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Type 2 Is it ok to have a spike from carbs once day if levels are good the rest of the day?

SamJB said:
As a rough guide, one high per day will give you an HbA1C in the 7s, one every few days will give an HbA1c in the 6s, every few weeks in the 5s.

In the 7s is ok. At a moderate risk of complications, not a high risk, but not a low risk either.
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Thanks, Sam. I haven't had any HbA1c results yet, as my first one was only done very recently, and I'm not sure I really get how they work and what the relations ship is to daily levles. I am, however, grateful to have this "rough guide". Cheers.
 
An Hb test is basically your average BS over the last 3 months. It gives you a good indication of how well you are doing but of course nothing beats self testing and I find the average on my meter is really accurate.
 
4ratbags said:
An Hb test is basically your average BS over the last 3 months. It gives you a good indication of how well you are doing but of course nothing beats self testing and I find the average on my meter is really accurate.
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Thanks. Nice to see the drop in your level on your status. Very encouraging as is the fact you are eating so few carbs. Are you feeling well? Any side effects at all to your very low carb diet?
 
@pleinster I actually feel really great on between 15-25gr carbs and its not until I go under 10gr carbs per day that I will have a constant headache and lightheadedness. So your body is your best indicator of what level of carbs you can eat. Its all about finding the right balance for your body and making sure you're happy with the way you have chosen to eat as its a lifetime commitment to keep yourself on track. I personally eat LCHF and I really enjoy what I eat. For the first time in decades I feel really great and if I ever slip up and eat something I shouldnt my body lets me know asap. I try to keep my BS as level as possible as no one can really tell you what effects spikes in BS can really have on your body. I do believe that it is how you eat most of the time that matters but to be honest I would be concerned at spiking that high every day especially when it us avoidable.
 

Really helpful to hear how you feel on such a low carb diet.thanks for your help. by the way - whoa re the other 3 ratbags?
 
4ratbags said:
I have four children, hence the name 4ratbags
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Ha! is that one of the ratbags in your profile photo? Good motivation. I don't have any...but they'd probably be my wee ratbags too.
 
My endocrinologist always tells me it is the hbA1c test that matters and it is expected that your BGL's will fluctuate throughout the day on the glucometer readings. He also advised me to try to keep the levels on my meter mostly under 10 to avoid glucose getting into my urine. Anything over 10 isn't good. But it is the average sugar level that is the most important (which hbA1c shows). There's various opinions on this subject, but of course everyone is also different. With me my endo is happy that my hbA1c is currently hovering between 6.7 - 7% for example whereas ideally I'd like to be a lot less. But because I'm dealing with quite a few other health conditions, my endo told me in the last consult I'm actually doing really well in his professional opinion as he knows that my other symptoms would wreak havoc on my sugar levels. He said he sees people dealing with less than me on the health front who are not doing as well as me. So it is your overall wellbeing that is considered and all you can do is your best. We all have various different hurdles we're dealing with and it may not just be diabetes.
 

Thanks, Mep. I can see you have a "few" wee medical issues there as well as diabetes. I don't have so many problems for sure, but I am on an awful lot of meds after transplant and I need to bear them in mind..one in particular causes a spike regardless of what I do (and it caused the diabetes in the first place), and I'm on that for life. I totally get your point about the HbA1c test being so important. I am still waiting for results of my first one (not sure why it wasn't done before now) but I'm sure whatever it is..my next one will be lower as I wasn't doing anything top help myself at that point. With a low carb diet and exercise, me levels are dropping nicely and much close to an average of 7 than 10 these days. But, yeah - it's definitely overall well-being that counts..couldn't agree more.
 

yes, and it took me quite a few years to accept it was the hbA1c that was important. I'd stress myself out all the time reading my meter and I'd even throw it across the room when I wasn't happy with my numbers. But these days having more diagnoses has made me understand that not everything is always in my control. I can only do my best. I use my meter as a guide now and I haven't thrown my meter for quite a while. I still get a bit upset as the high numbers I can get sometimes... like this week I've been real bad but I had an iron infusion on Monday and I've been in a lot more pain since then with a fever and everything. But I have taken on board my endo's advice and I just think oh well there's a next time... keep trying. It sounds like you have a big hurdle there too with having a transplant. Yes, meds certainly can impact your BGL's too. I've noticed since being pulled off baclofen and put back on it my sugar average is higher than it was prior to being pulled off it. I literally can't afford to get upset now because my BP level goes up, I get tachycardia, my BGLs go up, plus if I get upset it can trigger spasms on me as well. I have a lot of reason to be upset because my life has been impacted big time (eg. can't hold a conversation without pain and losing my voice anymore). Prior to illnesses I probably would've had a few tantrums by now. lol.
 

We're definitely not all the same. When I changed to a low carb diet, I switched to eggs for breakfast, i.e. one of the lowest of low carb breakfasts. But I seem to be able to cope with some carbs at breakfast - with lower readings post-meal than before.

So I now have 20g of rolled oats soaked overnight in unsweetened soya milk, and in the morning I add a chopped up apple or banana (again - seems to make no difference which). This is the only grain / high carb food I normally eat daily - the oats and the banana. There's occasional dark chocolate, carrots, beetroot, beans or lentils, leeks (their carb level was a shock!), pears, grapes, persimmons, fresh figs - many weeks there's none of them, other weeks one or two of them. You really do have to experiment for yourself, don't you?
 
I have just had a week of introducing a single portion of carbs (usually potato) at lunch, with lc breakfast and evening meals (we have been on hol).

4 consecutive days of this have left me feeling lacklustre, floppy and achy.

Definitely feeling grotty enough to climb back on the lc wagon!
 

Yup! Looks like they were bad for us all along.
 
pleinster said:
Yup! Looks like they were bad for us all along.
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It's normal to spike on 75g of glucose. The issue is just how high and how quickly you come down.

I used to spike high and quickly but come down fast ( secondary release was OK. ).
Now I come down slowly - real slowly - without insulin
 

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Brunneria said:
I have just had a week of introducing a single portion of carbs (usually potato) ... Definitely feeling grotty enough to climb back on the lc wagon!
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Of course I'd agree that it's just that you can't tolerate this (grams of carbs, etc), but have to say it brought back to mind friends from decades ago who were dedicated macrobiotic diet people, who would never touch potatoes. I always got the impression they saw them as particularly awful!
 

My mother did this too.
She announces, in tones of doom laden gloom that 'they are Nightshades, you know.'
(note the captialisation)

Apparently, way back in the family tree of plants, tomatoes, potatoes and Deadly Nightshade (more captials, you see?) shared a common ancestor.
This makes potatoes and tomatoes particularly evil, and out to personally get her (and one particular thumb joint, I understand).

Yes, I am being frivolous, but we really have had that conversation (many times), and she has avoided Nightshades for about 20 years.

To be fair, she is an excellently healthy, clear skinned, glowing-with-health 80 year old. But I am more likely to put that down to the huge number of dietary supplements, the relatively lc and high omega 3 unprocessed diet, and all her alternative health appointments, than I am to put it down to avoiding potatoes and tomatoes.

We have had that conversation many times too.
 
Brunneria said:
My mother did this too. She announces, in tones of doom laden gloom that 'they are Nightshades, you know.' ..... We have had that conversation many times too.
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Yes! Just the sort of comments I remembered!
 
I don't seem to have issues with tomatoes, but I definitely stay away from potatoes. I've tried reintroducing them a few times but even after a couple of days on small amounts, my hip pain gets much worse. Can't say I really miss them. Much prefer the taste of sweet potato anyway.
 
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