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How long does blood sugar take to go down?

J

Jack111

Member
Messages
15
Hi, my blood sugar is quite high lately, around 9-11. It does go down a little after exercise.

I have been on Metformin and one of the glyflozins but it's still not in the ideal range.

My doctor has hinted that insulin may be needed in the future but don't want to take it cause it raises insulin.

I have started fasting as Dr Fung has mentioned in his book, he mentioned it should be for 30 hours which I won't try for that long as I might faint.

There is no mention either that blood sugar may go up as fasting puts streets on the body

I'm getting an A1c test in a couple of weeks.

I have type 2

Thanks
 
Last edited:
An impossible question to answer without knowing your current levels and your diet.
 
Hi @Jack111 and welcome to the forums.

I think many of the forumites are asleep now so you may have to wait for European morning for more replies , but I can at least make a couple of comments.

Firstly, how long have you been diabetic and have you had the tests to confirm that you are insulin resistant and over producing insulin (T2) rather than possibly some other variant. such as LADA, where you are actually under producing insulin. A recent c-peptide test might be helpful, because it would tell you how much insulin you are currently producing.

Secondly, are you on any sort of low carb diet and if so, how many carbs a day are you typically having. If there's scope for reduction then that might help avoid additional medication.

Good luck.
 
Hi @Jack111

While @Mike d is perfectly right.
Maybe an idea of how others did might be of some use ?

Myself I started testing Oct 2018 from a HBA1c of 57
Early fbg testing was high 9's
By Dec that was down to mid 6's
And by Jan I had mainly 5's

In Jan 2919 my HBA1c was 42

So on a diet of LCHF and regular exercise ( running & weights) my numbers came down over 4 months.

I saw it as plateaus for myself
Each stage lasting around 4 weeks before the drop became a consistent number.

Good luck on your journey
 
Thanks for responses.
I can't figure out how to copy and paste quoted text

"how long have you been diabetic and have you had the tests to confirm that you are insulin resistant and over producing insulin (T2)"

Around 4 years now. I just get the normal blood test from the arm. The doctor has never mentioned a
c-peptide test, I'll have to look it up to see what it is.

"are you on any sort of low carb diet"
Yes I have, all the stuff in Jason funds book that he suggested, scrimp, bacon and eggs, chicken etc. Not sure many carbs.

"So on a diet of LCHF and regular exercise ( running & weights) my numbers came down over 4 months."

That's good to know. I have been on the low carb high fat high protein diet for a while now. While the numbers haven't gone heaps high they are still around 9-10mmol/l
 
Jack111 said:
The doctor has never mentioned a
c-peptide test, I'll have to look it up to see what it is.
Click to expand...

c-peptide measures insulin production, typically low in T1s or LADAs (slow onset T1) and high in T2s (insulin resistant). There is also a GAD antibody test - if it comes up positive then you have LADA and your insulin producing cells are being destroyed. Assuming that you were only 30 when diagnosed then your doctor should really have considered the possibility of T1/LADA, but may have not bothered if you were either overweight and/or had a family history of T2. And T2 is much more common than T1 so it is much more likely. But an early progression to insulin is a red flag for T1, and 4 years in is pretty early, specially if you are already low carbing.

Jack111 said:
I can't figure out how to copy and paste quoted text
Click to expand...
If you highlight the test with your mouse, as though you were about to copy it, then you should get a highlighted option to "reply" which automatically puts the little reply into the box in your reply post when you click it.
 
"c-peptide measures insulin production, typically low in T1s or LADAs (slow onset T1) and high in T2s (insulin resistant). There is also a GAD antibody test - if it comes up positive then you have LADA and your insulin producing cells are being destroyed."

Aren't type 1s usually hypoglycemic? Are these tests part of normal blood tests? Or they seperate test's. Very surprised doctor hasn't mentioned them

"overweight and/or had a family history of T2"
Yes, this.

Can someone explain why insulin is seen as lowering blood sugar? Dr Fung says to avoid insulin as it raises blood sugar levels
 
Hi Jack

C-peptide and GAD tests are usually only done if you present with certain symptoms that could indicate T1 such as weight loss, high hba1c, ketones. Depending on how you presented on diagnosis a lot of people will just automatically be classed as type 2 based on age, weight & family history.

Type 1’s experience hypoglycaemia when there is too much insulin, balancing carbs and injecting insulin along with all other life factors is no easy thing.

Insulin does lower blood sugar. Think of insulin as a key and in a diabetics body glucose is locked behind a door. Insulin unlocks the door & allows glucose to be processed. However if you are insulin resistant, which a lot of type 2’s are, more locks appear on the door trapping the glucose in our cells. Type 2’s with insulin resistance are fighting a loosing battle by injecting more insulin, it creates more barriers and raises glucose levels.

Type 1’s need insulin because they either have very little or none. Type 2’s need to produce less insulin & this can be achieved by reducing carbs.

Having said that everyone is different and sometimes being on insulin is the right thing for Type 2’s

I note that your not sure how many carbs are in your diet. Perhaps try keeping a food diary & carb counting for a few days to see if you are consuming more than you thought. Some type 2s need to go really low carb to get where they want to be. If you can get the docs to give you a c-peptide it will let you know how much insulin your producing & you can work from there.
 
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