don't say what time you did the fasting test but I'm guessing it was early morning. And you think something terrible is happening because at 1:30 probably 6 or so hours later your level is still a perfectly respectable 5.9.?
Our blood sugars are not at a fixed level, they are constantly changing throughout the day, in the time between these two tests your levels would have changed several times. What numbers do you expect to get?

I think it's worth repeating how inaccurate the meters are +/-15%
If your meter gives a result of 6 that means your actual sugar level is anywhere between 5.10 and 7.6
The meters just give a rough idea of where your levels are.
Your real levels hours apart could have actually been 7.5 and 5.5 but your meter could have given a result of 6 for both of those tests

 

[gowest12]

You don't say what time you did the fasting test but I'm guessing it was early morning. And you think something terrible is happening because at 1:30 probably 6 or so hours later your level is still a perfectly respectable 5.9.?
Our blood sugars are not at a fixed level, they are constantly changing throughout the day, in the time between these two tests your levels would have changed several times. What numbers do you expect to get?

I think it's worth repeating how inaccurate the meters are +/-15%
If your meter gives a result of 6 that means your actual sugar level is anywhere between 5.10 and 7.6
The meters just give a rough idea of where your levels are.
Your real levels hours apart could have actually been 7.5 and 5.5 but your meter could have given a result of 6 for both of those tests

Oh I didn’t realise they could be so way out!!!! Thank you for the clarification. I was just thinking after such a low carb breakfast numbers would be lower but obviously not! Thank you

 

[catinahat]

I was just thinking after such a low carb breakfast numbers would be lower

How low do you think they should be? You are getting 5 & 6's if you were getting 3 & 4's you would be worried about getting hypos.
Don't make the mistake of comparing your numbers to what you see other people post. They are not you and they are not using your meter.
You are doing really well, your numbers are fine.

 

[Ronancastled]

Let me allay some of your fears.
Exercise will raise your BG as your body has to tap up non carb stores, your liver eats fat to produce glucose.
This is good as it produces weight loss.

Have a look at what happened to a low carb doctor when he wore a CGM.
Note the high spikes after carb heavy meals are because he is low carb so was experimenting.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1163546496236752896

 

[chrisjohnh]

Let me allay some of your fears.
Exercise will raise your BG as your body has to tap up non carb stores, your liver eats fat to produce glucose.
This is good as it produces weight loss.

Have a look at what happened to a low carb doctor when he wore a CGM.
Note the high spikes after carb heavy meals are because he is low carb so was experimenting.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1163546496236752896

Having never used a CGM and having done only finger pricking to do postprandial checks, I found this material from Dr Tobin really fascinating and so informative and encouraging. Of course we will not all get the same spike behaviours as him, but the general indication is very illuminating. Thank you for providing this reference.

 

[Eliza2739]

Let me allay some of your fears.
Exercise will raise your BG as your body has to tap up non carb stores, your liver eats fat to produce glucose.
This is good as it produces weight loss.

Have a look at what happened to a low carb doctor when he wore a CGM.
Note the high spikes after carb heavy meals are because he is low carb so was experimenting.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1163546496236752896

Hey! This was so interesting to see. But it confuses me a little- does that mean it is normal/expected for a non-diabetic (as he says he is) to have spikes after heavy carb meals?
Wouldn’t those spikes alone land him with a diagnosis of at least pre-diabetes? I’m new to this world and trying to get my head around it!

 

[Ronancastled]

Hey! This was so interesting to see. But it confuses me a little- does that mean it is normal/expected for a non-diabetic (as he says he is) to have spikes after heavy carb meals?
Wouldn’t those spikes alone land him with a diagnosis of at least pre-diabetes? I’m new to this world and trying to get my head around it!

His spikes wouldn't be anywhere near as high if he ate 300-350g carbs per day, standard Western Diet.
He chooses to eat a low carb diet so his body only has a fraction of the insulin requirement.
Current wisdom is that hyper-insulin production is what causes increased fat stores & drives inflammation, this in turn leads to insulin resistance which requires even more insulin to overcome.
The only way to break the cycle is to reduce carbs.

The reason he spikes so high is that he's effectively turned off the tap, the beta cells in his pancreas would require a few days of carb cycling to return to "normal" secretion rates.

 

[sue512]

Really informative, I shan’t be trying any of his high carb experiments and wouldn’t mind some of those meals!

 

[Claudia 1961]

Let me allay some of your fears.
Exercise will raise your BG as your body has to tap up non carb stores, your liver eats fat to produce glucose.
This is good as it produces weight loss.

Have a look at what happened to a low carb doctor when he wore a CGM.
Note the high spikes after carb heavy meals are because he is low carb so was experimenting.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1163546496236752896

I really found that thread helpful . This doctor measures the impact of so many different foods and swimming vs running.

 

[In Response]

Let me allay some of your fears.
Exercise will raise your BG as your body has to tap up non carb stores, your liver eats fat to produce glucose.

It is not that simple.

 Some exercise will raise the BG of some people with diabetes in the short term
But it depends on multiple things such as your general fitness level, your comfort/discomfort during the exercise, the type of exercise and the duration.
It may also lower your BG in the short term. And it may have no impact.

Exercise commonly lowers BG for up to 48 hours regardless whether they rose or fell during or immediately after exercise.

For example, I find cycling fast along a flattish road on a pleasant day for longer than 20minutes, lowers my BG.
Cycling uphill against the wind on a rainy day for 20minutes, raises my levels.
Pootling along the local tow path on my bike whilst chatting to my mates for an hour, has not impact.
However, if I do not reduce my insulin by 20% following any of these examples, I hypo overnight.