Hypo vs hyper?

[CathyB]

hi, something I don’t quite understand, there is lots of information and advice about how to manage low blood sugar but what should you do if your numbers peak when you are out at work or with family? How high is ‘time for action’ rather that ‘keep an eye on it?
I am on metformin 1000 morning and evening and I am now walking regularly, managed to bring my numbers down from 22 to an average of 8 so far.
I am keen to hear your thoughts please.

 

[Ljc]

You’ve done well to bring your levels down so much, so please don’t lose heart, this is a marathon not a sprint. It’s actually better not to bring your levels down too fast as it gives your body time to adjust to more normal BG levels, dropping your levels too fast can cause false hypo’s, these are not at all dangerous but are just as unpleasant as real ones also your eyes can go very blurry, both are temporary problems.

If you give us an idea of what you eat on an average day , we can cast our eyes over it and suggest some changes.

For actual spikes as your on tablets for diabetes their is not much you can do to treat them, sipping rather than glugging water will help flush out some glucose, exersize can help too provided your BG level isn’t too high.

 

[CathyB]

You’ve done well to bring your levels down so much, so please don’t lose heart, this is a marathon not a sprint. It’s actually better not to bring your levels down too fast as it gives your body time to adjust to more normal BG levels, dropping your levels too fast can cause false hypo’s, these are not at all dangerous but are just as unpleasant as real ones also your eyes can go very blurry, both are temporary problems.

If you give us an idea of what you eat on an average day , we can cast our eyes over it and suggest some changes.

For actual spikes as your on tablets for diabetes their is not much you can do to treat them, sipping rather than glugging water will help flush out some glucose, exersize can help too provided your BG level isn’t too high.

Thanks for the advice, reading the forum has completely changed my eating so I feel more in control. An example day would be 2 x burgen bread toast for breakfast, scrambled egg for lunch and steak and salad for dinner, snacks are almonds or occasional sugar free biscuit (I’m lucky not to have any of the unpleasant side effects of sugar free).
My eyes are driving me mad, my vision varies throughout the day so I’m hoping that will settle. I have random times I feel ‘unwell’ can’t describe it really, usually when I’m hungry?

 

[Ljc]

Sounds like you’ve got the diet cracked 🙂. Your eyes should settle down, it can take around a month, however if your worried about them get them tested but tell them how long you’ve seen dx ( diagnosed) a good place will want you to wait before trying to sell you any specs.

Have you tested your BGs when you feel odd ? if above 4.0 it sounds like a false hypo, with real hypo’s we can get oh so very hungry as or brain is being starved of the only fuel it can use , glucose, so it sends out panic signal and makes us want to eat the contents of our cupboards 😱.
It’s similar for false hypo’s except we are perfectly safe,It’s just our brain doesn’t know that and it panics.
Try eating a low carb snack, this sometimes helps fool our body , *ah thank god she has eaten , we’re be safe now.*

If however you are below 4.0 have 15 to 20 g of fast acting carbs , glucose tablets , orange juice , jelly babie etc, not chocolate or fatty stuff as it’s far to slow, test after 15 minutes and repeat the above as necessary. Having hypo on Metformin is extremely rare

 

[CathyB]

Thanks, my bloods tend to go up rather than down

 

[Ljc]

Thanks, my bloods tend to go up rather than down

Don’t worry you’ll get there , I can’t recall how long you’ve been dx but none of us found it easy in the beginning, you've probably read posts where it’s thrown curve balls to even our most experienced members.
23 years ago I never dreamed how much fun I would be having with diabese now 🙄

 

[trophywench]

Cathy, a dose of metformin takes up to 3 weeks to 'ramp up' to its full potential usefulness in your body - so it all takes time. Once you've been on the current dose a couple of months if there's no change for the better, then your body is simply telling you that it needs more help - so back to the GP is the thing to do if you can't change your diet and exercise any further.

Nothing in diabetes happens that immediately when it's T2 which is far slower onset than T1 and BG resolves quite dramatically to begin with, but still takes ages to 'work through' to living comfortably with it but our need for insulin never stays static for that long anyway for the rest of our lives - there's always some little thing or another that throws it out and we gradually have to learn whether this time it's 'serious' or not.

We hopefully can all get there in the end but it's a very slow plod up the learning curve, for us all.

 

[CathyB]

Cathy, a dose of metformin takes up to 3 weeks to 'ramp up' to its full potential usefulness in your body - so it all takes time. Once you've been on the current dose a couple of months if there's no change for the better, then your body is simply telling you that it needs more help - so back to the GP is the thing to do if you can't change your diet and exercise any further.

Nothing in diabetes happens that immediately when it's T2 which is far slower onset than T1 and BG resolves quite dramatically to begin with, but still takes ages to 'work through' to living comfortably with it but our need for insulin never stays static for that long anyway for the rest of our lives - there's always some little thing or another that throws it out and we gradually have to learn whether this time it's 'serious' or not.

We hopefully can all get there in the end but it's a very slow plod up the learning curve, for us all.

Thank you, that is so encouraging. I know I am impatient and expect to see results immediately, I guess I am just going to have to accept that this is a life change, not a virus it has been life changing in the last 4 weeks but in a good way, my diet is so much healthier and I have started walking, already lost 7lbs so that’s pushing me on. I am a bit of a control freak so I need to manage this. I am so grateful to have found this forum, already learned so much from everyone else’s experience x

 

[John P Waddington]

'dropping your levels too fast can cause false hypo’s, these are not at all dangerous but are just as unpleasant as real ones also your eyes can go very blurry, both are temporary problems."

This is very interesting - Right now I feel like I'm having a hypo but my blood glucose is 8.

 

[Drummer]

Watch out for things which are no sugar, or no added sugar - they can still be high in starch, or in naturally sugary fruit. It can really catch you out - like things with green traffic light low sugar but still be high carb when you investigate the full facts.

 

[rebrascora]

I had a slimline Fever Tree tonic yesterday in a pub and it took me up 1.5 mmols. Haven't had chance to do a search yet to see what they have put in it to replace sugar, which still spiked me.
It really is quite amazing/shocking when you start to read labels and see what they put in manufactured food. When I was first diagnosed and started checking labels on things in my cupboards, I was horrified to find that the third highest ingredient in a tomato and vegetable cup a soup was sugar behind tomato powder and potato starch and the fourth ingredient was the croutons at 11%, so it contained more than 11% added sugar!!! Of course the potato starch will also spike BG levels so the last sachet is still sitting in the box at the back of my cupboard untouched.

 

[Robin]

I had a slimline Fever Tree tonic yesterday in a pub and it took me up 1.5 mmols. Haven't had chance to do a search yet to see what they have put in it to replace sugar, which still spiked me.
It really is quite amazing/shocking when you start to read labels and see what they put in manufactured food. When I was first diagnosed and started checking labels on things in my cupboards, I was horrified to find that the third highest ingredient in a tomato and vegetable cup a soup was sugar behind tomato powder and potato starch and the fourth ingredient was the croutons at 11%, so it contained more than 11% added sugar!!! Of course the potato starch will also spike BG levels so the last sachet is still sitting in the box at the back of my cupboard untouched.

Fever tree light annoys me! They put fructose in it, which definitely raises my blood sugars, It contains 3.8g of carb per 100ml.

 

[rebrascora]

Fever tree light annoys me! They put fructose in it, which definitely raises my blood sugars, It contains 3.8g of carb per 100ml.

Thanks.... that would explain it. I wouldn't care but I had a discussion with the bar staff as they poured the drink and I explained why it was important that it was slimline. It seems the very rare occasions that I go out to a pub, I have problems with drinks. Got a full fat coke instead of the diet I asked for last time, which is why I made an issue of ensuring the tonic was slimline lastnight. Arrgh!

 

[trophywench]

Fevertree really annoys me if I don't realise that's what it is, like when someone else gets me a drink and I don't see the bottle - grrrr. But a lot of pubs have changed to it, cos actually it is rather good tonic - better tasting than Schweppes. Just YET another thing we have to watch out for and Muggles don't.

@John P Waddington - the cure is the same as for a proper one BUT you MUST limit yourself as to how many grams of fast acting carb you use to treat this. No more than 10g. If you would use jelly babies for instance - just have 2 instead of 3 - or whatever it happens to be.