Does a spike matter if it comes down within 2 hours?

[Pookie]

Newly diagnosed Type 2 (HbA1c of 51) testing myself non-stop with a Libre2. If my BG goes up to 10.5 one hour after breakfast but then comes down to 8.5 half an hour after that (ie one and a half hours after breakfast) is that OK? Is it a bad idea to check BG less than 2 hours after a meal because it's alarming but it doesn't matter? Is the vital thing how long it takes to come down again? eg I had a croissant in a moment of weakness (it was absolutely delicious) and my BG went up to 11.2 and took 4 hours to normalise. If I'd been testing only after 2 hours I'd have been alarmed by the croissant but not by the porridge and berries.

Are a couple of oatcakes much better than a slice of sourdough? Will I never be able to eat an orange again?

Please give me your advice. Thank you so much.

 

[sg295]

Newly diagnosed Type 2 (HbA1c of 51) testing myself non-stop with a Libre2. If my BG goes up to 10.5 one hour after breakfast but then comes down to 8.5 half an hour after that (ie one and a half hours after breakfast) is that OK? Is it a bad idea to check BG less than 2 hours after a meal because it's alarming but it doesn't matter? Is the vital thing how long it takes to come down again? eg I had a croissant in a moment of weakness (it was absolutely delicious) and my BG went up to 11.2 and took 4 hours to normalise. If I'd been testing only after 2 hours I'd have been alarmed by the croissant but not by the porridge and berries.

Are a couple of oatcakes much better than a slice of sourdough? Will I never be able to eat an orange again?

Please give me your advice. Thank you so much.

Hi,

I’m a type 1 but if it’s any consolation, I have double figure spikes after pretty much every meal. Anywhere between the 10s and 13s is pretty normal for me.

However, I never let it sit at those kind of levels and generally, as long as I’ve done the correct amount of insulin, it does come down within a couple of hours or so and therefore doesn’t cause an issue.

My DSN said to me not to worry about spikes after eating (they’re bound to happen at some point and for me it’s pretty much every time!) as long as they come down again and don’t sit up high for hours on end.

Even then, if it occasionally goes a bit pear shaped, that’s ok. It’s not going to be perfect all the time. But if as a general rule they are eventually coming down, I wouldn’t worry too much.

Hope that helps 🙂

 

[Pookie]

Hi,

I’m a type 1 but if it’s any consolation, I have double figure spikes after pretty much every meal. Anywhere between the 10s and 13s is pretty normal for me.

However, I never let it sit at those kind of levels and generally, as long as I’ve done the correct amount of insulin, it does come down within a couple of hours or so and therefore doesn’t cause an issue.

My DSN said to me not to worry about spikes after eating (they’re bound to happen at some point and for me it’s pretty much every time!) as long as they come down again and don’t sit up high for hours on end.

Even then, if it occasionally goes a bit pear shaped, that’s ok. It’s not going to be perfect all the time. But if as a general rule they are eventually coming down, I wouldn’t worry too much.

Hope that helps 🙂

thank you so much for replying to me

 

[rayray119]

As people have told me even none diabetics spike after meals

 

[Leadinglights]

I suppose having the Libre you know exactly what is going on whereas if you are just testing with a fingerprick you would be totally unaware of what is happening between your before meal test and 2 hours after.
Only you can decide if it is important to you and if it is impacting on your management of the condition. Is it influencing what you eat unnecessarily.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Will I never be able to eat an orange again?

Itis possible to eat less than a whole fruit! I usually eat 1/4 to 1/2 of fruits such as apple, pear, plum, peach, clementine, depending on size, and 2-3 segments of an orange. My OH (non-D) is happy to eat the rest, but if you have noone to share clingfilm is useful.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Short answer: No!

Longer: First, plenty of non-diabetics go above 10 from time to time.

Second, when I looked into this question after being diagnosed, I found that there was basically no evidence of any clinical impact of "spikes" indpendent of the effect they might have cumulatively on HbA1c. In other words, if your HbA1c is fine (and you're not at risk of hypo's), there's no reason to think fluctuations matter.

 

[sg295]

thank you so much for replying to me

No worries!

Also as @rayray119 correctly said, even non diabetics can and do spike after meals - it’s just that generally their spikes are not as large, don’t last as long and can be brought down on their own 🙂

 

[helli]

As @Leadinglights says “you know what’s going on”. However, @Pookie bear in mind Libre can over read numbers in double figures. Relying only on Libre you will not know exactly what is going on. That said, “exact” is a moot point with a condition when so many things that can affect blood sugars.

 

[gillrogers]

From what I've been told by dB nurses, dB dietitian and my GP even non diabetics spike. And what your seeing sounds normal

 

[Pookie]

Short answer: No!

Longer: First, plenty of non-diabetics go above 10 from time to time.

Second, when I looked into this question after being diagnosed, I found that there was basically no evidence of any clinical impact of "spikes" indpendent of the effect they might have cumulatively on HbA1c. In other words, if your HbA1c is fine (and you're not at risk of hypo's), there's no reason to think fluctuations matter.

Thank you. That's very reassuring to hear. I was panicking a bit!