How many spikes do you have a day?

[briony1]

Hey everyone - I’m in a bit of a bad place at the moment with my diabetes and don’t really have much insight or friends who I can talk to and ask! I was just wondering - what your bgs look like throughout the day and if there’s anyone out there who has regular spikes above 10 and how you’re managing? Thanks!

 

[ert]

On a DAFNE course this week. They're trying to get us not to look at our BS until four hours after our meals as the insulin works differently to insulin in normal people. They want us to ignore the spikes. Four hours after our meal, our blood sugars should be back at our target.

 

[Juicyj]

Hey @briony1

What are you struggling with ?

Every day is different, I get spikes above 10 most days but either correct or wait for the insulin to take hold and keep it in check where I can.

Happy to chat if you need some support, it's natural to struggle so your amongst many who understand well what your feeling here x

 

[briony1]

Hey @briony1

What are you struggling with ?

Every day is different, I get spikes above 10 most days but either correct or wait for the insulin to take hold and keep it in check where I can.

Happy to chat if you need some support, it's natural to struggle so your amongst many who understand well what your feeling here x

Hey Juicy J! I’m struggling mainly with the spikes or general fluctuations. I just never understand what’s “normal” and if everyone else gets the same thing I do or if it’s common to have spikes etc? I’m scared I’m doing so much damage to my body but my doc assures me I’m good at control but I literally have been guessing for the last 5 years and somehow been doing ok(ish)? X

 

[briony1]

On a DAFNE course this week. They're trying to get us not to look at our BS until four hours after our meals as the insulin works differently to insulin in normal people. They want us to ignore the spikes. Four hours after our meal, our blood sugars should be back at our target.

Yeah I’ve tried doing that before but still like to know what’s going on in between - do they say that the spikes are still bad tho? Surely if your sugar is going up above 10 in between meals that must be doing some sort of damage? Diabetes is so confusing!!

 

[Mad76]

I'll be watching this thread as I am.also having spikes over 10. Each meal time I spike to maybe 12 then back to normal after a few hours. My hbac score came back good, but I too am worried about potential damage caused by these post meal spikes

 

[MeiChanski]

Can I just say we all spike after eating carby foods. Unless you’ve mastered a way to time your insulin perfectly and not go hypo, then it will minimise the spikes. Non diabetics spike while eating too, they aren’t as aware of it as we are. I spike too, either because I couldn’t wait for insulin to kick in or there isn’t enough insulin on board. However low carb foods and dinners have helped with spikes and insulin needs, I still spike but the fluctuations is more manageable and less room for hypos.
Pre libre days, I’m sure I was spiking without knowing, damage you say? Well all my tests came back fine. My body is still intact. Now into libre days, I’m still fine. It’ll be more concerning if you continued spiking above 10 and not come back down.

 

[LooperCat]

I spike terribly with carby food, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t avoid it. Doesn’t suit everyone but my solution is to eat hardly any carbs. Works for me, but is very restrictive!

 

[Muneeb]

As above, if you eat carbs you will spike. We have to understand that the insulin profile doesn't generally change, but how the cars are absorbed does. We can pre-bolus to minimize spikes but they are inevitable, what you want to try and do is minimize them, I try and keep all spikes under 10 mmol. The best thing I found for this is to ensure my glucose level before eating is as close to 4 mmol as possible, this generally stops my levels spiking above 10 even for high carb foods if I have bloused correctly.

 

[ert]

Yeah I’ve tried doing that before but still like to know what’s going on in between - do they say that the spikes are still bad tho? Surely if your sugar is going up above 10 in between meals that must be doing some sort of damage? Diabetes is so confusing!!

Well, DAFNE says it's normal if you eat carbs. It's only for a short time. It's just unfortunate that the insulins we use don't mimic what it's like to have an actual pancreas. Our insulins have a four-hour window. You should be back to where you started 4 hours after eating plus or minus 1.5 mmol/l.