How do I lower my sugar level

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Hi , to be honest it was the first time that I had ever taken my level as I’m really new to this .
I took it this morning before food and it was 7-9 , I had brown toast and a boiled egg for breakfast.
did loads of gardening so plenty of digging etc
Then at 12-40 I took it before lunch of egg sandwich it was 6-2
which makes me think that I messed myself up yesterday by only eating a banana at breakfast, then a bag of cut apple and grapes like you get at McDonald’s at 12-30 , the very high reading was around half one and that was when I felt really faint
I’m not paranoid and taking readings non stop, just trying to get a handle on the food I eat in relation to my sugar levels
thank you for your help
 
The fact you have got a monitor is really good and by establishing a sensible testing regime which has a purpose will enable you to find what foods and meals you can tolerate. Making sure you have enough protein and healthy fats rather than just carbohydrates will help stabilise your blood glucose. Testing before you eat and after 2 hours will tell you if that meal is tolerated by aiming at no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase and no more than 8.5mmol/l. Keeping a food diary along side as well recording quantities and trying to estimate the amount of total carbs. You can then either cut something out or reduce the portion of the high carb food and replace with more veg.
The things you had yesterday were all high carb, banana, grapes with no protein
 
@Hazel1010 I suspect that eating just fruit - and fairly high carb ones is what caused the problems - we do need to eat protein and fat in order to maintain our bodies, we are omnivores.
If you can sort out which carbs you can cope with, and in what amount by testing before and after a meal then it should soon be obvious what you are able to manage and what causes spikes or brings on unpleasant feelings.

Your use of a dash - is rather confusing. You seem to be using it in telling the time - where I would use 12:40 you use 12-40.and also as the decimal point in a glucose level 6-2 where I would use 6.2 so I am reading things several times to work out what you mean and when. If you need to use a dash, adding 'time' or 'level' would really help to make it clear what the numbers are.
 
point taken or rather dash , it was just my lazy typing.
to be honest I didn’t even take carbs and protein into consideration, I simply thought cut out sugar but I am being educated so I’m on t right path hopefully , thank you for your reply
 
Me again 2 hours after eating an egg sandwich with a pack of low cal , low sugar crisps and my reading is 1.6 so I had some cheese and crackers , did I do right to raise my sugar up ?
 
Are you sure it was 1.6? Most people are hardly functioning at that low level. Hazel have you any fruit juice or full sugar soft drinks? You do need to get your BG up pretty darn quick and 100ml of either of the drinks will do that. For the future have some glucose tablets (e.g. Dextrose) or jelly babies to hand to treat hypos. Glucose tablets are much quicker than anything else. Cheese is fatty and therefore absorbed very slowly. The crackers on their own would have been better.
 
I did the test because I felt awful my heart was weird, legs tingling, sort of woozy, I’m straight on the phone tomorrow I’m either really high or really low I can’t seem to get a level of some kind ……
 
It does sound strange to ricochet up and down like that @Hazel. I'd be inclined to ask for further tests so don't make light of it on the phone to the GP. A friend of mine suffered from reactive hypoglycaemia.. in other words a meal high in carbs (sandwich + crisps) would send him hurtling down low rather than raising BGs. He has learned to manage it now.
 
Pattidevans said:
It does sound strange to ricochet up and down like that @Hazel. I'd be inclined to ask for further tests so don't make light of it on the phone to the GP. A friend of mine suffered from reactive hypoglycaemia.. in other words a meal high in carbs (sandwich + crisps) would send him hurtling down low rather than raising BGs. He has learned to manage it now.
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Thank you , I will don’t you worry I’ve been in and out of hospital for almost a year now try to sort out severe palpitations which I honestly think have been caused by undiagnosed diabetes to the extent the I was convinced this is it and all my affairs are in order x
 
Hazel1010 said:
I did the test because I felt awful my heart was weird, legs tingling, sort of woozy, I’m straight on the phone tomorrow I’m either really high or really low I can’t seem to get a level of some kind ……
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I suspect that you can't be a type two diabetic if eating high carb foods causes you to have a seriously low blood glucose level. Reactive hypoglycaemia seems far more likely and needs investigation.
 
Drummer said:
I suspect that you can't be a type two diabetic if eating high carb foods causes you to have a seriously low blood glucose level. Reactive hypoglycaemia seems far more likely and needs investigation.
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You can have both type 2 and reactive hypoglycemia, particularly in the early days of type 2 it's a sign of your bodies insulin regulation mechanisms going askew
 
Lucyr said:
You can have both type 2 and reactive hypoglycemia, particularly in the early days of type 2 it's a sign of your bodies insulin regulation mechanisms going askew
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Oh joy , I’m falling apart ‍♀️ well I’ll let you know how I get on with the docs
 
Hi and welcome

I've read through your posts and the feeling I get is that your diet is still too carb heavy, with toast, bread, bananas, grapes, crackers, crisps. With testing, you should test immediately before and 2 hours after first bite, and keep a record of the food and rise in blood glucose. That way you will know what affects you. Everyone is different and it's a matter of trial and error to find out how your body reacts. The records should also help your doctor identify if you have any other problems.

I'm going to outline a typical day for me (which other regular posters will have seen many times before before from my previous posts - sorry). I'm 71 so we are contemporaries.

Food wise, I have a cooked breakfast, usually poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes (no bread). Others like Greek yogurt with nuts, seeds and a little fruit. Lunch I usually have a salad in summer and home made soup in winter, without thickening or bread. Dinner I have 2/3 plate vegetables and 1/3 plate protein. A fruit portion is 80gm (not tropical fruits like bananas) and no more than 2 a day. From the pictures you will see I eat very well, with no potato, rice, pasta in sight, and just one small slice of wholemeal toast (which my body can tolerate) hidden under the tomatoes. I aim for 1200 cals and 90gm carbs a day, which I reached after experimenting. For exercise I go to Aquafit 3 times a week, but a daily walk works just as well.

Best wishes

Berries and fat free yogurt.JPG Mushrooms and tomatoes on toast.JPGCurried squash and red pepper soup.JPGPrawn and cottage cheese salad.JPGPork and apple burger.jpgBeef stew with speed veggies.JPG
 
Felinia said:
Hi and welcome

I've read through your posts and the feeling I get is that your diet is still too carb heavy, with toast, bread, bananas, grapes, crackers, crisps. With testing, you should test immediately before and 2 hours after first bite, and keep a record of the food and rise in blood glucose. That way you will know what affects you. Everyone is different and it's a matter of trial and error to find out how your body reacts. The records should also help your doctor identify if you have any other problems.

I'm going to outline a typical day for me (which other regular posters will have seen many times before before from my previous posts - sorry). I'm 71 so we are contemporaries.

Food wise, I have a cooked breakfast, usually poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes (no bread). Others like Greek yogurt with nuts, seeds and a little fruit. Lunch I usually have a salad in summer and home made soup in winter, without thickening or bread. Dinner I have 2/3 plate vegetables and 1/3 plate protein. A fruit portion is 80gm (not tropical fruits like bananas) and no more than 2 a day. From the pictures you will see I eat very well, with no potato, rice, pasta in sight, and just one small slice of wholemeal toast (which my body can tolerate) hidden under the tomatoes. I aim for 1200 cals and 90gm carbs a day, which I reached after experimenting. For exercise I go to Aquafit 3 times a week, but a daily walk works just as well.

Best wishes

View attachment 19059 View attachment 19060View attachment 19061View attachment 19062View attachment 19063View attachment 19064
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Brilliant thank you , ps do you deliver

this is my menu today
breakfast, boiled egg and small slice of warburtons sugar free brown bread
lunch egg, 2 slices of above , crisp lidl curls 95 cal 1 grm sugar per pack
snack 3 cracker wheat , 1 once low fat cheese
evening meal , tuna fish , tomato, cucumber, boiled new pot

oh and 5 whole almonds
 
Hazel1010 said:
Brilliant thank you , ps do you deliver

this is my menu today
breakfast, boiled egg and small slice of warburtons sugar free brown bread
lunch egg, 2 slices of above , crisp lidl curls 95 cal 1 grm sugar per pack
snack 3 cracker wheat , 1 once low fat cheese
evening meal , tuna fish , tomato, cucumber, boiled new pot

oh and 5 whole almonds
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It sounds like a good start using the small bread rather than the full size and having protein with every meal, but lacking in fruit and veg. One portion is 80g so unless you had loads of tomato and cucumber with dinner you probably only had 1 portion, rather than the minimum 5.

You could look at swapping the crisps with lunch for veg sticks and houmous, or adding some salad or other veg into the sandwich, or have with a side salad. Dinner could add some cooked veg (presume you do other days anyway though), snack could have some fruit, kids apple with peanut butter, berries and Greek yoghurt, pairing a more carby food like fruit with a protein can help slow it down so you don’t spike and crash too much.
 
Lucyr said:
It sounds like a good start using the small bread rather than the full size and having protein with every meal, but lacking in fruit and veg. One portion is 80g so unless you had loads of tomato and cucumber with dinner you probably only had 1 portion, rather than the minimum 5.

You could look at swapping the crisps with lunch for veg sticks and houmous, or adding some salad or other veg into the sandwich, or have with a side salad. Dinner could add some cooked veg (presume you do other days anyway though), snack could have some fruit, kids apple with peanut butter, berries and Greek yoghurt, pairing a more carby food like fruit with a protein can help slow it down so you don’t spike and crash too much.
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I’ll get there , thank you for your help
 
Out of sheer interest a graph (attached I hope) of my own blood glucose levels over this last year from release from hospital with an incorrect diagnosis, to today with a correct diagnosis

Two things to notice. First, initially my blood glucose levels were all over the place. High, low, you name it. My diet then was a really healthy fruit based one. Lots of grapes and bananas !!!. But because I didn't understand the battle with carbs I was supposed to be fighting, my diet was a disaster. Secondly, since I changed my diet to lower carb (and came off all diabetic meds) my blood glucose levels have been good and stable.

So, from a disaster, it is possible to wrench out a success, but only if you fight the right fight. I see some parallels with your own situation. The first step is to get the right diagnosis.

BG Graph.jpg
 
Gwynn said:
Out of sheer interest a graph (attached I hope) of my own blood glucose levels over this last year from release from hospital with an incorrect diagnosis, to today with a correct diagnosis

Two things to notice. First, initially my blood glucose levels were all over the place. High, low, you name it. My diet then was a really healthy fruit based one. Lots of grapes and bananas !!!. But because I didn't understand the battle with carbs I was supposed to be fighting, my diet was a disaster. Secondly, since I changed my diet to lower carb (and came off all diabetic meds) my blood glucose levels have been good and stable.

So, from a disaster, it is possible to wrench out a success, but only if you fight the right fight. I see some parallels with your own situation. The first step is to get the right diagnosis.

View attachment 19067
Click to expand...
Thank you hopefully I’ll get thee too , just have to get past the doctors receptionist tomorrow wish me luck
 
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