Rise in blood sugar

[SheilaCanning]

I was diagnosed in February 2021 with Type 2 diabetes with an HbA1c of 7.7 (60.7) By May low carbing got me to HbA1c 6.2 (44.3). I've stuck to my low carb diet most of the time and although my morning reading is often 8 during the day I go between 6 and 7.8 usually, and if I leave it a bit too long before dinner 5.7 is a low at which point I start to feel light headed.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I had a few cocktails and chips but nothing too awful - no cake! My sugars seemed fine. Last week my mum took me for a late birthday lunch and again I had a couple of cocktails and then Saturday I shared some chinese takeaway with my family. I've been able to get away with this occasionally - I mainly eat the ribs and seaweed. Usually, if I have something a bit carby it's only the next read that goes up to 8 or 9 and then it's back to normal the next reading. However, despite sticking to my usual low carb diet for the last 4 days my blood sugar is still higher than normal - between 7 and 8. I'm having a tiny panic. It'll go back down again, won't it! Is it really protesting at the cocktails or could it be something else. Argh!

 

[bulkbiker]

Could be anything.. poor sleep, coming down with something, worrying about blood sugar readings....
You could try ultra low carb/carnivore for a couple of days and see if that helps.

It does sound like you have been "playing around the edges" with too many carbs so you might have pushed yourself back into T2 from pre diabetes levels. It might be you need to try keto to get low enough.

 

[1970clea]

I think the seaweed is fairly sugar heavy?

 

[SheilaCanning]

I think the seaweed is fairly sugar heavy?

Yes, it is, but it shouldn't lead to days of high blood readings should it?

 

[SheilaCanning]

I've been "strict" for four days now and just got my highest reading yet - 9.8.
I'm wondering if stress is messing things up a bit.
Or if I've done it to myself like an eejit.

 

[AndBreathe]

I've been "strict" for four days now and just got my highest reading yet - 9.8.
I'm wondering if stress is messing things up a bit.
Or if I've done it to myself like an eejit.

Sheila, are you well in yourself? One common thing to bump the numbers up a bit for a few days is being under the weather.

Have you started a new pot or batch of test strips? Sometimes a pot or batch can read a bit higher, and lead to lots of frustration.

 

[LucySW]

Yes, it is, but it shouldn't lead to days of high blood readings should it?

Hi Sheila. It may be that having knocked yourself out of equilibrium, it will take your body a few days of (your) strictly optimal eating for your metabolism to right itself. I wouldn’t worry but would give it a week.

That’s what happens to me. My situation is entirely different from yours (I’m a late-onset mild T1 aged 60 whose T1 has been worsening precisely because I have been ‘nibbling around the margins’, as poster above put it so well). But this may possibly be a quite widespread thing.

It’s happened to me repeatedly that when I start concentrating again (after 7 years of LCHF I get very bored with it), my BG does stop behaving erratically & goes back to something more predictable.

 

[SheilaCanning]

Hi Sheila. It may be that having knocked yourself out of equilibrium, it will take your body a few days of (your) strictly optimal eating for your metabolism to right itself. I wouldn’t worry but would give it a week.

That’s what happens to me. My situation is entirely different from yours (I’m a late-onset mild T1 aged 60 whose T1 has been worsening precisely because I have been ‘nibbling around the margins’, as poster above put it so well). But this may possibly be a quite widespread thing.

It’s happened to me repeatedly that when I start concentrating again (after 7 years of LCHF I get very bored with it), my BG does stop behaving erratically & goes back to something more predictable.

Thank you! Yes, it does seem to have settled again, took a week or so to get there. Like you, I can see me regularly getting bored and thinking, ooh, a little treat here and there won't hurt, but maybe it will!

 

[jjne]

Sheila, are you well in yourself? One common thing to bump the numbers up a bit for a few days is being under the weather.

Have you started a new pot or batch of test strips? Sometimes a pot or batch can read a bit higher, and lead to lots of frustration.

Also, as I recently found out, something as simple as a change of soap when cleaning hands before a rest can throw the numbers off. Some new "Pears" menthol soap knocked my numbers up by over a point - fixed by more thorough removal of the soap residue.

I coupled this with a change of strips that were reading half a point higher than the old ones and it gave me quite the jolt.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Also, as I recently found out, something as simple as a change of soap when cleaning hands before a rest can throw the numbers off. Some new "Pears" menthol soap knocked my numbers up by over a point - fixed by more thorough removal of the soap residue.

I coupled this with a change of strips that were reading half a point higher than the old ones and it gave me quite the jolt.

I very rarely use soaps when cleaning my hands before testing as I have found most soaps skew the readings I tend to just rinse my hands under warm running water from the tap and then dry thoroughly. .

 

[Member496333]

Sometimes when you are strict, whatever that means to the individual, blood glucose levels can go up for a while. Jason Fung has talked about this. I believe the cited mechanism is that falling insulin levels allow glucose to come flooding out of the liver and tissues where they were previously dammed by permanent hyperinsulinemia. His answer to this problem was that it’s better to have glucose in the blood where it can be used, rather than having it soaking nerves, eyes, tissues etc. Obviously I am not qualified to lend credence to this theory but it makes sense to me, and Fung is no idiot. Stop putting glucose in, and eventually things will level off. Presuming no long lasting damage to the pancreas.

 

[SheilaCanning]

despite your low carb diet have you been on any medication. Is there any kind of stress?

I am perimenopausal and have started HRT so sometimes it's hard to know what is causing which weird symptom!

 

[LucySW]

Hang on to that HRT tooth & nail, Sheila. It won’t, in my experience, be causing raised BG. It will be keeping your metabolism in order. It’s a godsend for menopausal women & I wish people were less cagey about it. Medics I respect eg Pater Attia say it’s more clear that the Nurses’ Study was interpreted wrong.

 

[Resurgam]

Hang on to that HRT tooth & nail, Sheila. It won’t, in my experience, be causing raised BG. It will be keeping your metabolism in order. It’s a godsend for menopausal women & I wish people were less cagey about it. Medics I respect eg Pater Attia say it’s more clear that the Nurses’ Study was interpreted wrong.

I went through menopause, never even noticed.