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Short high peak vs stable medium levels

R

riverfish

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I haven't been diagnosed although I have some abnormal postprandial blood sugar patterns.

I've been eating (mostly) low carb for a few months now (and before that ate medium low carb).
I noticed that since then my Blood Sugar typically rises to 110 (6.1) - 125 (6.9) at the 1hour mark and then by the 2 hour mark settles at 93 (5.2)-100(5.6). But it barely goes down. Even after 3 hours. Only as of 4 hours could I start seeing a drop to baseline/pre meal values which is about 86 (4.8).

Prior to the LC diet, a typical pattern would be a high peak, say 135 (7,5), then around 93 (5.2) by 2h but baseline by 3h.

So which is worse? a short burst of high BS or extended periods of mid level BS? And am I right to link it to the LC diet?

By the way, last year and the year before I would be baseline by 2h, but I didn't take as many readings as I did this year, since everything looked completely normal.
 
What you are referring to is not abnormal.
Blood glucose levels that are not really high in a non diabetic is normal no matter how long you return to normal fasting levels.
If you have not been diagnosed with diabetes or another endocrine problem spikes are usual and a three hours delay is not unusual.
Of course it all depends on what you eat and how much protein, fat, carbs and roughage was in the meal. How much you ate, how long your meal was and so on.

Hope this helps.
 
@nosher8355 Thanks for your reply. I actually wanted to add that those values are not representative of why I'm concerned about diabetes but that they were an illustration of typical "good" values. But I didn't want to confuse the matter so I deleted that line before posting.

I should also have added that I ate the same meal more or less but with less carbs. It's easy to track since my meals are pretty simple in terms of the number of ingredients. I'm no foodie.

I was going to save this for a separate post but:

An example of my 'bad' values would be things like what I had just this lunch. 2 slices of semi-whole grain bread with peanut butter. Nothing else. Peaking at 10.1 at 1hr15m. 8.4 at the 2hr mark after light walking the whole time and 3.6 at the 3hr mark after a 20m jog.
(For breakfast earlier I had eggs, sausages and peas. 5.9 at 1hr mark and 4.7 at 2hrs.)

I hope you're right and I'm not diabetic. My GP assures me I'm not. He bases this on my fasting BG, a1c and fitness level. But I'm not yet convinced enough to start eating normally again.
 

Sorry for the wait for a reply.
Most diabetic tests are how you are at your fasting level, the hba1c test is about the amount of percentage of glucose in your blood.
The actual testing most GPs are not interested in what happens after we eat except to eat healthy wether it is or not! Your test results are what I would expect from a non diabetic. The spike to ten is normal for what you ate, (bread) the below normal reading (3.6) is not unusual some non diabetics and diabetics are happy at that level.
I think you are reading too much by your normal blood glucose range.
If you continue to low carb, I would guarantee that it is unlikely that you will ever get diabetes, unless by trauma or meds!

Best wishes
 
@riverfish I would have a reading of 13.0 - 22.0 after bread and peanut butter for 5hrs after eating. Others similiar. With insulin injection I would get 13.0 or lower depending on my insulin regime. Coming down sooner if enough insulin injected.
I hope this puts your readings into perspective.
If your GP has tested your hba1c and said none diabetic on low carb. Stay low carb if you can. This disease hasn't a cure yet. Why risk your health if you know it works.
Ps. What pre-empted you to use a meter? Have you being feeling ill?
 
My daughters doctor says that non diabetic persons can often peak above 10 post meal, so yor readings do not seem worrying.

My daughter is T1 and uses insulin, and even with insulin her peaks are at around 15-16, which is acceptable according to doc if it does not last. That is not in line to what I am reading around the Internet, but her hba1c is better than what I expect when going to control (6.7)
 
@Opossum , @nosher8355, @ickihun Thanks all for the words of assurance and sorry for the late reply! I'm freaking out less now than before your messages. I did want to mention that I know I'm not diabetic but what I'm on this forum because of worries that I could be at a very early stage or at risk of developing diabetes in 10 years. and if maybe it would be prudent to permanently change habits as if I was possibly prediabetic.

Problem is that I've already tried to see a specialist to show my readings to, looking to rid myself of uncertainty, but I can't see one without a GP referral (and even if I could, there's about a 3 month waiting list) so given the lack of medical support I prefer to play it safe and use a meter and read up on diabetes. I already exercise.

@ickihun I can't remember right now why I took readings 2 and 1 year ago - but I did it briefly but everything was well within the safe range even by the standards of www.phlaunt.com (bloodsugar101). This year I started testing just to continue the habit and because I have some symptoms.
But this year the numbers are different; slightly higher averages for same tests (same food, etc.), secondary or tertiary spikes, overall weird curve shape, higher, longer lasting peaks and deep hypo level drops, and of course the aforementioned elevated steady level. So because of that I kept testing to see if it was a pattern or a one-off thing.
One of the group of symptoms are hypo-like symptoms (feeling very shaky, weak and hungry - often after a jog and once I nearly fainted). I didn't know until recently that these are symptoms of hypoglycemia, actually. But I checked my BG levels during one or two of these events and the values were below baseline but not enough for the meter to alert. However, after eating sometimes I do get meter alerts but without any symptoms at all.

Anyway, I just wanted to answer your question. I hope I didn't give the impression I'm looking for an online diagnosis or something. I'm already calmer now thanks to you guys but I still want to learn about diabetes since docs seem focused on treating real diabetics and have no time left for prevention. Which is understandable of course.
 
If you feel you are at a risk the best you can do is eliminate the risk factors you can. Some cannot be eliminated e.g hereditary. It seems being over weight the biggest alarm bell for the nhs but that is just one of many risks. Not all over weight people become diabetic.
There is no absolutes on this one. A lot is still the luck of the draw as of also putting diabetes in remission, I'm afraid.
 
Can someone plz help me I’m eating low fat diet and I have been type 1 for 15 years but my levels will not stay stable for long for example my level could be 6.4 after eating , 10 mins later it’s in the low bracket please how do I prolong a good blood level plz
 

Martine, this is a very old thread, and folks might not see your post. You would be better with a thread of your own. If you would like that, just let me or any of the Mods know.
 
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