Is a reading of 9-9.5 too high?

[dan1jess2]

Ok so I have accepted I can no longer tolerate cereal after 2 hours my levels aren't so bad but after an hour and half are too high over 10, so going to try eggs or yoghurt, my trouble is I have two young children I have to get ready for school and myself ready for work everyday of the week, its a time thing but will give it a go.
The thing that is really bothering me is say 3 hours after eating breakfast (taken kids to school had a little walk, drove to work) my levels drop right down to 4.2-4.5 so I start feeling very strange and it takes all morning to feel normal again until after lunch? I have been having a snack (fruit) when I get to work banana/apple etc to get my levels up to 5-6 again, am I doing the right thing? why are they plummeting again?? its so bloody confusing.. doing my head in today, I just want to feel normal again.
Ceri x

 

[Brunneria]

That is the carb rollercoaster in action.
And it is a right royal pain, isn't it?
Once you get off the roller coaster, things usually settle down nicely.

Most of us (certainly lots of posts on here about it) find that by switching to a protein/fat brekkie we skip the high, and the resulting drop, and instead we stay much more even, with steadier blood glucose levels all morning. But you may have to test it yourself, before you believe me!

Having to prepare a protein breakfast in your circumstances is a pain, but I can recall a few solutions that posters have come up with. Here are some:

- cook a batch of low carb sausages (e.g. Black Farmers) and microwave them each morning
- cook a batch of mini low carb egg quiches, and eat cold, or microwaved
- slices of ham and cheese (this is the quickest and easiest option I can think of. if I have it, i layer cheese and ham slices and wander round eating them like a sandwich, but I save it for when I am in a real hurry. Have even been known to leave the house with it in my hand, still munching.
- micro kippers (no bread though)
- Lidl high protein rolls

There are a few, although, as I think I may have mentioned, I am a coffee and cream girl. A good glug of cream will last me til at least 11 am. Then I have another.

 

[Totto]

4.2 is perfectly normal. You should be happy! It can take a while to get used to it though and if you feel a bit funny it's called a false hypo. You want your body to get used to a normal glucose level.

 

[dan1jess2]

@Brunneria thank you for your message yes the roller coaster is so annoying and really doing my head in, am I doing good /bad, am I low/high? So confusing, should I eat or not? Am I hungry or high?? All these questions, the only way to tell is to test I know, but my fingers are getting a little sore!
I am going to try poached egg on one slice of brown bread tomorrow see what happens, but thank you for the suggestions I just need to be prepared and organised!
@Totto thank you for the comment, I should be pleased with 4.2 shouldn't I, never happy. It just makes me feel a little weak can't concentrate at work. Do I eat when I gets to this level, like a banana or something more sugary? I don't want it going too high then?? Thanks Ceri xx



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[Totto]

Do I eat when I gets to this level, like a banana or something more sugary?

If I were you I'd try a couple of nuts if you must have something, certainly not a banana, far too much sugar! You want to get used to this level.

 

[TooManyCrisps]

@Brunneria thank you for your message yes the roller coaster is so annoying and really doing my head in, am I doing good /bad, am I low/high? So confusing, should I eat or not? Am I hungry or high?? All these questions, the only way to tell is to test I know, but my fingers are getting a little sore!
I am going to try poached egg on one slice of brown bread tomorrow see what happens, but thank you for the suggestions I just need to be prepared and organised!
@Totto thank you for the comment, I should be pleased with 4.2 shouldn't I, never happy. It just makes me feel a little weak can't concentrate at work. Do I eat when I gets to this level, like a banana or something more sugary? I don't want it going too high then?? Thanks Ceri xx
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I struggled with breakfast when I started eating lchf as previously I had always had porridge. I leave very early to commute to work so it has to be quick and easy.
Quite often i make a big batch of egg mayonnaise and then have a couple of spoonfuls for breakfast along with a slice of ham or a cold sausage. It is delicious and keeps me full until lunchtime 6 hours later.
I also make a loaf of low carb bread each week, and sometumes have that toasted with marmite or peanut butter.

 

[Kristin251]

I smash an avocado with sea salt and eat it with celery sticks

There's a recipe for low carb spinach bread that would be very quick and easy. You could just keep it in the fridge or freeze some and microwave

I wish you wouldn't have the brown bread haha

At 4.2 you don't need to eat but as mentioned a few nuts if you want. A banana will just keep the roller coaster going. As B said once you get flat and steady the wonky feelings will go away. But bread most likely won't help.

 

[Redsnapper]

I am a coffee and cream fan.Really good coffee and a fairly generous addition of single cream is great.Cream has low levels of lactose in it, certainly much lower than any cows milk.Soya milk is good and almond milk makes a wonderful latte using a milk frother.
It is quite satisfying and some mornings I will scoff one and take a second out the door!
Add in some sugar free syrups ( I have vanilla, caramel and hazelnut) and there is no need to feel you are depriving yourself.
Bacon or hard boiled eggs cooked the night before are quick and tasty, or full fat Greek yougurt with frozen berries.If you are really in a rush 85% chocolate squares and walnuts are great emergency rations and will keep you fairly level.
Have a look at the "what have I eaten today " thread for more ideas.

 

[KevinPotts]

@Brunneria thank you for your message yes the roller coaster is so annoying and really doing my head in, am I doing good /bad, am I low/high? So confusing, should I eat or not? Am I hungry or high?? All these questions, the only way to tell is to test I know, but my fingers are getting a little sore!
I am going to try poached egg on one slice of brown bread tomorrow see what happens, but thank you for the suggestions I just need to be prepared and organised!
@Totto thank you for the comment, I should be pleased with 4.2 shouldn't I, never happy. It just makes me feel a little weak can't concentrate at work. Do I eat when I gets to this level, like a banana or something more sugary? I don't want it going too high then?? Thanks Ceri xx



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A banana is typically likely to send your sugar racing upwards. Berries are great...rasp, strawb, black and blue...just about the best fruit to avoid spikes.


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[nomoredonuts]

Teeny bit gutted this morning. I had my banana/nut/ seed/ chia smoothie, then walked a steady uphill gradient for an hour. Two hours post smoothie I was bl**dy 9.4! What's that about?
Is it at all likely that I was dehydrated and therefore "concentrating" my sugars? I'm probably clutching at straws, but then I'm a drowning man....

 

[Brunneria]

@nomoredonuts you may have been exercising strenuously enough to trigger a liver dump.

- not something I am familiar with (the strenuous exercise, I get small liver dumps regularly, and the liver decides to step in to produce enough glucose to cope with daily demands. exercise liver dumps are bigger cos the demands for fuel by the muscles are bigger too), so am just speculating.

 

[KevinPotts]

Teeny bit gutted this morning. I had my banana/nut/ seed/ chia smoothie, then walked a steady uphill gradient for an hour. Two hours post smoothie I was bl**dy 9.4! What's that about?
It is at all likely that I was dehydrated and therefore "concentrating" my sugars? I'm probably clutching at straws, but then I'm a drowning man....

That banana would absolutely do it for me!!

I have a smoothy every morning with KoKo (free from coconut milk Tesco), goji berries, frozen berries (rasp, strawb, black - Tesco), cocoa nibs, Tesco, bit of kale or spinach. Lovely and doesn't bump my BG at all...give it a try

I also add Good Green Stuff and Clean Lean Protein both from NuZest, but those elements are not necessary for a good smoothie.


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[nomoredonuts]

@Brunneria , speculating works for me! Am now 2 points lower and basking in the aftermath of a good walk, (where I came across a old limekiln). Celebrating with a hearty lunch of chorizo sausages fried up with chunky courgette and served with @PaleoWithMrsP 's sweet potato and leek fritters. By your comments above, I should have had this for breakfast. Thanks for the boost!

 

[KevinPotts]

That meal sounds terrific...it's got my juices flowing ready for pub dinner in about 90 mins


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[nomoredonuts]

Did I not mention the fat duck's egg?

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[KevinPotts]

Did I not mention the fat duck's egg?

Flippin hec....you would post that picture when I wake up after just starting my weekly fast at 7pm yesterday....you know how to kick a man when he's down...haha

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[PaleoWithMrsP]

@Brunneria , speculating works for me! Am now 2 points lower and basking in the aftermath of a good walk, (where I came across a old limekiln). Celebrating with a hearty lunch of chorizo sausages fried up with chunky courgette and served with @PaleoWithMrsP 's sweet potato and leek fritters. By your comments above, I should have had this for breakfast. Thanks for the boost!

Ah! Hope you enjoyed them! x

 

[Oldvatr]

Thanks everyone for your lovely messages, strangley enough my fasting number is always around 6, this morning I usually have a little bit of Candarel on my cereal this morning I didn't and it only went up to 7.7 with 2 Weetabix and skimmed milk??

Artificial sweetners are marketed as being zero calories, which generally true. They are good for weight loss, but uselses at reducing bgl. I was quite shocked when I read the news reports about them affecting bgl, since I had believed them to be a suitable sugar replacement. There have now been some recent studies that seem to confirm these findings in terms of the gut enzyme response, so although I still use a sweetner, i have cut down on portion size,. I find that I can enjoy bulletproof coffee without any sweetner, but normal coffee still requires 1 tab. Note: semi or skimmed milk contains lactose which will raise bgl - whole milk has less effect. (see LCHF diet thread for more info)

I have found that for me a slice of toast in the morning is ok bglwise, but I had to search quite extensively to find one that suited me. i ended up with a 5 seed batch loaf from Aldi (or the Hovis equivalent is also good but costs more). Having it with butter keeps the levels down, but I spike if I leave off the butter. Luckily, the rest of my family (all Carboholics) also prefer this bread to most (excepting Tiger Bread). I used to use cuppa-porridge thingy but it spiked me a bit, so now its a standby if the bread has gang green. I also use Lidl high protein rolls, but find them a bit of a struggle in the mornings, so tend to use them as potato or pasta replacement.

 

[Oldvatr]

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Theres a one eyed yellow idol, on the road to Katmandu......

 

[Oldvatr]

just took my bloods and the meter says my blood result was 31.1

Could this be a mis-read? Did you confirm with a follow up reading? I too used to get readings this high before I took positive action to reduce my bgl, and now I am averaging 5.5 as a daily value.