A bit freaked about blood sugar

[Kanin]

Sorry, this is a bit long!

I've suspected a blood sugar problem for years, at least since my early 20's. Not a high blood sugar problem, but I definitely have blood sugar crashes when I eat something sugary/carby without protein or fat included. I always carry snacks around with me just in case I feel a crash coming on. When I do have a crash that I haven't managed to avoid, I have all the usual symptoms of shakiness, sweating, just feeling awful until I eat, and then it goes away after 10-15 minutes. 

Lately I've felt like my usual coping mechanisms haven't been working as well. I've been feeling more low than usual, even with trying to eat balanced meals and snacks. 

I've bought blood sugar meters a few times over the years. They never revealed any major spikes, unless I purposefully ate something like a bowl of sugary cereal with nothing else, just as an experiment. Then my BG would go up to maybe 150/175 after 30-45 minutes, but come down quickly. I have caught some lows (like 70s), and once I waited till I was feeling super low and it was in the 50s. I've never tried to recreate that again! Again, nothing high, just low. Recently, I started checking occasionally before and after meals, and my BG is always is a normal range, like 80 before a meal, up to 120 after a meal, and back down to 80 an hour later. 

Then today, I did something I almost NEVER do because it always backfires and makes me feel super low afterwards. I had skipped lunch so I was starving and ate a huge bowl of mac and cheese, which was foolish because it has a ton of carbs and no protein. (This is NOT my usual fare, I was rewarding myself for getting stuff done at school today.) Since this was an unusual meal, I was curious so I checked my bg after an hour, and it was 175. Then, I checked after another hour and it was 204, and another 30 minutes later, 185.  😬  Eek! 

Should I be worried about this, or just stop eating tons of carbs in one sitting?

I've really suspected something was off for a long time. But nothing ever came of it, and I even went to the doctor and had fasting BG and A1C done... well... a while ago now, like 10 years ago, but still. Everything's always been totally typical. Maybe this is, too. Can someone clue me in? Thanks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MEmama]

No advice but I’m listening in because this is *totally* me. I’ve never heard anyone describe it so well, or even understand it.

DH, fwiw, is diabetic and doesn’t experience lows like I do. It’s totally bizarre to me that he can eat bowls of cereal or potato chips or all kinds of things I can’t with nothing else and be totally stable. 

[kbutton]

I'd keep monitoring your levels while eating normal meals. 

I used to have crashes. My fasting glucose has always been high but not pre-diabetic, even when I was young, thin, super active, etc. (like, my fasting was never below 95, and it was often around 105). I didn't have gestational issues, but I had to do the long test with both babies. It kept creeping up. I ate fewer carbs. Still creeping up. I got a meter last year, and I am definitely pre-diabetic, which angers me because my doctor wouldn't do anything about all of this years ago (or about my BP), and until the boards, I didn't know that people got meters when they weren't diabetic. Anyway, I found out what foods seem to be the worst for me and avoid them (for instance, corn is usually fine, but brown rice is horrid; only steel cut oats or oat bran are even remotely okay for me to eat). If my A1C doesn't stay down (it came down and I lost a few pounds when I got the monitor), then I am sure my new doctor will want to have a longer conversation. He's happy to have me work on it myself for now. 

I don't really know when I transitioned from crashes to generally high numbers overall. I do know that they don't feel that different in some ways. Overall, it's quite clear to me that the reason I've spent my entire adult life hungry is that my blood sugar was always off enough to be a problem even when my fasting numbers were okay. When I got the monitor and started eating fewer carbs plus fewer trigger foods, my hunger has tapered off dramatically. It's nice to not feel like I could gnaw my own arm off all day every day. I wish someone had noticed twenty years ago that's not normal and told me to get a monitor. 

I worry about my kids. I think they have hypoglycemic episodes, and my DH is not a good role model about carbs. He eats lots of really good food and is naturally slim, but his family has never had anyone who had any bad effects from eating sugar with a shovel, and he can put away some serious carbs with zero problems. My family sometimes look puritanical in comparison, and lots of my relatives have blood sugar issues. The kids have half their DNA from me, so I hope they will be careful as they age. 

[Katy]

Yes, above 200 is diabetic. Unless your blood sugar is actually low, below 60, that shaky feeling is from it dropping rapidly and your insulin being too high to switch to burning fat rapidly. 

The way to get it back to normal is fasting.  That will mean going through that uncomfortable shaking feeling until you can successfully switch to burning fat. Since it barely went above 200 you could probably fast back into a normal range in less than a week, or a month of intermittent fasting. Dr Jason Fung has a book on reversing diabetes with fasting that can help. 

You should probably start testing after every meal so you know how you respond to every food. 

[Storygirl]

You should ask your doctor to check your A1C. This will show your blood sugar average over three months. With your numbers swinging that high and low, it could be diabetes or prediabetes. Your doctor might recommend Metformin, which does a very good job of stabilizing blood sugar for most people whose situation has not grown too bad yet.

It's not uncommon for people who ran hypoglycemic to switch over to running high. It happened to me, in fact.

You can definitely start modifying your diet more and adding additional exercise. Taking a walk within 30 minutes of a meal can lower blood sugar significantly. This varies by person, but walking half a mile to a mile can drop my blood sugar by 50 points or more. Walking after every meal (or at least several times a day) is a recommended strategy. Be aware that exercise can also spike blood sugar, so if you take a walk, wait 20-30 minutes before you check your blood sugar, to give it time to settle down to a lower level.

Definitely take your concerns to your doctor. It can be scary, but when you address the issues with determination, you can make a difference. Ask the doctor if they can send you to a diabetic nutrition class; I've done this, and it was really helpful. Blood sugar issues are very often genetic, in case you didn't know.

[happi duck]

Years ago I had a five hour test:  Blood draw, sugary drink, several more blood draws at intervals.  My sugar spiked and then absolutely tanked before inching up again.  It explained why eating made me feel terrible and hungrier than before eating.  It was also contributing to depression.  Doctor called it hypoglycemia.

It's hard to Google because "hypoglycemia" keeps bringing it up only as related to diabetes.

You've already stumbled upon the treatment: eating enough but not too much of the right things.  I can't remember specifics except one book I remember is The Low Blood Sugar Handbook.

I did eventually end up type 2.

[mathnerd]

41 minutes ago, Katy said:

Yes, above 200 is diabetic. Unless your blood sugar is actually low, below 60, that shaky feeling is from it dropping rapidly and your insulin being too high to switch to burning fat rapidly. 

The way to get it back to normal is fasting.  That will mean going through that uncomfortable shaking feeling until you can successfully switch to burning fat. Since it barely went above 200 you could probably fast back into a normal range in less than a week, or a month of intermittent fasting. Dr Jason Fung has a book on reversing diabetes with fasting that can help. 

You should probably start testing after every meal so you know how you respond to every food. 

I came here to say this! Check out the book that @Katymentioned and also another book from the same doctor which also covers aspects of insulin spikes: https://www.amazon.com/Obesity-Code-Unlocking-Secrets-Weight-ebook/dp/B01C6D0LCK (you could also watch some of his talks on youtube)

My family is full of diabetics on insulin in every single generation that I have known - I am a prime candidate for diabetes given my family history and hence I follow Intermittent Fasting as a way of life to keep myself healthy (16:8 fasting).

Edited August 20, 2021 by mathnerd

[Carol in Cal.]

First of all, mac and cheese does have quite a bit of protein and fat from the cheese.  But it IS a high carb meal for sure.

I would be very concerned about the length of time that your BS stayed so high after that meal.  

I agree with the PP who suggested getting your HbA1C tested again now.  You might have developed diabetes along the way and that is a good way to find out.

[BeachGal]

Many people in the US are insulin resistant and not aware. High blood glucose often appears many years later.
 

The excess circulating insulin causes a lot of damage as does eventually the shard-like excess glucose.

Insulin researcher Benjamin Bikman describes exactly what happens and what you can do to improve in his book Why We Get Sick. It’s a good book, IMO.
 

ETA Bikman is one of Dr. Fung’s advisors on insulin.

Edited August 20, 2021 by BeachGal

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, Kanin said:

 

I've really suspected something was off for a long time. But nothing ever came of it, and I even went to the doctor and had fasting BG and A1C done... well... a while ago now, like 10 years ago, but still. Everything's always been totally typical. Maybe this is, too. Can someone clue me in? Thanks. 

 

Um, what your A1C was a decade ago is not indicative of what it would be now, lol. Go to the doctor!

[Katy]

You don’t need A1C.  If your blood sugar goes above 200 for any reason you are diabetic.  You should definitely get to a doctor and get some blood work, just to track as you get better or worse.

[momto3innc]

4 hours ago, kbutton said:

Overall, it's quite clear to me that the reason I've spent my entire adult life hungry is that my blood sugar was always off enough to be a problem even when my fasting numbers were okay. When I got the monitor and started eating fewer carbs plus fewer trigger foods, my hunger has tapered off dramatically. It's nice to not feel like I could gnaw my own arm off all day every day. I wish someone had noticed twenty years ago that's not normal and told me to get a monitor. 

So your entire post made me think, but this particular part stopped me completely. I have spent my ENTIRE life hungry. I’m careful with what I eat and have mostly exercised so my weight is okay. But yeah, always hungry. There are sugar/diabetes issues on both sides of my family and I have struggled with low blood sugar at times (although I would have said not in a long time). But I NEVER connected my hunger to blood sugar. I just stare at friends who forget to eat in shock at how that could ever happen. Or die a bit inside when dinner is running late.  Thanks for making me think! Thinking I’m going to get a sugar monitor and watch for awhile and think through my diet more.

[kbutton]

2 minutes ago, momto3innc said:

So your entire post made me think, but this particular part stopped me completely. I have spent my ENTIRE life hungry. I’m careful with what I eat and have mostly exercised so my weight is okay. But yeah, always hungry. There are sugar/diabetes issues on both sides of my family and I have struggled with low blood sugar at times (although I would have said not in a long time). But I NEVER connected my hunger to blood sugar. I just stare at friends who forget to eat in shock at how that could ever happen. Or die a bit inside when dinner is running late.  Thanks for making me think! Thinking I’m going to get a sugar monitor and watch for awhile and think through my diet more.

I hope it helps. It's so frustrating. One of the things I hated most was seeing advice about losing weight by avoiding "boredom eating." Ooookay. I guess that could be a thing for some people. 

Checking your blood sugar while hungry can be as helpful as checking after eating sometimes to figure out what's up. Mine tends to be high in the AM and stay that way for a while. I walk in the AM and then do my best to have zero carbs before lunch. It seems to help. 

[happi duck]

The liver(?) compensates overnight so one can wake with a higher reading than you'd expect.  I think that's why I've never been a breakfast person.

[Kanin]

16 hours ago, MEmama said:

No advice but I’m listening in because this is *totally* me. I’ve never heard anyone describe it so well, or even understand it.

DH, fwiw, is diabetic and doesn’t experience lows like I do. It’s totally bizarre to me that he can eat bowls of cereal or potato chips or all kinds of things I can’t with nothing else and be totally stable. 

Glad to know I'm not the only weirdo! 🙂  Do you check your numbers on your DH's meter? My DH is not diabetic, and he can eat anything and feel fine. He's had maybe one or two crashes ever, and he's always completely surprised, and I'm like.... what did you eat? Oh, cookies and then nothing for 7 hours? Well, couldn't you have seen this coming? (He never sees it coming because it's not part of his experience.)

[Kanin]

16 hours ago, kbutton said:

I don't really know when I transitioned from crashes to generally high numbers overall. I do know that they don't feel that different in some ways. Overall, it's quite clear to me that the reason I've spent my entire adult life hungry is that my blood sugar was always off enough to be a problem even when my fasting numbers were okay. When I got the monitor and started eating fewer carbs plus fewer trigger foods, my hunger has tapered off dramatically. It's nice to not feel like I could gnaw my own arm off all day every day. I wish someone had noticed twenty years ago that's not normal and told me to get a monitor. 

I can relate! I'm always hungry, too. That's why I hated school as a kid, I was always desperate for snack or lunch or the end of the day so I could go home and eat. 

I was surprised to learn that you can just go buy a meter. A doctor said to me when I was in my 20s, "If you're so concerned, why don't you just take your blood sugar?" and I couldn't believe I could just go get set up at Target for not too much money. The strips ARE expensive which is why I only occasionally test. 

[Kanin]

16 hours ago, Katy said:

Yes, above 200 is diabetic. Unless your blood sugar is actually low, below 60, that shaky feeling is from it dropping rapidly and your insulin being too high to switch to burning fat rapidly. 

The way to get it back to normal is fasting.  That will mean going through that uncomfortable shaking feeling until you can successfully switch to burning fat. Since it barely went above 200 you could probably fast back into a normal range in less than a week, or a month of intermittent fasting. Dr Jason Fung has a book on reversing diabetes with fasting that can help. 

You should probably start testing after every meal so you know how you respond to every food. 

Fasting is a good idea. My DH does this with great success. You're right, my sugar is not actually low.... when I feel shaky, if I happen to check, it's often something totally average, like 85, or even 100. 

[Kanin]

15 hours ago, Storygirl said:

Definitely take your concerns to your doctor. It can be scary, but when you address the issues with determination, you can make a difference. Ask the doctor if they can send you to a diabetic nutrition class; I've done this, and it was really helpful. Blood sugar issues are very often genetic, in case you didn't know.

Thank you, I need to do this. I do have a cousin with type 1. I don't know about any other relatives. 

As to the swinging high and low, I don't think it often is. This was the only time I've ever caught numbers that high. Any other time I've ever checked, things are well within the normal range. I don't get it!

[Kanin]

14 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Um, what your A1C was a decade ago is not indicative of what it would be now, lol. Go to the doctor!

Well... time is passing more quickly than I like to acknowledge 😆

[Kanin]

12 hours ago, Katy said:

You don’t need A1C.  If your blood sugar goes above 200 for any reason you are diabetic.  You should definitely get to a doctor and get some blood work, just to track as you get better or worse.

Question... so a non-diabetic person could eat literally anything and their BG would never go over 200? Like... what about a cup of maple syrup or something?

[Kanin]

12 hours ago, momto3innc said:

I just stare at friends who forget to eat in shock at how that could ever happen. Or die a bit inside when dinner is running late.  Thanks for making me think! Thinking I’m going to get a sugar monitor and watch for awhile and think through my diet more.

Me too! 

[Kanin]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your thoughts/knowledge!

Last night I had a typical dinner. Chicken, zucchini, rice. Cooked in butter 😎 Trying to see if things would go high, I even had oatmeal with maple syrup (eek!) for dessert.

After dinner my numbers were 109 at one hour, 115 at two hours, 110 at three hours. Fasting this morning was 85.

So what gives? Was it just the extreme carb load of mac and cheese yesterday, or....? I am sincerely confused. 

[Myra]

17 minutes ago, Kanin said:

I was surprised to learn that you can just go buy a meter. A doctor said to me when I was in my 20s, "If you're so concerned, why don't you just take your blood sugar?" and I couldn't believe I could just go get set up at Target for not too much money. The strips ARE expensive which is why I only occasionally test. 

Check with your health insurance.  Mine completely covers the monitor and test strips .... maybe yours might, too.  Worth a shot!

Edited August 21, 2021 by Myra

[MEmama]

5 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Glad to know I'm not the only weirdo! 🙂  Do you check your numbers on your DH's meter? My DH is not diabetic, and he can eat anything and feel fine. He's had maybe one or two crashes ever, and he's always completely surprised, and I'm like.... what did you eat? Oh, cookies and then nothing for 7 hours? Well, couldn't you have seen this coming? (He never sees it coming because it's not part of his experience.)

I have never checked, but it’s a good idea. I guess when I do go low I’m so desperate to remedy it I just don’t think to take a moment to check. I’ll try to remember next time it happens.

DH is diabetic because he lost part of his pancreas after a horrible experience with pancreatitis (which was brought on by a medication). He’s neither type 1 nor 2 but something else altogether. He takes only a tiny amount of insulin and truly never experiences what I do regardless of his numbers. It’s weird. My blood sugars are tested every year and are totally in normal range and stable.

Several years ago I started paying close attention to what and when I was eating to figure out what was causing my crashes and leaving me famished. There are a bunch of things I could easily identify: oatmeal in any form, cereal, some fruit and so on. Some are ok if I eat them with fats and protein, like you mentioned, so I time eating them accordingly (small bowl of applesauce with a full lunch but never as a stand alone snack for example). Some are just a no go, like yogurt. Starting my morning with a protein smoothie is the surest way of staying stable, so I do that everyday. I started eating chicken as a way to get more protein as well and I’m finding it’s really helping to keep me balanced. 
 

One habit I identified that surprised me is that I would often “pre-eat” before going out in an effort to stave off a crash. Even if I wasn’t hungry, I would eat a snack before heading out “just in case”. But what I realized is that not only did it not work, it seemed to actually contribute to the crashes. My theory is that in eating too much, I was overloading my system, literally causing it to crash further. Once I broke myself of the habit, I’ve had far fewer lows.

[Kanin]

2 minutes ago, MEmama said:

One habit I identified that surprised me is that I would often “pre-eat” before going out in an effort to stave off a crash. Even if I wasn’t hungry, I would eat a snack before heading out “just in case”. But what I realized is that not only did it not work, it seemed to actually contribute to the crashes. My theory is that in eating too much, I was overloading my system, literally causing it to crash further. Once I broke myself of the habit, I’ve had far fewer lows.

I do this, too! Wondering now if "feeling low" doesn't equate to actually being low, so the pre-eating is not necessary. But if FEELS necessary, ya know? I think testing could be good in this situation because you would see that you don't actually need anything at the moment. 

Hmm... glad you said that. I may need to try and push through more. 

[Katy]

16 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Question... so a non-diabetic person could eat literally anything and their BG would never go over 200? Like... what about a cup of maple syrup or something?

That’s right, it would never go that high.  Before A1C tests were a thing they used to do glucose challenge tests, making people drink basically glucose syrup.  When it went that high you were diagnosed as diabetic. 

Some people still do that sort of test during pregnancy. 

[Katy]

Jason Fung discusses how snacking drives up insulin, which drives up insulin resistance, and makes the symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia worse.  Exercise and fasting lower insulin resistance, and at the point instead of scary shaky feelings you just get hunger like a normal person.  An almost pleasant feeling that you could eat, but if you decide not to you’ll lose weight and the hunger pang will pass in 10-20 minutes. 

[Kanin]

22 minutes ago, Katy said:

Jason Fung discusses how snacking drives up insulin, which drives up insulin resistance, and makes the symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia worse.  Exercise and fasting lower insulin resistance, and at the point instead of scary shaky feelings you just get hunger like a normal person.  An almost pleasant feeling that you could eat, but if you decide not to you’ll lose weight and the hunger pang will pass in 10-20 minutes. 

Well, that would be awesome! I don't usually get hungry, just feel bad all the time. Hmm. I'm going to look up this Jason Fung. Thank you!

[MEmama]

43 minutes ago, Katy said:

Jason Fung discusses how snacking drives up insulin, which drives up insulin resistance, and makes the symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia worse.  Exercise and fasting lower insulin resistance, and at the point instead of scary shaky feelings you just get hunger like a normal person.  An almost pleasant feeling that you could eat, but if you decide not to you’ll lose weight and the hunger pang will pass in 10-20 minutes. 

This is the hypothesis I came up with when I realized I was eating before I actually needed to.

Fasting isn’t necessarily needed or the only way to go, though. I’ve learned by tracking my eating how to make the above true, that by being careful it is possible to just be hungry (like a hunger that can wait) vs being famished to the point of hypoglycemia. I know fasting works for some people, but it would absolutely mess with how my body functions. I’d say proceed with caution. 

[ktgrok]

I actually have a different, weird reaction to fasting and hunger. It keeps me from "feeling hungry" as in wanting to eat, but that makes me MORE likely to get to the point of feeling shaky. I have to be careful if I'm very low carb and/or fasting because I won't realize I am hungry until I have a headache and feel shakey. Like, it calms down grehlin controlling hunger signals better than it controls the insulin sensitivity or something? I mean, I'd rather not feel hungry, so that's good, but I really have to watch I don't fast too long, or I get shaky and yucky. 

 

[Wheres Toto]

Any suggestions for a decent, not too expensive glucose meter?

[Kanin]

So I did an experiment this morning. My first meal was oatmeal with maple syrup. It had a ton of carbs. BG started at 85, shot up to 150 after 20 min, then back down to 95 after an hour. Normal, right? If I was diabetic, wouldn't that meal be a real disaster? 🤔

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Wheres Toto said:

Any suggestions for a decent, not too expensive glucose meter?

Walmart's is a good option for this.

43 minutes ago, Kanin said:

So I did an experiment this morning. My first meal was oatmeal with maple syrup. It had a ton of carbs. BG started at 85, shot up to 150 after 20 min, then back down to 95 after an hour. Normal, right? If I was diabetic, wouldn't that meal be a real disaster? 🤔

I am not an expert at this point, but one thing I read is that for both diabetic and non-diabetic folks, eating veggies before eating carbs helps with the spikiness. I now have a "no carb left behind" rule that I mostly follow. I try to always eat my carbs after eating veggies, and I just don't eat carbs for breakfast. If I want breakfast carbs, I tend to eat them for supper instead.

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Kanin said:

So I did an experiment this morning. My first meal was oatmeal with maple syrup. It had a ton of carbs. BG started at 85, shot up to 150 after 20 min, then back down to 95 after an hour. Normal, right? If I was diabetic, wouldn't that meal be a real disaster? 🤔

What foods trigger spikes can vary hugely - oatmeal is one that in some does, in some doesn't. Also, volume matters as well - glucose load is important too, not just glycemic index. 

[mathnerd]

2 hours ago, Kanin said:

So I did an experiment this morning. My first meal was oatmeal with maple syrup. It had a ton of carbs. BG started at 85, shot up to 150 after 20 min, then back down to 95 after an hour. Normal, right? If I was diabetic, wouldn't that meal be a real disaster? 🤔

May I suggest another experiment? 
Eat a high carb meal (the same Mac and cheese meal that triggered the high readings for you, at a similar time of day) but, before you eat it, drink 1-2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 10 oz of water and then eat that meal. Measure your blood sugars and see if they are different this time! I have done a similar experiment on myself and can see a difference!

ACV is supposed to control the rate of sugars released. But you should be careful not to damage the enamel on your teeth from the acid in vinegar by brushing your teeth after the meal.

Edited August 21, 2021 by mathnerd

[Kanin]

1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

May I suggest another experiment? 
Eat a high carb meal (the same Mac and cheese meal that triggered the high readings for you, at a similar time of day) but, before you eat it, drink 1-2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 10 oz of water and then eat that meal. Measure your blood sugars and see if they are different this time! I have done a similar experiment on myself and can see a difference!

ACV is supposed to control the rate of sugars released. But you should be careful not to damage the enamel on your teeth from the acid in vinegar by brushing your teeth after the meal.

Good idea. I'll try it with and without, in case the original time was a fluke. Although now it doesn't sound appealing.... 

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

What foods trigger spikes can vary hugely - oatmeal is one that in some does, in some doesn't. Also, volume matters as well - glucose load is important too, not just glycemic index. 

Oh boy. Lots to learn! 

[MEmama]

3 hours ago, Kanin said:

So I did an experiment this morning. My first meal was oatmeal with maple syrup. It had a ton of carbs. BG started at 85, shot up to 150 after 20 min, then back down to 95 after an hour. Normal, right? If I was diabetic, wouldn't that meal be a real disaster? 🤔

Idk. Oatmeal destroys me almost immediately, but DH can eat just a packet of instant and then go cycling for a couple hours with no problem. It makes no sense to me.

[Kanin]

40 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Idk. Oatmeal destroys me almost immediately, but DH can eat just a packet of instant and then go cycling for a couple hours with no problem. It makes no sense to me.

Huh. This is more complicated than I thought. Maybe my next trial food should be something totally processed, like Cocoa Puffs!

[ktgrok]

You can look up glucose tolerance test substitutes - I know there is one where you eat a certain number of jelly beans. Women do it in pregnancy instead of the in lab one where you drink the glucola stuff. 

[ktgrok]

This tells about the glucose tolerance test - for type II diabetes it involves 75mg of sugar. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/glucose-tolerance-test/about/pac-20394296

Edited August 21, 2021 by ktgrok

[sassenach]

It would be best to just go into the doctor. That one reading over 200 may be because you have DM or it may mean that your glucometer needs to be calibrated. Your home trials aren't going to solve this mystery for you. Go in, get your A1C and fasting bgl done, and regardless, come up with an eating plan that doesn't have you swinging so wildly.

 

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, Kanin said:

Huh. This is more complicated than I thought. Maybe my next trial food should be something totally processed, like Cocoa Puffs!

(Trader Joe’s sells some almond puff cereal that’s kinda lowish carb that DH likes as a treat. They look like Cocoa Puffs so he pretends that’s what they are. They are very yummy. Lol.)

(You’re welcome. 😂)

[MEmama]

3 hours ago, Kanin said:

Huh. This is more complicated than I thought. Maybe my next trial food should be something totally processed, like Cocoa Puffs!

it’s definitely complicated. I have my diet down pretty good; I can tell if a meal isn’t going to “hold” for me. It’s not failsafe, but my issues are certainly eating related.

DH thinks stress affects his readings, much more so than food in his case. He’s observed that allergies do too, like high pollen days will throw off his numbers.

Exercise is hugely helpful for him and definitely makes a difference. If he skips too many workouts it shows up in his tests.

[Katy]

Oh yeah, stress, lack of sleep, coming down with something or bad allergies all drive up my blood sugar. I can normally control it completely with food but not then. 

I do best on something closer to Fuhrman’s plan, but I can add back in a few hundred calories of lean protein like fish, chicken, or egg whites.  If I want sugar I do much better if I include high antioxidants.  Things like chocolate covered blueberries are better for me than most options. 

Some people do great on low carb, high fat.  Others do better on low fat. You don’t know until you journal and test.

Most doctors don’t tell you to fast and food journal and test.  They just put you on metformin & have you come in frequently for lab tests so they’ll know when to add more medicine. 
 

Dr Fuhrman has a book called The End of Diabetes (or something like that) that’s lower fat high nutrition vegan. 

[Kanin]

18 hours ago, MEmama said:

(Trader Joe’s sells some almond puff cereal that’s kinda lowish carb that DH likes as a treat. They look like Cocoa Puffs so he pretends that’s what they are. They are very yummy. Lol.)

(You’re welcome. 😂)

Oh darn, I have an excuse to go to TJ's now!! 😅

[Kanin]

16 hours ago, Katy said:

Most doctors don’t tell you to fast and food journal and test.  They just put you on metformin & have you come in frequently for lab tests so they’ll know when to add more medicine. 

And I'm not willing to do this unless it's completely necessary, which it's clearly not yet (and hopefully not ever!). With numbers in the perfect range most of the time, I'd just rather not eat mac and cheese and the like.