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carbs for breakfast

hollyslot

Well-Known Member
it seems that whenever i eat carbohydrate in the morning for breakfast my bg spikes up high, even if i inject 45 mins to an hour before. the only thing that helps is if i go for a walk afterwards, and then my sugars return to normal. however if i up my ratio, then as soon as i leave the house, i go low.
has anyone got experience of this and does anyone have any suggestions? or maybe what i am doing now is fine?
 
How high us your spike? Breakfast is often a difficult meal, eg I have to do differently at the weekend than in the week due to getting up later.

You're doing the right thing by having your bolus in advance. That can help a lot.

What do you have for breakfast?
 
Does your bg go high if you don't eat breakfast, if it doesn't then try and reduce the carbs in your breakfast or eat a low-carb meal such as scrambled eggs or natural yogurt & berries and see how your postprandial bg levels behave, if you do try the low-carb option I wouldn't inject too far ahead and your better taking a reduced insulin dose and then adjust your insulin accordingly going from your bg readings.
 
I avoid carbs until the evening time when I'm more sensitive to insulin. I eat sardines/mackeral or chicken strips with celery for breakfast. My blood sugar is uncontrollable with carbs in the morning.
 

I've had this same problem for quite a while nothing really works if I still eat carbs the only time it doesn't spike so much is if I have a protein/fat breakfast like scrambled eggs mushrooms and tomato!

I've noticed that my blood spikes with in the hour of waking up even if I don't eat so I always give a correction dose when I wake up even though I wake up on 5mmol. So you ever get that?
 
I have this exact same problem - will be keen to hear other responses!

It spikes to 10-12 post breakfast and then crashes about 2-3 hours after breakfast. I've tried low GI food and low carbs but still not helping x
 
cara147m said:
I have this exact same problem - will be keen to hear other responses!

It spikes to 10-12 post breakfast and then crashes about 2-3 hours after breakfast. I've tried low GI food and low carbs but still not helping x
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My BS did exactly that. I improved it by having my bolus quite a few minutes before eating. I also increased my bolus dose. And I'm careful about what cereals I eat. Granola is good as it has a bit of fat. Anything with fibre, like bran flakes is good too. Finally, I always weigh my cereal so I can carb count accurately.

For me, the Dawn Phenomen means my BS goes up in the morning if I don't control it, so that's another issue. My pump controls that well, but before I had the pump, my BS would rise even if I didn't eat.
 
That's useful to know - I have just started having my bolus sooner and luckily already weight my food. Still on basal bolus injections but currently in the process of discussing pumps with my team due to all the hypos from this x
 
I used to have a lot of hypos, particularly at night, which was horrible, but my pump sorted that. For me, the long acting insulin just didn't cover my needs. On the pump, my basal needs can be covered, whether that means hardly any basal in the night or extra basal in the morning. It's all tailored to my body.

With your breakfast, just keep experimenting carefully and testing a lot to see what works for you.

Good luck!
 
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cara147m said:
I have this exact same problem - will be keen to hear other responses!

It spikes to 10-12 post breakfast and then crashes about 2-3 hours after breakfast. I've tried low GI food and low carbs but still not helping x
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Worth doing a basal check, skip your breakfast and the bolus dose you'd normally take with it and see if your bg levels increase (or falls) from your waking levels.

Much like Azure and many other type 1's I bolus a good 15 mins before food to give the insulin a head start before the meal starts to digest, doesn't always work for some people but it might reduce the postprandial spikes for you with a bit of luck
 
cara147m said:
I have this exact same problem - will be keen to hear other responses!

It spikes to 10-12 post breakfast and then crashes about 2-3 hours after breakfast. I've tried low GI food and low carbs but still not helping x
Click to expand...

What amount of time are you leaving after breakfast before finding the higher levels?

The reason I ask is because you say that 2-3 hours after breakfast you crash. That would be your bolus injection causing a crash 2-3 hours after having it.

The rise sounds as if ut is due to DP and this would therefore be your basal rates not being sufficient to cope with waking and getting up.

I too used to have huge readings due to DP and then plummet and MDI could not cope with this... My basal rates on a pump for 3 hours before waking and getting up are well over double my sleeping rates and during the rest of the day....MDI for some cannot cope with this.

Really you need to test from immediately you wake to 3 hours after without eating or bolusing at all (no food, no bolus, no corrections) and test every hour for 3 hours. This will check out whether it is your basal that isn't coping with waking and getting up..
 
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Hey, I know what you mean. If you are a pumper like me, I have been using a super bonus which is reduce your basal to 80 % for 2 hours for example and add the difference to your Bolus. This will make a much lower spike. You can find it out in the book " PUMPIN INSULIN" ;

again, I am not a doctor this is the example in the book, so start with small changes to your Basal rate and Bolus. Very good resource. Or if you don't pump talk to your doctor about it. You may also find an example on You tube.
 
Or try a LCHF lifestyle. Check out " EAT BUTTER AND LOSE THE PANTS" video. Or ditch the carbs blog. All cereals at least for me spike my sugars, so I have been using Super Boluses with meals, it is also very good if you need to bring down a high sugar, but like I said check your sugars often until you get used to the changes.
 
cara147m said:
Will try that in the morning - thank you @donnellysdogs

I test when I wake, 1 hour after food, 2 hours after food and when I feel low in that time!

I test a lot - slightly obsessed! x
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Thats not obsessive....do give it a go though because normally highs (or lows) 2-3 hours after any bolus means the bolus is wrong. At other times it is you basals...

Please let us know how your readings are by delaying eating for 3 hours after getting up!!
 

Thats a complicated way of doing things on a pump!! Couldn't be doing eith all that faffing around. Just get basals right and your carb ratio right and eat!!! Simple. At least I know whether I eat or not with my double high basals for waking up that I don't have to faff if I eat or not!!!

OP is not on a pump currently.
 
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