Thank you for all your kind comments.
I’ve managed to get a Libre sensor to test some changes and play around with diet and exercise for upto 2 weeks... , (I work in a paediatric diabetes team and used the local company rep... she was more than willing to give me one...)
Day 1: low carb lunch = no hypo on the walk home, in fact blood glucose increased slightly.
But then had a 45g low gi carb tea, spiked up at 10.2, (increased by over 5) crashed rapidly but wasn’t hypo, still went to gym to test my response to exercise had a mild hypo after treadmill and a further hypo about 20mins after the workout. (I just do cardio no strength)
Overnight had 2 hypos, woke up due to both... could be why I’m not sleeping great at the moment..
Today: high gi breakfast, 75g caused a spike around 9, which then crashed to Pop a mild hypo.. I’m thinking I manage carbs better in the mornings but need more data to prove that theory..
low carb lunch gave a flatter spike around 7, and slow return to my normal which is around 5.2..
going to try gym later without the large carb meal and see how I go...
I do think GP thinking could be correct after all... I’m thinking I’m slightly insulin resistant, but will need more data for that one...
Anyone with experience in meal spikes? After wearing the libre sensor for a week, I can see a trend of sharp spikes post meal (between 45mins and 1hr 15), usually upto 12 on anything 30g carbs or above. (from 5 or 6 depending) followed by sharp drop in glucose, which can lead to symptomatic hypos... the hypos seem to be more frequent if I then do exercise whilst blood sugar is rapidly falling... the maximum rise I’ve had so far was 6 from the pre prandial number. (Plus I feel really really rubbish on days where my blood glucose is acting like a yo yo)
The meals I’ve been having are the traditional low GI low fat thing that the medical community like to advise... I think my issue is carbohydrate related so can see where a low carb approach will work.
Is there an amount for the meal spike I should be aiming for? I’ve heard of the no increase of more than 2 at 2 hours, but mine seem to be good at 2 hours, and my dip occurs after, presumably reducing the spike will then reduce the over correction. I thought I had nailed it earlier, my glucose had been relatively stable all day, then had cream crackers, cheese, olives and went from 6 to 8.8 which seemed a lot for just a couple of cream crackers, so I’m guessing they are off the menu!
I’m seeing GP next week, but going to trial some low carb days to see the difference and I’ll be able to show the doctor the differences.
I exercise a lot and even a fast walk really knocks blood sugars down. Try having less insulin before exercising and maybe a longer acting meal? I have a Burcher type muesli that works quite well but I take carbs with me. Good luckIs there anyone here who gets hypos with simple exercise e.g 20minute walk?
GP suggested a higher protein, lower carb diet to see if it helps... just wondered if anyone had a similar experience and what helped them? I’ve tried having carbs pre exercise and still get the massive drops, I’ve tried not having snacks thinking it’s an active insulin thing, but still dropping... it doesn’t happen as much when I’m less active but don’t want to give activity up! (It happens usually after work when I’ve been sat at a desk all day!) my diet is low gi, no simple sugars, I’ve swapped out fruit for vegetables to see if that helped... I was having around 200-220g carbs (reduced from 300) and I’m going to reduce further to the 130g mark.
I think next step is endocrine referral if we can’t work it out... I don’t mind the hypos I only went to doctor to see if there was an underlying reason... but she couldn’t see any reason why there would be, unless it’s a ‘weird endocrine thing’. (Or insulinoma which she doubts)
I’ve not been diagnosed with reactive hypos and I’m not convinced I’ve got RH as my hypos really do only seem to happen with exercise... (and not intense exercise)
I don’t have diabetes so don’t have the luxury of changing insulin.I exercise a lot and even a fast walk really knocks blood sugars down. Try having less insulin before exercising and maybe a longer acting meal? I have a Burcher type muesli that works quite well but I take carbs with me. Good luck
No, you are correct, you don't have diabetes, in fact you could say the opposite, because if you do have a type of Hypoglycaemia, then you have too much insulin, rather than too much glucose and insufficient insulin, as a diabetic does.I don’t have diabetes so don’t have the luxury of changing insulin.
My morning walk is fine, (I have unsweetened porridge, I get a small spike but nothing major) it was the afternoon and evening exercise that was the most problematic for me, I seem to have stopped hypos by reducing carbs in the day, and now only go hypo during exercise if I’ve eaten a large proportion of carbohydrates, (opposite to how it works in some people) it still needs doctors to work out why etc though! As I seem to hypo by eating carbs as a reactive type reaction, having carbs doesn’t always help, as it usually ends in a further hypo later in the day... it’s really interesting seeing the trends on the libre scanner, and great to test reactions to different foods and exercise.
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