Da h*ll??

OceansEdge · May 5, 2016

Soooooooooo
I get up from my sleep last night (I work nights, sleep days)... fasting blood glucose is a very nice 6.4 - I know my fasting level should be lower, but 2 weeks in and my first reading in the normal range ... I was chuffed.
9:30 pm, I have my dinner and my pill..
1 cup beef and bean chili, homemade - 6 nacho chips on top, with melted cheese
1/2 a sweet potato - only half because the last full one bumped my numbers up a full point.

11:30 pm I test at work and - 9.4!!
6 nacho chips and a half a sweet potato - less than 20 carbs all total.... and I'm up 3 points? even with the meds???

freakin out slightly here.
0530 - I was down to 8.4, I had a small yogurt
1000 - back down to 7.0 and having eggs, sausage, coffee and a pill for breakfast ... and wondering if I'm ever gonna figure this out

TorqPenderloin · May 5, 2016

A few things:
1.) You mentioned there were beans in your chili, yet you didn't mention them later on in your carb count. Be sure to include those as some beans can be as high as 50% carbohydrates.

2.) Sweet potatoes (and some beans) are considered to have a low glycemic index. However, a low GI does not necessarily equate to a low glycemic load (blood sugar spikes) and that can be especially true for people with diabetes.

3.) As a result of the second point above, testing 2-hrs after eating may not have been the most effective time to test. The initial spike from your meal could have taken more than 1hr to occur (especially considering the likely high fat content), and your 2-hr test could have captured the peak of your blood sugar spike. I would have tested at 2.5hrs and 3hrs to see what your reads were at those points. The high readings the following day could have been dawn phenomenon or something else and don't necessarily point to anything.

OceansEdge · May 5, 2016

ahhh
you're right.... didn't account for the beans.... sneaky little buggers...
next time I see an 'odd' spike like that, I'll try testing again an hour later - and see if that explains

right now I'm doing a lot of testing.... just trying to get data and base lines ..

muzza3 · May 5, 2016

Also check the chili mixture / sauce as I have found many that contain a fair amount of sugar.

OceansEdge said:
and wondering if I'm ever gonna figure this out

As for figuring it out I think you are doing that right here in the forum and quite well.
Cheers

lorsand · May 5, 2016

TorqPenderloin said:
A few things:
1.) You mentioned there were beans in your chili, yet you didn't mention them later on in your carb count. Be sure to include those as some beans can be as high as 50% carbohydrates.

2.) Sweet potatoes (and some beans) are considered to have a low glycemic index. However, a low GI does not necessarily equate to a low glycemic load (blood sugar spikes) and that can be especially true for people with diabetes.

3.) As a result of the second point above, testing 2-hrs after eating may not have been the most effective time to test. The initial spike from your meal could have taken more than 1hr to occur (especially considering the likely high fat content), and your 2-hr test could have captured the peak of your blood sugar spike. I would have tested at 2.5hrs and 3hrs to see what your reads were at those points. The high readings the following day could have been dawn phenomenon or something else and don't necessarily point to anything.

Can I just ask ... the dawn phenomenon may be giving me higher fasting readings, but I am worried that this will cause my averages to increase and give me a not so improved HbA1c - will it make very much difference? I am due my first review of HbA1c in July and desperately want it to have come down from 9.1.

TorqPenderloin · May 5, 2016

lorsand said:
Can I just ask ... the dawn phenomenon may be giving me higher fasting readings, but I am worried that this will cause my averages to increase and give me a not so improved HbA1c - will it make very much difference? I am due my first review of HbA1c in July and desperately want it to have come down from 9.1.

That would be dependent on how high your levels go and how long they stay high.

On many mornings, I deal with a spike up to 10-12 mmol/l. However, I hit those numbers very briefly before they come back down to 4-6 mmol/l. My a1c a few weeks ago was 5.4%

I'm a type 1 on insulin so my situation is a bit different than yours, but my point is to say that you can have dawn phenomenon/ morning highs and still have a good a1c. Obviously, the goal should be to keep those spikes modest and elevated as little as possible (that's why many of us do the low-carb approach).

OceansEdge · May 5, 2016

muzza3 said:
Also check the chili mixture / sauce as I have found many that contain a fair amount of sugar.

As for figuring it out I think you are doing that right here in the forum and quite well.
Cheers

the sauce was homemade - I try hard to do all my own cooking from raw - on the one hand, I know exactly what's in it, on the other hand it does sometimes mean a fair bit of calculating to get the nutritional totals

Catlady19 · May 6, 2016

You are doing the right things it seems. Just a thought, do you wash your hands before testing? I tested yesterday morning and it was to high too read - I was thinking "what the ....", then my daughter pointed out I had been cutting up strawberries! Washed hands and it was a normal reading.

Also there are so many things throughout your day that can potentially raise your BGs - feeling unwell, stress, etc. It sometimes tricky to work out - although those beans may have been the culprit!

Da h*ll??

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