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Any ideas please?

LincolnLizzie

Well-Known Member
Messages
144
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi

I checked my blood at 1800 and I was 5.6, 2 hours after last food, and although I haven't eaten since and only drink peppermint tea my reading at 2300 was 6.8!

Been back over food consumption today and do not recognise any food which might do this.

For lunch we had a BBQ - hickory smoked ribs with a s&s marinade, but I had next to no marinade. Green salad, halloumi, watermelon and mint salad with oil based marinade, no sugar; vegetable terrine made from courgette, red peppers, tinned tomatoes, onion, tomato pureee, sun dried tomatoes, cream and eggs and Parmesan; avocado, feta and tomato salad. Pudding was 2 scoops of low carb ice cream.

I know sun dried tomatoes and tomato purée have a few carbs, but I only had 2 slices, so proportionally, not huge carbs, watermelon - again proportionally not a lot. I think perhaps a max of .20 carbs

But why would my BG rise by so much after getting a decent reading, any ideas please?

Update: 2.30am - now down to 4.9.


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Last edited by a moderator:
To be honest, I don't see this as anything like a big spike. Type 2s aim for being under 8.5 at maximum two hours after food, and more importantly a "jump" of less than 2mmols from the premeal level. Your reading is well inside that. As for causes, it's not just the food you eat (though some people, like me, get a little increase from any kind of peppers). As soon as you start to eat, there are chemical changes in the body, in the stomach, in the liver, pancreas, kidneys etc. Your level is actually pretty normal, and I am wondering what it was at 3 hours post meal..nice reading later on. Do you test every day before and after meals? What is your normal kind of reading. Sure, it would be nice to have readings around 5.6 all the time, but 6.8 two hours after a meal (ie.an increase of only 1.2mmols and still inside normal range - if the high end of that range) is nothing to be too concerned about at all. If these are your high levels, your next HbA1c will show you as technically non-diabetic. While there are good guidelines, we can differ in relation to certain individual foods, particularly fruits. Don't worry about it, and keep counting the carbs.
 

Thank you for all this helpful information. It wasn't the level really. It was the fact that it went up when I hadn't eaten anything and wondered why this happened and what had caused it as I couldn't see anything I had eaten in the previous meal. I think I must have phrased it misleadingly in my post.

I am testing regularly and, as you say, I'm getting nice readings through low carbing. I've managed to drop Glicazide and am only on basal insulin and Forxiga. Low carbing is definitely the way forward for me.


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Still new to this but 5.6 to 6.8 is not a big spike and from what I've read - is in the realms of satisfactory - although this does sound like a generalisation.
I think the problem might be in teh tomatoes - all of the different tomato products especially sun dried tomatoes - which like dried fruit, have very little water but a high amount of sugar. You might try looking at the glycemic index of these products, but still 6.8 - not bad.
Sean T2 Oct 2015, metformin diet and exercise - I eat tomatoes at least three times a day to help reduce the risk of colon cancer. Every family has its weakness - this is mine.
 
I see watermelon , tomatoes, tomato purée, sun dried tomatoes, onion, red peppers and ice cream. All on their own could spike me a bit. I also see a very large meal and that would put me over the edge.

There was also some fat that would delay the spike.
I'm just looking at it from my experience but to eat all that food and wind up where you did isn't too bad!
 
Seem a reasonable range to be honest, many things can cause a slight change in your BG.
Where you up to 2.30 AM, as if you were doing some sort of work until late, then just relaxing until you went to bed, that could explain it.
 
All the above comments make sense, digestion can happen at different rates depending on additional factors such as hydration and activity.

If you are under 8.5 @ 2 hours after food please don't be harsh on your self. Your doing a fantastic job. Keep it going

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
6.8 is absolutely fine, I wouldn't worry. There are so many things that can affect your bg.
 
Hi LincolnL.
The answer on your question is as follow:
If the Forxigas glucose secretion by the kidney is smaller then the glucagon production of glucose from the glycogen (by glycogenolysis) or from the biochemical process glyconeogenesis where amino acids are converted to glucose, then you get a increase in your blood glucose.
You can correct for this if you increase a little the basal insulins amount. Ask your doctor.
Before you do that you shod monitor for three days your blood glucose on the morning.
Moreover the glucometer, the instrument has an error tolerance interval.
I hope you can use my answer with exploit.
With Regards
Luna50
 
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