Large Spike after Breakfast - Alternatives?

Hi everyone. I've been on my insulin pump alongside my Libre for almost a month now. I'm seeing some improvements but not enough - I have the pump funded for another 5 months where I then need to have dropped my a1c by 10-20mmol/mol or I lose the funding (and there's no way I can afford to fund it myself). My average glucose reading in the past month has been 11mmol which is nowhere where I need it to be and with it being Christmas, I'm waiting for my nurse to get back to me to help me.

My biggest thing at the moment is my post-breakfast spike. I eat cereal, normally bran flakes, at about 40-50g of carbs each morning. I've waited 20-30 minutes after injecting to try and stop the spike but it doesn't help. If I'm sitting at 4 or 5mmol before eating then the spike isn't so noticeable and goes up to 11 or 12mmol before dropping back down into range. When I'm up at 7/8/9mmol though, the spike goes all the way up to 18/19mmol and it throws the rest of the morning out of whack.

I'm unsure if it's just what cereal does or if it's the amount I'm eating. 50g of carbs at dinner, eaten 20 minutes after insulin normally causes a tiny spike if any at all (depending on the day!). Does anyone have any breakfast alternatives I could try? Preferably needs to be something I can either get done in 5-10 minutes or prepare the night before as I only leave myself 20 minutes for breakfast on workdays and would rather not get up any earlier. Or if there's anything else I can be doing to stop the spike.

Any help is appreciated!

The Pirate Twins said:

Yep sounds about right.

Cereal takes a while to break down and digest, being on midi means that over a period of say 2-4 hours after eating, can be injection to account for the 142g of carb I eat. Spike to 11-12 then back down again sounds right. Might be worth looking up the insulin profile for the banting juice your using, and maybe adjusting times, amounts but not sure.

At dinner you might be eating, meat, veg maybe small potatoes which get digested much quicker hence the smaller spike.

To spike after eating is not that unusual, it's just calculating the dose and times.

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Yeah, I don't mind spiking because it's expected. My only issue is the spiking up to almost 20 and it can sometimes throw off the rest of my morning.

I'm gonna try something different other than cereal I think and see if it makes a difference!

The Pirate Twins said:

Spike to 20? Ooooo, OK you could try changing the amount of insulin your pump pushes out to cover the carbs your eating? Thought pumps could be programmed like that, but not sure.

Bacon, eggs, sausage, low carb beware of bread some of them can be carby and slow digest, or continental style meats, cheese croissants?

Not sure but hope that helps.

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I think I'll look at changing my food to something lower carb and won't shoot me up into oblivion! I seem to do ok with bread as long as I wait 20 minutes after injecting but I'll look into options.

LooperCat said:

Is not eating breakfast an option?

Most of us are quite carb sensitive/insulin resistant in the mornings, so it’s worth experimenting with a low carb breakfast - smoked salmon and eggs maybe?

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I much prefer eating in the morning. I wake up feeling hungry and don't really want to wait until lunch. I'm gonna give different breakfasts a go and see how if it makes a difference.

Thanks for the suggestion!

ringi said:

I assume you are taking the milk into account.

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Yeah, 40g for cereal, around 10g for milk

Day 1 success! I cooked up an egg and bacon muffin last night and then warmed it for breakfast this morning. 25g of carbs and ate around 20 minutes after injecting. I started on 7.2 when I woke up and never went above 11 after eating. No real spike at all and I had my best day ever today according to my Libre (65% in target)! Onwards and upwards