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Panic Time??? (And by that I mean HELP!?!)

Patch

Patch

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,981
Location
Bristol
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I've been a bit poorly over the past week with a chest infection. Haven't really been measuring my BG. (Bad boy, I know).

I'm still a bit rough, so I wasn't massively surprised when I measured my BG at my desk today at 12pm and found it to be 13.2mmoL - that's fasting (no breakfast).

Dinner was a mad rush, so I grabbed what I could (Steak Slice and a Mars Bar - please don't hate me, gang!). My 2hr reading DID surprise me, though.

Wait for it...

25.4mmoL

Seriously??? I checked it again immediately, and it was 24.8. Pretty bloody high...

Weird thing is, I feel fine? No brain fog, no tiredness, nothing. (Chest and throat still giving me a bit of jip - but I'm on the mend). Sleeping through every night, no getting up to pee, nothing.

Should I worry? I'm pretty sure I can just keep working 'til 5, then merrily head home.
 
Re: Panic Time???

If it were me, i'd test again now and see what reading you get. Are you managing to drink enough with your bad chest ? Can you test for ketones ? If still high i'd seek medical advice. When i had pneumonia and DKA my BG level was 14 when it was tested at the Drs and i was given anti biotics for a chest infection. 2hrs later i was needing an ambulance and my BG was 40 :shock: Look after yourself Patch as i wouldn't wish DKA on anybody.
 
I've tested a couple of times since just to be sure. >25mmoL each time.

Funniest thing is - just had a chat with the T1 next to me at work and while I was measuring my BG he was rushing over to th eshop to buy some Lucozade to treat a hypo (1.9!)

Diabetic Karma??? Maybe it all balances out across all of us diabetics? :lol:

DOES DKA cause weight loss? I haven't any weigh tin a long while...
 
Patch said:
I've tested a couple of times since just to be sure. >25mmoL each time.

Funniest thing is - just had a chat with the T1 next to me at work and while I was measuring my BG he was rushing over to th eshop to buy some Lucozade to treat a hypo (1.9!)

Diabetic Karma??? Maybe it all balances out across all of us diabetics? :lol:
Click to expand...
wouldn't it be great if you could have just magicked across some of your bg to him...?

I haven't any advice coz I'm a t1 and my answer to most things is whack in some more insulin. But have a cyberhug and I hope your body comes back on track soon.
 
DKA can cause weight loss but i don't think it always does. 25 is still very high Patch and as you have an infection to, i'd get checked out. Better to be safe than sorry.
 
Patch, keep testing, if it carries on rising then get some medical advice.
I'm sure that the infection increased your level but the mars bar will have added it's bit.
Keep up for your fluids (both for the infection and if there are any ketones)
See if you can get hold of some ketone strips just in case. From what i've read DKA can happen in T2 when theres something else like an an infection going on, but forunately it isn't that common.
Thinking of you.
 
How common is the Mars bar for you? I had the impression that you are strictly low carb, in which case your insulin secretion may be slow to react to a sudden challenge. I've heard for example that for a couple of weeks before a Glucose Tolerance Test a person eating low carb ought to be sure to take in at least 100-150g carbs to ensure they do not get a false positive.

Otherwise I entirely agree with the above: stay well hydrated, keep testing and if in doubt seek medical advice. The stress of an infection could be jacking your BG up.
 
I'm not surprised your running high with an infection.. very common to people with all types of diabetes.

if your running in the teens, i'm not surprised your BG went so high after a mars bar and a steak slice! of course it's your decision what you eat, If you were rushed, then eating is better than nothing!

It's also no uncommon to feel fine and dandy with high BG's, few options as to why...

1. It's irregular and your body can tolerate the odd high here and there.

2. As you haven't been checking your BG's regularly as you should (especially when ill) you have gotten used to feeling ****** and feels normal now?

3. You feel ****** from your infection so it's masking the feelings of high BG's.

Not sure if any will apply to you but just a few thoughts.


Even though I'm T1, i go by the rule of if i have 3 readings over 13 i check for ketones. if i have any reading over 18 i will check for ketones ASAP. If i have ketones i will use my sick day rules.

If my BG is still climbing or my ketones get worse despite having corrections of insulin, it's time to seek medical help.

Also as always recommended if you get a reading that doesn't match how you feel then check your meter with solution to make sure it's working properly.

My simple advice is test test test. Drink plenty of water/fluids. If you start to feel unwell and your BG is high, as you can't exactly inject insulin, i would seek some medical advice.. GP appointment maybe..

Or if you're concerned it's getting no better then call NHS direct or get yourself up to A&E.

Better safe than sorry patch :)

Hope you get it sorted!
 
Thanks for the help, folks. Much appreciated!

pianoman said:
How common is the Mars bar for you? I had the impression that you are strictly low carb, in which case your insulin secretion may be slow to react to a sudden challenge.
Click to expand...

I am a lo-carber. I can count the number of chocolate bars I've had in the last 5 or 6 years on my fingers! :lol: Today was just a moment of weakness. (I think as I'd already picked up the pie, the Mars bar at the till took me off guard. Damned impulse buys!!!)

pianoman said:
I've heard for example that for a couple of weeks before a Glucose Tolerance Test a person eating low carb ought to be sure to take in at least 100-150g carbs to ensure they do not get a false positive.
Click to expand...

Interesting point. What's a false positive when relating to GTT?

Think I'll pop in th echemist and get some Ketostix on my way home...

[EDIT: Just tested again - down to 14.7 after taking 80mg Gliclazide. At least it's heading in the right direction!]
 
Good advice so far, nothing to add except get well soon mate :)
 
Wow. What a roller coaster ride, Patch. Hang in there. The advice you've gotten is 'spot on' from my perspective too. Infections wreak real havoc with BG levels too. I'll bet that's at the heart of it. Like you said - the Mars Bar didn't help - but the infection's in this equation most likely.

Hang in!!!!
 
Patch said:
... What's a false positive when relating to GTT? ...
Click to expand...
Firstly I'm relieved to hear your BG is heading back down :) and secondly I can see how a "false positive" might be interpreted a couple of ways :shock: In this case I meant that high BGs on a GTT might be used to diagnose someone as having Type 2 when they might not have Type 2 -- if they had been strictly low carb for a period beforehand.

An example was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, an Arctic Explorer and Ethnologist who spent years with the Inuit. Living mostly on fish by his accounts. Later he and a colleague were subjected to a year long trial of an all meat (fat and lean animal tissue) diet at the Bellvue Hospital in New York. At the end of this trial, both of them (though otherwise in excellent health) failed a GTT but a couple of weeks later after following a "standard" diet, they both passed another GTT.

I can find a copy of the study if you are interested to read further, and another more recent; dealing wit the same idea.
 
Patch said:
today at 12pm and found it to be 13.2mmoL - that's fasting (no breakfast).

Dinner was a mad rush, so I grabbed what I could (Steak Slice and a Mars Bar - please don't hate me, gang!). My 2hr reading DID surprise me, though.
Click to expand...

Patch,
Two things strike me here,
If I didn't eat until lunchtime my liver would have dumped well by then and raised my levels. Do you usually have breakfast?

Did you actually add up how many carbs you ate? A Mars Bar in itself would have raised you quite a bit but what about the steak pie? I can't eat pies or anything with quantities of pastries without going pretty high. I would never consider a pie and a Mars Bar unless I wanted to get sky high results like yours!!

Hope you get back to normal levels soon and you feel better soon.
Angie
 
I'm still a bit rough, so I wasn't massively surprised when I measured my BG at my desk today at 12pm and found it to be 13.2mmoL - that's fasting (no breakfast).

Dinner was a mad rush, so I grabbed what I could (Steak Slice and a Mars Bar - please don't hate me, gang!). My 2hr reading DID surprise me, though.
Click to expand...

Mars Bar :!:

And I thought you'd slipped off to go on that 600kcal diet :lol:
 
I do hope that you are feeling better today Patch and that those numbers have fallen for you.

Jane
 
bowell said:
And I thought you'd slipped off to go on that 600kcal diet
Click to expand...

:oops: I got no defence, m'lud... The mind is willing, but... :wink: I'll certainly give it a bash, but that'll be when I'm all better. The infection is still giving me a little grief.

BG is down to 11mmoL this morning. Again - no breakfast. I've got a problem with eating breakfast (even lo-carb) as once I've eaten I feel even hungrier than if I'd had nothing. Also - I just can't face food that early in the morning! (I'm sure there's a bit of the psychology of the fat man in there, too. "Eating nothing is better than eating something", right? < I know this is not true, but still...)

pianoman - if you can point me in the direction of those studies I'd be very grateful.

Thanks all. :D
 
Patch said:
pianoman - if you can point me in the direction of those studies I'd be very grateful.
Click to expand...
Of course, here they are :

The latest was in the Atkins Diabetes Revolution by Vernon, Eberstein. They say that if a person has been following a low carb diet, prior to an GTT they should eat 150 grams of carbs a day for at least 4 days to get an accurate test. They also recommend measuring insulin along with the test.

An older paper by Joseph Kraft, 1975, says higher carb for two weeks, but doesn't state a level :
http://mvl.meridianvalleylab.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/DrKraftInsulinGlucoseArticle.pdf
The relevant discussions starts on the bottom of pages numbered 16 and 18 (but physically pages 5 and 7 in this PDF)

And the study including Vilhjalmur Stefansson and his colleague Karsten Anderson (VS and KA in this paper) was even earlier from 1929... when apparently even the "establishment" were open to the idea of low carb diets -- before fat was declared public enemy No. 1
http://www.jbc.org/content/83/3/747.full.pdf

If you want to read more of Stefansson's "Adventures in Diet" which he published in 1935, it is on-line here: http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson1.htm (not a religious article)
 
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