Type 2 High blood sugar levels all day

[Penabby]

Hi all, I've just joined as I am worried. I'm Type 2, diagnosed about 7 years ago. I'm very knowledgeable about my diabetes and have been low carb for years, I don't take med and manage with diet, or so I thought. I haven't been testing my bloods for about a year, as I self fund and found it expensive. I've been trying keto, but do fall off the wagon, especially in the hols and when eating out, all though I still try to stay low carb. I have also been doing IF, always on work days, Tues, Weds and Fridays mostly when I just have black coffee all day until I go home and eat, about 5pm. Let me get to the point, I got some strips and started to test a couple of days ago, as I wanted to get back to keto and was curious to see my levels. I was so shocked to have readings as high as 15 even in the middle of the days while I'm IFing. I did have a couple of weeks holidays when I was basically eating what I liked, Im hoping this is temporary but its freaked me out a bit, as I always thought my eating was keeping it under control. I did read some articles saying that IF is sometimes not a good idea for diabetics. I eat a lot of airwaves sugar free gum and sometimes sugar free polos, which I thought it might be. Im just at a loss as what to do. I have ordered some cortisone lowering suppliments, fish oil and something else I cant remember the name, I have also go some Xilotol gum to see if it makes a difference. Just wanted to get some support and pick you brains to see if anyone has any ideas. BTW this is not dawn phenomenon as these levels range from 10 to 15 all day. TIA

edited to fix typos

 

[Goonergal]

Hi @Penabby and welcome

My advice would be to revert to the keto diet you want to get back on and keep testing. If you do that consistently for a month or so you’ll get a good picture of whether your raised blood sugars are due to what you’ve been eating more recently or whether something else might be going on.

You’ll need to be consistent and I’d suggest not using cortisol lowering supplements or untested sweetened gum etc until you have a clearer picture of where you’re at BG wise.

Have you had HbA1c tests either side of your non-testing period? Comparing those results might be helpful too.

Editing to say that going by my own experience - I eat as close to zero carb as I can get - it doesn’t take much at all for BG to jump up a notch and stay there. I’m not talking about anything inherently carborific, rather just larger quantities of low carb food. That can happen in days.

 

[Penabby]

Hi @Penabby and welcome

My advice would be to revert to the keto diet you want to get back on and keep testing. If you do that consistently for a month or so you’ll get a good picture of whether your raised blood sugars are due to what you’ve been eating more recently or whether something else might be going on.

You’ll need to be consistent and I’d suggest not using cortisol lowering supplements or untested sweetened gum etc until you have a clearer picture of where you’re at BG wise.

Have you had HbA1c tests either side of your non-testing period? Comparing those results might be helpful too.

Editing to say that going by my own experience - I eat as close to zero carb as I can get - it doesn’t take much at all for BG to jump up a notch and stay there. I’m not talking about anything inherently carborific, rather just larger quantities of low carb food. That can happen in days.

Thank you for your reply. That's what I'm going to do, I think I just panicked a bit, which probably didn't help with stress levels. I'm just hoping its just temporary.

 

[Goonergal]

Thank you for your reply. That's what I'm going to do, I think I just panicked a bit, which probably didn't help with stress levels. I'm just hoping its just temporary.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[MeiChanski]

Hi all, I've just joined as I am worried. I'm Type 2, diagnosed about 7 years ago. I'm very knowledgeable about my diabetes and have been low carb for years, I don't take med and manage with diet, or so I thought. I haven't been testing my bloods for about a year, as I self fund and found it expensive. I've been trying keto, but do fall off the wagon, especially in the hols and when eating out, all though I still try to stay low carb. I have also been doing IF, always on work days, Tues, Weds and Fridays mostly when I just have black coffee all day until I go home and eat, about 5pm. Let me get to the point, I got some strips and started to test a couple of days ago, as I wanted to get back to keto and was curious to see my levels. I was so shocked to have readings as high as 15 even in the middle of the days while I'm IFing. I did have a couple of weeks holidays when I was basically eating what I liked, Im hoping this is temporary but its freaked me out a bit, as I always thought my eating was keeping it under control. I did read some articles saying that IF is sometimes not a good idea for diabetics. I eat a lot of airwaves sugar free gum and sometimes sugar free polos, which I thought it might be. Im just at a loss as what to do. I have ordered some cortisone lowering suppliments, fish oil and something else I cant remember the name, I have also go some Xilotol gum to see if it makes a difference. Just wanted to get some support and pick you brains to see if anyone has any ideas. BTW this is not dawn phenomenon as these levels range from 10 to 15 all day. TIA

edited to fix typos

Hello, any chance you could get your doctor to retest you? In case you've been wrongly diagnosed.

 

[Penabby]

Hello, any chance you could get your doctor to retest you? In case you've been wrongly diagnosed.

Curious Meichanski, you mean not diabetic, even with my high blood sugars?

 

[Rachox]

Just a thought @Penabby , if you haven’t used your glucose meter for a year, maybe you should get some testing fluid to check your meter’s accurate still?

 

[MeiChanski]

Curious Meichanski, you mean not diabetic, even with my high blood sugars?

No what I'm saying you could be type 1 or 1.5 if diet isn't working for you and you're running high BG with whatever do you are doing. There's a few T2s that later found out they've been wrongly diagnosed and insulin has helped them. So I was wondering if your doctor could get you retested like GAD and cpeptide test to determine a suitable treatment for you.

 

[DCUKMod]

Hi all, I've just joined as I am worried. I'm Type 2, diagnosed about 7 years ago. I'm very knowledgeable about my diabetes and have been low carb for years, I don't take med and manage with diet, or so I thought. I haven't been testing my bloods for about a year, as I self fund and found it expensive. I've been trying keto, but do fall off the wagon, especially in the hols and when eating out, all though I still try to stay low carb. I have also been doing IF, always on work days, Tues, Weds and Fridays mostly when I just have black coffee all day until I go home and eat, about 5pm. Let me get to the point, I got some strips and started to test a couple of days ago, as I wanted to get back to keto and was curious to see my levels. I was so shocked to have readings as high as 15 even in the middle of the days while I'm IFing. I did have a couple of weeks holidays when I was basically eating what I liked, Im hoping this is temporary but its freaked me out a bit, as I always thought my eating was keeping it under control. I did read some articles saying that IF is sometimes not a good idea for diabetics. I eat a lot of airwaves sugar free gum and sometimes sugar free polos, which I thought it might be. Im just at a loss as what to do. I have ordered some cortisone lowering suppliments, fish oil and something else I cant remember the name, I have also go some Xilotol gum to see if it makes a difference. Just wanted to get some support and pick you brains to see if anyone has any ideas. BTW this is not dawn phenomenon as these levels range from 10 to 15 all day. TIA

edited to fix typos

Penabby - Do you always wash your hands before testing?
Have you checked your strips are still in date, and the battery in your meter isn't going low. If your strips are in date, are they being stored in a cool place?

Have you tried testing from a different post of strips?

When you are having your hugh readings, you could pop into your local pharmacy and ask them for a random test. That could help confirm whether or nto there might be an issue with your kit.

 

[Penabby]

No what I'm saying you could be type 1 or 1.5 if diet isn't working for you and you're running high BG with whatever do you are doing. There's a few T2s that later found out they've been wrongly diagnosed and insulin has helped them. So I was wondering if your doctor could get you retested like GAD and cpeptide test to determine a suitable treatment for you.

 

[Penabby]

ok, interesting, I have heard of type 1.5, I will look into it. thank you.

 

[Penabby]

Penabby - Do you always wash your hands before testing?
Have you checked your strips are still in date, and the battery in your meter isn't going low. If your strips are in date, are they being stored in a cool place?

Have you tried testing from a different post of strips?

When you are having your hugh readings, you could pop into your local pharmacy and ask them for a random test. That could help confirm whether or nto there might be an issue with your kit.

Hi there, thank for the reply. Yes I do wash my hands, and the stips are new. I actually tested my other half to check the meter was ok and his bs were normal.

 

[Chris12345]

I was wondering the same thing, best to check. I'm just waiting for the tests to come back to confirm if I'm 1.5 (LADA) or T2

No what I'm saying you could be type 1 or 1.5 if diet isn't working for you and you're running high BG with whatever do you are doing. There's a few T2s that later found out they've been wrongly diagnosed and insulin has helped them. So I was wondering if your doctor could get you retested like GAD and cpeptide test to determine a suitable treatment for you.

 

[Penabby]

Just a thought @Penabby , if you haven’t used your glucose meter for a year, maybe you should get some testing fluid to check your meter’s accurate still?

Thank you, I have thought of getting a new meter, I have go the fluid but remember getting confused when trying to test it so gave up.

 

[Rachox]

Thank you, I have thought of getting a new meter, I have go the fluid but remember getting confused when trying to test it so gave up.

If you do use test fluid, you’ll need to get a fresh batch as they only have a short shelf life once opened. You just apply it to the test strip the same as you would a drop of blood. The reading should be with in the range stated on the fluid bottle. There are usually two bottles one to check higher readings and one for lower ones.