Can you help? I've read lots of comments on these fora about people feeling unwell when their blood sugars spike over 7 or 10mmol. What happens to you at those levels to make you feel unwell? I don't feel any different at 6 than I did at 11 though appreciate that I was conditioned to much higher and this may change over time. On the couple of occasions where I've felt peculiar ie slightly dizzy or rapid heart rate, my sugars have been fine.
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Blood Sugar Sensitivity
- Thread starter EllsBells
- Start date
- Status
I was only diagnosed a wk and half ago and have gone on a diet (129kg but 6 ft 3 in). am A PCSO so quite active. I went other way, other day I was not in the car so did 1700 steps and ended up with a bit of a sprint and struggling with some one and i was very weak. as a result have upped my carbs and am going to try and stick to 80 to 100 a day. Just got machine for bloods and I am ranging between 7.1 and 9.1 but generaly between 7.4 and 8.5. but the last wk has being a bit of a physical role coaster and I do feel better not I have upped my carbs.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
When I hit around 9-10 and get stuck there, doing manual work is harder. My arms and legs feel heavy and everything takes more effort.... like there are lead weights round my arm and legs. I might also feel wobbly like I do when I am hypo.
It may be that this sensation is more common with Type 1s than Type 2s, perhaps because our bodies are unable to correct the situation so we may stay at these levels for longer until we fix it by injecting some insulin and also because our bodies are generally used to normal levels or being too low, so we perhaps become more sensitive to being a bit high in the same way as we become less sensitive to being too low if we have too many hypos.
Most well controlled type 2s and indeed non diabetics will occasionally go up to 9 but will come down from it quite quickly again and so not detect anything odd. Poorly controlled or newly diagnosed diabetics will be used to those higher readings so they will not sense any difference.
Your slightly dizzy or rapid heart beat incidents might be because your BG is dropping rapidly from a high spike but is in the normal range by the time you detect it and test.... which is a false hypo..... or it may be unrelated to your BG levels. With a finger prick you have no way of knowing unless you tested 15 or 30 mins before.
With our Libre sensors which sample your levels every few mins you get a direction of travel along with your BG reading and if it is coming down rapidly, you get a vertical downward arrow next to the reading. Sometimes I can detect that in the 6s and certainly 5s. The problem for us insulin users is that there is no guarantee it will stop at a safe level if we got our calculations wrong and it can go much too low, so that sensation is useful to help protect us.
It may be that this sensation is more common with Type 1s than Type 2s, perhaps because our bodies are unable to correct the situation so we may stay at these levels for longer until we fix it by injecting some insulin and also because our bodies are generally used to normal levels or being too low, so we perhaps become more sensitive to being a bit high in the same way as we become less sensitive to being too low if we have too many hypos.
Most well controlled type 2s and indeed non diabetics will occasionally go up to 9 but will come down from it quite quickly again and so not detect anything odd. Poorly controlled or newly diagnosed diabetics will be used to those higher readings so they will not sense any difference.
Your slightly dizzy or rapid heart beat incidents might be because your BG is dropping rapidly from a high spike but is in the normal range by the time you detect it and test.... which is a false hypo..... or it may be unrelated to your BG levels. With a finger prick you have no way of knowing unless you tested 15 or 30 mins before.
With our Libre sensors which sample your levels every few mins you get a direction of travel along with your BG reading and if it is coming down rapidly, you get a vertical downward arrow next to the reading. Sometimes I can detect that in the 6s and certainly 5s. The problem for us insulin users is that there is no guarantee it will stop at a safe level if we got our calculations wrong and it can go much too low, so that sensation is useful to help protect us.
D
Deleted member 25429
Guest
At anything over 8 I just fall asleep. My legs feel heavy and everything takes a lot of effort
- Status