Feeling Bit Upset With Bg

Hi MissMac

It sounds to me, in my limited knowledge and experience (also a nurse, but retired ) that your unexpected higher reading could well be due to having caught some type of bug. Maybe you're coming down with something or maybe your body is just fighting a bug and you might not come down with anything obvious.

I would think you should just keep an eye on it (as one would), drink plenty fluids and continue eating and doing what you have been doing as you've clearly been doing really well.

So, I think you should just have a bit more rest, lots of drinks and 'watch and wait'. Hopefully your body will kick the living daylights out of any bug and you'll be back to 'normal' very soon.

Hope you are feeling more yourself again very soon. Best wishes, Julie

Could be you are coming down with something or could just be a rogue reading. Don't get down it happens a lot. You should watch the overall trend not one off readings. You are doing really well and to be honest a lot of people would kill for 6.8 .. onwards and downwards.
Big hugs
M

And b****r me.. just tested myself 6.7! ..after homemade chicken curry with no rice and some cheese to follow.. must be the weather..


Edited for language

Hi MissMac
Its not uncommon to have unexpected changes in your test results. The body is an extremely complex machine, We can not know or even understand why these variations occur, but be assured they do.
Energise has given a reasonable explanation and as a nurse, (retired) gives good advice. You appear to be doing things right. So keep on keeping on.
I hope you are already feeling better.

Hi. It is frustrating if you are making lots of effort, denying yourself foods you really enjoy etc and managing your levels really well - when suddenly it shoots up. That said, there's a possible million reasons for this spike (and it is by no means a big spike), from fluid intake to combinations of food, from possible minor infection to increased BP (or decreased BP), from stress to tiredness, from a slightly dodgy testing strip to a slightly dodgy needle, from pigs wearing red hats riding past on tricycles on a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday (as we all know they are prone to do). I would add, however, that 6.7 is inside the normal range and if you averaged that over a three month period you would not be classed as diabetic, possibly not even pre-diabetic. Unless this continues and increases, I would certainly not be worried..not even about infection...generally would be a higher increase than that. I am willing to bet it's a blip...It's certainly important to note your readings and look for patterns but I've learned not to get too obsessive about every single reading, particularly those still inside the normal levels, coz it's stress for, usually, no good reason. You should instead as yourself....why were these pigs wearing red hats...and that's because - their blue ones were at the cleaners. Sorry. Good luck.

Yes, sadly it isn't just food that affects your blood sugar. I find there's quite a few other things that affect mine. But basically anything that will stress your body tends to raise your sugar levels. So if you're feeling unwell your sugar levels tend to go higher. If you're in pain you will get high readings, if you're dehydrated the same thing, etc. It's a nuisance trying to control the sugar levels when it isn't food that is the cause. I wish you the best and hope you feel better soon.

MissMac said:

Hey...I just tested my sugars and am feeling quite upset now. I've been sitting well in the mid 5's for a good few days now but though I've not changed anything tonight it was 6.8 and I'm gutted. It's a good 4 hours after eating and that was innocent salad and chicken. I've not been feeling great today...can't explain why just bit nauseated and "weird" but sugars then were fine in the mid 5 again. Anyway I just needed to tell someone how disappointed I feel that might understand xxx

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A few things that make BG rise:

• Too much food, like a meal or snack with more carbohydrates than usual

• Not being active

• Not enough insulin or oral diabetes medications

• Side effects from other medications, such as steroids, anti-psychotic medications

• Illness – your body releases hormones to fight the illness, and those hormones raise blood glucose levels

• Stress, which can produce hormones that raise blood glucose levels

• Short- or long-term pain, like pain from a sunburn – your body releases hormones that raise glucose levels

• Menstrual periods, which cause changes in hormone levels

• Dehydration

Some you can rule out obviously, but still quite a list. Then when you look at what Diabetes.co.uk reckon I think it's fair to say that you are unnecessarily disappointed and should not be upset, that stress could actually make it worse..

@MissMac I agree with the others. Feeling unwell, the heat and humidity, dehydration, stress or other factors could give you a higher reading. But 6.8 is ok, I'm happy with anything under 7. Don't stress about it.

Check out your averages for this week, last week and the week before... they are the ones at will be telling you how you are doing. As others above have noted, there are bundles of things that can cause a high, one off, reading.
If I have an unexpected reading, I will test again and probably a third time, two really tells you nothing unless they are the same... and then record it and move on.

I certainly would not worry about 6.8 and as others said many here would kill to have levels like that. Our levels are changing all the time through out the day that's normal even for non diabetics so when we test the reading we get is only for that moment in time and it can change again in a heart beat.

You will never have your bloods the same very single day. That just doesn't happen. But I wouldn't be upset about being 6 if I were you that's not a high blood sugar. Stress, bugs, periods, everything can change them. But the worst thing you can do is restrict

Please dont get too obsessive about variations in excellent performance in keeping your bgs low. You are doing a fantastic job. Watch out for excessive behaviour or unreasonable aims. Ultimately be kind to yourself. Always. Which means not crusifying yourself if your body has other ideas.
Burn out comes sooner to people who can be perfectionists. It's a long term plan which works best.

Also probably the main thing to be concerned about is your average blood sugar, which shows in the hbA1c test.

My endo has always reiterated to me that sugar levels fluctuate. I used to panic too when I was younger about my levels being out of range. These days I accept that I will get some readings I don't like for whatever reason. My endo told me to aim for 60% of my meter readings to be within range and preferably more... but obviously my situation isn't the usual as I have other things affecting my health. But that's what I aim for anyhow and my meter is currently telling me I'm 73% in range (average over the past 30 days) so I'm happy with that as I've been lower.

If you think you may not have taken enough fluids on-board, I'd wager some of my pocket money that was your issue. I know for myself if I see a bit of a rise, that's my first port of call. Don't drown yourself, but make a conscious effort to hydrate.

And one further thing; sometimes I think we all have a day where the best we can do is shrug our shoulders and move on. We can unravel some of these days, but some remain just one of life's mysteries. This is just another rite of passage in this new diabetes world.

You've doing fine. Just carry on fighting the good fight.

MissMac said:

Thank you guys and gals...as much as I am still disappointed if I am honest, I do feel a bit better about it. Defo not a bug round here and I don't know if I am being a bit mad but I didn't eat at all for about 36 hours the day before all this..wanted to try this fasting thing...but then all my readings were higher as I guess my liver was chucking out some glucose...kind of it but if it's using the stores maybe that means it's a good thing!!!
My fasting one this morning was 6.6 so cannot help but feel a bit sad..I know! I am putting too much pressure on myself...I guess it's as @pleinster said....denying yourself foods you love to not see what you want on the strips can make ya feel despondent. I am also super determined not to take medication..it's a weird control thing but I've always had it when it comes to my health..bad bad nurse. Still...I'll just keep on trucking and not eating the carbs and see what happens and hopefully it will come down again...have to say that I think I have been dehydrated so more water for the day and see what happens....the apple cider vinegar has already been necked! lol Thank you again xxxx
Oh and the analogy about the pigs and their hats? LOVE it, proper made me chuckle this morning..thank you xx

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I would suggest it is early days to go to fasting for 36 hours. Your body is only just started getting used to low carb.... in the nicest possible way I would say there are no quick fixes to this thing.
You are doing good.

I agree with what all the other posters are saying. You're doing a great job and should be really pleased with what you've achieved so far. But as the saying goes, diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you're too hard on yourself in the early stages you're going to find it hard to maintain. And where can you go from there?
I totally understand where you're coming from with regard to meds, and if you continue as you have been it seems reasonable to assume you'll continue to avoid them.
Keep doing what you're doing, honey, because you're doing good!