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Type 2 How do you deal with the occasional high reading?

Munkki

Munkki

Well-Known Member
Messages
544
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Good afternoon :)

Yesterday I had a few too many carbs creeping into my dinner. Today did some sports and later, when I was very hungry, I went out for lunch into one of the 'healthier' cafes around. When I ordered I made a few swaps and ate a good amount of lamb and olive oil :hungry:, but a bowl of olives came with salad and sweet dressing o_O. Plus, I ate some of the white bread :oops:. After the meal I had the highest reading since my diagnosis, 8.8 :mad:

This is a lesson learned in terms of the actual foods. However, I won't be able to fully manage every ingredient in every restaurant in the future. How do you deal with the occasional high reading, which may appear after a treat, a meal out or some sneaky carbs? I had walked a lot yesterday and also did my share of exercise for this weekend already, so I refrained from cycling down and up the hill or something like that. I am going to have a salad with fried squid tonight and nothing else (I usually have a small portion of carby food such as buckwheat). Then continue with eating normally from tomorrow morning.

How do you deal with this? Are occasional high readings a problem at all and can they be 'balanced out' with a super-low-carb meal for the next HbA1c test? Could the fact that I first had a small breakfast, then an hour of exercise, but no more food after that, so I was very hungry, have contributed to my reaction to the food in the cafe?
 
A reading of 8.8 is not really that high. I wouldn't worry about the occasional high reading. I look at the big picture.
 
I expect you 8.8 was only because of your sudden excessive carb intake. What you do not say is how long after the the food was the test. If it was an hour then it is fairly normal. If it was 2 hours then it could be that you went much higher and on your way down or you had lots of fats and soluble fibre and that has slowed the digestion down
 
Andrew Colvin said:
I expect you 8.8 was only because of your sudden excessive carb intake. What you do not say is how long after the the food was the test. If it was an hour then it is fairly normal. If it was 2 hours then it could be that you went much higher and on your way down or you had lots of fats and soluble fibre and that has slowed the digestion down
Click to expand...

Thanks all :)

I tested two hours or a little bit earlier after the beginning of the meal, but I had a good amount of olive oil and lamb, and I felt 'oily' after eating, if you know what I mean, so I hope it had not been higher before the test ;)

I was spontaneously invited to friends for dinner last night and was somewhat frustrated. I almost didn't go, but I went, bringing an avocado and broccoli salad with olive oil and one of my friends made amazing meats baked in olive oil, soo, so I got plenty of safe food :)
 
A spike of 8.8 isn't that high and measuring 15 minutes early or later can make a big difference, what matters is how long your BGL was elevated.
I always test just over 2 hours after the end of a meal, if the BGL is high I test again 30 minutes later.
 
Okay, so it seems that different people have very different patterns of measuring. I guess I need to make some trials with foods and then measure continuously, to see when they really get my blood sugars to the maximum.
 
yes when I was learning I would do tests every 20 mins to understand the patterns. I now recognise my shapes and what to expect from different foods. For example icecream has a 2 hour peak and not a one hour. Rice starts slow and goes on for about 4 hours keeping me in the low 6s. Rarely do I get this 1 hour/2 hour pattern unless I eat very plain carb foods.
 
Ice cream (real high fat Italian) causes only a small short lasting peak for me, but rice or breakfast cereal is long lasting poison.
 
Okay, I see. I have noticed that I feel a little bit hungry about two to three hours after most meals, maybe for 15 minutes or so, and then, without eating, the hunger disappears. I try to measure before this, as long as I am still full, as I have the impression that in that time my BG lowers. I need to investigate this :doctor:

Do you have similar sensations?
 
I think we probably all get the occasional higher reading - my attitude is if they happen, they happen, as sometimes they're quite beyond my control - e.g. illness. As long as I'm not causing them through my own evil actions, I'm more interested in whether they might fit into a pattern of sorts in which case I'd then be more concerned with what might be going on.

Your HbA1c test isn't the be all and end all - if you readings have a fairly steady level over time, then that's more important in my eyes, and should actually be telling you more than a single three monthly figure will, which IMO is more of a guide for your doctor or nurse. But if you can get three monthly averages from your meter (mine does this for me), or a spreadsheet, you can use the HbA1c converter on the main Diabetes UK site to (rough) check how you're doing.

Robbity
 
Some diabetes meter computer software and Android apps wil estimate HBa1c. Although regarded as 3 month average level Hba1c is actually biased towards the 3 to 4 weeks immediately before the test but glucose levels pre-dating 3 months still have some small effect on the results.
 
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