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why are my levels high 2hrs after eating

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??
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sorry i hadn't twigged you are taking insulin. my advice was for t2 non insulin user. I am having the same problem as you and also wondering what can help. my waking bg is consistently around the 8 mark and regular post meal spikes the same. frustrating.
 
well after doing the online carb/insulin ratio yesterday and listening to the advice of people on this forum I awoke this am to a 6. wow,wow,wow, had my crackerbread with my eggs and orange, bg 2hrs later was 4.3 tested again before lunch and they were 4.7, have taken insulin both times to include tea/coffee, as according to my cabs/cal book a tea/coffee is 2 carbs and I have at least four in the am and four mid-day, so these carbs do add up.
 
newest said:
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.
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Its not so much to do with the amount they rise after eating, but what reading they rise too. If your sugars go from a 4 to an 7mmol/l 2 hours after eating that is much different then going from a 7 to a 10mmol/L.

They ideal 'goal' should be never to have your sugars rise higher then 7.8mmol/L regardless of when you check them. There is lots of differing opinions on this - some people say BG levels should never rise past a 6mmol/L some say never higher then 10mmol/L - but from all the studies and research i have seen (and many agree) anything past 7.8mmol/L does too much damage to our bodies cells, and can create a glucose toxicity in our pancreas that kills remaining beta cells.

I wouldn't worry as much about the difference in sugars as the peak reading post meal. Do everything you can to keep that peak reading as low as possible - it doesn't matter WHEN it occurs, just try to smooth it out by using a combination of eating more fat, lower GI foods, injecting further before your meal, and eating lower carb meals.

Even if that means 5, meals low carb meals, instead of 3 higher carb meals. Will smooth your levels out and keep you off that rollercoaster that damages our cells.
 
do you mean the reading I take before my meal? try keep that below 7.8? I am cutting my carbs back to 30am, 15 mid-day, 40 evening, I used to have 40 per meal, so I have gradually been reducing, very pleased with my levels today though, 6,4.7,5.4.
 
I think he means the reading after the meal, and any time really. I take it to mean your pre-meal reading should be low enough that any spike stays under 7.8.
 
CatLadyNZ said:
I think he means the reading after the meal, and any time really. I take it to mean your pre-meal reading should be low enough that any spike stays under 7.8.
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thanks, I like you took it that is was before the meal but wasn't quite sure.
 
Sorry for the confusion @newest, @CatLadyNZ - I meant at all times we should do everything we can to be below 7.8mmol/L. It doesn't really matter what the pre-meal reading is, just inject and eat in a manner that keeps any post meal spike below 7.8.

Personally i try to keep pre-meal readings between 4.5 - 5.5mmol/L and then the post meal spike below 7.8mmol/L. That way my day is spent going from 4.5 up to 7.8, and then back down to 4.5 and then back up to 7.8, and so on. Its still not ideal, as I should be shooting for a straight line, but i guess i just like carbs too much to cut them below 30g per meal haha
 
thanks for clearing that up, I have been cutting back the carbs, actually feeling much better for it, still on 110 per day, that includes every single carb that go down my throat, wether it be food or fluid ie tea/coffee, since I have included this in it has made a difference to my levels over the last two days I have done this, I know people say it doesn't make much difference, but I feel it has for me.
 
Personally, I would do a test at 3am and find out what your levels are then compared to when you went to bed.

I would then do a test immediately on waking and before getting out of bed.

I would delay breakfast for at least 2 hours and do another test.

You need to find out if rises in the morning are due to dawn phenomenon or waking phenomen.

If it's DP your levels would rise between 3am and as soon as you wake.

If it's waking phenomen... Then if you delay your breakfast and your levels go up it would mean that you have waking phenomen.

Ie..my example due to waking phenomen..
I would test at 3am and be 5.6, test on waking at 8am-literally as soon as I open my eyes. I would still be 5.6. However, despite splitting my levemir doses between waking and 3 hours later I could end up at 12-14bg. I don't eat breakfast, so I knew it wasn't rising due to food!

So now as soon as I wake I test, and I will inject a bolus (and no eating) for 2-3 units depending on my activity levels planned directly after getting up.

After that the basic rules are...(you are 100% right that it is not necessary to snack) that once you have boluses and ate if you are raised or lowered anytime between 2-3 hours after the jab then your bolus is likely to have been wrong. At any other time it is likely that your basal is wrong.

I don't eat all day, so if you're basal rates are right you don't have to worry about eating. I eat at night and so it is much easier for me. Sometimes I change my evening meal to daytime and then this allows me to check that my daytime bolus ratios are still correct, but then I can still basal check my rates in the evening as well.

As I drink coffee all day my basal covers all my coffees.. Unless it's a costa lotta money one-then I have to bolus for that. Fortunately not too often though.
 
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