Fluctuating BG levels

[David Swales]

Hi

I am a type 2 now on diet control only. I tested this morning 2 hours after breakfast at 10.8 no reason for this high level. Breakfast was only 50g of oat porridge with semi skimmed milk and a piece of brown toast with margarine. I have walked to and from a friends total walking time 1 hour. I was feeling a little light headed so I tested and was 3.4. I had a banana at 10:00 but no other food

Why would my levels fluctuate so much. My hands were clean when I tested both time so no sugar on may hands

Any opinions would be good.

David

 

[cugila]

I wouildn't say there was no reason for the 10.8 reading.........

50g Porridge possibly................ 35g carbs.
Semi skimmed Milk...................12.5g carbs.
Slice of Brown Bread Toast..........15.5g carbs. Total carbs.......around 63g carbs.

That's a heck of a breakfast for somebody on diet only. That's about my daily allowance and I am on medication........ I couldn't tolerate such a large breakfast (50g) or that amount of carbs in one go, my levels would be well into double figures any day.

The exercise could well have dropped your level down over the space of an hour, hence the low 3.4.

 

[David Swales]

Thanks for the response. The diet advice came from my diabetes nurse and I have stuck to it. My previous highest reading on this was 8.1, but I have never been as low as 3.4 after a few hours. I didn't appreciate that the levels could drop that quickly, this was the bit that suprised me.

Thanks for responding I really appreciate it.

 

[cugila]

Diet advice........ Yep, I stuck to the diet advice NHS/DUK for over 10 years. I was a good lad !

I ended up 19 1/2 stone, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blurred vision, masses of medication, sleeping the clock round, no energy, and worst of all.....a Triple Coronary Artery By-Pass.........all following instructions. Then I ended up doing my own research, came here and realised that particular advice was virtually killing me. I couldn't tolerate the so called 'healthy' diet regime. Reduced all my carb consumption, stuck to low fat, low salt, low GI and low GL (reduced portion sizes) and guess what......

I lost over 5 1/2 stone, blood pressure now 110/70 most days, all lipids and cholesterol all good, eyesight no longer blurred and I no longer need glasses for distance. I have never felt fitter in my life. All by just doing things my way as they say........

 

[angieG]

Thanks for the response. The diet advice came from my diabetes nurse and I have stuck to it. My previous highest reading on this was 8.1, but I have never been as low as 3.4 after a few hours. I didn't appreciate that the levels could drop that quickly, this was the bit that suprised me.

Thanks for responding I really appreciate it.

I have found the quicker it goes up high the quicker it falls.
Porridge (20g) shoots me up too high (unless I put flaxseed and nuts in it) and then I fall real low after about 3 hours.
Angie

 

[David Swales]

I have taken a bit of time to reflect on the responses received from my question about the change in my bg levels. I did get a very useful answer from angieG which was very helpful, I got the same answer from cugila although there were a number of other issues that were raised in these responses.

I know that I am fairly new to being a diabetic, but the one thing that I have learned is that everyone is different and what happens in one person need not necessarily be the same in another person. Having read the responses I received I felt as if I was naïve and fairly stupid. What I got was a criticism of my diet and a view that I should not listen to advice given by qualified medical staff. I am not going to deny that everyone gets a great experience or even the right advice from the health service but this should not be a reason to give the impression that the advice given by the health service should be disregarded.

I will explain a bit about my experience and why I believe my diet was not the main issue behind my question. When I was first diagnosed I was not particularly over weight (my BMI was 25.0 which is on the high side of normal). My Diabetes Nurse advised me on my diet and my original breakfast was only 30g of oats (no toast). The advice was to have a mid morning snack (banana) to keep levels even. After a little while I had lost 1.5 stone and during the morning I was feeling generally weak (and my readings were always fairly low (between 4-5), for these reasons my nurse suggested the increase to 50g and the piece of toast. She also advised me to test at this time for a bit. Since then I have not had any more weakness problems and my weight has not increased or decreased. My highest bg level up until recently was 8.1 and my lowest was 4.7. Therefore I think that the question I asked ie a 10.8 (my highest reading in ages) followed fairly quickly by almost my lowest reading 3.4 was worth asking.

The response I received was more or less that I should disregard the advice I have been given even though it does seem to be working for me and to cut out more carbs. The purpose of this post is to advise people that don’t disregard the advice given to you by your healthcare professional. My diabetes nurse has said to me that it is important that you understand diabetes and how it affects you. She recommended this site as a place where you can share experiences and to get advice. Therefore find out about diabetes, use this site but remember that healthcare professionals must be a part of your decision making processes.

I have seen the advice Cugila has given before and I have always found it useful and I admire his dedication to this site and all the great work he does.

 

[Sue o2]

Hi David,
I think we all follow the advise we are given when we are first diagnosed,
I can remember being told to eat plenty of pasta , and as long as i ate brown bread and not white then I'd be ok, If thats ok for you then i am pleased it works, but for me i was always in double figures and couldn't make out why as i was following the instructions I'd been given, and believe it or not this went on for three years and i was fed up with feeling tired and ill all the time ,
but just by chance i came across this forum and started reading about other peoples experiences and the food that they now eat and i decided to cut my carbs and portion sizes and never to eat pasta or rice again, (i hate pasta always have) and only after a few weeks my bg levels have fallen and the doctor has cut my gliclazide by half I'm not seeing the double figures any more and i hope it continues for ever,

I think your big drop in bg was the long walk you took to your friend, i go low sometimes when i do my 30 minutes on wii fit
take care
Sue

 

[viviennem]

I feel that Type 2 is a matter of informed choice. We need our HCPs, but as this forum shows, sometimes we, as individuals, get bad advice. I don't think anyone is recommending we ignore the professionals - just keep in mind that there are alternatives, which not all HCPs are willing to discuss. We need to read around, and find out as much as we can about the condition.

Your diet wouldn't work for me, but it works for you, so stick with it - and keep monitoring! It's the only way to find out which foods affect you.

Viv

 

[David Swales]

I totally agree with the last two posts. It is about everybody having the information to be able to deal with their own circumstances. I am fortunate as my diabetes nurse is very keen for me to be fully informed and is well informed herself. She actively encouraged me to seek out more information and specifically referred me to this site.

My follow up post was simply to indicate to people that it is important not to ignore the views of their HCPs just because others have had a bad experience. I really value this site and totally appreciate all the hard work done by the moderators and all the members

 

[cugila]

David. I am going to be blunt here......

I read this thread this morning and was slightly puzzled.......correct me if I am wrong but it appears to be a criticism of myself and what was posted for some reason ? Nowhere in this thread have I ever told anybody to ignore the advice of HCP's. You asked a question which I answered, in my view correctly. The reason for the Bg rise and the possible reason for the fall. That's all.

I then told you of my own experience regarding advice I had been given which was patently obviously not good advice for me. That is all I have posted in this thread. Nothing more. Should I have not given you the benefit or otherwise of my own experience as most Members do ?

There are times when I will clearly state something, a criticism, if I feel that the advice from a HCP is wrong/incorrect. I have not stated anything here which can be taken as a criticism of anybody or their diet. If you wish to read something into my words that are not there there isn't much I can do about that........

I have an excellent Diabetes Team now, but over the years they were anything but......I trusted them implicitly because that is what I was taught. Obey instructions, they are the experts :?:

Experience however, has taught me to listen to what HCP's say, analyse, discuss and question the advice if needed. Sometimes, as recently I have pointed out errors in person to certain HCP's who have had the decency to admit their mistakes, that they were wrong. Hadn't kept up to date with changes. Unfortunately as evidenced on this Forum there are still too many HCP's who continue to give out wrong/flawed/old information and even when it is pointed out still insist it is correct. Trying to save face more than anything.

One such HCP's advice cost a good friend his left leg because he was told that high Bg levels (13 and upwards) were OK for years, left to his own devices, "don't test we will look after you", poor care and poor advice. So forgive me if I don't accept the thought that all HCP's are caring, wonderful people. There are many that are but too many that aren't.......those are the ones who I will continue to criticise. The good ones will get praised.

I shall continue to post my answers to questions in my own way utilising my own experience and knowledge.........how people interpret them is for the individual. I believe in openness and honesty, plus clear and concise information. That's what I do.

If you look at the majority of my posts you will find there is usually a caveat to most of the posts.....'discuss with your HCP's'. We are all Adults and are able to make our own choices.

 

[David Swales]

I have no problem with you being blunt as long as you are happy for me to be the same.

I had absolutely no problem with your first post and I acknowledged this very clearly. The second post was your personal experience and as I noted that not everyone will always have a totally positive experience. You did not say that I should ignore the advice of a HCP. The reason I said I felt naive and stupid was that I trusted the opinion of a HCP and that you pointed out (quite robustly) that this was not something that I should blindly accept. I can state that I do not follow advice I am unhappy about and my diabetes nurse does discuss any concerns or problems I have.

I am still struggling with my recent diagnosis and your response did cause me concern, however I appreciate that you meant nothing more than setting out your experience with the intention of providing information.

I will once again assure you that I do value the work you do on this site, it is something I would not be able to do and I hope you don't think I am being ungrateful.

 

[cugila]

Thanks for that explanation David.......as you probably have gathered I am passionate about what I do here and making sure others do not make the same mistakes as I did over all those years.

As somebody said elsewhere........payback for all the good advice I was given here when I joined.

No offence taken and none meant.

 

[David Swales]

It takes passionate people to make a difference.

I have not taken offence and I am glad you haven't either

 

[Ricky]

I am also Type 2 - diet and exercise only and just want to say that my BG goes up if I am getting a bug/have a bug and also when stressed. Recently I had the flu and my normal fasting BG of around 5.5 shot up at the worst to 8. It took 12 days to get back down to under 6 and frankly there is nothing you can do about it (unless anyone knows different) . At the moment I am stressed trying to install and load up a new laptop using Windows 7 and Outlook 10 which I am having to learn!! This morning for instance my BG was 5.9 because I was working until 3 am and couldn't sort out what I wanted to!!! Hopefully tomorrow it will be a lot better as all is sorted!!

I also am stressed every month when I go to hopefully pick up my prescription of testing strips wondering when the GP will realise I am getting these monthly as a Type and stop issueing them to me!! It is with the testing strips I initially found out what I could eat and not eat because as you say everyone is different.
FWIW