Spiking when eating ANYTHING!

[Indy1282]

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm so despondent. Everything spikes me and I have to take so much insulin all the time. Carb, protein, fats - doesn't make any difference i spike really high every time.

I pre bolus. I make sure my libre is on a down arrow before eating but nothing seems to make any difference!

I have just eaten 10g carbs and had to take 4 units and still I have spiked from 6mmoll to 10.8mmol.

I take Tresiba and Fiasp with metforim.

 

[ert]

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm so despondent. Everything spikes me and I have to take so much insulin all the time. Carb, protein, fats - doesn't make any difference i spike really high every time.

I pre bolus. I make sure my libre is on a down arrow before eating but nothing seems to make any difference!

I have just eaten 10g carbs and had to take 4 units and still I have spiked from 6mmoll to 10.8mmol.

I take Tresiba and Fiasp with metforim.

If you eat normally then you will spike your blood sugars. It's because injected insulin isn't like a normal person's insulin and follows a fixed curve over 5 hours and does not match the food you are eating. On DAFNE they teach you to check your blood sugars before eating and 5 hours after. If you have returned to the same level then your dose is correct.

 

[StewM]

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm so despondent. Everything spikes me and I have to take so much insulin all the time. Carb, protein, fats - doesn't make any difference i spike really high every time.

I pre bolus. I make sure my libre is on a down arrow before eating but nothing seems to make any difference!

I have just eaten 10g carbs and had to take 4 units and still I have spiked from 6mmoll to 10.8mmol.

I take Tresiba and Fiasp with metforim.

We'd need more information to help you. When is the spike occurring? What happens after the spike? I take it this is unusual for you, so when did this begin? What were you more used to happening?

 

[Indy1282]

If you eat normally then you will spike your blood sugars. It's because injected insulin isn't like a normal person's insulin and follows a fixed curve over 5 hours and does not match the food you are eating. On DAFNE they teach you to check your blood sugars before eating and 5 hours after. If you have returned to the same level then your dose is correct.

How do you mean eating normally? It doesn't matter if I eat a cottage pie or a tuna salad I still spike... I know that insulin takes longer when its injected which is why I wait until the arrow is down on my libre.

After 5 hours it would be back to normal but it shouldn't still spike so high and be elevated for 5 hours should it?!

 

[Indy1282]

We'd need more information to help you. When is the spike occurring? What happens after the spike? I take it this is unusual for you, so when did this begin? What were you more used to happening?

It happens after I eat. Even if my arrow is pointing down I still spike so it could be up to an hour or so after eating. My DSN just says to take more insulin but if i do that then i hypo after or even before sometimes.

 

[ert]

How do you mean eating normally? It doesn't matter if I eat a cottage pie or a tuna salad I still spike... I know that insulin takes longer when its injected which is why I wait until the arrow is down on my libre.

After 5 hours it would be back to normal but it shouldn't still spike so high and be elevated for 5 hours should it?!

As a type 1 they encourage you to eat what you like. That's called eating normally. And ignore the spikes. Myself, I eat keto to avoid spiking high. My diet is not encouraged or recommended for type 1's by my hospital team.

 

[Indy1282]

Ah yes, they do.

My problem is i spike even when eating low carb/keto??

So i could have a boiled egg for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch ans steak and veg for dinner and still spike ( sometimes as much as if i eaten carbs )

Hence the frustration... i have started going to the gym to but that hasn't helped either..

 

[ert]

Ah yes, they do.

My problem is i spike even when eating low carb/keto??

So i could have a boiled egg for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch ans steak and veg for dinner and still spike ( sometimes as much as if i eaten carbs )

Hence the frustration... i have started going to the gym to but that hasn't helped either..

I still spike on keto but nothing like eating normally. It's normal for your blood sugars to go up when glucose arrives from your liver to help with digestion and from your food. I try to walk for 20 minutes after eating to limit the high (and wait until my blood sugars drop 0.3 mmol/l before eating).

 

[In Response]

@Indy1282 are you aware that everyone spikes after eating, even those without diabetes?
How high do you spike and is it a real “spike” (up then down again) or is it a “plateau” (up then stay there)?
I ask because, if your levels are coming down, then you have enough insulin but you may need to pre-bolus earlier regardless whether your arrow is pointing down. I confess I have never used your technique as I would find it frustratingly unpredictable. I prefer to work out when to pre bolus based on when I want to eat. For breakfast, this can be earlier than other meals.

Regarding low/no carb meals, some find this keto diet easier. I found it incredibly difficult because you need to bolus for protein which, for me was a different ratio and bolus time (never pre-bolus) for every different type of protein. It was a different ratio for eggs and different for nuts and different for salmon and different again for prawns and different …

My final thought is whether your basal dose is correct. Have you done a basal test to check your levels are not rising due to insufficient basal insulin?

 

[Fairygodmother]

You say you’re taking metformin @Indy1282, is this because you’ve developed insulin resistance?
Do you keep a record of the ways different foods affect you?
Do you have a history of finding it difficult to keep blood sugars tamed?
There are times when many of us find it harder to stay level and the reasons for it are sometimes based on the amount of exercise we have, the ways different foods affect us, our own endocrine quirks, whether we’ve measured carbs or guessed (and got it wrong), the need to change basal doses as the weather gets warmer or colder, anxiety, fighting an infection or a bug . . .
It’s a wonderful life!
What do your nurse, GP, Consultant suggest? I know it’s hard to see them at the moment, but it might be a good idea to make an appointment or to email them. They should have your history to hand and may have good advice that’s specifically for you.
I hope you can solve it: but it seems to me that going from 6 to 10-11 isn’t bad. I usually wait until my reading’s about 5.5 before eating, and if the pre-bolus takes a long time then I know I may need to add another small dose. But that’s me. We’re all different.

 

[Indy1282]

You say you’re taking metformin @Indy1282, is this because you’ve developed insulin resistance?
Do you keep a record of the ways different foods affect you?
Do you have a history of finding it difficult to keep blood sugars tamed?
There are times when many of us find it harder to stay level and the reasons for it are sometimes based on the amount of exercise we have, the ways different foods affect us, our own endocrine quirks, whether we’ve measured carbs or guessed (and got it wrong), the need to change basal doses as the weather gets warmer or colder, anxiety, fighting an infection or a bug . . .
It’s a wonderful life!
What do your nurse, GP, Consultant suggest? I know it’s hard to see them at the moment, but it might be a good idea to make an appointment or to email them. They should have your history to hand and may have good advice that’s specifically for you.
I hope you can solve it: but it seems to me that going from 6 to 10-11 isn’t bad. I usually wait until my reading’s about 5.5 before eating, and if the pre-bolus takes a long time then I know I may need to add another small dose. But that’s me. We’re all different.

When i told my DSN that i was struggling with spikes she told me to take the metformin. It does help a lot with my spikes and general BS when i take it so i guess i must be insulin resistant - I am also about 4 stone overweight which probably doesn't help but i find it almost impossible to lose weight.

It's hard to say what foods are the worst - pasta is almost out of the question as i get a rise about 5 or 6 hours later 9 usually when i'm asleep ).

My main point of this post was that even when i limit carbs i still spike. i know that all people spike, even non diabetics , but it can go up to 12 - 15mmol sometimes. I know protein also can cause a spike albeit a slower one. I have told my Diabetic team that this happens - eg if i eat low car like a cheese omelette but all they say is it shouldn't happen as i'm not eating carbs!!

 

[ert]

When i told my DSN that i was struggling with spikes she told me to take the metformin. It does help a lot with my spikes and general BS when i take it so i guess i must be insulin resistant - I am also about 4 stone overweight which probably doesn't help but i find it almost impossible to lose weight.

It's hard to say what foods are the worst - pasta is almost out of the question as i get a rise about 5 or 6 hours later 9 usually when i'm asleep ).

My main point of this post was that even when i limit carbs i still spike. i know that all people spike, even non diabetics , but it can go up to 12 - 15mmol sometimes. I know protein also can cause a spike albeit a slower one. I have told my Diabetic team that this happens - eg if i eat low car like a cheese omelette but all they say is it shouldn't happen as i'm not eating carbs!!

On my DAFNE course when we all ate a carb-free meal, we all still spiked our blood sugar. It happens because your liver gives you glucose as part of digestion and protein breaks down to glucose. However, some people can take enough basal insulin to cover this but a lot of people find they can't without hypos, like me.

 

[StewM]

When i told my DSN that i was struggling with spikes she told me to take the metformin. It does help a lot with my spikes and general BS when i take it so i guess i must be insulin resistant - I am also about 4 stone overweight which probably doesn't help but i find it almost impossible to lose weight.

It's hard to say what foods are the worst - pasta is almost out of the question as i get a rise about 5 or 6 hours later 9 usually when i'm asleep ).

My main point of this post was that even when i limit carbs i still spike. i know that all people spike, even non diabetics , but it can go up to 12 - 15mmol sometimes. I know protein also can cause a spike albeit a slower one. I have told my Diabetic team that this happens - eg if i eat low car like a cheese omelette but all they say is it shouldn't happen as i'm not eating carbs!!

Like ert says whilst hypothetically a low/zero carb shouldn't spike you at all, some of us (myself included) would experience lows if we set our Basal to a level where the Basal essentially absorbed the protein.

So based on what you've said, you either need to take Fiasp with even your low/zero carb meals to account for Protein (and this is where Low Carb can very complicated) or you could see if you're able to tolerate a higher Basal dose.

Regarding the second option, you would be best checking the effectiveness of your current dose by doing a Basal Test. If you get flat blood sugars when you're not eating, it's doing its job correctly. If not, you could change it.