BGL question

[Deediabetic]

Hello All.

I'm six months into this journey and have gotten myself from an extremely high hba1c to one in normal range in three months, thanks to all you lovely people and your advice. So thankyou for all your help. It's made this whole thing so much easier to navigate.

I test my BGLs pretty consistently and my numbers are always between a 5.3 and at highest a 7.6, and no more than 2 higher post prandial. I'm fairly careful with my diet but will occasionally have a small amount of pasta and have even had a ham and cheese croissant a few times, with no ill effects to my BGLs. Today I really felt like a Bahn mi (Vietnamese roll) and hadn't had one since before diagnosis so as a treat, hubby and I decided to get one. It was delicious but it spiked me something terribly as I expected because lots of sugar in the meat marinade, pickle vege and a white bread roll made of rice flour. Went from a 5.9 to a 9.6. I've not seen anything over a 7.6 since I started testing. I just tested myself before dinner and I saw a 4.8 which is also a number I haven't seen ever either. Can you more knowledgeable people explain why I went so low for me after such a high? I suspect that it is not a coincidence and someone can explain the why to me. I'm not too stressed about it as a once in a while but I'm just curious as to the biological mechanism at play here.

Thanks in advance

 

[catinahat]

The accuracy standard for all meters is plus/minus %15 so the number you see is not necessarily your actual level. When you take into account the %15 , your 4.8 could easily have been 5 point something, likewise when you get a 5 it could actually be anything from 4.2 to 5.8
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose-meters/blood-glucose-meter-accuracy.html

 

[In Response]

Can you more knowledgeable people explain why I went so low for me after such a high? I suspect that it is not a coincidence and someone can explain the why to me. I'm not too stressed about it as a once in a while but I'm just curious as to the biological mechanism at play here.

Did you walk to the restaurant/cafe rather than eating at home? I little bit of exercise is likely to drop your levels a bit..
Even the excitement of looking forward to a Banh Mi can have a an effect.

Regarding the "high", I would suggest you don't fear it quite so much. If you look for Libre graphs of people without diabetes on the internet, you will see that a peak of around 10 is not unheard of. It is the time it takes to get back down that is more important. A spike (up and back down) is far less of a problem than a plateau (up and stay there) provided it is an occasional thing rather than every day.

And if you enjoy banh mi, you could try making your own. I have a recipe for aubergine ( I don't eat meat) banh mi which I can tweak to remove some of the sugar in the pickles.

 

[ianf0ster]

Some people find that due to their particular insulin response, their BG levels tend to overshoot both on the high and the low side.
Consider this possible scenario: You eat some high GL high GI carbs and your BG rises as your insulin struggles to keep pace, so your BG rises higher than you normally see But your Insulin is also at record levels in trying to deal with all that glucose.
Then you have no more glucose coming from digestion, but your insulin is still at record levels because of all that glucose you just digested. Well naturally it deals with the excess glucose in your bloodstream, but now you have excess insulin, so it drives down your glucose (to record levels) until your liver catches up and dumps more glucose into your bloodstream to stabilise the level in the normal range.

Our bodies don't always react instantly. Some people suffer from reactive hypoglycemia where because of both pancreas an liver being a bit slow their BG levels are like a rollercoaster spiking too high, then too low, then too high etc. The best way of controlling this is never to let the BG get go too high in the first place.

 

[bulkbiker]

. Went from a 5.9 to a 9.6. I've not seen anything over a 7.6 since I started testing. I just tested myself before dinner and I saw a 4.8 which is also a number I haven't seen ever either.

Yes the bahn mi gave you a spike and your endogenous insulin production (that has been used less due to low carbing and has likely normalised) overreacted a bit and created a bit more insulin than was needed so you got the 4.8.
The 4.8 is great of course but that's likely the reason.

 

[AGC_68]

Hello All.

I'm six months into this journey and have gotten myself from an extremely high hba1c to one in normal range in three months, thanks to all you lovely people and your advice. So thankyou for all your help. It's made this whole thing so much easier to navigate.

I test my BGLs pretty consistently and my numbers are always between a 5.3 and at highest a 7.6, and no more than 2 higher post prandial. I'm fairly careful with my diet but will occasionally have a small amount of pasta and have even had a ham and cheese croissant a few times, with no ill effects to my BGLs. Today I really felt like a Bahn mi (Vietnamese roll) and hadn't had one since before diagnosis so as a treat, hubby and I decided to get one. It was delicious but it spiked me something terribly as I expected because lots of sugar in the meat marinade, pickle vege and a white bread roll made of rice flour. Went from a 5.9 to a 9.6. I've not seen anything over a 7.6 since I started testing. I just tested myself before dinner and I saw a 4.8 which is also a number I haven't seen ever either. Can you more knowledgeable people explain why I went so low for me after such a high? I suspect that it is not a coincidence and someone can explain the why to me. I'm not too stressed about it as a once in a while but I'm just curious as to the biological mechanism at play here.

Thanks in advance

Congrats on getting your T2 under control! You ate a very sugar/carb rich meal. So no surprise that the BG went high. But you probably now have the metabolic flexibility to deal with it. You released the insulin required to deal with the spike, your body is able to store away the excess BG from the meal in muscle and/or adipose fat under the effect of insulin, your BG came down. After a high GI meal the surge in the insulin response does tend to lead to the BGs dropping to a lower level than they started at, which is why people can feel tired and hungry again a couple of hours later. It is the normal response in a metabolically flexible person. I'd say this shows that you now have the metabolic flexibility back that you had lost when you became T2 diabetic. As long as such meals are occasional and you don't habitually consume more energy that you need I would see no reason to worry about it. As a T2 you only become insulin resistant in terms of dealing with BG levels, if you have pushed you adipose and muscle stores to the limit and they simply cannot accept more storage of glucose being pushed into them from the blood compartment. That's when the trouble starts. Right now, it sounds to me like you're in a very good place and can stay there with continued good diet and lifestyle, and enjoy the occasional high GI treat. If over time you fill up your adipose compartment or your muscle compartment with the excess energy by excessive overconsuming, then you go back down the road that led most of us to T2. But right now, sounds to me like you're in great place! Congrats!!

 

[Deleted member 543160]

@bulkbiker put it neatly! I've eaten a low carb diet for over 8 years, and I've sometimes (though very rarely!) seen an unexpected lower than usual result after eating something highish in carbs, and I assume it's simply my body slightly misjudging things and getting it wrong overcompensating with a bit extra insulin.

These high/low swings can also happen fairly regularly if someone is suffering from reactive hypoglycemia as already explained, but a single or rare occurrence should not be treated as a big issue, just something to be aware of. IMO.

 

[Deediabetic]

Did you walk to the restaurant/cafe rather than eating at home? I little bit of exercise is likely to drop your levels a bit..
Even the excitement of looking forward to a Banh Mi can have a an effect.

Regarding the "high", I would suggest you don't fear it quite so much. If you look for Libre graphs of people without diabetes on the internet, you will see that a peak of around 10 is not unheard of. It is the time it takes to get back down that is more important. A spike (up and back down) is far less of a problem than a plateau (up and stay there) provided it is an occasional thing rather than every day.

And if you enjoy banh mi, you could try making your own. I have a recipe for aubergine ( I don't eat meat) banh mi which I can tweak to remove some of the sugar in the pickles.

Thank you so much. I've never thought of making my own and will give that a go. We are trying to get pregnant so a banh mi won't be a safe pregnancy food because of the pate and meat. Combine that with my type 2 so it definitely won't be something I'll be having for an occasional treat for a long while but a low carb home made version with some really great high fat crispy roast pork might just fill that void safely for me as a type 2 and a hopefully pregnant soon one!

 

[Deediabetic]

Some people find that due to their particular insulin response, their BG levels tend to overshoot both on the high and the low side.
Consider this possible scenario: You eat some high GL high GI carbs and your BG rises as your insulin struggles to keep pace, so your BG rises higher than you normally see But your Insulin is also at record levels in trying to deal with all that glucose.
Then you have no more glucose coming from digestion, but your insulin is still at record levels because of all that glucose you just digested. Well naturally it deals with the excess glucose in your bloodstream, but now you have excess insulin, so it drives down your glucose (to record levels) until your liver catches up and dumps more glucose into your bloodstream to stabilise the level in the normal range.

Our bodies don't always react instantly. Some people suffer from reactive hypoglycemia where because of both pancreas an liver being a bit slow their BG levels are like a rollercoaster spiking too high, then too low, then too high etc. The best way of controlling this is never to let the BG get go too high in the first place.

Thanks for explaining that. I really do try to be good and stick to my low carb lifestyle so this occasion definitely made me more aware of how not so great food choices affect my bgls.

 

[Deediabetic]

Yes the bahn mi gave you a spike and your endogenous insulin production (that has been used less due to low carbing and has likely normalised) overreacted a bit and created a bit more insulin than was needed so you got the 4.8.
The 4.8 is great of course but that's likely the reason.

Haha! The 4.8 would be awesome in any other scenario for me but when I saw it I knew it had to do with a biological mechanism as a result of my high bgl after my carb rich meal. I have noticed though that over the last few weeks my fasting bgls have come down a lot and that I'm seeing more numbers in the 5s oftem when doing my pre meal tests. I'm still eating the same meals as before and doing the same excercise which is interesting to me.

 

[bulkbiker]

Haha! The 4.8 would be awesome in any other scenario for me but when I saw it I knew it had to do with a biological mechanism as a result of my high bgl after my carb rich meal. I have noticed though that over the last few weeks my fasting bgls have come down a lot and that I'm seeing more numbers in the 5s oftem when doing my pre meal tests. I'm still eating the same meals as before and doing the same excercise which is interesting to me.

You're recovering insulin response, well done!

 

[Deediabetic]

Congrats on getting your T2 under control! You ate a very sugar/carb rich meal. So no surprise that the BG went high. But you probably now have the metabolic flexibility to deal with it. You released the insulin required to deal with the spike, your body is able to store away the excess BG from the meal in muscle and/or adipose fat under the effect of insulin, your BG came down. After a high GI meal the surge in the insulin response does tend to lead to the BGs dropping to a lower level than they started at, which is why people can feel tired and hungry again a couple of hours later. It is the normal response in a metabolically flexible person. I'd say this shows that you now have the metabolic flexibility back that you had lost when you became T2 diabetic. As long as such meals are occasional and you don't habitually consume more energy that you need I would see no reason to worry about it. As a T2 you only become insulin resistant in terms of dealing with BG levels, if you have pushed you adipose and muscle stores to the limit and they simply cannot accept more storage of glucose being pushed into them from the blood compartment. That's when the trouble starts. Right now, it sounds to me like you're in a very good place and can stay there with continued good diet and lifestyle, and enjoy the occasional high GI treat. If over time you fill up your adipose compartment or your muscle compartment with the excess energy by excessive overconsuming, then you go back down the road that led most of us to T2. But right now, sounds to me like you're in great place! Congrats!!

Thank you for that. I've noticed in the last 2 weeks that my fasting bgls have come down a lot and I'm seeing 5s a lot more often when testing my pre prandial bgls. I wouldn't have had the banh mi as a treat or a tester before but seeing my lower numbers, I thought maybe my body was starting to heal a little bit and that this would be a tasty way to test it! This is definitely an occasional thing for me and was a good reminder of why I need to stick to low carb. I really do feel better on low carb and I honestly dont really have the same taste buds and cravings of before. I can leave a chip now but before if I had a packet of crisps in my pantry they'd call to me like sirens song until I answered that call and demolished the whole packet!

 

[Deediabetic]

You're recovering insulin response, well done!

Yay! Glad to hear that! Was thinking that my body was healing a little but I wasn't sure because I'm new to this and nor very educated on the subject. I have also noted a scar that I've had for 5 years from a spider bite has dramatically faded in the last two weeks too. Don't know if that's a coincidence too or part of my body healing from getting my type 2 into line through weightloss, low carb and exercise.

 

[bulkbiker]

The 4.8 would be awesome in any other scenario

Still is awesome.