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do type 2 blood sugar levels drop without medication

M

mirlin68

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi my Nmaes simon im 55 and was diagnosed with T2, 5 yrs ago. my diets relatively health although i do indulge in the odd treat. my levels were extremely high recently and been working on get them down with some success. i have a question i cant seem to find the answer to.

about 1 hour ago my level was 9.7mmols after eating. i have not taken any medication since monday midday. just tested again and are now 8.1mmols. So question is.

Do type 2 diabetics sugar levels normally drop after eating, without having medication in the system?

Thanks Simon
 
mirlin68 said:
Hi my Nmaes simon im 55 and was diagnosed with T2, 5 yrs ago. my diets relatively health although i do indulge in the odd treat. my levels were extremely high recently and been working on get them down with some success. i have a question i cant seem to find the answer to.

about 1 hour ago my level was 9.7mmols after eating. i have not taken any medication since monday midday. just tested again and are now 8.1mmols. So question is.

Do type 2 diabetics sugar levels normally drop after eating, without having medication in the system?

Thanks Simon
Click to expand...
Hi Simon and welcome.

Everyone's (diabetic and non-diabetic) blood glucose levels change all the time in response to various stimuli, it's perfectly normal. Food (carbohydrate) is the most common cause of rises, but personally I can include illness, ambient temperature, exercise etc. as things that will affect my BG. I've never used any diabetic medication.

After food with a small amount of carb, for example a milky coffee, I expect to see a rise in my BG within 15-20 minutes as the carb in the milk is digested to glucose and transferred to the bloodstream and liver. This will start to fall as my insulin gets to work and after 90 minutes/ two hours I'll be back where I was. If you're curious, wearing a CGM for a while will show this very clearly.

The issue for most of us with T2 is that we have plenty of insulin, but as we are insulin resistant, the system doesn't work as efficiently at handling glucose. This means that we are inclined to see higher rises in BG, and they may last for longer compared to non-diabetics. Our livers have an idea about where our BGs ought to be, but sometimes they get used to higher levels, and keep wanting to top up BG. Metformin acts to stop that happening - it doesn't lower BG itself, but prevents the liver increasing it.
 
The simple answer is yes but diabetes is a very complex condition and so many things can affect blood sugar . Exercise being one of these things and of course how many carbs you have eaten , how long since you have eaten . We are all different I can stop my metformin for a day or so and my blood sugar levels drop if I don't have too many carbs and I exercise . As stated by Kenny A metformin prevents the liver increasing sugar levels .
 
Yes, our level will drop, just not very quickly and usually not far enough - as long as we eat carbs.

You say your diet is fairly healthy, but what the NHS thinks is a healthy diet for others does T2s no favours as it is too high in cabs for most of us. Recent advice is for example to swap white bread for wholemeal but they have almost the same amount of carbs.

Do you know how your body reacts to the carbs you eat, is the spike too high?
 
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