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Exact same meal but different blood sugar responses?

S

Sunshine_Kisses

Well-Known Member
Messages
261
Hi there,

I'm a newbie to the site, diagnosed (with Type 2 they think, though still waiting on a couple of tests to confirm absolutely that not Type 1) about 8 weeks ago. Immediately cut out all sugar and followed Patrick Holfords low GL diet for first 6 weeks, then last week or so have altered slightly to follow the blood group diet (I'm an O - which means I'm meant to eat a lot of meat, but am pescatarian).

Anyhoo, this is the second q I'm posting today as second thing that's really confusing me; I've pretty much ate the exact same thing for the last 4/5 days, but in the last two days, my readings are going high two hours after my breakfast and dinner... where as before it was OK... any idea why this might be...?? I've not been sneaking in a chocolate bar in between ;-)

I've only had a meter for around ten days so appreciate it's early days, but just really confused that I thought I'd found a 'safe' breakfast and dinner, but now both are coming up as between 10 and 14's two hours after eating. My lunch seems to be fine still, and I'll drop back down to about 6.5 after, but was 10.7 after last nights dinner and it was still 10 fasting this morning :-S

My last HBa1C was 7.5 and my blood sugars are *usually* around 8 on waking, then can go down to 5ish or up to 14ish throughout the day.

I am not very overweight, but definitely have excess belly fat which I know it's considered the worst place to store fat. I am female, 36, and BMI of 23.

I'm feeling a bit disheartened today so any tips muchly appreciated....
 
Hi Sunshine_Kisses and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members which I think you will find useful. Carry on asking questions as there is always someone with experience of the particular situation who can help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
Thanks for the tips - I haven't felt particularly more stressed and ate pretty much exactly the same meals/portion sizes - but - I did have a terrible nights sleep on Tues and then quite a long day yesterday - and I'm guessing from what you've said this could affect things?

Posting reminded me to see if the various antibody tests they took were back yet, so just rang dr's and they were: all normal so defo Type 2 apparently... which at least means I'm a little bit clearer on what I'm addressing if nothing else :)
 
Good news on getting a definite diagnosis. Lack of sleep and fatigue will raise bs levels. There are so many factors to take in to consideration it addles the brain! Any day now they'll announce that the wind changing direction affects bs!! Best of luck with everything and I hope you get to the bottom of things soon.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
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