Blood sugar increasing without eating anything

[nicki92]

Hi,

Every now and then my blood sugar seems to spike for no reason that I can think of. For example this afternoon four hours after lunch it shot up to over 11mmol. Any ideas as to what's causing this?

Thank you!

 

[In Response]

There are many things which affect our levels beyond food.
Any afternoon may be related to a drink or a stressful meeting or being cold or tired or exercise or ...
You don't mention what type of diabetes you have or how you treat it. If you have Type 1, it could be an issue with your basal (either running out if you are using MDI or set incorrectly if you have a pump).

 

[lucylocket61]

Hi,

Every now and then my blood sugar seems to spike for no reason that I can think of. For example this afternoon four hours after lunch it shot up to over 11mmol. Any ideas as to what's causing this?

Thank you!

as a type 2 controlled by diet only, if i get hungry my liver can and does dump glucose, causing my blood sugar levels to increase.

 

[nicki92]

There are many things which affect our levels beyond food.
Any afternoon may be related to a drink or a stressful meeting or being cold or tired or exercise or ...
You don't mention what type of diabetes you have or how you treat it. If you have Type 1, it could be an issue with your basal (either running out if you are using MDI or set incorrectly if you have a pump).

Thank you for the fast reply!
I have type 1, currently on injections, and was only diagnosed at the end of September, so everything is still very new and overwhelming.

 

[In Response]

Thank you for the fast reply!
I have type 1, currently on injections, and was only diagnosed at the end of September, so everything is still very new and overwhelming.

If you are new, you may also be experiencing the honeymoon period.
This is where your pancreas may still be producing some insulin. Unfortunately, it is not consistently producing insulin. Some days it may be on full insulin producing power (and you may experience hypos) and some days it may wear itself out and produce no insulin (so your levels go high).

The other thing I neglected to mention above is that some food can be absorbed slower than others, especially if they contain a lot of fat. For example, a cheese sandwich may result in a high blood sugar level in the afternoon because the bolus insulin is used up before the glucose peak.

To be honest, my advice (but I am not a doctor) would be not to stress about levels around 11, if these are spikes (up and back down again) rather than plateaus (up and stay there).