• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Rant Alert. Please Bear With Me. High Bg Levels.

briped

briped

Well-Known Member
Messages
945
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
BG over the last month is an average of 5.4mmol/L. No real lows and no real highs. 99,9% of readings in their 4s or 5s.
When I do eat it's low carb, and since the beginning of April my numbers have been fine.
The same meds since last autumn: 2 x 500mg metformin, 1,8 mg victoza and 10mg jardiance. Nothing changed.

Then suddenly ...!

Yesterday I had an FBG of 8.5 and a daily average of 6.9 (5 readings), and today doesn't look too good either. It really p***** me of, because I'm not doing anything differently to what I've been doing since late March, and I can't stop thinking about why this is happening.

Ok, so I tend to wake up and get up very early, but that's not new, and it hasn't affected my readings much previously.
I don't believe I have any infections. I do get tired/sleepy around 11am'ish, just like I did when my Hba1 was at it's highest.

My mood is affected by this, and I feel like popping down to the baker's to get myselv the carbiest cakes possibly, because if BGs are high there might as well be a very good reason (I'm typing this hammering away at my keyboard in annoyance), right?

Wrong, of course, and I'm not going to do it. It's just me having a row with my body, trying to threaten it into compliance. I'm not even craving anything carby, but don't tell my adversary that ;) I'm more likely to starve myself.

Today at 5:48AM. FBG 6.0. Hmph, but ok then. At least not as bad as the FBG of 8.5 yesterday. My 'breakfast' was two slices of full fat cheese, 4 mugs of tea with very little cream and less than ½ an avocado (had to cut away the bad bits - again.) BS at 11:42 am 7.1.

Thanks for reading this. I've learned that I shouldn't take a steady, perfectly fine BG for granted, not even on low carb, but from an average of 5.1 on Saturday to an average of 6.9 on Sunday is more than I can fathom, and it doesn't look as if today is going to be much better.

I wonder if it could be good news. If it's my liver getting rid of any surplus glucogen, but there's no way of knowing, I suppose.
 
I did see some oddly erratic numbers a few months after my diagnosis, but the first months were probably influenced by the Metformin and statin I was taking, I got down to fairly low numbers for a while, and then suddenly they were up and down for no apparent reason which I put down to my liver being released from the restrictions put onto it by the Metformin, as I just had to stop taking the tablets due to the side effects.
I might have come to the wrong conclusion, of course, but the numbers did settle down when I made adjustments to the timing of my meals - apparently my BG is steadier with evenly spaced meals rather than periods of fasting, so different options might be something to try.
 
Did you change to a new lot number of testing strips yesterday? I’ve had a rogue lot put out my averages up on a couple of occasions.
 
Rachox said:
Did you change to a new lot number of testing strips yesterday? I’ve had a rogue lot put out my averages up on a couple of occasions.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rachox, but no. I'm about 2/3s through my little 50 pack (not talking about my tummy here), and I use about 5 a day.
 
Resurgam said:
I did see some oddly erratic numbers a few months after my diagnosis, but the first months were probably influenced by the Metformin and statin I was taking, I got down to fairly low numbers for a while, and then suddenly they were up and down for no apparent reason which I put down to my liver being released from the restrictions put onto it by the Metformin, as I just had to stop taking the tablets due to the side effects.
Click to expand...

I'm glad Metformin never gave me any side effects, and I'm still taking them. I ditched the statins a couple of weeks ago. Do they do anything for one's BG too? I'm not too worried about this sudden raise, and yes, I do know that certain T1s would napalm me for bringing this up, and that their numbers tend to fluctuate much more, but they have a different condition much more difficult to control - generally speaking. I just want to know what's going on inside me, controlfreak that I turn out to be.

Resurgam said:
I might have come to the wrong conclusion, of course, but the numbers did settle down when I made adjustments to the timing of my meals - apparently my BG is steadier with evenly spaced meals rather than periods of fasting, so different options might be something to try.
Click to expand...

Well, what do I do ...? I normally don't have much of a breakfast. I'll eat one or two slices of cheese at around 10:30 am, 4-5 hours after getting up. Then at 2pm'ish I'll see what's in the fridge. I might make myself an omelette with bacon, or if I can't be bothered I might just have more tea or a handful of almonds. Today I had a few blueberries, perhaps 10, about 2dl of whipped cream mixed with a spoonful of Greek youghurt at around 4pm. At around 9pm we might eat a decent meal, and if it gets too late again we won't have anything, so you see, I'm really not good at planning my meals, but this is what I've been doing for 3 months now. Maybe I should try a more all or nothing approach to fasting. Just water, no tea or almonds ...
Thanks for you input. :) I feel a bit better. There doesn't seem to be much more I can do about it anyway, but it does dampen my hope of reducing my dosis of meds come October.
 
Goodness, you don't eat very much. As my mum used to say - not enough to feed a sparrow.

I wonder if it is your liver kicking in. Could well be.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Goodness, you don't eat very much. As my mum used to say - not enough to feed a sparrow.

I wonder if it is your liver kicking in. Could well be.
Click to expand...

Please elaborate. Is that good or bad? :wideyed: Of course I'll have a decent meal sometimes. The day before the BG sky rocketed I even had two! :)
 
briped said:
Please elaborate. Is that good or bad? :wideyed: Of course I'll have a decent meal sometimes. The day before the BG sky rocketed I even had two! :)
Click to expand...

There you go ..... that could be the reason. You have been eating so little and then you had 2 big meals. Your pancreas had fallen asleep. You gave it a big shock. Seriously, I mean it. This is why when a person on a very low carb diet due to go for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has to eat upwards of 130 - 150g of carbs each day for 3 days before the test, otherwise they will fail miserably.
 
Do not despair , I had a similar experience when part way through a tub of strips suddenly going up between 1 to 2 more than I expected . Only when I started a new tub did it fall. I had the same issue with a tub bought at the same time ( ie sudden increase in blood sugars part way through a tub ). My suggestion is not to worry too much and if when you get onto a new tub of strips see if you are still high. A more expensive option would be to start a new tub of strips . I did this the second time it occurred when I got 10 strips for my Accu check Aviva and compared the results using same blob of blood so knew there was issue.
Since then I have taken the blood sugars a guide rather than absolute truth .
 
Bluetit1802 said:
There you go ..... that could be the reason. You have been eating so little and then you had 2 big meals. Your pancreas had fallen asleep. You gave it a big shock. Seriously, I mean it. This is why when a person on a very low carb diet due to go for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has to eat upwards of 130 - 150g of carbs each day for 3 days before the test, otherwise they will fail miserably.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bluetit. Well, let's modify those two big meals to two low carb meals of relatively small portion persuasion (about ½ of what my husband had, so ½ a 'normal' portion). Cabbage with one meal and green beans with the other and an estimated 75g of meat with each meal.
So my sleeping pancreas now awake ... That doesn't sound good. Well, it's good that it woke up, but if it really was hibernating, wouldn't I have had hypos, in theory? I'm trying to get my head around this, but not very successfully ... Should I see my present elevated BG levels as something positive?
 
Bluetit1802 said:
There you go ..... that could be the reason. You have been eating so little and then you had 2 big meals. Your pancreas had fallen asleep. You gave it a big shock. Seriously, I mean it. This is why when a person on a very low carb diet due to go for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has to eat upwards of 130 - 150g of carbs each day for 3 days before the test, otherwise they will fail miserably.
Click to expand...
Or not?
 
dipsydo said:
Do not despair , I had a similar experience when part way through a tub of strips suddenly going up between 1 to 2 more than I expected . Only when I started a new tub did it fall. I had the same issue with a tub bought at the same time ( ie sudden increase in blood sugars part way through a tub ). My suggestion is not to worry too much and if when you get onto a new tub of strips see if you are still high. A more expensive option would be to start a new tub of strips . I did this the second time it occurred when I got 10 strips for my Accu check Aviva and compared the results using same blob of blood so knew there was issue.
Since then I have taken the blood sugars a guide rather than absolute truth .
Click to expand...

Interesting ... Part way through a tub? I'll start a new one tonight and see what happens. I'm fortunate enough to be 100% funded by the Danish Health Authorities because the company I get them from have me listed as a T1.
 
Variables like this, seemingly out of the blue, drive me to distraction. I can go several weeks consistently hitting the mid fives only to find myself waking with a 7.5 and then consistent readings in the 6's. My food pattern has not changed........but......and this is the area I am most interested in now, stress has changed. Long haul travel, jet lag, meal timings, work are the variables. I can't pinpoint which has the most effect, but I suspect the disruption to sleep patterns plays a big part.

Today I have not dropped below 6.5, I have eaten two eggs for breakfast, chicken, skin on, with asparagus and spinach for lunch and cheese and pork crackling as a snack. I have drunk coffee with double cream and sparkling water. I have also clocked up 14,000 steps and had an hour on the cross trainer. It is so frustrating.

To me it highlights the need to identify the cause(s) of my higher readings so that they can be properly treated. This business of having a handful of "types of diabetes" is nonsense in my mind. :(

(I should also add that I am pretty certain my resting heart rate and BG levels are linked.)
 
Perhaps you are fighting a cold or a flu bug. Even seasonal allergies can increase BG
You might not have any symptoms besides higher BG but your body is fighting it the background.
 
TonyHancock said:
Variables like this, seemingly out of the blue, drive me to distraction. I can go several weeks consistently hitting the mid fives only to find myself waking with a 7.5 and then consistent readings in the 6's. My food pattern has not changed........but......and this is the area I am most interested in now, stress has changed. Long haul travel, jet lag, meal timings, work are the variables. I can't pinpoint which has the most effect, but I suspect the disruption to sleep patterns plays a big part.

Today I have not dropped below 6.5, I have eaten two eggs for breakfast, chicken, skin on, with asparagus and spinach for lunch and cheese and pork crackling as a snack. I have drunk coffee with double cream and sparkling water. I have also clocked up 14,000 steps and had an hour on the cross trainer. It is so frustrating.

To me it highlights the need to identify the cause(s) of my higher readings so that they can be properly treated. This business of having a handful of "types of diabetes" is nonsense in my mind. :(
Click to expand...

I agree. It's mind boggling, isn't it. The only bit I don't agree with is your last sentence. My T1 friend's experience is so very different from mine. She's lucky to be around.
 
briped said:
I agree. It's mind boggling, isn't it. The only bit I don't agree with is your last sentence. My T1 friend's experience is so very different from mine. She's lucky to be around.
Click to expand...

I just reread that sentence and I am not sure I have expressed myself properly. What I was trying to say was that diabetes is the symptom and can result from many things and to narrow that to just a handful, as in Type 1, type 2, type 1.5 etc doesn't make sense to me. I think there are so many unknowns that are slipping through the net, and way too much focus on stabilising BG levels without addressing the root cause. (Type 1 is perhaps different, I don't know enough about it to understand if there are multiple reasons for the lack of insulin production.)
 
briped said:
certain T1s would napalm me for bringing this up, and that their numbers tend to fluctuate much more
Click to expand...
Which is perfectly irrelevant. As far as I know, diabetes is a very frustrating condition, especially because it tends to behave illogical at times. Quite the same for all types, although I count myself lucky to be able to take some insulin when having unexpected highs.
Compare yourself to yourself when it's about numbers, makes much more sense than comparing them to someone elses. I can still relate to your frustrations, although my numbers might be very different from yours, and I hope your diabetes will start to behave itself again soon!
 
Back
Top