Stress and high blood readings

[Maggie75]

Hi everyone,

I'm T2, been trying to manage with a low carb diet for the last 7 weeks and Alogliptin, most of the time I'm still getting high readings when I'm testing at home (mostly around 9-10), only time I've had lower readings is after eating an extremely low carb meal for dinner. Spoke to my DN earlier this week and she is concerned about those readings as well, she wants to see me in person next week to talk about my high cholesterol levels and raised blood pressure, says all of these combined can be a warning sign for heart problems.

My weight loss has also been dismal, in the 7 weeks I've only lost about 7 pounds and I'm barely eating most days, I just don't have any appetite. DN says she will consider referring me to a dietician once she checks my weight and they will possibly offer me the NHS extremely low calorie diet (assuming this is the soups and shakes diet?). I know she is going to try and put me on a statin which I am reluctant about, she's also putting me back on Metformin, 1 a day for first week and then up to 2 a day as she says Alogliptin just isn't enough for me.

The other question I have is about stress, how much can this affect blood glucose? I am under enormous stress at work just now to the point I think I'll very likely be off sick with it soon if things don't improve, I'm struggling badly with my mental health through it, think that's why I just have no appetite, I just don't want to eat unless it's junk food which I have successfully managed to stay away from so far. Just feeling overwhelmed with all of this right now, apologies for the long post, just needed to get this off my chest. Thanks.

Maggie

 

[jjraak]

Stress can raise BG, as can many other things

But I'd say your on the right lines from how you describe it.
And the two parts of your post I'd suggest hint at one main problem.

I've had a 1-2 year stint of stress, numbers were up, as were other metrics, but i also had lots of other things going on that probably impacted those numbers.

I was getting a lot of help with mental health issues (not something I had ever suffered with previously), one thing that came up was depression.

And that seemed to be manifested in my disinterest in so much I used to enjoy, food being one.

I'd certainly mention to the doctor the unhealthy high levels of stress you find yourself under & poor eating.

Food gives energy , and also a lot of the nutrients etc our bodies require, easy to underestimate just how important so much of that is to us

...it could make a big difference in how they treat you & what meds are offered.

I know it's not always easy to manage work stress, so I get it.

But two things to bear in mind
A. Being assertive is the case of "is it reasonable to expect someone or something to carry on or to change, if detrimental to you or the business"..might make that conversation less confrontational.

B. We all get replaced once we leave, however that happens.

Life's too short, no use making it shorter for someone else's benefit.

Not easy, by any means.

But a little pause to think, never goes amiss.

Good luck finding solutions.

 

[Jasmin2000]

I think the stress is behind your BG issues, especially as it doesn't appear that you're binging on carbs.

I am also on low-carb and get spikes in the morning, evening and nighttime. These are so-called counter-regulatory hormone (epinephrine, glucagon) responses, which are trying to ensure your body has sufficient glucose to function - a kind of metabolic stress.

The mental stress (that @jjraak addressed) works the same way, but the stress itself has a different origin. I could write volumes on this, but these references do it better! https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-destress.html and https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes-and-stress

Good luck and keep us updated on your journey.