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After a medium banana

Hodge1960

Hodge1960

Well-Known Member
Messages
59
Location
York
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi, I would like to put a question to you, I had a medium banana yesterday a for a snack ...about 90 mins later I felt dizzy and weird tested my sugar ,18.6...I don't know what be should go up to two hours after eating was 8.3 (though not sure why as gp says I am not diabetic or pre) thankfully though am still having FBS over normal as well as pre and post meals over normal readings into pre and t2.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hi. If you are saying that a banana made your blood sugar go up to 18.6 after 90 minutes then that implies you do have diabetes. After 2 hours you should come down to below 8-9 mmol assuming it was near normal before having the banana. I don't quite understand your last sentence but I would go back to the GP and tell him about the reading and ask for further diabetes tests. Even at 18.6, that blood sugar level shouldn't normally make you feel dizzy or weird. Is it possible that you have an infection which might explain the high blood sugar and feeling unwell?
 
I have no infection at the moment gp. Also this thyroid and other tests which came Back ok my a1c was only 40 . but my readings for fasting and pre/ post meal are always above normal range.
 
From a T1 point of view, for me different foods spike me differently, but as a general rule, 10g of carbs raises me, on average 2.75 mmol. Therefore, with no insulin, 30 grams of carbs could easily take me up from 8.3 to 16. If your FBS is normal, I would look at other causes; could you have had some banana left on your finger or any other substance that could give you the false reading instead?
 
Most tropical fruit is a red rag to a diabetic bull. They will spike most of us. Black bananas are the worst,then yellow, then green (least ripe), so if you eat banana, avoid the ripe ones. The sugar rush should be over quite quickly though.

A reading of 18 would not make me ill at all, but then I am a bit weird. I have spiked into the 30's and not noticed it except by testing. The tip about fingerwashing is valid, since residues can invalidate bgl readings quite easily. even sweat is a problem since it makes the skin more conductive. Saliva has enzymes that can interfere too.
 
I would say a banana is a poor choice of food to test out your reactions. It is full of quick acting carbohydrate that converts to glucose almost immediately it hits your tongue - which is why it was eaten by athletes during competitions (especially tennis players) for a quick injection of energy before they discovered glucose sweets. I would be surprised if your peak wasn't much earlier than 90 minutes to be honest.
I suggest you keep a food diary, test before you eat and 1 and 2 hours after first bite. Record your levels alongside the food and take your findings to the doctor.
Perhaps you should also make your doctor aware that not everyone's HbA1c reflects their true glucose levels. HbA1c results can be skewed by abnormal red blood cells just as one example, for instance people with anaemia.
 
1 carb raises me about 7 points so 30 would send me to the moon.

I do think you need further testing. That is quite a spike for someone without BS disregulation. I low carb diet may be all you need. Bananas don't work lol
 
IF you need banana I would say just eat half with some nut butter to slow the spike
 
...and try it slightly green:( it will have lower sugar
 
Kristin251 said:
1 carb raises me about 7 points so 30 would send me to the moon.

I do think you need further testing. That is quite a spike for someone without BS disregulation. I low carb diet may be all you need. Bananas don't work lol
Click to expand...

1gr of cab raises you 7 points?
 
I know right? If I'm a tad low at night I can eat a radish and go up 7 points. Ridiculous.
This is of course since T 1 diagnosis and making no insulin. I had an episode when 2 hours after insulin and eating I was 57. Got a Caesar salad and just ate the lettuce and no carb dressing. No cheese or croutons of course. An hour later I was 98. Lesson learned.
 
azure said:
@Kristin251 I guess you're using US measurements when you say "7 points"?

There's a converter here:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

We use mmol in the UK and the majority of posts here will be in mmols too.

Just in case anyone was worrying that your blood sugar had risen madly! 7mg/dl is 0.4mmol :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Azure for that! I thought it very odd! It makes much more sense now. I hadn't realised Kristin was from over the pond.
 
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