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Dunkels King

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Hi Everyone, I am new to this so please go softly :) I was diagnosed Type 2 a week ago. My Doctor here in Germany has put me on Metformin 750mg once a day to be taken at 7pm after my meal. This is to see how it goes and be re-evaluated over the next weeks. I was given a machine to test my blood sugar and have been doing this every day. Yesterday I had a reading of 121 at 7am (before I had my breakfast, but 3 hours after I got up for work). This was down to 100 before lunch (had yoghurt with raspberries for breakfast). Two hours after my evening meal I was at 126 (had chicken salad, having had a salad also at lunch time). This morning before breakfast (same routine as above) I was at 117. One hour after a breakfast that was only 0.1% fat natural yoghurt with raspberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon powder, plus one apple, my reading was 196 ! How could I get such a spike ? Anyone got any ideas ? This is the highest reading I have had on the machine and I am now rather concerned. Thanks for any advice. Could the cinnamon powder be the problem ? I thought it was good for diabetics.

......just to add, I took a reading at 11:55 and it was down to 99. I have just had my lunch of salad with grated cheese. I will check it again in a couple of hours to see how it is going. Fingers crossed :)
 
Hi Dunkels

Firstly, I would say that after a week you are doing brilliantly. It will take you a while of testing to work out what suits you, and what foods have what effect on your sugar levels. Your high reading was 10.8 I think in our readings (I think you divide by 18), so while high, is not terrible, especially at this stage.

Secondly, I think your spike may have been the yoghurt plus the apple. Tesco low fat yoghurt has 35g of carbs per 100g, and it is all sugar, so very quick release into your bloodstream. Apples are about 15-23g of carbs depending on size, so overall you may have had 50+g of carbs, mainly sugar, for breakfast. This would spike a lot of people!

Also, as you get more readings from your machine, you will see that there are natural variances in your response. I can have exactly the same meal on 2 differenct nights, and the readings will never be the same.

Good luck!

Caterham
 
Thanks for the good info and comments. The yoghurt I had is only about 8g of Carbohydrate per 100g. I have now bought some Greek Yoghurt which is half that although higher in fat. My blood sugar was down at 99 just before lunch. I had a salad with radish and cheese, no dressing. After two hours I was down to 96. Just had sweet potato, lentil and turkey soup for my evening meal. Hopefully all will be OK.
 
Definitely the apple! I can't touch apples. Greek full fat yoghurt will be great. You have to get into the mindset that it is carbs you are cutting back on, not fat. The fat in the yoghurt will keep you nicely full and stop you craving carbs mid morning.

You're doing fine, it's early days, keep at it and keel testing! :)


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The reading of 196 is high but you took it only one hour after breakfast. Taking readings only one hour after a meal would cause a lot of us to worry. In England the standard is that you take a reading two hours after a meal and it should be below about 150.

You seem to have got the hang of things mostly but don't panic.
 
Thanks again for all the positive comments and help. I normally test two hours after I start my meal but I had to go to a long meeting so did it early. Two hours after my meal last night I was at 137, at 04:25 this morning when I was going to work it was down to 93. Before my breakfast at 07:00 it was at 132 and two hours later it is at 133. I imagine the rise from 04:25 to 07:00 is the hormones sending glucose out to prepare me for the day. Is this also something I can control ? Maybe have a slice of brown toast just as I set off for work or in the evening before I go to bed ? Thanks once again for all your help.
 
Dunkels King said:
One hour after a breakfast that was only 0.1% fat natural yoghurt with raspberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon powder, plus one apple, my reading was 196 ! How could I get such a spike ?
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Even otherwise normally healthy people get the spikes, very roughly 30 mins to 45 mins after eating but their insulin response reduces the level back to normal quickly, again roughly around the two hour mark. Type 2's have a less effective insulin response and it takes us longer.

Also, some readings are simply wrong and after you get used to your meter, you can spot the mistakes. The best quality blood is arterial blood, then venous blood, which is what they take for a sample at the hospital and then capilliary blood, ie with a finger pricker. But this is often mixed up with other fluids and is prone to quick clotting, so it is only an estimate. You're looking for overall trends so you don't need to be oncerned. My meter manual even state not to be worried about occasional readings of 11, or 198 in Deutschmarks.

Dunkels King sounds suspiciously like a reference to bier to me :D
 
More good advice, thankyou, and yes, Dunkels King is a reference to my beloved Kaltenberg König Ludwig Dunkle Beer, although I don't think I will be drinking any of that in the near future :(
 
Finzi said:
Greek full fat yoghurt will be great. You have to get into the mindset that it is carbs you are cutting back on, not fat. The fat in the yoghurt will keep you nicely full and stop you craving carbs mid morning.
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That depends entirely on whether a person is overweight or not, you will never loss weight by increasing your fat intake, fat has 9 calories per gram so even a small increase in fat can stall any weight loss.

The best thing an overweight T2 diabetic can do to help themselves is to loss weight.

By all means increase fat intake to stabilise weight loss after reaching a normal BMI, although I found that by loosing weight I needed fewer calories anyway so have never increased my fat intake even though I low carb. less weight = fewer cals to fuel normal daily routine, so cutting back on the carbs was all I needed to do.
 
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