What is spiking?

[michael4479]

Good morning I know this may sound stupid but keep hearing about peoples blood sugar spiking with different foods, but what does spiking feel like, I understand everyone is different so it will be difficult to tell, but as I am new to my type 2 I don’t think I have ever felt different after eating foods apart from full.
I thank you in advance for your help, it certainly a new learning experience having diabetes.
michael

 

[Inka]

It just means your blood sugar going up high after a meal @michael4479 It’s to represent the spike on a CGM graph. It doesn’t feel like anything unless your blood sugar goes very high. Then you would get the symptoms of high blood sugar.

 

[michael4479]

Thank you, I just thought somehow it made you feel unwell, so as my diabetic nurse only does my bloods once a year how am I supposed to know if I am spiking.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you, I just thought somehow it made you feel unwell, so as my diabetic nurse only does my bloods once a year how am I supposed to know if I am spiking.

Many people find having a home testing blood glucose monitor which they can use to test progress at reducing blood glucose by testing before and 2 hours after meals so they can identify foods and meals which will push blood glucose over the suggested no more than 8-8.5mmol/l after food. By keeping post meal level below that will be more likely to lead to your HbA1C being in normal range together with keeping before meal and fasting level in the range 4-7mmol/l.
The monitor also enables you to test if you feel unwell to see if it is because your blood glucose is too high. Symptoms will often be being thirsty, needing frequent loo visits, UTIs, being dizzy. The monitor gives you control of managing your diabetes rather that annual HbA1Cs where things can have gone arwy without your knowledge meantime.

 

[michael4479]

Thanks

 

[helli]

Maybe not what @michael4479 meant by the question but I have noticed a couple of slightly different definitions of "spiking".
As an engineer, I think of it very mathematically. A spike to me is my BG going up and down in a shortish time. So the graph will look like the kind of spike you use to hold the guy lines of a tent in place (albeit the other way around).
I have noticed others consider a spike as a rise and do not consider the fall. So this could be a continuous rise or a rise and then stabilise .. usually in response to a specific type of meal or could be exercise or stress. In this case the graph would look like a going up a hill and maybe reaching a long ridge ... but not returning back to sea level.

 

[Inka]

Thank you, I just thought somehow it made you feel unwell, so as my diabetic nurse only does my bloods once a year how am I supposed to know if I am spiking.

You buy your own blood glucose meter so that you can test at home 🙂 That will not only show you any spikes, it will probably improve your diabetes control and HbA1C too.

 

[harbottle]

Thank you, I just thought somehow it made you feel unwell, so as my diabetic nurse only does my bloods once a year how am I supposed to know if I am spiking.

'Spikes' are totally natural (i.e. it goes up and comes down, usually within 3 hours in someone without diabetes, to normal levels.) and I don't feel anything when it goes up to, say, 8 after eating a lot of carbs.

The problem for people with T2 diabetes is that it might go up and stay high for hours as the body is struggling to remove the glucose.

If it's high for a long period of time you might get some of the classic symptoms: thirst, peeing a lot, eyesight issues, pains due to nerve damage, etc. If it goes over a certain value (>12) the kidneys remove excess glucose and you pee it out.

 

[kathy s]

I bought my own monitor, was told i didn't need too but how else do you know what foods affect your blood sugar levels. Some of the wholewheat changes they suggested still spike me so stopped eating them, without my own monitor I would have still been eating things which aren't good for me!