Diabetes side effects

[Caleb Murdock]

Normal fasting BS is about 5.0, and normal post-prandial numbers are about 7.0, and those are the numbers you should aim for (or perhaps a little higher to give you a cushion against hypos -- say, 5.5 and 8.0). I used 9.5 only as an example -- it is really too high. As a type-1 diabetic who produces no insulin of your own (or very little), you should probably be taking Lantus once a day and regular insulin before the two meals that have the most carbs. It's a lot of insulin to take, but that's what's necessary to duplicate the action of your pancreas.

 

[lynn b]

Hi
just a thought....has your gp checked your b12 level? may be worth a try- we have found alot of people on metformin with low /borderline b12 and can cause all kind of side effects. may be worth a try?
cheers
Lynn

 

[the east man]

I think that most people, myself included, would say that postprandial readings are the most important as if they are high (spikes) that will have a direct effect your HbA1c but if they can be levelled out then the A1C comes down as a consequence, where as a fasting reading tells you very little other than to pat yourself on the back if they are low or to worry if they are high. Everything is dependant on your postprandial readings.

That's not my opinion. I don't think the experts are certain about it.

Which is better, a BS level that is constantly 8.0, or a BS level that ranges from 6.0 to 9.5? I don't think we know. Certainly, BS spikes after meals aren't good, but it is also important to get your BS down between meals. A person who is able to get down to 6.0 between meals probably isn't having spikes to 9.5 anyway (unless he or she is taking insulin, which can result in sharp spikes if a shot is missed). Thus, focussing on your fasting BS levels isn't a bad strategy because it will probably bring down your post-prandial levels also.

I agree that all BG readings are important, but from what I have found, the consenus seems to be that post meal readings are the most important ones. My pre meal and after meal readings I have no problem with, I know what to eat, and I can keep it under control. But I have never been able to control my fasting readings (saying that, they range from 6.5 7.9 so not too bad) so I have researched this area of liver dump and "Dawn phenomenon" more than other areas, and I have tried every scenario, eg not eating before going to bed, eating before going to bed, eating cheese before going to bed, eating carbs before going to bed etc etc, and nothing works. the only time I would have low Bg in fasting, would be after a few beers the night before, and I really don't want to do that every night. Again just reading things on here and other web sites the only sort of conclusion I can come to is that I train 5 days a week, first thing in the morning, and whether my body is saying I need extra sugar to compensate this activity every day and starts dumping sugar into my system. Its not ideal, but if every other aspect is under control, I can live with it
Sid, as for your regime of eating a bit of everything but in small portions, probably works for some people, but as i said I train 5 days a week, and I need to eat bigger portions, and if I ate any more carbs than do now, I know I would lose control of my BG levels, so I eat a LCHF diet. But as we all know, each to their own, and if what you are doing works for you, keep working at it.

 

[Caleb Murdock]

I may have caused confusion with my use of the word "fasting". I tend to use it to mean any time that I haven't eaten for many hours, long enough for the carbohydrates from the last meal to have been digested. I guess that's my mistake.

My experience is that the morning reading reflects the overall level of carbohydrates I am eating. If I am eating 150 grams of carbs a day or less, my morning readings will be good. If I am eating 200 grams or more, my morning readings will be less good. It all seems to depend on whether my body is socking away a lot of sugar in my liver every day. (I inject insulin. If you don't, you may have to eat less.) As a person who is athletic, you can get away with eating more carbs than other people, but you still may be over-doing it.

 

[phoenix]

This is the strand of information I have been looking for !!!!!

As a Type 1, can anyone give me some guidelines on what the BS spikes should look like? Reading this, 9.5 should be the top end ... is that after 1 hour? And does it make a difference what insulin regime we're on?

I can't get the diabetic staff to explore options and talk round things! Its driving me bonkers as I'm making loads of mistakes as I try out different doses and foods.

It's a very different situation when you are using insulin and the guidelines for T1 are different. From your previous posts you are also still in your honeymoon, are you still just taking rapid insulin or have you reintroduced a basal insulin? I think that most of us on here are either using MDI , using a basal insulin plus rapid insulin for meals (normally 3x) or a pump but there are people who have used other regimes in the past.
With rapid insulin one of the important things to remember is that it can still be active for up to 5 hours. You don't want to be too low at 1 hour if that results in a hypo later. I wouldn't test at one hour and I believe that the DAFNE course suggests only testing immediately before meals.. not at 2 hours (+ fasting, bedtime and exercise/driving related tests)
( just to show what can happen even if you are high , I was on a long journey the other day. Had a sandwich for lunch and probably just under a couple of hours later tested mid flight; I wasn't pleased to be at 11.6mmol/l (far higher than normal) so gave myself a correction dose... 2 hours later after collecting my baggage, and lugging it to the train I was down at 3.4mmol/l . )
Trying to achieve 'normal' levels in T1 is a matter of balancing carb intake, insulin dose and exercise; a bit like a 3 legged stool if one bit isn't right it can get a bit wobbly!
Perhaps you should ask the question with some of your own readings on the T1 forum where it's more likely to be seen.

 

[Etty]

Had a sandwich for lunch and probably just under a couple of hours later tested mid flight; I wasn't pleased to be at 11.6mmol/l (far higher than normal) so gave myself a correction dose... 2 hours later after collecting my baggage, and lugging it to the train I was down at 3.4mmol/l [/i]. )
Trying to achieve 'normal' levels in T1 is a matter of balancing carb intake, insulin dose and exercise; a bit like a 3 legged stool if one bit isn't right it can get a bit wobbly!

Would you agree, though, that if you did not 2 pieces of bread for lunch, your stool would be a little less wobbly?

 

[Etty]

... the only sort of conclusion I can come to is that I train 5 days a week, first thing in the morning, and whether my body is saying I need extra sugar to compensate this activity every day and starts dumping sugar into my system.

Have you tried exercising in the afternoons for a few weeks? It would be an interesting experiment. Bernstein mentions some patients who's BS drops with afternoon exercise, but goes up with morning exercise. He suggests not exercising for 3 hours after rising for most of us.