Question about blood sugar levels

Well done on losing the weight

9 or 10 a couple of hours after eating, especially when you start about 5, is too high. The recommendation is under 8.5mmol/ but that is generous, and probably assumes the starting level is higher. A jump from 5 to 10 is massive. Best to keep any rise to under 2mmol/l. less if possible. Although the levels are important, the actual rise is more important.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html

satkins said:

My question is... Is this normal for a type 2? It seems i can recover from high BG but it just takes longer. The good news is that at least I'm losing weight. I've dropped 10 pounds in a month which the doctor says is a good level to be at. He doesn't want me to loose it to fast.

Thanks
Stephen

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Like Bluetit said it's a bit high. Not so much high but a long way from the before reading. This suggests to me that you could take another look at what you are eating. You say that you know about sugar but if you also know about flour, potatoes and rice then a look at these might help. Still eating bread? Not many T2's can eat bread and get away with it since wheat flour is about 75% carbs. Old potatoes are more starchy than new ones so watch out for them and if you eat rice then eat less of it at a sitting. Things like nuggets, dippers, goujon and kiev etc are not really chicken so watch out for them as well.

Just check the labels on the food.

satkins said:

Thanks for the replies. That's what I wanted to know is about the jump and what should it be. I was told to keep it below 8 at the two hour mark. What is not explained is why.

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What you described in your first post is pretty much a textbook example of insulin resistance.

Everyone's blood sugar increases after eating carbohydrates, but a personal with normal insulin management is able to absorb the glucose in their blood fairly quickly (within 2-hours). When someone has diabetes (or a similar disease like reactive hypoglycemia), that process is inhibited in some way or another.

As far as why you want to keep your blood sugar below 8 after 2-hours? Chronic Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) causes your organs to work harder and can lead to more permanent complications if left unaddressed. It can cause irreparable damage to your blood vessels and often affects the smallest ones first. Unfortunately, those tiny blood vessels are found in very important places like your eyes.

Keeping your blood sugar average below 8 mmol/L significantly lowers your risk of developing those complications. Unfortunately, that's not a guarantee to avoiding complications, but more of a guideline.

Now, diabetes itself should not scare you, but uncontrolled diabetes is absolutely something you want to avoid. Stay on top of your daily management and there's no reason why you should ever develop any of these complications.

Cutting carbs is hard for most of us but cutting bs is a great reward. Just put the meat and veggies on your plate and skip the starch. It doesn't take long to get used to once you see your bs going down.
I never like my bs to go over 100. I'm a tad OCD But I feel best when it stays low. I feel it when it pops up and goes down. It creates an imbalance that makes my skin crawl.

Best of luck.

satkins said:

Thanks for the replies. That's what I wanted to know is about the jump and what should it be. I was told to keep it below 8 at the two hour mark. What is not explained is why. I do know about the bread, rice and what not. Thise two weeks where to tell me and my dietitian what spikes my sugars. I just wanted to know if its normal that they would rollercoster so much.

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At the Xpert course update I attended recently I was told that the recommendation was now 7.8. No idea where that figure came from but it's still a bit high IMO

satkins said:

Sometimes I just have to rant. I had turkey bagon and eggs with two pieces of 12 grain bread. Started before breakfast at 5.6. Two hours later after a 30 min walk its at 4.0. Thought i had a bad strip so checked on another finger and it was the same. So i might be able to handle whole grains a little more. I'll have to repeat this experiment in a couple of days.

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LOL, how is that a rant? Many people would kill for a 5.6 reading...much less a 4.0 2hr post-prandial reading.

Hi Stephen
You are doing really well and using the best tool there is for controlling you diet and blood glucose levels, your meter. If it were me I would trust it and eliminate foods that spiked me into 9's or higher

satkins said:

Sometimes I just have to rant. I had turkey bagon and eggs with two pieces of 12 grain bread. Started before breakfast at 5.6. Two hours later after a 30 min walk its at 4.0. Thought i had a bad strip so checked on another finger and it was the same. So i might be able to handle whole grains a little more. I'll have to repeat this experiment in a couple of days.

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Hi @satkins I can have 1-2 slices of seeded bread with no real affect on my BS. I can also get away with a small portion of bran flakes or oat bran for b/fast so you may be lucky and be able to tolerate more carbs than some T2s. I sometimes test at 1, 2 and 3 hours to see which way my BS is moving as sometimes it can still be rising after 2 hours.

If people want to know how blood glucose targets are decided, then mosey on over to www.bloodsugar101.com

The whole website is a fascinating information source and clearly demonstrates the way studies are interpreted and targets are set.

Personally, I am convinced that the best way to avoid long term complications to keep my bg as close to normal as poss. That is hba1c and post meal peaks. 'Normal' is up for debate (of course) but the nhs sets the targets AND thinks t2 is progressive. So I think nhs targets are too high.