This is Getting Frustrating ...

I sincerely believe there is something wrong with my body. For the last 1.5 years, I have been chasing my blood glucose levels. I was not diagnosed diabetic by an endo but I basically cannot eat carbs anymore because my BG spikes and makes me feel like ****.

Today, was a day like that. Nothing sinister, a regular meal I eat: beans, carrots, peas, beef, spicy chicken. I usually feel head pressure, some sweating and a bit dizzy when my BG goes close to 7 and today it was the day. Measured it, yep 7.5 after 1 hour of the meal. Went for a walk immediately but have not seen numbers reduce, in fact, I saw 8.2 once. Then next 2 hours it was in 6.x range and 3 hours it is still around there. Bad head pressure at the front of my head.

I feel like it is me being insulin resistant and it showing its ugly head more as time goes by. Do you guys think this should be brought up to GP? She is very dismissive since my BG is normal according to her. I can feel this badly though. I even consume berberine and it seems to be getting progressively more annoying nonetheless.

Noemergencyexit.com said:

I would say change GP something seems off to me there I’m not doctor so I wouldn’t really take my advice. Do you see a hospital team for diabetes if so might be a good idea to talk to them about it and see they say. If your not being seen I could say walk into a&e and tell them your feeing really Ill and your GP isn’t doing anything to help and you need some help

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I do not see a diabetes team because I am not diagnosed as one. My A1c was normal (5.0%) in August 2018. My fasting is between 5-6 mmol/l. I usually don't see numbers close to 7 mmol/l ever. I know it because my body always, like today, tells me that my meal might have spiked the glucose, and it always shows around 7mmol/l then.

I don't feel horrible, just strong head pressure. It happened before, and I would be dismissed from A&E with such "symptoms". I went once, they did nothing.

Jim Lahey said:

Your numbers don’t sound particularly worrisome. A fasting insulin or C-peptide test would be my choice in your position, but good luck getting a GP to agree to that. These tests can be done privately but some would question the value of doing so.

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They do not indeed. I would not care that much if it would not make me feel unwell. I was told by multiple MDs that glucose going up will not make me feel those symptoms. So there must be something else happening. Note: blood pressure was normal as well when my BG was above 7.0

Brunneria said:

Hi @CrumblingWall

The blood glucose numbers you mention are perfectly normal, and non diabetic.
Non-diabetics regularly have blood glucose numbers higher than yours while retaining non-diabetic blood glucose HbA1cs.

If you are experiencing any insulin resistance, then you are in a very fortunate position - you are at a sufficiently early stage that you can make some adjustments to your diet and lifestyle, and hopefully reduce the insulin resistance.

If you have symptoms after eating that are causing you concern, your doctor is the best person to discuss them with. I am afraid that we cannot diagnose anything here - you need a medical professional for that. So if you make an appointment they can do the relevant tests and check you out properly.

One other thing, your profile is missing some crucial information. If you complete the missing information, you will get much better and more helpful responses on the forum, because your diabetic status, and any medications will be viewable by members. That way members won’t have to ask you questions all the time.

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Thanks. Filled. I am afraid doctors will dismiss me as always because they are aware I am being treated of anxiety disorder. It is way better now. I don't panic seeing bigger numbers anymore. I know it will go down on its own. I am just bothered by me being aware of the rising BG. It makes me stop doing regular important activities, exhibit things people around me are concerned about like: sweating sitting doing nothing, walking a bit unevenly due to slight dizziness, etc. If I did not feel those symptoms, I would not even KNOW my BG goes to that level. And there would not be this post on the forum. But since it consistently makes me feel unwell, and it consistently shows BG of X >= mmol/l at the time, I cannot help but associate those ill feelings with my BG.

I usually go weeks without measuring anything. I only measure when feeling like today, and it is always at the level higher than normal, which for me is between 5-6 mmol/l. I am also aware that glucose spikes are not good for you. The body, of course, can repair the damage if BG is majority of the time normal, which it is for me, but if I can find out why it rises to that level and makes me feel unwell, and/or damage my body in the process, why should I not make an attempt to prevent it?

I am already doing SOMETHING: I practice yoga to relax, I go for 30 min walks every day. I don't eat any fast carbs, just carbs from veggies which according to cronometer.com never goes above 110g carbs a day in total. I don't drink or smoke, and am not overweight. I even started practicing time-restricted eating - 08:00-17:00 is my window after which I stop eating.

I just see that my BG is never in 4s anymore, which was the case 3 years ago AND I was eating tons of carbs like 300g of rice a day, ice cream, etc. My fasting were lower, my post-prandials never caused me problems and now I am in 5s, with spikes to 8s sometimes. I realise those levels do not cause damage to my body but I have an interest in living a healthy life, and the trend is what bothers me. I simply am trying to add something to combat this.

Just dug up a letter from an endo, dating back 2017 December. My fasting BG at the time was 4.5 mmol/l. My c-peptide, however, was 221 pmol/l which was below normal range. He mentions me being insulin resistant.

How can one have below range c-peptide and be insulin resistant? I thought low c-peptide with normal BG means I am SENSITIVE to insulin, OR I actually have insulin deficiency and me being slightly low on the reference range while fasting means I am SUPER SENSITIVE to insulin?

I will ask my GP, but I'd appreciate the contradiction I just found.

Jim Lahey said:

Low insulin, either measured directly or by C-peptide, might not necessarily indicate a genuine problematic deficiency. It may mean that your diet is simply not very insulinogenic. If you had a metabolic issue at that time then I very much doubt your fasting glucose would have been 4.5mmol/L.

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Sure, it is possible, but what bothers me is a conclusion of insulin resistance. How can one have insulin resistance with below range c peptide along with normal fasting?

Tophat1900 said:

Your FBG was 4.5.... I did read Dr.Bernstein state that when they tested non-diabetic people for study purposes where non-diabetic and diabetic levels were used for comparison that 4.5 was nearly always the level they got in healthy young non-diabetic adults.

In regards to c-peptide. Here's a link with a reference range for c-peptide. From what I read, your c-peptide seems to be in the moderate secretion range. You can see the fasted number range, you are not that far below substantial insulin production, so I don't see how your level is being interpreted as low, especially in the fasted state but, bare in mind, I'm not an endo specialist.

https://www.exeterlaboratory.com/test/c-peptide-plasma/

My endo explained that with c-peptide, it is best to get it checked after a normal meal. He said around 45 mins after, because you get to see how the pancreas is then responding to food... which gives a much better picture of what is going on insulin production wise as opposed to the fasted state where it isn't being asked to do anything other than maintain a homeostatic state.

I'd suggest you need to talk to someone who knows their stuff, many a gp out there that don't, but they are not specialists.

Food for thought, good luck getting answers.

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It is weird those ranges. I converted them to ng/ml and according to various sources 221 pmol/l is below range. I have no idea where the sample was tested in, but if the letter says c-peptide is low, it must be low.