Hi there. I note that before your meal you were 12.5 and 2 hours later 15.5. Now I know that the 'goal' is to be within 2mmol of where you started out after 2 hours but on a recent (albeit type 1) course, they said that it can take 4/5 hours before your reading comes down to what it was before the meal (notwithstanding the differences in types and things like insulin resistance, etc). They said the 2 hour mark is a useful marker, but to try testing it at 3hrs, 4 hrs, 5 hrs (not all the time obviously but as an experiment).
A rise of 3mmol does show that the carbs or insulin were tricky but it doesn't seem that far off to me. I think the issue there is why you were up at 12.5 after fasting, that would normally show your basal is off as I'm sure you know after all those years, when were you placed on insulin? What amount of basal are you on?
Incidentally, I was also told that in some circumstances people end up taking too MUCH insulin which then has the opposite effect, ie, the body panics because it senses it's going low rapidly so it throws out yet more glucose (because the liver is still working just fine!!) and up it goes even further.
In relation to the carbs, what would you eat in a typical day? I am a low carber and generally have around 100 carbs a day, this is far less restrictive than keto but again, I know you are type 2 so a 100carbs a day may or may not work dependent on any underlying issues.
I wonder whether your GP would agree to a C Peptide test to try and determine how much (if any) of your own insulin you are producing or has this already been done do you know? x
Thanks to all who have responded to my question. My issues are complicated ones, I appreciate and I am still sure there must be a way through for me. I did have carbs this morning - 2 fried eggs, 2 rashers of streaky bacon and 2 small pancakes (not sweetened). BG currently 20.5. At 4.30 this morning, when I got up, it was 5.0. Clearly, the pancakes, then. Bad idea but I was hungry by 9 am, when I broke my fast. No bread or other carb available, so I just made some pancakes. I didn't bother counting the calories. Trouble is, I'm still feeling hungry despite that and it's only 12.35 now.
This morning's reading of 5.0 was very rare for me, despite taking an overnight dose of Lantus Solostar 64 units every night. Usually it is around the 10 - 14 mark. My diabetes nurse wants me to keep it at that level and would prefer if I don't up the Humilin S any further before meals. Actually, 60 is the most the pen will deliver. She was also very definite about NOT taking a correction dose. I did have a C-peptide test some months ago (when we could still see a doctor, ie before last March). I had to explain to the doctor what it was and why because he knew nothing about it - not that I really understood it. However, he did arrange it and apparently, back then, I was still producing my own insulin and insulin levels were high (injected) but having little effect.
Over the last 2 years I have been measuring carbs and then eventually estimating based on experience and keeping below 20 carbs most days. This has not caused me to lose weight - perhaps because I was not, at the same time, counting the calories in other food. Perhaps, though, simply because I retain too much fluid and I suppose fluid is heavy. (I take medication to try to resolve that - it doesn't work either and my doctors are puzzled. They upped the dose, too far it seemed, and I ended up with my kidneys in trouble.) Neither has it led to a reduction is BG levels.
When I did try, for a few weeks also counting calories, I was not able to keep going physically. I tried using more vegetables (not that they contained many carbs) but my digestive system played up too much and I had to reduce them to a small amount of less irritant ones - cucumber, courgettes, peppers, onion - which I could cope with so was eating mainly unprocessed meat and eggs. I still do have full cream milk and yoghurt but I think the milk is beginning to cause stomach issues now - cheese certainly is.
I take Levothyroxine tablets (75 mcgm daily) to support my thyroid which was damaged when a parathyroid tumour (benign) was removed. It was growing into my thyroid, so that had to be cut away as well. Blood tests seem to indicate that the levels are OK.
I'm in the middle of a whole series of tests to try to figure out just what is wrong with me and everything seems to check out just fine. What they are looking for is a reason why I retain so much fluid and why for many months I have been unable to breathe easily. I think it may be due to the hangover from undiagnosed Covid infection.
Sorry for the long reply. I'm sure I can't be the only one out there with these kind of issues. I am positive that low carbing works very well for many people, but it was (almost literally) killing me and I'm trying to find a way forward.