My (rubbish) T2 Diagnosis

[rebrascora]

Did you double check the 2.0mmols yesterday as that seems extremely unlikely and if you were that low you would feel really rough, like you are about to die rough. I am quite used to hypos because I average about 1 a day but if I was down to 2mmols I would be close to losing consciousness and my heart would be trying to hammer it's way out of my chest and I would be sweating profusely and I would not be able to think straight and feel like I was dying. At 3.5mmols I can feel it but it isn't desperately debilitating and I can eat a jelly baby or 2 and continue what I was doing, but down to 2mmols and you would absolutely know about it and be terrified of it ever happening again, so I suspect your meter is duff or it was a rogue test strip or you didn't get enough blood on the test strip. You should always get another test strip and recheck straight away if you get a reading which doesn't seem correct and I am pretty certain that that 2.0mmols was not correct from what you describe.
Which meter are you using?

 

[saz9961]

2.5 hours after dinner, and I had a cup of tea with sugar, yorkie bar and 3 Opal fruits. 3.9mmol/l. Something wrong with this reader, GlucoRx Q. This is supposed to be the most common device used by the NHS, so they claim.

Edit: Passed calibration test fine. Que?

Edit, figured it out. Fine. Impact of interstitial fluid. Hmm.

 

[rebrascora]

Are you using a sensor which you scan with a reader/phone or a finger prick BG meter and test strips. There are a few quirks and limitations of the CGM sensors that you really need to be aware of in order to get useful info from them and having sugar and sweets when you don't need to is detrimental to your diabetes management rather than beneficial so important to know when to double check with a finger prick before taking action.

The Freestyle Libre system is the most common CGM used within the NHS, but I did get a GlucoRx BG meter from the NHS when I was first diagnosed and then this was changed to a CareSens when I was found to be Type 1. I doubt the GlucoRx BG meter is currently the most common device in use in the NHS and I don't think their sensor system is offered anymore.

 

[saz9961]

Somewhat disappointed in myself this morning with my morning blood sugar





Since diagnosis in October, I've been existing mostly on a meal replacement plan, shakes and MREs I suppose, about 1000kCal. I have lost about 12kg, now at 93kg, so right direction, but it seems to have stalled. But that's not unexpected. My initial goal had been 90kg, then review.

I've been experimenting with my diet, as best I can, in the context of not having not having a CGM, only a traditional meter. For a number of weeks, my routine has been a measure first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. I had a couple of small spikes, but on the first occasion, I had a bit of a cold, which was ok, since the liver will be releasing more glucose due to the inflammatory response. And later, I had some sort of intestinal complaint (maybe effect of Metformin) which was associated with a similar non-diet related response.


I love Thai food, and my wife is Thai, and my intent is to relocate my job to Thailand in the next couple of years (I have the kind of job that can be done anywhere, and already have agreement in principle). But this won't work if Thai food ends up killing me. My wife came to the UK a few months back, and left me with a suitcase of Thai ingredients

A few weeks ago, I experimented with Pad Kha Pro Moo, a simple stir fry dish with pork, and used a little precooked frozen rice, and lots of veg. I over tested before and after, and was impressed that my blood sugars didn't shift (I'm now on 2g Metformin a day, spaced between morning and evening, at the time, 1.5g).



So I next tried Laab, which is a similar pork dish (using mint not basil), this time using a Thai/Laotian commercial mix, which was just some ground powders (difficult to know what goes into these, as the packaging is all in Thai).



Same result, all seemed well controlled. Kippers in butter, with some new potatoes also produced a similar result. A vegan curry potato pasty, also all ok. Adding extra veg to the MREs also didn't affect the numbers at the time I made measurements.

But last night I made Pad Kha Prow, but now using a Thai mix (usually, I do it myself with an Oyster sauce base, which will have some sugar, likely beet-based), with the same batch of frozen pre-cooked rice.



The Thai mix was a sauce, which I think was loaded with palm sugar. Then I had a piece of frozen whole meal bread, toasted. My night time reading wasn't the usual low 5's, but was 7.5! A retest brought it down to 6.3, which to myself, I accounted on the basis of perhaps some soap residue after washing my hands. I thought, its ok, this is still an ok value 2-3 hours after a meal. This morning though, 6.7 and 6.8, so no doubt. So very disappointed in myself, and my cockiness. Blood pressure though is rock steady though at 116/69.

 

[Leadinglights]

Somewhat disappointed in myself this morning with my morning blood sugar

View attachment 33087

View attachment 33088

Since diagnosis in October, I've been existing mostly on a meal replacement plan, shakes and MREs I suppose, about 1000kCal. I have lost about 12kg, now at 93kg, so right direction, but it seems to have stalled. But that's not unexpected. My initial goal had been 90kg, then review.

I've been experimenting with my diet, as best I can, in the context of not having not having a CGM, only a traditional meter. For a number of weeks, my routine has been a measure first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. I had a couple of small spikes, but on the first occasion, I had a bit of a cold, which was ok, since the liver will be releasing more glucose due to the inflammatory response. And later, I had some sort of intestinal complaint (maybe effect of Metformin) which was associated with a similar non-diet related response.


I love Thai food, and my wife is Thai, and my intent is to relocate my job to Thailand in the next couple of years (I have the kind of job that can be done anywhere, and already have agreement in principle). But this won't work if Thai food ends up killing me. My wife came to the UK a few months back, and left me with a suitcase of Thai ingredients

A few weeks ago, I experimented with Pad Kha Pro Moo, a simple stir fry dish with pork, and used a little precooked frozen rice, and lots of veg. I over tested before and after, and was impressed that my blood sugars didn't shift (I'm now on 2g Metformin a day, spaced between morning and evening, at the time, 1.5g).

View attachment 33092

So I next tried Laab, which is a similar pork dish (using mint not basil), this time using a Thai/Laotian commercial mix, which was just some ground powders (difficult to know what goes into these, as the packaging is all in Thai).

View attachment 33091

Same result, all seemed well controlled. Kippers in butter, with some new potatoes also produced a similar result. A vegan curry potato pasty, also all ok. Adding extra veg to the MREs also didn't affect the numbers at the time I made measurements.

But last night I made Pad Kha Prow, but now using a Thai mix (usually, I do it myself with an Oyster sauce base, which will have some sugar, likely beet-based), with the same batch of frozen pre-cooked rice.

View attachment 33089

The Thai mix was a sauce, which I think was loaded with palm sugar. Then I had a piece of frozen whole meal bread, toasted. My night time reading wasn't the usual low 5's, but was 7.5! A retest brought it down to 6.3, which to myself, I accounted on the basis of perhaps some soap residue after washing my hands. I thought, its ok, this is still an ok value 2-3 hours after a meal. This morning though, 6.7 and 6.8, so no doubt. So very disappointed in myself, and my cockiness. Blood pressure though is rock steady though at 116/69.

Those all seem numbers that you would expect remembering you are doing limited testing and morning reading can be the last to come down.
To my eyes your rice portion seems quite large compared to the other parts of the meal so you could trim a bit off that and have some extra veg or salad.

 

[Docb]

@saz9961 - I assume that you are reacting to the recent readings above your trend line. No need for disappointment - I've got five years worth of waking readings and it is quite common for me to have a day or two or three with readings higher than expected but they then come back down again. Don't know why it happens but it does. Does not obviously relate to anything and i treat it as one of them things.

If after a week they are still higher than expected, then maybe think a bit more is my thought.

Are your results during the day higher than you might expect?

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

There is no known way a meal from yesterday can affect your BG the following morning unless it was so massively carb-heavy and your insulin response so impaired that your BG levels did not come down overnight. Your graphs suggest that is unlikely. Reasons I have identified to date for a morning BG reading to be high include - illness, pain, failing to get a good nights sleep, a hangover, being uncomfortably warm in bed before getting out of it, being hurried or stressed getting out of bed, the house being so cold that I was shivering getting out of bed, and being annoyed about something before testing. Cortisol and adrenaline - all of the above are triggers for one or the other.

 

[Eddy Edson]

There is no known way a meal from yesterday can affect your BG the following morning unless it was so massively carb-heavy and your insulin response so impaired that your BG levels did not come down overnight. Your graphs suggest that is unlikely. Reasons I have identified to date for a morning BG reading to be high include - illness, pain, failing to get a good nights sleep, a hangover, being uncomfortably warm in bed before getting out of it, being hurried or stressed getting out of bed, the house being so cold that I was shivering getting out of bed, and being annoyed about something before testing. Cortisol and adrenaline - all of the above are triggers for one or the other.

I would add: something to do with a food allergy or sensitivity type of thing. Eg: I get elevated BG together with a jangly kind of inflamed feeling sometimes, which has nothing to do with the Demon Carb. I narrowed down the culprit (to a reasonable degree of certainty) to almonds from a specific local supplier. Maybe due to somne chemical involved in their cultivation, maybe the type of almonds, maybe something else.

But anyway, as you say, IMO something causing inflammation, like food sensitivities, illness or stress, is much more likely to be the cause for higher than usual morning readings, than whatever you had for dinner.