Any advice please?

[joelcam]

Hi,

Something weird is happening with my readings and I don't get it.

I am checking my levels 2 hours after breakfast and I am higher than I want to be (8 or 9mmol usually). Then an hour or so later I am having a hypo and I'm between 3 and 3.5mmol.

I am thinking it may be that my Levemir dose may be wrong but I have always had 12 units in the evening and I'm only now getting this problem. The hypo doesn't bother me but the high reading does. If I inject more with breakfast then obviously my hypo will happen quicker and be more severe so I don't know what to do.

Could it be my breakfast as I am having wholemeal toast? Do I need something with slower cating carbs maybe, like porridge? On the subject of porridge, I only like it if it's sweetened with honey / sugar, so not really something I can eat - anyone have any ideas how to liven it up a bit?

I am thinking of doing some basal testing but before I do, does anyone have any thoughts?

JC

 

[Snodger]

it sounds to me like it's the quick acting. But as you say, the best way to check is do some carb free breakfasts and see if you go hypo at the same time.

Personally I would recommend not worrying too much - 8 or 9 after meals, if you are on target before lunch, is not going to bring your hba1c up that much. In fact, IMO it's better to have that and avoid multiple hypos than get hypos all the time and risk losing your warning symptoms.
However, if you personally are feeling ill with the bg spike and you really can't stand it then you could maybe try injecting your quick acting a bit earlier before you eat, or eating your breakfast more slowly, or (if you don't have to worry about your weight) including more fat in it to slow absorption.

 

[RussG]

Agree with Snodger; sounds more likely to be fast acting at fault. I'm quite often about the eight or nine mark two hours after meals, but drop into hypo territory if I take any more fast acting. I've decided not to worry too much as my HbA1c is good, and I'm always at good levels by the next meal.

How about Splenda in your porridge, or peanut butter on your toast?

 

[sugar2]

Also agree with Snodger.

Apologies, i can't remember the exact sourceofthis information, but might be worth you "googling".
If a non diabetic ate the breakfast you eat...what would their BG rise to? I think that a reading of 8 is not unusual?

 

[noblehead]

Hi Joel,

Most people with diabetes eating carbs would expect to see a 2-3mmol rise in bg after eating so if your bg is say 5.5 - 6 before eating then it is perfectly normal.

Wholemeal bread is similar to white bread and tends to spike my bg and this is the reason I switched some time ago to Burgen Soya & Linseed, it has a lower gi than most supermarket shelf bread and is less inclined to spike by releasing its energy over a longer period. My breakfast choice is porridge with berries, seeds and low-fat yogurt, it doesn't cause a spike and my bg hits around 8 on the hour and falls back to around 5- 6 two hours after eating.....here it stays and very rarely do I suffer from post breakfast hypo's.

Adding honey or sugar to porridge is not a good idea and will ultimately lead to similar or higher spikes than you are experiencing now, low-carb fruit such as strawberry's and blueberry's are ideal to sweeten porridge.......in time your taste buds will adapt!

 

[joelcam]

Thanks for the replies so far - much appreciated...

One thing I did not though was the fact that fat slows down absorbtion of carbs (which I heard before but never really taken much notice of).

Interestingly this week I have started training again and I'm trying to cut as much fat out of my diet as I can, so with my toast I have not been having any butter or spread of any sort. I have just been having marmite straight onto the toast - maybe this is what's caused it.

JC

 

[RussG]

Putting marmite on toast without butter is consider a sign of serious abnormality in my house.