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Stress and diabetes

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biren1973

Well-Known Member
Messages
119
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi

This is my personal experience, I could be wrong too. But yesterday I found that while I was driving, I was bit stress, I usually don't like driving and feel stressed when go for it. After driving back home , I just had 1 big size strawberry and one black berry, both were sweets. Then tested blood sugar, it was 7.7

I had lunch for 2 small cups of lentil soup ,few broccoli pieces and 1 cup cauliflower curry at 16:29, Took one metaform medicine at 16:40

Checked sugar at 17:00, it was 9.5

I was also stress at 17:00. Wondering what could have happened that increased my sugar level?

I then Measured after 2 hrs of lunch at 18:38, it was 8.8

I had dinner at 20:30,Measured at 23:06, it was 7.8

Trying to understand why it's not below normal level, what could have spiked? Is it stress or food or something else. Bear in mind I have been recently diagnosed and was advised to take one tablet a day for 5 days then 2 per day

Please advise.

Regards
 
Hi @biren1973 yes stress is an important factor to be aware of, the stress hormones will raise your blood glucose levels, it's your body's way of getting extra glucose for 'fight or flight'.
 
Stress always raises my blood sugar.
Tell you what else does too? Soup. I can only assume that it must be because the content is blended and is so readily available for my body to quickly absorb that it causes a blood sugar spike. It may not be the same for everyone, but it is true for me, especially shop bought ones.
 
biren1973 said:
Took one metaform medicine at 16:40
Click to expand...

Metformin has an accumulative effect, so timings shouldn't affect readings. Stress will affect BG levels and when I drive between High Wycombe and Portsmouth (up to 2 hours) my BG will certainly go up, especially if the M25 is playing silly bugxxxs.

biren1973 said:
1 big size strawberry and one black berry
Click to expand...
biren1973 said:
I had lunch for 2 small cups of lentil soup ,few broccoli pieces and 1 cup cauliflower curry at 16:29
Click to expand...

Nothing much by way of carb, single figures per 100gms if my googling is correct. You might like to look at the recipe for the soup and curry, in case there's something surprising like cornflour thickener or something.
 
There are many things that can affect our BG levels: stress, medicines, exercise, illness ... even our bodies fighting an illness before we feel the symptoms.
If only it were as easy as just food. But alas, we have to cope with more than just eating a few extra strawberries.

So, yes, stress is very likely to rise our BG ... and, ironically, the stress of being stress because our BG is too high is likely to rise it further.
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
Metformin has an accumulative effect, so timings shouldn't affect readings. Stress will affect BG levels and when I drive between High Wycombe and Portsmouth (up to 2 hours) my BG will certainly go up, especially if the M25 is playing silly bugxxxs.




Nothing much by way of carb, single figures per 100gms if my googling is correct. You might like to look at the recipe for the soup and curry, in case there's something surprising like cornflour thickener or something.
Click to expand...

Hi

When you say metaformin has accumulated effects, what does it mean? Can you please explain? Does it mean it stays in the blood and takes time to be effective?

Regards
 
biren1973 said:
Does it mean it stays in the blood and takes time to be effective?
Click to expand...

A quick reminder of what Metformin does. Metformin helps to lower blood glucose levels by reducing the amount of glucose produced and released by the liver, and by increasing insulin sensitivity.

My understanding is that once taken there is a certain amount of time before it leaves the body completely and as we take them maybe twice a day, not only do we keep ourselves topped up but it also has an accumulative effect. It also means that when you first start to take it, it does take time to become totally effective.

There are some old threads on this forum that might explain more http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/does-metforim-have-a-cumulative-effect.8050/. Eight years ago, but still the same old metformin.
 
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