Blood Sugar Level - Very Worried

[daisy3174]

She might have been wrong, but my Diabetes Nurse advised me that it is dangerous to exercise when sugars are at the 14 level.
Is this true? My blood sugar frequently shoots between 10 and 14 while exercising(making me feel very giddy), does this mean I should stop running.I have told my Consultant about this and he says it does happen to some diabetics x

 

[MaryJ]

How's the level now Paul.

I must admit that with that breakfast I wouldn't have epxected it to be so high BUT if you have only just starting low-carbing (which it looks like from your post) you may be carrying a higher BG level anyway.

keep at it but bear in mind you just might need some meds help.

Mary x

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Were you on plain Metformin or Metformin SR (the Slow Release version)? If the former you may want to discuss with your new GP going back onto Met SR which is much better for the stomach and will help if you are overweight but you must diet as well as others have said.

 

[xyzzy]

Paul things won't happen on just one meal. When I was diagnosed my levels were in the 20's. It took me 8 weeks of eating the right foods at every meal to get my levels came down so that I could consistently get below 8 two hours after eating. What you should see is a gradual steady improvement day by day. Only if you don't see that gradual improvement should you be concerned.

Like the vast majority of us you will find the level you wake up at will be higher than when you went to bed. Its something called the dawn phenomenon which basically means in the early hours of the morning your liver dumps a load of sugar in your blood stream ready to give you energy for the new day. You can imagine that at the moment your liver is dumping loads of sugar each day because your body is expecting to need high sugar levels. As you start to eat safely that effect will also gradually subside but even with myself and many others it is still the highest reading of the day.

While your levels are high you should test just before you eat and make a note of it then test two hours after eating and aim for that two hour number not to be bigger than 2 higher than it was prior to eating.

If you swap to eating safe things then you may find that Metformin no longer has the bad side effects. Many people have found that those side effects are really Metformin telling you "don't eat that". Metformin is a very useful and safe diabetic medication. It will only knock around 1 or 2 off your overall levels but does help with "spikes" after you eat. It is also very good at protecting against heart disease and many off us who don't really need to take it for its blood level control still take it for the heart disease benefits alone. I would go back to the doctor and ask to be put on the slow release (SR) version of Metformin as this normally helps stop any side effects as well. I take 3 x 500mg of ordinary Metformin a day and suffer no side effects on the diet that people are recommending to you.

All of this is very worrying and confusing to start with but it does get rapidly better. I won't deny its hard work to begin with but what's a few weeks of hard work compared to the very high chance of knocking years off your life span.

Here's where I was at the same point in time you find yourself i.e. coming to terms with things and not on any medication. From Dec 8th I swapped to the style of "low carb" diet everyone is telling you about. For me I dropped all bread, cereals and potatoes but was still having small (couple of level tablespoons of rice and pasta).



Here's me 3 months later. On the same diet but by then I'd given up on rice and pasta as well except for a bit in my weekend takeaways

 

[smidge]

Hey Paul,

Thanks everyone, I tested before bed last night and it had come down to 10.9 but this morning when i woke up it was 11.1. I have tested again an hour and a half after breakfast and it's now 12.2!
Should I be making an appointment to see my doctor as I am not on any medication and it's worrying me.
Thanks
Paul

I'm not Type 2, but just want to make sure you understand something. As well as the actual level of your blood glucose (BG) (which you do need to reduce) it is the difference between your pre-meal and 2hour post meal level that you should be checking. So, this morning you were 11.1 at waking and 12.2 after your breakfast. That is a good breakfast because it only raised your BG by 1.1 m/mol. That's excellent - well done! If you think about it, once you get your pre-meal levels down to e.g. 5.1, a rise of 1.1 m/mol will leave you at 6.2 at the two hour mark, which would be brilliant! Keep going with the low-carb diet and you will achieve these levels.

Smidge

 

[Defren]

Hey Paul,

Thanks everyone, I tested before bed last night and it had come down to 10.9 but this morning when i woke up it was 11.1. I have tested again an hour and a half after breakfast and it's now 12.2!
Should I be making an appointment to see my doctor as I am not on any medication and it's worrying me.
Thanks
Paul

I'm not Type 2, but just want to make sure you understand something. As well as the actual level of your blood glucose (BG) (which you do need to reduce) it is the difference between your pre-meal and 2hour post meal level that you should be checking. So, this morning you were 11.1 at waking and 12.2 after your breakfast. That is a good breakfast because it only raised your BG by 1.1 m/mol. That's excellent - well done! If you think about it, once you get your pre-meal levels down to e.g. 5.1, a rise of 1.1 m/mol will leave you at 6.2 at the two hour mark, which would be brilliant! Keep going with the low-carb diet and you will achieve these levels.

Smidge

+1

Smidge is spot on. A 1.1 raise after a meal is fantastic. You need to remember when you eat your BG will rise, simply because there is food being put into your body that will alter the pre meal results. It's how low you keep that rise, and 1.1 is acceptable to any of us.

Your BG's will come down providing you stick to the advice you have been given, but remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and it will take a little time. It will be a bit disheartening initially, but when your figures start to fall, you will be shouting it on here, and we will be thrilled to celebrate with you. We all had to start somewhere so do understand how you are feeling.

Ask your GP for Metformin SR, they seem to be a good bit easier to take for anyone who has trouble with the regular Metformin. They are an exceptionally safe medication, BUT always take them with food or your going to pay the price. Otherwise they are a brilliant drug to take.

Now you just have to keep on keeping on, cut the carbs and embrace your new lifestyle, it's not nearly as bad as you suppose it might be.