why are my levels high 2hrs after eating

newest · Aug 23, 2015

I don't know what I am doing wrong, please advise me, it's getting me down, my levels vary during the day depending on what I am doing, I have for my breakfast 2 boiled eggs with 2 slices of warburton's toastie- 10g per slice, 1 Satsuma and 1 plum- 5g each, I inject 10 apidra, my level before has been anything from 4-11 on waking, 2hrs after eating my levels will always be between 12-14, I wait 5hrs between meals, my lunchtime and teatime levels are always between 5-7, 2hrs after between 3-5, bedtimes vary aswell between 7-9.

miriamy · Aug 23, 2015

Hi newest
5 hours between eating seems too long. Try eating smaller meals and having a low or no carb snack at the 2 hour mark. We are all different but I would find your breakfast too high in carb. Try 1 slice whole meal toast and replace those fruits with berries - strawberries, raspberries or blackberries or some cherries. Try an apple as a snack.

newest · Aug 24, 2015

miriamy said:
Hi newest
5 hours between eating seems too long. Try eating smaller meals and having a low or no carb snack at the 2 hour mark. We are all different but I would find your breakfast too high in carb. Try 1 slice whole meal toast and replace those fruits with berries - strawberries, raspberries or blackberries or some cherries. Try an apple as a snack.

thankyou, will give it a go and see if it makes a difference but, when I have had the berries before they have really made my bg rise a lot.

noblehead · Aug 24, 2015

@newest, to reduce postprandial spikes try taking your insulin earlier to see if this helps, many of us on the forum bolus 15 mins or more before food which makes a big difference, here's an article from Gary Scheiner (Think Like a Pancreas) that explains why it works:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.c...blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/

newest · Aug 24, 2015

noblehead said:
@newest, to reduce postprandial spikes try taking your insulin earlier to see if this helps, many of us on the forum bolus 15 mins or more before food which makes a big difference, here's an article from Gary Scheiner (Think Like a Pancreas) that explains why it works:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.c...blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/

I do my insulin 20-30 mins before eating, it's the waking one I seem to be having the problem with, last night my bg was 7.4 before bed, wake up to 11's??

newest · Aug 24, 2015

newest said:
I do my insulin 20-30 mins before eating, it's the waking one I seem to be having the problem with, last night my bg was 7.4 before bed, wake up to 11's??

then 2hrs later they are12-14

newest · Aug 24, 2015

noblehead said:
@newest, to reduce postprandial spikes try taking your insulin earlier to see if this helps, many of us on the forum bolus 15 mins or more before food which makes a big difference, here's an article from Gary Scheiner (Think Like a Pancreas) that explains why it works:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.c...blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/

thankyou, have just read this and it actually makes sense to me, I don't often understand some of them,lol, you need a mths degree to understand them along with a bio-chemistry, they do I feel need to make some of these papers more layman's reading, maybe then people wouldn't have such a hard time getting to grips with it, especially when you beome type one late in life (early fifties), big sigh rant over,lol

victry77 · Aug 24, 2015

Maybe you need to increase your bolus ratios?

phoenix · Aug 24, 2015

Have you actually done a course on carb counting/dose adjustment? There is a good one online which could help you. http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

I think that you are right to normally have 5 hours between meals. Your bolus insulin can last up to 5 hours, so though you have a higher level at 2 hours it continues working . If you eat at that point and need more insulin then you have to take into account the insulin that is still working.

Spiker · Aug 24, 2015

Your 5 hr readings are good and I agree with @phoenix.

Don't worry too much about the +2 hr readings. As you say the one to focus on is the morning fasting readings. This sounds like a case of dawn phenomenon and maybe "wake up phenomenon". The best way to deal with the dawn phenomenon is a pump. Are you on a pump or on a basal insulin? Even with a basal insulin there are ways of blunting the edge of the dawn rise. Or it could be as simple as just increasing your basal dose.

How do you manage basal currently?

noblehead · Aug 24, 2015

newest said:
I do my insulin 20-30 mins before eating, it's the waking one I seem to be having the problem with, last night my bg was 7.4 before bed, wake up to 11's??

Work on getting your basal insulin dose right to reduce your waking bg levels, if your bg is starting off on 11mmol/l and two hours postprandial its 2mmol/l higher than its likely that your I:C ratio is fine as you still have some active insulin on board.

Do some bg tests for a night or two and adjust from there, if unsure what to do have a chat with your DSN, but if you purchase the book Think Like a Pancreas it explains all this and much more.

newest · Aug 24, 2015

phoenix said:
Have you actually done a course on carb counting/dose adjustment? There is a good one online which could help you. http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

I think that you are right to normally have 5 hours between meals. Your bolus insulin can last up to 5 hours, so though you have a higher level at 2 hours it continues working . If you eat at that point and need more insulin then you have to take into account the insulin that is still working.

went on the link and completed it, very informative, hopefully I will be able to do this properly, and build my confidence doing it, thankyou so much for your help and advice.

newest · Aug 24, 2015

noblehead said:
Work on getting your basal insulin dose right to reduce your waking bg levels, if your bg is starting off on 11mmol/l and two hours postprandial its 2mmol/l higher than its likely that your I:C ratio is fine as you still have some active insulin on board.

Do some bg tests for a night or two and adjust from there, if unsure what to do have a chat with your DSN, but if you purchase the book Think Like a Pancreas it explains all this and much more.

thankyou for your advice will test over te next couple of nights.

Diamattic · Aug 24, 2015

If you know your insulin to carb ratio is correct, then i would suspect that you actually weigh out your meal. I have found that on bread especially they give you a per slice carb count and in brackets the gram weight. Many times i have weighed the bread i was about to eat and found it 5-15g heavier then what the package said it should have been. Since this i have been weighing all of my bread to determine the exact weight, and exactly how many grams of carbs that gives me.

Also, you may be someone who just needs to wait longer then 20-30 minutes before eating. Perhaps try eating much slower?

I have also found that as soon as I eat 30g+ of carbs in a meal i spike around 8-9mmol/l 1.5-2 hours post, and as such i now only eat meals with 25g of carbs or less..

I would suggest eating low carb until you can sort out this post meals spike issue, and it may just be that your meals are to high in carb to get those readings any lower :/

newest · Aug 24, 2015

Diamattic said:
If you know your insulin to carb ratio is correct, then i would suspect that you actually weigh out your meal. I have found that on bread especially they give you a per slice carb count and in brackets the gram weight. Many times i have weighed the bread i was about to eat and found it 5-15g heavier then what the package said it should have been. Since this i have been weighing all of my bread to determine the exact weight, and exactly how many grams of carbs that gives me.

Also, you may be someone who just needs to wait longer then 20-30 minutes before eating. Perhaps try eating much slower?

I have also found that as soon as I eat 30g+ of carbs in a meal i spike around 8-9mmol/l 1.5-2 hours post, and as such i now only eat meals with 25g of carbs or less..

I would suggest eating low carb until you can sort out this post meals spike issue, and it may just be that your meals are to high in carb to get those readings any lower :/

hi, yes I do weigh all my food, I must say I haven't had the problem of the bread I use being any heavier than what it say's on the packaging, I have now bought the ryvitta cracker bread to have in the mornings and lunchtime instead of bread, lot less carbs, and still filling, also have come across a few different ideas for low carb meals which I shall be trying,and yes I do eat very quickly, I think that stems from being a mum and trying to get everything done at a hundred miles a hour,lol. I will try to slow down and see if this helps, will let you know.

Blackers183 · Aug 25, 2015

Agree with Phoenix and Spiker - 5 hours between meals is good and if the meal readings are ok don't be to concerned. BGL levels will rise anyway for diabetics after a meal, depending on the GI factor of the foods eaten, so this is 'natural'. You can only reduce this by higher GI foods and not snacking between meals as the more you snack the more highs you will get post eating.
Cheers
David

LucySW · Aug 25, 2015

miriamy said:
Hi newest
5 hours between eating seems too long. Try eating smaller meals and having a low or no carb snack at the 2 hour mark. We are all different but I would find your breakfast too high in carb. Try 1 slice whole meal toast and replace those fruits with berries - strawberries, raspberries or blackberries or some cherries. Try an apple as a snack.

Oh dear, please think carefully about snacking. It destroys your insulin sensitivity. So much better to leave at least 5 hrs between meals.

That's what I have found, anyway.

newest · Aug 25, 2015

LucySW said:
Oh dear, please think carefully about snacking. It destroys your insulin sensitivity. So much better to leave at least 5 hrs between meals.

That's what I have found, anyway.

I don't eat inbetween meals, never have done, I only eat the amounts I've allowed myself for the insulin I have had, but saying that I only realised this morning that I have never factored in the milk over that period of time I use in my coffee/tea, which is a lot, now I have changed from bread to crackerbread, that will now cover the milk....well I will let you know if my calculations are correct.lol

newest · Aug 25, 2015

Blackers183 said:
Agree with Phoenix and Spiker - 5 hours between meals is good and if the meal readings are ok don't be to concerned. BGL levels will rise anyway for diabetics after a meal, depending on the GI factor of the foods eaten, so this is 'natural'. You can only reduce this by higher GI foods and not snacking between meals as the more you snack the more highs you will get post eating.
Cheers
David

oh I thought it was really important that your levels shouldn't rise no more than 3 2hrs after eating?, as I said to lucy I don't eat inbetween meals, but I do like my tea/coffee, hopefully I have that sorted now.thanks for the advice though.

LucySW · Aug 25, 2015

Tea and coffee shouldn't make too much if a difference. I suppose you can test to see if they do. I couldn't do without mine.

why are my levels high 2hrs after eating

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