Lower than usual BG after a weekend off the wagon

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
It was my birthday last week (sympathy accepted) so we had a long weekend away and I relaxed my rules because having sandwiches makes life much easier when travelling and a pudding on my birthday is my birthday, right?
Beer may also have featured from time to time.

Anyway, back on the wagon and the Libre 2 is now showing 100% in range.
I was still having the cheeky bottle of beer, and baked beans with my steak and eggs, but no massive peaks.

I thought it was because my Libre 2 was on the last day, and they sometimes read low at the end, but a cross check with a finger prick showed the Libre 2 was reasonably accurate.

Coffee with butter and cream for breakfast, a nice walk in the countryside, and my BG was down in the mid 4s.

My one meal a day was delayed because we had a visitor and I suddenly had the phone shouting at me.
A scan showed red - around 3.5 - and a finger prick showed 4.4.
Definitely running low.

So what is going on?
My climbing back on the wagon means that there is no nice stuff in the house so how to raise my BG a bit?
I found some old hard jelly babies and had 3 so that has done the trick but why am I running so low?

T2 is generally associated with IR or low insulin production.
This low suggest that the hormonal balance between secreting insulin and releasing glucose from the liver is out of whack.
Perhaps giving my pancreas a bit of extra work has upped the insulin production but not the glucagon?

Nothing is straightforward or easy.
 

Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,284
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Happy belated birthday!
Sounds like you had a lovely weekend!
A scan showed red - around 3.5 - and a finger prick showed 4.4.
Definitely running low.

So what is going on?
My climbing back on the wagon means that there is no nice stuff in the house so how to raise my BG a bit?
Did you have hypo symptoms?
4.4 is a perfectly normal number, so if you didn't have symptoms, why would you want to raise it? (Assuming your only diabetes medication is still metformin and nothing else.)
The only reason Libre is showing red below 4 is because it was made with diabetics on insulin in mind, who can go dangerously low, non diabetics and well controlled T2's can go into the 3's without issue.
Coffee with butter and cream for breakfast, a nice walk in the countryside, and my BG was down in the mid 4s.
No carbs plus a walk seems a logical reason to see lower numbers to me.
 

catinahat

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,386
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
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Reality tv
I've read some where that when we're on a low carb diet our pancreas gets used to the amount of carbs we are eating. When we have more carbs than usual it takes a while for the pancreas to catch up with insulin production. That's why if you have a glucose tolerance test you are advised to have 100 to 150g of carbs a few days prior to the test if you want a realistic result.
 

ajbod

Well-Known Member
Messages
748
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
My take on this situation is because you have been good for so long, your pancreas has basically had a rest and not had too much demand on it. Also your insulin resistance will have improved as it has not taken a bashing as it used to. I've found the same sort of reaction myself, BUT it is a false dawn. Small VERY occasional rises in carb intake can be dealt with, but the insulin resistance will increase again, which will put more strain on your pancreas and thus your levels will rise again.
I'd compare it to an alcoholic, if dry for any length of time the body improves, but start drinking again and you're rapidly back where you started.
Congrats on the birthday and remember the VERY odd occasion where "normal" food is eaten, is ok provided you accept that the carbs have to go after.
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,938
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It was my birthday last week (sympathy accepted) so we had a long weekend away and I relaxed my rules because having sandwiches makes life much easier when travelling and a pudding on my birthday is my birthday, right?
Beer may also have featured from time to time.

Anyway, back on the wagon and the Libre 2 is now showing 100% in range.
I was still having the cheeky bottle of beer, and baked beans with my steak and eggs, but no massive peaks.

I thought it was because my Libre 2 was on the last day, and they sometimes read low at the end, but a cross check with a finger prick showed the Libre 2 was reasonably accurate.

Coffee with butter and cream for breakfast, a nice walk in the countryside, and my BG was down in the mid 4s.

My one meal a day was delayed because we had a visitor and I suddenly had the phone shouting at me.
A scan showed red - around 3.5 - and a finger prick showed 4.4.
Definitely running low.

So what is going on?
My climbing back on the wagon means that there is no nice stuff in the house so how to raise my BG a bit?
I found some old hard jelly babies and had 3 so that has done the trick but why am I running so low?

T2 is generally associated with IR or low insulin production.
This low suggest that the hormonal balance between secreting insulin and releasing glucose from the liver is out of whack.
Perhaps giving my pancreas a bit of extra work has upped the insulin production but not the glucagon?

Nothing is straightforward or easy.
I've noticed the same thing... Once or twice a year I'll treat myself to fresh strawberries with cream which'll have me go high fast and low as fast after that. And recently we were at a dinner where there was just so much good food I just had a tiny little bit of salad that included spuds, and a little bit of an American cookie my husband was having for dessert... (I paid dearly for that dinner, but dammit, it was good!). Anyway, my bloods shot up, and crashed right back down within two hours after eating, without so much as a post-meal walk. Lower than I started out with, lower 4's. And in the case of that dinner, there was a rather alarming phone call that interrupted us, so I would've expected the bloods to go up due to stress to boot. I never heard of RH before I got on here and it would explain a fainting spell here and there before T2 kicked in, but... I wonder if it ever went away. In any case, you're not alone, and I'm curious to see more answers come in.
 

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Did you have hypo symptoms?
4.4 is a perfectly normal number, so if you didn't have symptoms, why would you want to raise it? (Assuming your only diabetes medication is still metformin and nothing else.)

I don't think that I have ever had hypo symptoms.
If finger pricks and Libre 2 showed that I was regularly running in the mid 4s I would both not be worried and also deliriously happy.

However I tend to run in the 6s and 7s when I am being good, so hitting low 4s is not a usual thing, and as such is obviously a concern.
Something has changed. Is it good or bad?
If in doubt, have a jelly baby. :)
 

Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,284
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
However I tend to run in the 6s and 7s when I am being good, so hitting low 4s is not a usual thing, and as such is obviously a concern.
Something has changed. Is it good or bad?
If in doubt, have a jelly baby. :)
Sounds good to me!
Why the jelly baby? If you've never had an issue with hypo's there is no reason to fear them at all!
 

ert

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,588
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
diabetes
fasting
Why are you having jelly beans when your blood sugars are a healthy 4.4? I run my blood sugars at this level.
 

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Sounds good to me!
Why the jelly baby? If you've never had an issue with hypo's there is no reason to fear them at all!

I think you may be missing the difference between theory and practice.

In theory as a T2 on Metformin I should not go hypo. My liver should dump some glucose to bring my BG up, and should maintain a more or less steady fasting BG in the long term.

However this is still theory.
I am aware that Reactive Hypoglycemia is a thing, where the body can produce more insulin that can be counteracted by the body releasing glucose in the short term, so there are cases where a hypo is possible (however unlikely).
In theory I could just ignore it.
But in practice I am seeing something very atypical which causes my Libre 2 to sound an alarm.
It is the atypical bit, not the level itself, which causes concern.

Consider that I could be hypo unaware.
I can't tell from the way my body feels if I am at normal, low or high BG.
Therefore an edge case is that I am truly going hypo but my body won't recognise it.
Perhaps the first sign might be unconsciousness?
Unlikely, I agree, but totally impossible??

On balance, to me, the safest option is to take something to lift my BG a little.

If this keeps happening I would like to know why.
I might also experiment (with safety measures such as someone else standing by).
However if I did pass out I assume I would need someone to apply a glucagon pen (which I don't have, because T2 on Metformin).

At the moment, if my body shows a very abnormal response (for me) then very cautious seems the best option.


I know that some people run very low fasting BG (a non-diabetic consultant I know runs at around 3.5) but that is their "normal".

Edit: To add, as far as I can tell the reason I am in my current metabolic state is that the balancing mechanisms between (roughly) insulin and glucagon aren't working 100%.
I suspect that this is more than just my pancreas not producing enough insulin, or my tissues being insulin resistant.
If the mechanism is not working 100% then potentially anything could happen.

An analogy that I forgot to include:
Don't worry, he's just friendly, he won't bite.
{CHOMP}
How strange, he's never done that before!