Jelly Babies instead of Rapilose for home OGTT

[Ronancastled]

Perhaps I should have posted this thread in Success Stories thread but as it's applicable only to Type 2's I settled for here.
I have previously documented my attempts at a home oral glucose tolerance test using Shreddies.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...cose-tolerance-test-ogtt.173115/#post-2241701
My initial attempt gave me a 2 hour glucose of 8.6 mmol/L but my follow up a few months later yielded 4.6 mmol/L.
Although I ate the requisite 75g of carbs it was noted that protein & fats affect the glycemic response.

I'd consumed 150g+ carb meal on Friday night & came in at 6.2 mmol/L at the 2 hour mark which I was most pleased with.
I hadn't ordered the Rapilose Glucose Solution but I wanted to test myself against an official benchmark.
Google threw up several articles citing Jelly Beans as an alternative to the glucose solution, especially in pregnant women who had trouble keeping down the Rapilose.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10561636/

So I purchased a bag of jelly beans & set about preparing my home test.

As you can see these things are nearly pure sugar.
A quick calculation told me I need 96g of jelly beans for 75g of carbs.

The following morning I took my fasting, came in nice & low at 4.3 mmol/l.

I swallowed back the jelly beans with a glass of water in about 2 minutes.
Set Alexa for 2 hours & went back to bed.
My 2 hour result is pictured below, sorry for the blurriness.

I'd experienced similar on my previous Shreddies experiment where I recorded a 3.8 mmol/L on a 2 hour retest.
I put these low readings down to the classic rollercoaster glycemic response to a high carb meal.

I'm on the list for an Endo appointment but with Covid it's gone low priority.
I'd read that the patient needs to be there own doctor of diabetes, you can be very much on your own & need to take charge of your condition.
Running these tests allows me to establish a benchmark which I can re-examine in 6 months time.
I was morbidly obese with a BMI of 41 when I started this journey, currently down 5.5 stone & now with a BMI of 30.
I realise there's not much here to benefit the TOFI's but my story may help someone who is as overweight as I was & has just received a diagnosis.

 

[Ronancastled]

Repeated this test this morning, using Jelly Beans this time instead of Jelly Babies.
The Jelly Beans are 89g carbs per 100g which is higher than the 79g per 100g in the Jelly Babies.
Anyway 84g of Jelly Beans down the hatch & this time took readings every 30 mins.

Fasting: 4.5
30 mins: 7.4
60 mins: 6.6
90 mins 5.0
120 mins 4.0

Just waiting on a 150 mins reading but really pleased with these results.
Everything seems to be staying steady.
Would love to get an official lab confirmation & a meeting with an Endo but covid.

 

[Sparklebrightisright62]

Hi to you,

So are you saying that eating jelly babies and jelly beans is helping you loose weight but I don't get how your blood
Sugars are so low while eating these?????



Sparklebright62.

 

[Mr_Pot]

Repeated this test this morning, using Jelly Beans this time instead of Jelly Babies.
The Jelly Beans are 89g carbs per 100g which is higher than the 79g per 100g in the Jelly Babies.
Anyway 84g of Jelly Beans down the hatch & this time took readings every 30 mins.

Fasting: 4.5
30 mins: 7.4
60 mins: 6.6
90 mins 5.0
120 mins 4.0

Just waiting on a 150 mins reading but really pleased with these results.
Everything seems to be staying steady.
Would love to get an official lab confirmation & a meeting with an Endo but covid.

That's very impressive particularly as you are eating more carbs per meal than many are eating in a day to get that fbg. I think you are as near to "cured" as anyone can get. I suspect you had insulin resistance due to your weight which has now gone. I am sure I would fail a test like that although I have a reasonable HbA1c, as I am sure many others are on here would, if they had the nerve to try it. Congratulations, you will be an inspiration to others in your situation.

 

[Ronancastled]

So are you saying that eating jelly babies and jelly beans is helping you loose weight but I don't get how your blood
Sugars are so low while eating these?????
Sparklebright62.

I wouldn't touch them with a barge poll but I used them to simulate an OGTT at home.
They are nearly 90% carbs so very little fats & protein to affect the glycemic response.
Surgeries in the US have used them for years in testing pregnant women who cannot tolerate the glucose solution.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10561636/

 

[Ronancastled]

That's very impressive particularly as you are eating more carbs per meal than many are eating in a day to get that fbg. I think you are as near to "cured" as anyone can get. I suspect you had insulin resistance due to your weight which has now gone. I am sure I would fail a test like that although I have a reasonable HbA1c, as I am sure many others are on here would, if they had the nerve to try it. Congratulations, you will be an inspiration to others in your situation.

I'm wondering if my slow reintoduction have carbs have aided my first phase insulin response.
Early days I was a lot more hesitant to try any more than 30 carbs per meal (2 slices of bread essentially).
Once I started hitting the 5's after a chiniese takeaway with a full tray off fried rice I got braver.

Now the challange is to not fall back into the "old ways".
For me: carbs = weight gain = insulin resistance = T2

 

[Mr_Pot]

For me: carbs = weight gain = insulin resistance = T2

In my case I think I have low first phase response, possibly due to age, as I can tolerate carbs that take a long time to digest. An OGTT would probably be a disaster.