Blood glucose constantly over 14 mmol/L & cirrhosis

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hexamon

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Type 2
Hi,

I have type 2 along with NAFLD that has progressed to cirrhosis and high blood pressure.

I've recently been using the FreeStyle LibreLink sensor after worsening blood results for the liver issue and diabetes - last HBA1C was around 80 so decided to monitor more closely again.

What's really surprised me is that my blood glucose never gets below 14 and then regularly reaches 21 which is concerning me a bit.

It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, even the smallest amount of carbs can spike it.

Through the night it dips to just under 10 for a while and then peaks at 3am (normal it seems).

Anyone have any ideas of the dangers of having such high results ? The nurse advised they would push for insulin injections if I don't get it under control but the liver disease complicates things.

Thanks in advance

Steve
 
Welcome to the forum, it is always difficult managing multiple conditions but certainly those high blood glucose reading are not good to be having consistently.
Are you on any medication for your diabetes as if you are and you are having very little carbs (what do you mean by smallest amount) then that would suggest you need additional help.
It would be a good idea to have some urine ketone test strips as high glucose and ketones can be a serious issue.
It would be a good idea to keep a food diary of everything you eat and drink which together with your Libre data would provide evidence that you are making every attempt to bring your blood glucose level down.
Would you like to post some examples of your meals and people may spot something which is pushing your blood glucose up.
 
Welcome @hexamon Those are high levels. Even allowing for the Libre’s inaccuracy at higher levels, I’d be pushing for some medical input and medication if you can’t improve your diet further.
 
Thanks for the replies. Diet is ok as I’ve been diabetic for about 10 years. Occasional treats but mainly good. Job is stressful and that doesn’t help. I on on Dapagliflozin 10mg per day for Diabetes.
 
hexamon said:
Thanks for the replies. Diet is ok as I’ve been diabetic for about 10 years. Occasional treats but mainly good. Job is stressful and that doesn’t help. I on on Dapagliflozin 10mg per day for Diabetes.
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Many people who have been diagnosed for sometime are following dietary advise that was promoted as being a good one for reducing blood glucose but some new thinking recognises the power of reducing carbohydrates in managing the condition. So what might have been considered healthy now may not be so as your tolerance to carbohydrates may have changed which would be reflected in the higher than desirable blood glucose readings. What would be typical meals that you have?
Have a look at this link as it is an approach that may give you some ideas for some dietary changes that may help. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
I totally agree about the diet within last 6 months I've actually radically changed mine through actually understanding that the advice I got told 9 years back was not doing my health any good. I don't see me on a diet I see it as a life style change and noticed difference with my sugars and losing weight.

To give a better input more info is needed as that plays a major part.
 
dalebyrne88 said:
I totally agree about the diet within last 6 months I've actually radically changed mine through actually understanding that the advice I got told 9 years back was not doing my health any good. I don't see me on a diet I see it as a life style change and noticed difference with my sugars and losing weight.

To give a better input more info is needed as that plays a major part.
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Fire away with any questions you may have and people will try to help, generally from their own experience as to what had worked for them hence my suggestion of the low carb Freshwell approach in the link I posted.
 
Hi - it's been a couple of months since my original post and this is the latest. I switched my diet to fasting until lunchtime and then a protein heavy lunch and saw my weight drop and my blood sugars come down. Oddly I'd started anti depressants at the same time due to work stress/pressures and think that also contributed. Over the past 3 months my sugars have crept up and I got into trouble with the liver team for fasting which isn't good for the liver disease.

There is a direct link between long term stress and high BG (blood glucose) and I've now packed in my job and am looking for something else so am taking direct action to try to get the levels down but am still hovering around 12 on a good day.

One question I do have is related to spikes. So some things do spike me (mainly pasta and only some types) but I read somewhere recently that if the spike lasts for 2 hours it's kind of normal and expected ?

I'm not getting the spikes into the 28s but it might peak to 18 and then fall rapidly, within an hour or so. Sometimes it will peak at 18 and then come down overnight. And there is no pattern to food/stress etc.
 
It is a bit worrying that you are seeing such high levels despite making some changes to your diet, however as you mention pasta which is one of the high carb foods many people would cut out of their diet I wonder if you have completely understood about the fact that it is all carbohydrates which convert to glucose and you may just be looking at foods which are 'sugary' to cut out.
It would be worth while doing some testing of your meals as if you are getting your carb intake right for what your body can cope with then you would not expect more than a 2-3mmol increase after 2 hours compared to a before meal reading. If so then your carb intake is too high.
As you get better managed then you would be aiming for 4-7 mmol/l fasting / morning and before meals and no more than 8-8.5 2 hours post meal.
Have a look at this link which you may find helpful with some ideas for modifying your diet.
With those levels you may need a bit more help from medication, I don't see what you are taking.
 
I’ve been type 2 for ten years so have tried literally everything and every type of diet. When I said I was in the green after the fast and high protein meal that was in the range of 8 to 10. I take 10mg Dapagliflozin daily. I was on Ozempic but it didn’t work and the nurse mentioned I should have insulin injections but I refused as the fasting seemed to work for a while.
 
hexamon said:
I’ve been type 2 for ten years so have tried literally everything and every type of diet. When I said I was in the green after the fast and high protein meal that was in the range of 8 to 10. I take 10mg Dapagliflozin daily. I was on Ozempic but it didn’t work and the nurse mentioned I should have insulin injections but I refused as the fasting seemed to work for a while.
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Have they considered that you may not be a straightforward Type 2 if oral meds and diet are not working well and may be LADA which is a slowly developing Type 1.
 
That’s really interesting. I’ll check it out and then mention it next time I meet the nurse. It’s actually very difficult to manage when nothing seems to work.
 
hexamon said:
That’s really interesting. I’ll check it out and then mention it next time I meet the nurse. It’s actually very difficult to manage when nothing seems to work.
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Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA)

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults is called LADA for short. It's a different form of diabetes. What is LADA? It's a type of diabetes which seems to straddle type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Bits of it are more like type 1, and other bits are more like type 2. That's why some people call it type...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk
Have a look and you can be prepared with your questions for your GP
 
Yeah I will do thanks. Just checked the details and it’s worth asking to see if I can have the test. They normally do a full liver panel anyway.
 
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