Carb spikes

[EllieM]

I've tried letting it ride and watched the meter go lower and lower (106 at its lowest point before I bailed), but, the false hypos are too much to handle right now.

Have you tried tricking your body by eating apiece of cheese or something else zero or low carb? In theory false hypos should disappear as you get used to the new lower levels (106mg/dL or 5.9mmol/L is mid range for non diabetics).....

 

[Resurgam]

But what about the false hypo symptoms that I can't tolerate at this time?

I suspect that you are over reacting and using too much carbohydrate to treat them which is why your levels are going up and down like they are.
For the few false hypos when reducing my glucose levels after diagnosis I took a warm drink and a few grapes - just two or three, and waited calmly for the sensation to pass, and it did.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Just a thought but on the odd occation the OP has had blood sugars 70 and below this may not be a false hypo or anything to to do with diabetes as one of the many symptoms of Dysautonomia listed is occational low blood sugar.obviously when false hypos are experienced carbs are not the answer but on the rare occations when these hypos are actuall hypoglycemic episodes they should not be ignored.

 

[docphi]

What about nudging it up just a little with, say, a slice of apple or a single bite of a piece of bread or such so the symptoms go away without spiking high?
If you feel rubbish at 106 bringing it up to 115 might be enough to feel better.
That way you still let your body get used to lower levels.

That's what I've been doing. Small bumps all day. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10 grams of carbs. Gradually bringing it to normal levels.

 

[docphi]

I suspect that you are over reacting and using too much carbohydrate to treat them which is why your levels are going up and down like they are.
For the few false hypos when reducing my glucose levels after diagnosis I took a warm drink and a few grapes - just two or three, and waited calmly for the sensation to pass, and it did.

Small bumps is what I've been doing. No huge spikes. Small amount of carbs to treat. Unfortunately, even one grape causes a big spike for me.

 

[docphi]

Have you tried tricking your body by eating apiece of cheese or something else zero or low carb? In theory false hypos should disappear as you get used to the new lower levels (106mg/dL or 5.9mmol/L is mid range for non diabetics).....

Tried it. Doesn't help. I suspect it will take some time.

 

[docphi]

Just a thought but on the odd occation the OP has had blood sugars 70 and below this may not be a false hypo or anything to to do with diabetes as one of the many symptoms of Dysautonomia listed is occational low blood sugar.obviously when false hypos are experienced carbs are not the answer but on the rare occations when these hypos are actuall hypoglycemic episodes they should not be ignored.

I've felt low blood sugar symptoms with my dysautonomia in the past (before diabetes), but, when I checked my sugar it was always normal so I attributed it to the dysautonomia. Now with the diabetes, I'm not sure anymore. I suspect the sympathetic discharge from the dyautonomia relapse is amplifying the false hypo symptoms. I don't think there's any way to treat that except wait for the dysautonomia to settle down. I've had two previous dysautonomia relapses and both times it took 10-12 months to be functional.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

@docphi
I've been talking on this forum recently about low BG and concerns.
In my case it is a Freestyle Libre 2 giving the readings and the sensor was reading a bit low.
I was getting warnings of 3.5 (or lower) and dropping.

I don't get hypo symptoms, though.

Real value was probably around 4.0/72.

My feeling was that although T2s "don't get hypos" and the CGM is really aimed at T1s who may not get the same "stop making insulin start making glucose" effect that T2s get, I would have a little something "just in case".

So I understand the anxiety.

However a value of 4.0/72 is low normal.
Some people have a fasting BG of 3.5/63 (including a diabetes specialist I know).
So I don't think the numbers you are seeing in themselves are low.
As you have noted, the real problem is the false hypos.
I would suggest trying to treat your diet as if you had Reactive Hypoglycemia because you are in effect forcing yourself onto the roller coaster.

If you are having 5-10 grams of carbs at regular intervals then you must be taking in a lot of carbs over the whole day. You might look at reducing this significantly.

If one strawberry spikes you, then that should perhaps be taken as a baseline and try half a strawberry, or a quarter. If you take small amounts of fruit then there isn't enough carbohydrates to have a major long term effect.
If you slam in a banana and a bunch of grapes you are going to spike big time.
Grapes are rocket fuel so probably wisest to steer clear.

Alternatively you could try the famous jelly baby.
Try one jelly baby.
If that is too much, try a half.
Just bite the head off.

Also, give it a little time to work.
It might take a few minutes to kick in, and it is easy to take more because you think that it isn't working.

Tough to work through this given your other complications, but I think you might be better setting your "panic button" BG level a bit lower in the hope that the false hypos will moderate.

 

[docphi]

@docphi
I've been talking on this forum recently about low BG and concerns.
In my case it is a Freestyle Libre 2 giving the readings and the sensor was reading a bit low.
I was getting warnings of 3.5 (or lower) and dropping.

I don't get hypo symptoms, though.

Real value was probably around 4.0/72.

My feeling was that although T2s "don't get hypos" and the CGM is really aimed at T1s who may not get the same "stop making insulin start making glucose" effect that T2s get, I would have a little something "just in case".

So I understand the anxiety.

However a value of 4.0/72 is low normal.
Some people have a fasting BG of 3.5/63 (including a diabetes specialist I know).
So I don't think the numbers you are seeing in themselves are low.
As you have noted, the real problem is the false hypos.
I would suggest trying to treat your diet as if you had Reactive Hypoglycemia because you are in effect forcing yourself onto the roller coaster.

If you are having 5-10 grams of carbs at regular intervals then you must be taking in a lot of carbs over the whole day. You might look at reducing this significantly.

If one strawberry spikes you, then that should perhaps be taken as a baseline and try half a strawberry, or a quarter. If you take small amounts of fruit then there isn't enough carbohydrates to have a major long term effect.
If you slam in a banana and a bunch of grapes you are going to spike big time.
Grapes are rocket fuel so probably wisest to steer clear.

Alternatively you could try the famous jelly baby.
Try one jelly baby.
If that is too much, try a half.
Just bite the head off.

Also, give it a little time to work.
It might take a few minutes to kick in, and it is easy to take more because you think that it isn't working.

Tough to work through this given your other complications, but I think you might be better setting your "panic button" BG level a bit lower in the hope that the false hypos will moderate.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply! When I was first diagnosed, I took my endo's advice about diet. Little did I know I had no carb tolerance. So I would eat fruit, oatmeal, whole grain bread, sweet potatoes, etc in balanced recommended portions. When the carbs kicked in the blood glucose would shoot up followed by the inevitable dropping like a stone. I would then eat half a turkey sandwich like the endo said to do and shoot up the other way. I ended up in the ER three times before I realized I was carb crashing. The roller coaster is now much smaller (max spike 160). Fasting in the morning is 130 (down from 180). Of course, the current eating process is not sustainable.

 

[Ronancastled]

I had some consistent low night time readings with my CGM.
Like @LittleGreyCat above I checked in the morning & found I was about 0.5mmol/L above my finger sticks.
Example of the CGM attached.

 

[docphi]

Here's some numbers from yesterday. A boring diet, but, I'm still figuring this out. Lows are in the 100's and symptomatic. Good news is I can tolerate into the 120's now so that's where I try and eat something.

2 eggs, cheese, 1/2 avacado, 1/2 wheat bread

7:45a 136

8:54a 156

9:50a 126



3 slice turkey, 1/2 cheese slice, tomato, spinach, 1/2 wheat bread

9:55a 125

10:45a 156

11:25a 126



Small chicken parm

11:30a 123

12:30p 150

1:15p 127



Turksam

1:15 127

1:45 154

2:30 132



Cup beef/beans chili

2:40 124

3:30 160

4:40 128



1/2 burger patty, cheese, tomato, lettuce, 1/2 wheat bread

4:40 128

5:20 135

5:55 125



TurkSam

5:55 125

6:40 136

7:00 124



Burg

7:00 124

7:40 136

8:25 124

 

[docphi]

Blood sugars running low today in the 100’s. No huge spikes. It’s crazy how it differs from day-to-day and even hour-to-hour.

 

[docphi]

5 months in from diagnosis and I can finally tolerate blood sugars in the 100-110 range without false hypo symptoms. Under 100 and it's a different story, however, I've really dropped the carbs and calories so it may just be I need to eat more. I can go 4 hours between breakfast and lunch (8a-12N). And I'll have a couple of snacks in the afternoon (3p and 5p). Dinner is at 7p. HgA1c is 6.6 from 8.6 and dropped 32 pounds. I would call it progress.

 

[docphi]

HgA1c down to 5.8 and lost almost 40 pounds total.