Rice and Porridge on course

[Alan S]

Ah I see - well thank you for explaining.

The thing is I am not on any diabetes meds but have had awful hypos. I go in hospital for a week next week to get to the bottom of it.

What are the numbers and circumstances of those hypos? While you try to remember, please read this: Grazing

That may not be the solution to your problems, but it may be worth investigating. Have you ever done some intensive post-meal testing (say, every 20-30 minutes) to see how high you go, how soon you peak and whether you are dropping reactively some hours later?

 

[Alan S]

Lucy has been suffering irregular hypos not caused by meds and is going to have a 72 hour fasting test done to check for a possible Insulinoma.

Thanks - saw this after my post.

PS I'd still be interested in the results of some intensive post-meal testing.

 

[lucy123]

Hi Alan

I have just read your article and have tried this and have also done thorough testing. The main problem seems to be tied in to the days when I exercise, although not always. The consultant I am now under seems very good and has offered an explanatiion for the cause but I would rather wait until after my appointment before saying - as it could turn out to be somethng totally different. The consultant is confident I will be diagnosed correctly next week though. thank you for your post though - very interesting reads.

 

[Lairyfairy]

.... If the result is a spike, reduce the portion size next time. If that still leads to a spike, keep reducing the portion size in subsequent experiments until it's a bump, not a spike.

Silly question, but how many points above would you call a "spike" and a "bump" ?

 

[Jill]

I was wondering about that too.

 

[macast]

Silly question, but how many points above would you call a "spike" and a "bump" ?

I was wondering about that too.

as I am also newly diagnosed I wondered about this too

 

[Northerner]

Hi - just a quick question:
On my diabetes course this week we were told to eat 50 dried weight of porridge in the morning and 100g of dried rice or pasta.
On cooking this it seems a large portion, especially for someone trying to lose weight - do you think they have made a mistake?

100g dry weight of rice is a heckuva lot of rice! I just poured out mine tonight to cover the bottom of the pan as I usually do and then decided to weigh it in light of your question - it was 60g, and I always have quite a large portion so I would probably have trouble eating 100g! Are you sure they didn't mean when cooking for two? 😱

Also, for me I consider a spike to be 4 or 5 mmol/l above my pre-meal reading, so if I started at 6.0 and rose to 10.0 or 11.0 I'd call that a spike. Ideally you should only rise 2-3 mmol/l at any point after eating, but it can be ludicrously difficult to achieve that, considering all the factors involved and particularly in my case the timing and size of the insulin dose. With a working pancreas, even if it is a weak response, it should be slightly easier to achieve once the 'right' kinds of food for you have been discovered. 🙂

 

[cazscot]

I agree with others 100g of dried rice is a heck of a lot. Not even at my heaviest weight could I have got through that amount with my dinner! xx

 

[Alan S]

I was wondering about that too.

OK folks 🙂

I can quantify it in two ways; official and personal. I go into detail on the official targets here:

Blood Glucose Targets

Note that these are American authorities, I'm not certain of your NHS/NICE guiddelines.

mg/dl:
...................pre-meal......2hr PP.....A1c
ADA ...........90-130....... <180.... ...<7%
Joslin..........90-130.......<160.......<7%
AACE..........<110...........<140......<6.5%

Or, in mmol/L, rounded
...................pre-meal......2hr PP.....A1c
ADA ...........5.0-7.0.......<10.0......<7%
Joslin..........5.0-7.0.......<9.0.......<7%
AACE.............<6...........<8.0......<6.5%

I don't think those have changed since I wrote that, but I'm happy to amend the numbers if someone has later figures.

Personally, I initially followed different guidelines based on Jennifer's Test, test, test:

Fasting............................Under 110
One hour after meals.......under 140
Two hours after meals.....under 120

or for those in the mmol parts of the world:

Fasting............................Under 6
One hour after meals......Under 8
Two hours after meals....Under 6.5

After I achieved those I re-set my own personal targets as follows:

Fasting............................Under 100
One hour after meals.......under 120
Two hours after meals.....under 100

or for those in the mmol parts of the world:
Fasting...........................Under 5.5
One hour after meals......Under 6.5
Two hours after meals....Under 5.5

I won't pretend I always achieve those; in fact my DP seems to be getting a little worse lately so my fasting right now is generally over 6 but I achieve the others most of the time.

What you choose to aim for is totally up to you and your medical advisors.

 

[donnarob]

Hello,

What do you mean by a bump or a spike? I was 7.1 this morning fasting and had a bowl of Greek natural thick yoghurt, and a handful of mixed berries (strawberries, rasps, blueberries) I thought I spiked at 9.1 (this one hour after eating breakfast) However my levels 2 hrs after breakfast were 6.9.

Was this a bump?
Donna 🙂