High BS reading

[DianeS]

Up to today, I've been well controlled with nothing much over 6.5 after meals. Made a huge mistake this morning, and drank a fruit smoothie..... about an hour later the reading had shot from 5.5 to 11.5 - I was seriously worried..... it's the highest it's ever been - yet no more than 90 minutes later it was back down to 6.5. I suppose it 'could' have been a faulty strip, and with hindsight (a wonderful thing) I should have washed my hands and tested again, but I didn't. I didn't feel 'ill' until I saw the reading.... I shouldn't have had the smoothie I know. My excuse is that I'd read a recipe yesterday that promised a 'safe' diabetic smoothie..... If it was right, I can only say I'm pleased it came down as fast as it did. Any thoughts.......? The only other thing is that I had a flu jab yesterday afternoon.

 

[Leadinglights]

The normal time to test is after 2 hours, so you have probably worried yourself for nothing as it came down again.
Many people find smoothies tricky as the action of blitzing everything up seems to make them amount to more carbs than the ingredients would suggest. The sugars will be released more quicky. I think some suggest adding avocado or full fat Greek yoghurt will slow down the release of the sugar as it is adding some healthy fat.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

My Endo told me that a spike into the 11s, even 12s is not remotely dangerous; I don't remember the exact vocabulary but I came away with the impression this would be normal even for a non-diabetic person. The fact that in 90 mins you were back to reasonable/good at 6.5 might be because the test was flawed, but with fruit smoothies the blending does allow a release of glucose more quickly as @Leadinglights has said.

So good to ask, but not something to get anxious about. Some people recognise when they are mildly hyper, many others don't, including myself; I only know from my Libre alarms or if I'm at 20+. Then I get high symptoms, nothing too specific, I just feel "off", both twitchy and sluggish. A really strange mix.

 

[EmmaL76]

I think with smoothies as they don’t need much digestion it’s a massive hit of glucose. I make a smoothie everyday but mine is with goats milk kefir, raspberries, flax seed oil, prebiotics and some other bits and bobs. I drink mine over the corse of the day for this exact reason. If it helps, my daughter who is not diabetic tested her sugars after a slimfast once and it was 12. So they are not a good choice if you have the betes. Good knews for you that it came back down pretty fast, the problem is hanging around at those top numbers for hours.

 

[DianeS]

Thank you for your replies. I'd been out on a dog walk (short one with elderly dog) and came home feeling a bit 'off' not really ill - but in view of the smoothie, thought I'd test 'just to see'.... Yes, I was ultra relieved when it came back down so quickly. I tested again an hour or so after that, and there was a further drop. Your comments here have reassured me, but I don't think I'll use that recipe again in a hurry.... thank you again!

 

[rebrascora]

It may be that the sudden drop in BG from that spike, back down to normal levels as a result of the walk made you feel a bit off. The walk will definitely have helped bring it back down.
Personally I don't think smoothies are a good idea (nice as they are). I have read somewhere that chewing when eating has an impact on the feeling of being full/satisfied, so having food like that which doesn't need chewing can leave you feeling hungry and wanting more as well as the glucose in the fruit and veg hitting the blood stream faster, when it is liquified/blended. I now adopt the same principle with soups... better to have a chunky soup as a pureed one although it will have a lesser impact with soup being mostly vegetables which are usually lower carb than fruits.