Unable to control my glucose.

[dvaidr]

For the past week I have been unable to keep my glucose low. It was between 5-8 using diet, Gliclizide and Metformin. As an example, I haven't had anything sweet or containing high carbs all weekend and yet this evening my mmol/l reading is 18.4. Yesterday evening it was 19.3.

What's going on here!?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Can you give us an idea of when you were diagnosed with diabetes, how the diagnosis came about and what if any symptoms you had and what your HbA1c was at diagnosis?

Do you feel like you might be coming down with an infection or have you been given steroids to take recently?

Are you noticeably overweight or are you a medium or slim built diabetic?

Can you give us an idea of what you ate yesterday. Many people have misconceptions about what foods are high carb and can assume that if they are considered healthy foods they are not carb rich.... ie many people mistakenly eat more fruit when they cut out sweet stuff, when fruit in all it's forms (fresh, dried and juiced) is high in natural sugars which are of course carbohydrates.... I made that mistake myself when I was first diagnosed. Similarly, many people assume porridge is good for breakfast, when it is just as high carb as most other breakfast cereals.

It is also possible that you are not Type 2 diabetic, but actually Type 1 or a variation of that and your pancreas is spluttering to a halt with insulin production, which is a very serious situation and if you start to feel really unwell and your breath smells of pear drops or you get bad abdominal pain or trouble breathing, you need to get to A&E pronto as you may be going into Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Do you have any means of testing your blood or urine for ketones?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @dvaidr

Sorry that you've seen a sudden change in your general BG levels. Hope you aren't finding those elevated BGs make you feel too grim and tired.

This could be caused by a number of different things (eg stress, illness, or beginning to take a medication like steroids), but the fact that the change has been quite sudden may mean it warrants speaking to your GP.

How long have you been diagnosed?

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @dvaidr
Sorry to hear that your struggling with your levels at present.

As the change in your management has been so rapid it would be well worth talking to your GP,
Especially if you cannot identify any other changes that could account for this.

I know that if I become ill my levels shoot up, sometimes the day before I even notice the symptoms.
I am not sure whether that happens with T2 as well but someone will come along with more knowledge (@Toucan can you help ?)

Keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

 

[dvaidr]

Hi and welcome

Can you give us an idea of when you were diagnosed with diabetes, how the diagnosis came about and what if any symptoms you had and what your HbA1c was at diagnosis?

Do you feel like you might be coming down with an infection or have you been given steroids to take recently?

Are you noticeably overweight or are you a medium or slim built diabetic?

Can you give us an idea of what you ate yesterday. Many people have misconceptions about what foods are high carb and can assume that if they are considered healthy foods they are not carb rich.... ie many people mistakenly eat more fruit when they cut out sweet stuff, when fruit in all it's forms (fresh, dried and juiced) is high in natural sugars which are of course carbohydrates.... I made that mistake myself when I was first diagnosed. Similarly, many people assume porridge is good for breakfast, when it is just as high carb as most other breakfast cereals.

It is also possible that you are not Type 2 diabetic, but actually Type 1 or a variation of that and your pancreas is spluttering to a halt with insulin production, which is a very serious situation and if you start to feel really unwell and your breath smells of pear drops or you get bad abdominal pain or trouble breathing, you need to get to A&E pronto as you may be going into Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Do you have any means of testing your blood or urine for ketones?

Thanks for your reply. Normally, I'm at between 6-9 mmol/l, but this weekend I've been up at 19! I do have chronic pain syndrome and take Naproxen when it gets bad, but I've laid off these. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with inflammation as a result of pain.

My wife is well versed in the diet for diabetes and controls what I eat, strictly.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Definitely worth a chat with the GP. Pain can cause stress responses in your body even if inflammation isn’t present so it may be part of why your numbers have gone up. Looking at ways to keep your pain levels down are good. It may be as simple as taking a lower dose of an NSAID or some paracetamol regularly but your GP should be able to talk through that with you. I’m a big believer with chronic pain that regular meds at the lowest level that helps is better for my body than taking few meds but then needing more IYSWIM (but I take many pain meds every day so that’s just my experience).

 

[Toucan]

I know that if I become ill my levels shoot up, sometimes the day before I even notice the symptoms.
I am not sure whether that happens with T2 as well but someone will come along with more knowledge (@Toucan can you help ?)

Yes levels going up can be a sign of an impending illness in T2's. I have experienced this with the beginnings of a cold sometimes. However, it only usually causes a change of a few points.
I think the advice from others to check with a doctor is a good way forward.

 

[rebrascora]

"My wife is well versed in the diet for diabetes and controls what I eat, strictly"

Unfortunately there are many NHS dieticians who believe they are also well versed in the diet for diabetes (some of them diabetes specialists), but sadly they are well out of date. This is no criticism of your wife who may well be following NHS guidance, but unfortunately many of us have found that NHS dietary advice is not always helpful.

If you can give us an idea of what you normally eat and drink in an average day, we might see if there is anything there which could be a problem and would be worth testing before and 2 hours after to see how you respond to it, but I also think there is a good possibility that you may be a late onset Type 1 or LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) with that rather large and sudden increase. I appreciate that you have not changed your diet but with diabetes sometimes you get to stages where things change within your body and you have to change to accommodate it, whether that be dietary changes, increasing activity levels, losing weight or changing medication.