Why Is My Blood Sugar Rising In The Afternoon/evening For No Obvious Reason

I'm no expert but maybe it could be to do with the GI of the food you are eating v's the effectiveness of your fast acting insulin?
For example, if my son eats rice, we bolus correctly and 2 hours post meal he's good, yet rice doesn't digest immediately so a few hours later, once the Novarapid has peaked, his sugars increase because he's still digesting the rice and has no fast acting insulin to account for it.
It could be work keeping a food diary so you can look for patterns in the food you eat?
It could also be that your basal, your long lasting insulin needs increasing as its not enough to see you through your 24hours?

I think I'd look at the GI of your meals and go from there, if it's salad or a fast GI meal then maybe it could be your long lasting and you can do checks to confirm that.

Speak to your DSN or even your dietician with your results but have a good couple of days proof first so they have something to go on.

Remember; dairy with carbs will create a longer time for digestion of the carbs because of how the body breaks it down, likewise a high protein diet could cause a fluctuation in your BM's post 2 hours as once the proteins break down they can send you a bit higher too.

This is all advice I have a) learnt from managing my sons diabetes (and well with a hba1c of 5.6), and b) been given from my sons DSN and dietician.

I'm sure other people will have good advice to help you but if all else fails, make the call. My sons team are fab, I hope yours are too and you can find a solution, must be frustrating... X

james122 said:

Ok so I'm quite annoyed at the moment but because every afternoon my blood sugar begins the rise about 4 + hours after I have eaten lunch and it's really annoying

I've tried a lot of things to help and try and find out what this may be but it happens regardless.
My post meal blood sugar 2 hours after is around 5.2 most of the time so it's not the meal and then I don't eat anything but it still rises to 10+.

I was hoping someone on here could offer me some answers to why this is happening and maybe if Someone else has expirenced this they could tell my what's the best way to correct it as it is a very stubborn high to!

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I have the exact same situation happening to me. I don't know what to do either other than having to take more humalog, however, the nutritionist says that I shouldn't have to. I guess it's time to see my endo and figure something out.

Food I usually eat at lunch is an avocado with olive oil and unsweetened apple cider vinegar...

Hi @james122 , I have two questions for you - perhaps others will be along with more :-

1. What are you eating for lunch? As @TeamBeal says, not all foods result in a standard glucose peak two hours after eating for a few of reasons: a) you body is not a robot, unfortunately lots of things that make you human also ensure that you don't always digest food at the exact same speed everyday; b) The glycaemic index of the carbs - high GI carbs peak and then drop, lower GI carbs might give out a steady stream of glucose for well over two hours; c) the other macros in the meal can slow down the impact of the carbs - if you are eating something very fatty you digest the fat first and then the carbs, so you get a delayed spike (this is the pizza effect)
2. Have you done an afternoon basal test? Maybe it isn't related to the food and your background insulin isn't enough. To figure out whether this could be the answer you can try a couple of periods of basal testing to see if, without food or bolus or unusual exercise, your background insulin keeps you fairly flat - here's some information on how to basal test - https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/

I've found that if I rise even 4 hours after eating it means I'm not having enough insulin with the food, have you tried upping your lunchtime insulin slightly? Might be worth trying the basal test first, and don't up it too much else you might end up hypo...

Hi @james122 , I would basal test first of all, if your 5.2mmol/l two hours postprandial increasing your bolus dose at lunch could mean you'd hypo.

noblehead said:

Hi @james122 , I would basal test first of all, if your 5.2mmol/l two hours postprandial increasing your bolus dose at lunch could mean you'd hypo.

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Ah right yes sorry missed the 5.2 level bit!

Having carbs with fat can lead to a late surge in sugar levels -anywhere between 3 and 8 hours after eating.
Larger amounts of protein can raise sugar levels between about 3-5 hours after meals

There is usually an answer to all these annoying issues so don't get totally dismayed.

There are a shedload of little issues to consider but knowing that there will be a reason for it makes things less frustrating.

Again, I heartily recommend forking out for a CGM or Libre as you'll be able to pinpoint when your sugar levels are starting to rise and fall after each meal. Massively helpful.

Ed

This post is ancient but I'm going to blast away anyway. This week I been suffering similar, only in the AM. I go to bed, say my levels are 5. Wake up and i'm at 19. I'm then high aaaaaall day, despite doing, say, 10 units when i wake up. I eat nothing, maybe cucumber with a drizzle of dressing. Then around 3/4pm my levels crash mad low and the "try 3 jelly babies and a biscuit" does not work. One day i needed a glucose shot, carrot sticks, an apple, a crunchie, 4 ginger biscuits, and SIX mini twixes, and was low for over an hour and a half, leaving early to go home. My levels then shot up around 7pm. The last couple of days I've reduced my bolus and done it later in the day, and still the exact same issue. For tea i've been eating a few brussels, carrots and some gravy, nothing in the day time. I've always struggled with my diabetes, but this week has been mega out of control for absolutely zero reason whatsoever.

Do you have a libre or other CGM, can we see a graph of what happens overnight? What insulins are you on, when and what do you eat for your evening meal and what bolus dose do you take?

Of the cuff, might be insufficient bolus for a slow digesting evening meal, or might be dawn phenomenon driving you high overnight, but both are only guesses without knowing more about what you eat and when in the evening, and

I have to take a correction unit mid afternoon. Can't increase background or I go low overnight.