Spike

[Kol]

Anyone else find 'spike' a surprising word to use instead of 'a rise' or 'it rose' ?

Sometimes it almost reads alarmist and unexpected since who does has a flat line with food?

Must admit before joining this site, in all my yearly checks i don't remember this word being used.

Obviously accepted terminology though.

My first post instead of just commenting 🙂🙂

 

[harbottle]

I agree.
It's totally normal for blood sugar to 'spike' after a meal, even in non-diabetics.
One of my oldest friends is a GP and he says up to 11 is normal in a non-diabetic after a heavy meal.
It's the not coming down and going up into 'teens' and staying there that is the problem.

 

[Robin]

Anyone else find 'spike' a surprising word to use instead of 'a rise' or 'it rose' ?

Sometimes it almost reads alarmist and unexpected since who does has a flat line with food?

Must admit before joining this site, in all my yearly checks i don't remember this word being used.

Obviously accepted terminology though.

My first post instead of just commenting 🙂🙂

I think it does sound alarmist, when it’s used to describe a normal and expected rise and fall after eating, I’d only ever use the term 'spike' if I’d unexpectedly shot up into the teens, followed by an equally fast drop. But I suspect I’m in the minority these days.

 

[helli]

As an engineer, I find it an odd word to use, especially when it is used to mean a rise.
I picture a graph like the outline to a physical spike - it goes up to a sharp point and comes back down again.
In a diabetes context, it often seems to relate to a continued rise or a prolonged high.

As others have said, people without diabetes experience the "spiky" spikes whereas the continuous rises or prolonged highs are less common.

 

[trophywench]

Well some folk seem think their BG going up by 2 or 3 after eating is a spike and I just have to ignore the fact that my immediate reaction is, 'Don't be stupid!' - and then you and I are both going to sound like Crocodile Dundee, ie Call that a spike?! followed by a guffaw of laughter.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I'm not so surprised this is a relatively recent term. Spikes are essentially a visual consequence.

Before people had CGM I imagine they were aware of a rise, perhaps even a rapid rise and maybe later a fall but there was no visual clue. With Libre 2 only displaying in portrait (or at least only portrait while I had Libre 2), almost every movement ends up looking like a spike. With the Diabox app offering a landscape display, spikes softened into gentle or steady climbs and mine can look like a landscape scene! I strongly remember this inability to get autorotate from Libre 2 displays being one of several reasons why I felt Libre 2 and its phone app being "mediocre".

Decom G7 allows autorotate, but it's app is also not much better than mediocre for other reasons - and a different thread.

 

[Kol]

Must admit before joining this site,

Sorry just to clarify, first Diabetes forum i've joined, i meant and should have wrote in 'general and everywhere' apologies.