Testing results what do they mean

[lucy123]

I know I should know but......

I have just decided as i am off work to do a bit of testing to see how good my control is at the moment and am confused by my results already.

I have done half hour tests (its only a temp thing shall not be doing this all the while).

Fasting 6.6

Breakfast - small bowl of cheerios and coffee with s/sk milk
1/2 hr - 8.1
1 hr - 8.3
1 1/2 hr - 6.7
2 hrs - 3.6

What does this mean?

 

[Dizzydi]

I know I should know but......

I have just decided as i am off work to do a bit of testing to see how good my control is at the moment and am confused by my results already.

I have done half hour tests (its only a temp thing shall not be doing this all the while).

Fasting 6.6

Breakfast - small bowl of cheerios and coffee with s/sk milk
1/2 hr - 8.1
1 hr - 8.3
1 1/2 hr - 6.7
2 hrs - 3.6

What does this mean?

Wow Lucy these numbers are impressive - but I dont know why you have dropped to 3.6 at two hrs ?? That is very confusing. Hopefully someone else will be able to shed a little light x

 

[lucy123]

Wow Lucy these numbers are impressive - but I dont know why you have dropped to 3.6 at two hrs ?? That is very confusing. Hopefully someone else will be able to shed a little light x

Now at 3.4 and feeling whoozy. So annoyed as trying to be good and every time this happens aed upp eating sonething nauyghty. Any suggestioinhs?

 

[Dizzydi]

Now at 3.4 and feeling whoozy. So annoyed as trying to be good and every time this happens aed upp eating sonething nauyghty. Any suggestioinhs?

Have a glucose tablet and 1 slice of wholemeal or seeded toast - that is what I do if I drop below 4 but higher than 3.0.

Do you have a mid morning snack at all ? I usually eat an apple about 10.30 which sees me through to lunch time - Could that work for you ?

 

[Robster65]

Hi lucy.

I would imagine the cheerios are quite high GI (though I'm not entirely sure what they're like!).

Could it be the old insulin flood following a glucose spike ?

I know it doesn't suit everyone but I've been having wholegrain muesli with low fat nat yoghurt and some berries and it seems to give a relatively smooth response which might avoid the lows.

ROb

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Not really sure about T2 stuff, but from what I've seen on others' posts the rise between 0-1 hours could be little or no 'Phase 1' insulin (Cheerios would be very fast into the system for me). Between 1.5 and 2 hours it looks like your 'Phase 2' insulin has kicked in and brings your levels down.

Not sure what meds you are on? Maybe something or other contributed to the dip to 3.6 which continued to drop a little further. At 3.6 (with 10% meter inaccuracy) you *could have still been above 4, of course. Though you have started to feel it.

I have a dim recollection of something called 'reactive hypoglycaemia' where raised BGs led the body to kick out more insulin than was strictly necessary resulting in a hypo after a high, but your rise and fall in levels seem fairly modest so that may have nothing to do with it.

M

EDIT: Ha! Was writing at the same time Rob posted 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Hi lucy.

I would imagine the cheerios are quite high GI (though I'm not entirely sure what they're like!).

Could it be the old insulin flood following a glucose spike ?

I know it doesn't suit everyone but I've been having wholegrain muesli with low fat nat yoghurt and some berries and it seems to give a relatively smooth response which might avoid the lows.

ROb

I've been wondering about that for me too. More often than not after my breakfast of porage, nutmeg, honey & banana I'm low 4's 2hrs after. At some point I'm going to test after a breakfast without the honey and banana ... just plain porage. I'll let you know the results.

Andy 🙂

 

[cherrypie]

As the Cheerios are high G.I.(74) and are quite carby, 28.5g of carbs for 30g with skimmed milk of which sugars are 12.2, I would say that your breakfast resulted in a spike and then crashed. There is nothing there to balance the meal IMHO. Where is the protein, good fats etc?
If you had eaten meusli with nuts and seeds and some fresh fruit or something similar then that would not have caused such a spike followed by a low as it would have been a gradual rise. Egg on toast with some mushrooms is another good start to the day for some.
It is all trial and error and can be a pain in the proverbial when you try different things and the above is IMHO.

 

[Northerner]

The results are fine Lucy, although it does look like your 'special' pancreas has kicked in a little bit over-zealously and pumped a little too much insulin out in response to the breakfast - you probably only need 5-10g of something to raise that again, a little orange juice or milk, perhaps? From what I have heard others say, Cheerios are not usually as troublesome as you might expect from what others say, and your readings demonstrate only a very small increase along 'non-diabetic' lines, I would say. 🙂 A spike for me would be more than a 3 mmol/l rise and yours is under 2.

 

[lucy123]

The results are fine Lucy, although it does look like your 'special' pancreas has kicked in a little bit over-zealously and pumped a little too much insulin out in response to the breakfast - you probably only need 5-10g of something to raise that again, a little orange juice or milk, perhaps? From what I have heard others say, Cheerios are not usually as troublesome as you might expect from what others say, and your readings demonstrate only a very small increase along 'non-diabetic' lines, I would say. 🙂 A spike for me would be more than a 3 mmol/l rise and yours is under 2.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am fine with the increases as they are not too high at all, but am baffled again why the low reading 2 hrs afterwards.

Di - I do have a snack but at 2.5 -3 hrs after each meal. This was only 2 hrs - maybe more testing will tell me I need my snack earlier but it does ouch a bit as I am trying to lose weight.

I think the old flood is at work here and these are what i am trying so hard to prevent as generally a flood often goes hand in hand with a whopping weight gain in a short period of time - and I am talking whopping such as 7 -10lbs in a day!! This is what the consultant is trying to understand and sort!

I do think with all my healthy eating and exercise, getting the floods sorted would mean a much better weight loss. At the moment is all yoyo!

But then again why would a small rise cause a flood?

Questions, questions.

Could it be that I think I am eating healthy as I am eating what the world sees as healthy whereas maybe its not actually healthy for me? Would testing help me understand this?

One final question can high bs and then drops to low, cause weight gain?

I am determined to do as much as I can to help the consultant solve this!!🙂

I am getting so fed up though with doing really well with the weight loss and losing 2-3 lbs in a week, for three times that to go on in one day - and then have to start the battle all over again - and now feeling I am not really getting anywhere!

I do need to sort it as I am so close to giving up, becoming a couch potato and saying good bye to the exercise too.

 

[Andy HB]

I'd question whether the large daily weight gain has anything to do with fat. The number I often see getting bandied about is that 1lb fat equates to 3,500 calories. So an increase of 7-10lbs would equate to (consults calculator!) 24,500-35,000 calories. It just doesn't stack up. So any weight gain of this magnitude may/should come off again just as rapidly (I guess).

Some sort of fluid gain perhaps? (I am ignoring the weight of any food ingested of course).

Anyway, keep at it Lucy. Hopefully, the medical guys can come up with some answers for you in the meantime.

Andy 🙂

p.s. Sorry I don't have any answers to your questions by the way.

 

[lucy123]

I'd question whether the large daily weight gain has anything to do with fat. The number I often see getting bandied about is that 1lb fat equates to 3,500 calories. So an increase of 7-10lbs would equate to (consults calculator!) 24,500-35,000 calories. It just doesn't stack up. So any weight gain of this magnitude may/should come off again just as rapidly (I guess).

Some sort of fluid gain perhaps? (I am ignoring the weight of any food ingested of course).

Anyway, keep at it Lucy. Hopefully, the medical guys can come up with some answers for you in the meantime.

Andy 🙂

p.s. Sorry I don't have any answers to your questions by the way.

Eerm - you could be on to something there.
I have a little confession to make that could be part of this issue. I have been put on Frusemide a while back - 2 tablets each morning.

Now when I take these I absolutely pee for England - literally go loads every few minutes. I can only take them when I get to work and don't have a meeting in the morning - or if I am at home and not planning to go out.
So these are not always convenient so some days I do miss taking them - naughty I know. I also often question why I am taking them and guess I sometimes think I don't really need them. Naughty I know but do you think this could be a part of the link of what is wrong too?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Could it be that I think I am eating healthy as I am eating what the world sees as healthy whereas maybe its not actually healthy for me? Would testing help me understand this?

I would say YES absolutely! to that. D is so darned personal and baffling some times that there is no way of working out what works for YOU but lots of record keeping and pattern spotting - and then not expecting it to stay like that either!

 

[Northerner]

Eerm - you could be on to something there.
I have a little confession to make that could be part of this issue. I have been put on Frusemide a while back - 2 tablets each morning.

Now when I take these I absolutely pee for England - literally go loads every few minutes. I can only take them when I get to work and don't have a meeting in the morning - or if I am at home and not planning to go out.
So these are not always convenient so some days I do miss taking them - naughty I know. I also often question why I am taking them and guess I sometimes think I don't really need them. Naughty I know but do you think this could be a part of the link of what is wrong too?

I would certainly think so Lucy. As Andy says, the weight gain can't be due to calories converting to fat - you simply couldn't consume that many calories even if you were Steve Redgrave in his prime! So, it does seem likely that you have a fluid retention problem and hopefully this can be addressed in some way that doesn't tie you to a bathroom 😉

 

[lucy123]

I would certainly think so Lucy. As Andy says, the weight gain can't be due to calories converting to fat - you simply couldn't consume that many calories even if you were Steve Redgrave in his prime! So, it does seem likely that you have a fluid retention problem and hopefully this can be addressed in some way that doesn't tie you to a bathroom 😉

Okay - I will make a conscientious effort to take the tablets each day this week (not always easy -eg have a 4 hr tennis match tomorrow morning😱 but will perhaps take them once back home). I will see if this helps both the weight and the bs levels.

 

[Northerner]

Okay - I will make a conscientious effort to take the tablets each day this week (not always easy -eg have a 4 hr tennis match tomorrow morning😱 but will perhaps take them once back home). I will see if this helps both the weight and the bs levels.

Hope it does the trick 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

And perhaps if you take them regularly, the excessive peeing will reduce over time because the water retention hasn't had time to build up again?

Well, it seems possible to me even if I don't know what I'm talking about!

Andy 🙂

 

[lucy123]

And perhaps if you take them regularly, the excessive peeing will reduce over time because the water retention hasn't had time to build up again?

Well, it seems possible to me even if I don't know what I'm talking about!

Andy 🙂

That could be true - if I am honest I don't think I have managed a full week on them. I wonder if I reduce to 1 to start with?

 

[Robster65]

Hi Lucy

All makes sense. I would imagine your body adjusts to the tablets when you take them and, when you skip them, grabs every drop of water it can to make up for the previous loss.

It's a common problem with anyone concerned with weight (gaining or losing). Daily fluctuations are usually fluid, which is why they suggest weighing once a week. It gives a clearer trend.

As for the cheerios, I would still suggest that you need to find something that's lower GI and, as Cherrypie suggested, maybe add in some protein and/or fat to slow down the spike. That way you sholdn't drop afterwards because your pancreas is able to cope with the more gradual rise in glucose. And your stomach won't empty so quickly, so you won't get so hungry.
Obviously it works on paper but hopefully will translate to the real world too!

Rob

 

[lucy123]

Hi Lucy

All makes sense. I would imagine your body adjusts to the tablets when you take them and, when you skip them, grabs every drop of water it can to make up for the previous loss.

It's a common problem with anyone concerned with weight (gaining or losing). Daily fluctuations are usually fluid, which is why they suggest weighing once a week. It gives a clearer trend.

As for the cheerios, I would still suggest that you need to find something that's lower GI and, as Cherrypie suggested, maybe add in some protein and/or fat to slow down the spike. That way you sholdn't drop afterwards because your pancreas is able to cope with the more gradual rise in glucose. And your stomach won't empty so quickly, so you won't get so hungry.
Obviously it works on paper but hopefully will translate to the real world too!

Rob

Thanks Robster - I have taken on board the points you and Cherriy Pie and everyone else have mentioned and willl try different things this week to see how I go.🙂