Sugars drop considerably with large starchy meals

[jenjen555]

Told i was pre-diabetic based on fasting BS of around 125.  Started monitoring and sugars rarely go below 100.  Even on days when I work through lunch and forget to eat, I notice my sugar drops very very slowly.  Like between 8:30-4:30 one day, i forgot to do lunch.  BS started around 110 after breakfast cereal and was still 90 8hrs later.  So 90 after about 20hrs without food except that bowl of cereal and milk at 8:30.  (I've always been able to go long periods without food, so do that out of habit, without thinking about it much - just make the calories up later in the day I guess!).   I hardly ever feel like I crash, but also have never had that sugar rush that people describe.   Perhaps my body has always done a consistent 90-120?

So after monitoring my first week with all the crazy lunch skipping, and BS never below 90 and normally around 110, then I had a pancake breakfast on Saturday.   Expected BS to go through the roof, but 1hr after eating it was a 85,   the lowest I saw it all week.

The next Mon/Tue I was at a conference where they served big 3 course meals at dinner, plus all the bread at lunch and muffins in the morning - and those nights my BS was at 98 before bed instead of 110-120.  

SOooo.  i wonder if I just have been running my metabolism in starvation mode for years, maybe it's just really slow and doesn't like to break down the sugars unless it sees a glut of sugar.   In which case, is that really pre-diabetes?  clearly my body can process Glucose if it thinks it has to.

Makes me think all my efforts to cut out fast carbs and sugars (though a good thing) is not the answer - perhaps I need to speed up metabolism to get more insulin response??

would that bring down my general BS level?  One reason I'm concerned is there is type2 diabetes in all my dad's family (not necessarily with excess weight), and at 45 I just was diagnosed with early signs of cateracts - which can be blood sugar related, and I'm noticing deterioration in the circulation in my feet, and thinning hair.

I'd appreciate input from all of you out there who have been watching and understanding blood sugar for a while!
Thanks in advance.

[Zoelula]

Government and ADA websites are virtually worthless when it comes to diabetes. Bagels are one of the worse things for us, and "low sugar jam"??? I encourage you to eat various foods and then test two hours after the meal to see if you are below 140 at that time. This will give you information about various foods and how they affect you. I also ate pretty healthy before diagnosis, only not healthy for a diabetic. For some of us, whole grains are much better than white; for others so far as blood sugar is concerned, a carb is a carb is a carb. Ditto on fruit, as healthy as it is, we just can't eat too much of it.

As for your morning fasting, I don't know a lot about DP because as a Type 1 I don't experience it, my fasting numbers have always been ok even when my pp's were through the roof. If you send me a private message I'll send you a couple websites with much more traffic of diabetics of both types who can give you input on DP. (Chinese take-out btw is notoriously bad because of hidden sugars and other carbs. I love Asian food of all kinds as well as Mexican food....I make my own or else have learned a couple things I can safely order (things without sauce in Asian restaurants...chili rellano in Mexican) I'm a vegetarian though and that does make it harder. A good diabtic breakfast is generally eggs rather than cereals or fruits.

[jenjen555]

I've only got a week of data, and not a very systematic week!!  but here's my best answer.  Morning sugars varied between 125 at the highest and 90 at the lowest.   I just averaged morning numbers out - 108 for the week. (not so bad I guess?!). I'm not consistent with bedtime/waketime/mealtime, so that might account for the range.

The highest reading I had all week was 153 - which was 1.5hrs after I ate, after that long unplanned and unwise fast - and stupidly it was a white bread sub! (after about 2.5hrs it was down to 114, then to 93 by bed time).

Except for that one spike up to 153, and that wierd dip down to 85 after pancakes, most of the time 1-2.5hrs after food it was 100-117.

I'm starting to get it that deferrred eating is not a good idea - but since I don't feel bad, its been easy to just keep working and compensate after work!  

(...I'm trying to figure out lunch - I drive from client to client, the car gets hot in summer so its hard to keep fresh food in there, and I'm just not very organized with coolers etc!  I used to manage it by keeping a stock of quick sugary snacks cookies/bars in the car, but I've cut those out  ...but I'll leave lunch for another question!).

Doctor hasn't done any other tests. Fasting test is clearly not giving much info.  Perhaps rather than spend money on tests, I should just keep testing myself?  In which case I'm still not clear what to watch out for.  Like I said, perhaps this has been normal all my life?  and even if it has, is there a way I can bring that average down just to be healthier in general?  

I really don't eat much fast carbs or fast sugars.  Mostly whole grains, fruit/veg... ok and some chinese take outs!  Saw in some gvt website that a good diabetic breakfast might be a bagel with low sugar jam.  A bagel? jam?? I wouldn't dream of a big white hunk of starch like that as a healthy breakfast!!  So there's not a whole lot of junk food to cut out of my diet.

Anyway thanks for your information and thoughts!

[Zoelula]

Hi

I'm a bit puzzled by the numbers you describe. You report your pre-diabetes diagnosis was based on a fasting blood sugar of 125, which would be correct and very close to the boundary of actual diabets which is 126. But then you say your numbers "never go below 100". Ok, but how HIGH do they go? Is that fastig number typical for you? Your responses to carbs does not sound diabetic. On the other hand, diabetics start out with different patterns. If you regularly have high fasting numbers that might be where your most difficulty is with blood sugar (it is called Dawn Phenomonon.). Has your doctor done other tests besides the fasting? An A1C would show your average blood sugars over a period of a couple month. An OGTT would show your reaction to a sugary drink over a period of two hours. Those tests might give you a better idea of what is happening with your blood sugar. Even though you don't seem to be having immediate negative reactions, if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic going for long periods of time without eating is making your body work way too hard.