Confused

[Fairy09]

I really don't understand my sugar levels.
I've now been testing 7 times a day for 10 days and eating low carb and pretty much have the same for breakfast every morning ( sugar free Granola ) and a milky coffee.

The levels on waking have mainly been in the 6's and 2 hrs after breakfast higher 6's/ low 7's.

Today however I was 6.8 on waking and 2 hrs after breakfast I've shot up to 8.8. I really don't understand as I've not done anything different.

Please help

 

[dawnmc]

What's in your granola? If its oats, that's probably the reason. Try eggs and bacon, or high fat yogurt. Test when you eat and 2 hrs after. No point doing random tests during the day, you are trying to find out what food affects your blood sugars.

 

[Fairy09]

What's in your granola? If its oats, that's probably the reason. Try eggs and bacon, or high fat yogurt. Test when you eat and 2 hrs after. No point doing random tests during the day, you are trying to find out what food affects your blood sugars.

Granola is oats and nuts and sugar free. My DN has told me to have 250g of carbs a day but I only have 100-150g a day.
I'm taking my bloods 7 x a day so before meals and two hrs after so not taking them randomly.
I can't find a high fat yogurt that doesn't contain less than 5g sugar per 100 grams.

Out the the 10 days I've been testing it's only been today where my after breakfast reading shot up and that's what I don't understand.
I'm still new to T2 so trying to get my head around all these figures.

 

[sally and james]

Unfortunately our bodies aren't a machine, where a standard input will give a standard result. The variation this morning could be because it's Wednesday, because the sun is/isn't shining, you went to bed early/late last night, have a minor infection, blah, blah ....

However, granola, unless it's one of those low carb, home made ones that you find on low carb sites, probably shouldn't form a significant part of a low carb diet. Many people also avoid milk, preferring the fattier cream. Keep on testing and find out what you can eat safely.
Sally

 

[Prem51]

Hi @Fairy09. Don't worry about one slightly higher reading. Bg meters aren't 100% accurate, and there are many factors that can affect your reading, including stress, tiredness, and heat.
Also fbgs can be higher because your liver dumps stored glucose into your bloodstream as you wake to give you a boost as you get going for the day. This is called 'Dawn Phenomenon' and is quite common.Non-diabetics get it too.

 

[Fairy09]

Hi @Fairy09. Don't worry about one slightly higher reading. Bg meters aren't 100% accurate, and there are many factors that can affect your reading, including stress, tiredness, and heat.
Also fbgs can be higher because your liver dumps stored glucose into your bloodstream as you wake to give you a boost as you get going for the day. This is called 'Dawn Phenomenon' and is quite common.Non-diabetics get it too.

Thank you Prem51, that makes me feel a bit better. I've got loads to learn still and appreciate all your advise and support x

 

[carol43]

@Fairy09 Don't know if you are in the UK, if you are, Aldi full fat Greek yogurt is 3.2g per100g.

 

[Fairy09]

Hiya Carol43,
Yes I am in the UK and thank you for that. I shall pop in to Aldi when I'm that way and have a look. Thank you

 

[Fairy09]

Unfortunately our bodies aren't a machine, where a standard input will give a standard result. The variation this morning could be because it's Wednesday, because the sun is/isn't shining, you went to bed early/late last night, have a minor infection, blah, blah ....

However, granola, unless it's one of those low carb, home made ones that you find on low carb sites, probably shouldn't form a significant part of a low carb diet. Many people also avoid milk, preferring the fattier cream. Keep on testing and find out what you can eat safely.
Sally

Thank you Sally.
I'm finding it tricky with drinks as I used to only drink Nesquick chocolate shake/hot chocolate in the morning and evening and Apple juice and coke through the day. I absolutely despise drinking water so I've changed to drinking coke zero and other zero sugar fizzy drinks. This is why I have changed to a milky coffee with sweeteners so is it better to have full fat milk instead of semi skimmed?
I think I will stop having my granola then. It's an Asda low carb, low sugar one and I though because oats were slow release they were a better carb. Might have to start having eggs and bacon. It's just that I've gone from not eating breakfast or lunch and just having dinner late with my Hubbie to forcing myself to eat regularly. Still got a lot to learn.
Sarah x x

 

[sally and james]

Hi @Fairy09 / Sarah,
Firstly, there is no need to "eat regularly" just because you have a T2 diagnosis. This is one of those daft ideas put about by less than well informed diabetic nurses, based on historic use of fixed insulin doses. (If you are on insulin or a drug that stimulates your own insulin production, please ignore this paragraph, it's all a bit more complicated. Metformin is not an insulin stimulating drug.) If you prefer to eat just in the evening, that's fine. Lots of people here do "intermittent fasting", which often means eating only once or twice a day..

You've been used to a lot of sugar throughout the day in all your drinks, try cheese, nuts, an avocado, slice of ham, creamy coffee for example, should you need something before your evening meal, but don't actually want a meal as such. Also, can I recommend that you try and wean yourself off the zero sugar/artificial sweetener drinks. They have little to recommend them in terms of health and maintain your addiction to sweet tasting things.

You ask if it is better to have full fat milk, rather than skimmed. Yes. Skimmed has had the most important nutrients removed and, as a consequence, has a higher proportion of sugar.

Sally

 

[Fairy09]

Hi @Fairy09 / Sarah,
Firstly, there is no need to "eat regularly" just because you have a T2 diagnosis. This is one of those daft ideas put about by less than well informed diabetic nurses, based on historic use of fixed insulin doses. (If you are on insulin or a drug that stimulates your own insulin production, please ignore this paragraph, it's all a bit more complicated. Metformin is not an insulin stimulating drug.) If you prefer to eat just in the evening, that's fine. Lots of people here do "intermittent fasting", which often means eating only once or twice a day..

You've been used to a lot of sugar throughout the day in all your drinks, try cheese, nuts, an avocado, slice of ham, creamy coffee for example, should you need something before your evening meal, but don't actually want a meal as such. Also, can I recommend that you try and wean yourself off the zero sugar/artificial sweetener drinks. They have little to recommend them in terms of health and maintain your addiction to sweet tasting things.

You ask if it is better to have full fat milk, rather than skimmed. Yes. Skimmed has had the most important nutrients removed and, as a consequence, has a higher proportion of sugar.

Sally

That is all really helpful advise. Thank you so much Sally. I shall definitely try those foods you have mentioned.
I'm on 2000mg of slow release Metformin and Jardiance once a day.
I've got at least another 3.5 stone still to loose.
I'm going to try higher fat foods and less carb.
Thanks again x x

 

[Resurgam]

Even sugar free granola could be up to 50 percent carbs so you are probably consuming carbs at what could be the least beneficial time of day for you - I find I am more insulin resistant in the mornings and quite a few others do to.
I did find that after a couple of months on low carb my levels suddenly began to bounce about erratically and it took a while for them to settle down, but I was already quite a lot lower by then.
I'd recommend that you calculate the amounts of carbs in your various meals to see if you could drop lower - the recommendations of DNs can seem rather strange to someone who has gone through the process of refining their diet to get lower levels. My personal upper limit was 50 gm of carb per day, avoiding densely carby foods. I tried to stay under 11 percent carb content, and that worked wonderfully. I am now at 40gm per day to try to lose some body fat as my weight is steady after an initial loss, though I am far more active now and doing some resistance exercises to try to maintain or even increase upper body strength.

 

[Fairy09]

Even sugar free granola could be up to 50 percent carbs so you are probably consuming carbs at what could be the least beneficial time of day for you - I find I am more insulin resistant in the mornings and quite a few others do to.
I did find that after a couple of months on low carb my levels suddenly began to bounce about erratically and it took a while for them to settle down, but I was already quite a lot lower by then.
I'd recommend that you calculate the amounts of carbs in your various meals to see if you could drop lower - the recommendations of DNs can seem rather strange to someone who has gone through the process of refining their diet to get lower levels. My personal upper limit was 50 gm of carb per day, avoiding densely carby foods. I tried to stay under 11 percent carb content, and that worked wonderfully. I am now at 40gm per day to try to lose some body fat as my weight is steady after an initial loss, though I am far more active now and doing some resistance exercises to try to maintain or even increase upper body strength.

Thank you Resurgam,

I've just been shopping and bought eggs and bacon to have for breakfast. Do you think this will be better than having my Granola?
For a 40g serving of Granola it is only 20.8g of carbs so I thought it was ok to have that as my Nurse has told me to have 250g of carbs a day.

 

[Resurgam]

Thank you Resurgam,

I've just been shopping and bought eggs and bacon to have for breakfast. Do you think this will be better than having my Granola?
For a 40g serving of Granola it is only 20.8g of carbs so I thought it was ok to have that as my Nurse has told me to have 250g of carbs a day.

Well - to control my blood sugars I ate 50 gm of carbs per day, but needed no medication to get down to normal numbers. On 250 gm of carbs a day I would have sky high BG levels and be putting on weight at a great rate - we are all different of course, but the difference in quantity of carbs is quite significant.
Bacon and eggs is going to be making scarcely a flicker in your levels, but the granola even being 'only' 20 carbs would cause a significant spike for me, and I suspect many other type twos. e

 

[Alexandra100]

is it better to have full fat milk instead of semi skimmed?

Even better from the point of view of lowering bg to have double cream.

 

[Alexandra100]

I absolutely despise drinking water

I like the way you put this. I feel rather the same. However, I believe it is important to drink plenty, and I have discovered that plain chilled fizzy / sparkling water is MUCH nicer than still. I buy 2 litre bottles from Morissons @ 17p and I get a lot of exercise carrying them home in my rucsac.

 

[Alexandra100]

Thank you Resurgam,

I've just been shopping and bought eggs and bacon to have for breakfast. Do you think this will be better than having my Granola?
For a 40g serving of Granola it is only 20.8g of carbs so I thought it was ok to have that as my Nurse has told me to have 250g of carbs a day.

It looks as if you will have to choose between taking the advice of your nurse, who is obviously not a low carb enthusiast, or trying whether eating lower carb can lower your bg. If you feel unsure, you can always try following your nurse's plan, eating 250g carbs daily, and then if your bgs don't come out as low as you would like, you could change to a low carb plan and see what that brings. One thing is sure, for a low carb diet eggs and bacon are a far better bet than granola. Granola, by the time you have added in the milk you will surely pour on it, is about as high carb as it gets, unless you eat Mars Bars.

 

[Fairy09]

It looks as if you will have to choose between taking the advice of your nurse, who is obviously not a low carb enthusiast, or trying whether eating lower carb can lower your bg. If you feel unsure, you can always try following your nurse's plan, eating 250g carbs daily, and then if your bgs don't come out as low as you would like, you could change to a low carb plan and see what that brings. One thing is sure, for a low carb diet eggs and bacon are a far better bet than granola. Granola, by the time you have added in the milk you will surely pour on it, is about as high carb as it gets, unless you eat Mars Bars.

Thank you Alexandra,

I don't see my Nurse for another month although she has said I can call her anytime.

I'm going to try all your advise for a week starting tomorrow and see if it works.

These are my bloods today :

Fasting : 6.8
2 hrs After breakfast : 8.8
Before lunch : 6.5
2 hrs after lunch : 6.8
Before dinner : 6.6
2 hrs after dinner : 6.8

What do you think of these and should I be worried?

 

[Alexandra100]

Thank you Alexandra,

I don't see my Nurse for another month although she has said I can call her anytime.

I'm going to try all your advise for a week starting tomorrow and see if it works.

These are my bloods today :

Fasting : 6.8
2 hrs After breakfast : 8.8
Before lunch : 6.5
2 hrs after lunch : 6.8
Before dinner : 6.6
2 hrs after dinner : 6.8

What do you think of these and should I be worried?

That sounds like a good plan. If you can spare the strips and the time, could you test after one hour, then two, and even at three? Otherwise you won't really know your highest reading after eating, or how long it takes to come down again. Theoretically, a "normal" person's bg goes up quite quickly after eating and then falls quickly back again, but for us bg can be slower to rise and / or slower to fall. Myself, I can often see no rise or even a lower reading at one and two and sometimes even three hours, only to see a sudden rise later. (Very disappointing!)

8.8 two hours after breakfast is a bit high, but if you swap granola for eggs and bacon I bet you won't see that again. Ideally one's bg at two hours would not be above 6.6, which is not far off your results, so reducing carbs just a bit may solve your problem. By the time you see your nurse again you may be able to dazzle her with your low readings! I hope you are recording them all, alongside recordings of your food intake. That is precious information.

 

[Alison Campbell]

What do you think of these and should I be worried?

I don't think you should be worried, why not google a low carb granola that you can make up a batch of and store for when you are short of time. But enjoy your bacon and egg too!