Blood Sugar Fluctuations Within Minutes

Questions And Answers - Blood Sugar

Use the chart below to help understand how different test results can indicate pre-diabetes or diabetes Fasting Blood Glucose Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) Random Blood Sugar (taken any time of day with or without fasting) A1C Ideal Result Less than 100mg/dl Less than 140 mg/dl Less than 140 (even after eating a large meal) Less than 5.7% Pre-diabetes 100-125mg/dl 140-199mg/dl 140-200 5.7% to 6.4% Diabetes 126mg/dl and greater 200 mg/dl and greater 200 or greater 6.5% or more Q: I have been told that I have diabetes, or "pre-diabetes", or that I am in the "honeymoon period" . My readings are all over the place: sometimes in the 120's, others in the 90's, sometimes, but rarely in the 150-170's. My doctor does not want to put me on medication yet. I exercise regularly and am not overweight though my diet is variable. I certainly like sweets, pizza, and pasta. What is the long term effect of these continued high blood sugar levels? A: Firstly, kudos for your physician for giving diet/lifestyle changes a chance to work. Reduction of body fat often is the first best start. This may or may not be true in your case but certainly sweets, pizza, etc. are affecting your numbers. If you can discipline yourself at this time to eat unrefined foods and be more active, your beta cells that produce insulin may get the rest they need to become efficient again. Our diabetes management booklet has many referenced foods/supplements that may help to stabilize your glucose levels. In time, your favorite foods may be reintroduced in moderate amounts. You appear to be more in the pre-diabetes range at this time. Complications are a long process. If your daytime levels stay under 120-140, that is good. Fasting levels are higher due to hormonal activity nighttime; these levels are a much sl Continue reading >>

Are Your Blood Sugar Readings Accurate?

Glucose meters are an important part of blood sugar control. Find out how to interpret the numbers to effectively monitor blood sugar and help lower A1C. If you have type 2 diabetes, testing blood sugar levels regularly — and understanding what the numbers on each reading mean — can help you monitor blood sugar and better manage the condition. These numbers are important because blood sugar test results can help you figure out how your diet, exercise, and medications might be affecting your diabetes. When you master blood sugar readings, you’ll be on your way to better blood sugar control and, ultimately, better results on your A1C test, the blood test your doctor orders to track blood sugar control over time. Maintaining good blood sugar control over a long period, such as a decade, could significantly reduce your risk of diabetes complications like heart attack and stroke. Understanding Blood Sugar Fluctuations Even with highly effective modern technologies such as digital glucose meters, people with diabetes still worry about testing accuracy. Although you want to get the best results for each skin prick, when you’re new to blood sugar testing it can be confusing to watch those results change throughout the day. “It’s helpful to understand that blood sugar changes minute by minute,” says certified diabetes educator Karen A. Chalmers, MS, RD, CDE, diabetes services program manager in the section of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition at Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts. For example, a person might test before coming to a medical appointment and then be surprised to find that his or her blood sugar is higher or lower by the time the doctor tests it. At first, this can lead to self-doubt and asking yourself, “Am I testing right?” or confusion a Continue reading >>

Does Hand Sanitizer Impact Blood Glucose Readings?

A few weeks ago I had breakfast with Jessica Apple at a cafe near Bryant Park in New York City. I perused the menu and was tempted by the list of carby desserts masquerading as “brunch.” Nevertheless, I ordered the quiche. Jess did too. I was in good company. I was ready to test my blood sugar and bolus. But after riding the subway and handling menus, I was desperate to clean my hands before pricking my finger. I guess you could call me a germaphobic diabetic. Not the most charming description, but I’ll take it. Invisible germs scare me. That is why I avoid public restrooms. Of course, that’s where most restaurants keep the soap and water, but I always feel dirtier on my way out of the restroom than I did when I walked in. Even if the faucet has an automatic sensor, I still have to touch the door handle when I exit. I know the tricks. Hold it with a paper towel. Pry it open with your shoe. Wait for a fearless person who scoffs at germs to hold the door for you. But still. Thankfully I had packed hand sanitizer in my bag. No need to plan a restroom escape. I pulled it out and squirted a few drops onto my hands. I offered a squeeze to Jess and she happily cleaned her hands, too. I went on to test my blood sugar. It’s always a treat to dine with other people with diabetes (especially germ-conscious ones). You don’t have to prick your finger under the table, or even worse, in the dirty bathroom. And you don’t have to explain your food choices. After lathering up the hand sanitizer, Jess had an interesting thought: she wondered if the hand sanitizer could impact blood glucose readings. It was a great question that I never considered. I decided to find out. *** Over the course of a week, I completed ten back-to-back blood sugar tests to see if hand sanitizer aff Continue reading >>

Hypoglycaemia (low Blood Glucose) In Non-diabetic People

What is hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose)? Hypoglycaemia or low blood glucose is a condition in which the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood, drops below a certain point (about 2.5mmol/l). The condition manifests itself by a number of symptoms that usually disappear 10 to 15 minutes after eating sugar. People differ slightly in the exact level of blood glucose at which they begin to feel symptoms of low blood sugar. Insulin is normally produced in the pancreas and helps the cells in the body absorb glucose from the blood. Normally, the glucose level rises after a meal. Too much insulin in the blood and other diseases can cause hypoglycaemic episodes (also known as 'hypos'). What can cause hypoglycaemic episodes in non-diabetic patients? Too much insulin in the blood: reactive hypoglycaemia (see below) a tumour – very often benign – in the insulin-producing pancreas. This is a very rare condition indeed Other diseases: a disease in the adrenal glands (Addison's disease) a weakened pituitary gland a severe reduction in liver function patients who have had their stomach removed fasting, malnutrition Reactive hypoglycaemia is possibly the most common reason for hypoglycaemia in non-diabetics but is often overdiagnosed. This form of hypoglycaemia is probably caused by an overproduction of insulin from the pancreas after a large meal with a lot of carbohydrates. The insulin can still be detected even after several hours, although the level should be back to normal at this time. This condition is probably most common in overweight people and those with Type 2 diabetes, where the large demand for insulin can sometimes cause too much insulin to be produced in the pancreas. There is some evidence to suggest that reactive hypoglycaemia can precede Type 2 diabetes. What happ Continue reading >>

When To Test Blood Sugar After Meals

For some reason the past week brought me a bunch of emails all asking the same question: Are we supposed to test our blood sugar one hour after we start or end a meal? As is true with everything involving diabetes the answer is not simple due to variations in individual blood sugar responses. The reason we test one hour after a meals is to learn how high our blood sugar goes in response to the specific meal. So we want to be testing at the moment when our blood sugar is at its peak. Studies tell us something about the average time it takes for the carbohydrate in our food to turn into blood sugar (carbohydrates are the main nutrient that causes elevated blood sugars). Such studies suggest that most Americans who eat our meals fairly quickly will see a peak somewhere between one hour and seventy-five minutes after we start eating. But because studies only come up with averages, they don't take into account individual variations--and you are, of course, an individual. And when we move from group averages to individual response we learn that when the blood sugar peak occurs depends on a multitude of factors that include how fast we eat our meals, how much we eat at each meal, how tightly bound the glucose is in the carbohydrates we eat, and how efficient our digestive system is at digesting the carbohydrate bound in our food. That explains why the same meal consumed at the same time by two different people may peak at different times--and why I can't tell you exactly when to test. That's why you might try varying the time at which you test a carefully chosen test meal to see if your personal peak is later than average. Choose a simple meal that contains a known quantity of carbohydrate--a single measured portion of something rather than a meal where you have to guess what Continue reading >>

What You Can Do To Stop The Blood Sugar Rollercoaster

If you find that your blood sugars often fluctuate from too high to too low (and vice versa), you’re on the blood sugar rollercoaster. To learn how to eliminate the extremes, you’ll have to do a little sleuthing on your own. Get out your blood glucose meter, and for a week try testing before and after a variety of meals, activities, and destressors to figure out what’s making it go up and down to stop it for good! Your blood sugars are affected by a large number of things, including what you ate (especially refined “white” carbohydrates), how long ago you ate, your starting blood glucose level, physical activity, mental stress, illness, sleep patterns, and more. If you take insulin and use it to treat highs, you can easily end up overcompensating and developing low blood sugars. If you develop a low, it’s easy to overeat and end up high again. Large fluctuations in blood sugars may make you feel cruddy and are bad for your long-term health, so it’s time to learn how to stop the rollercoaster! Physical Activity Effects: During this week, your goal is to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity on three days at varying times of day, and check and record your blood glucose levels before and after the activity. Physical Activity Trial #1: For this first activity, pick one that you normally do (like walking or cycling) and try to do it at your usual time of day. Check and record your blood sugar immediately before starting and within an hour of completing the 30 minutes of activity. You will find that your body responds differently to varying types of physical activities, particularly when the time of day varies as well. If you exercise first thing in the morning (before breakfast and medications), it is not unusual to experience a modest increase in blood s Continue reading >>

Erratic Blood Glucose Levels

Stress i definitely a factor impacting the results during the run-in period for the disease to develop into a steady state of T1DM. In patients, gluconeogenesis may contribute as much as 60-70% of the glucose handled by their bodies during 24 hours. Hence, stress and gluconeogenesis should be kept to a minimum. Whenever glocose levels alter rapidly, both insulin and stress hormones try to stabilize blood glucose levels as rapid as possible. Hence, there will be "overshoots" in both directions, bringing about large undulations in blood glucose levels. Another method to evaluate the loss of beta-cell function would be to administer glucagon (enhancing blood glucoseand levels) and analyse C-peptide in plasma some 4-8 min thereafter, as a measure of total beta-cell residual activity. This is done to evaluate anti-autoimmune therapy given to patients with T2DM helping the patients to dose both rapidly acting insulin and depot insulin (mimicking phase 2 = not meal-responsive) of insulin secretion. The results with C-peptide is very consistent, giving good statistics for small populations. Relying on blood glucose alone and/or glucose intolerance analysis does not yield statistically valid information unless the T1DM is manifest and that ALL animals have lost some 80-85% of their beta-cells. I feel that average values of random blood glucose levels several times a day is much more reliable (despite the stress experienced by the animals, which is fading away upon more frequent handling) as a parameter to see when the animals reach a steady state levels consistent with T1DM. Continue reading >>

“fight The Spike” To Avoid Weight Gain?

Blood sugar levels usually go up after eating, thus creating a blood sugar spike. For most healthy people, post-meal blood sugar levels do not go up very high or for long. But if your post-meal blood sugar spikes go up too high and too often, your chance of weight gain greatly increases. What’s a Spike? Depending on the type and amount of carbohydrates eaten during a meal, peak blood sugar levels can go up to 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or more. Most refined carbohydrates (ones that have been processed and stripped of the bran and germ from the whole grain, such as white rice, pasta and bread made with white flour) create a faster spike in blood sugar levels. While unrefined carbohydrates (ones that are not processed, such as whole grains) create a slower spike. In response to rising blood sugar levels, the body produces insulin to bring glucose back down to fasting levels, or even lower. This usually happens within about 60 minutes after eating. This whole process is called “postprandial blood sugar fluctuation” or “glucose excursion” among the medical community. For most of us, it’s simply known as post-meal blood sugar spike. How A Blood Sugar Spike Can Cause Weight Gain Scientific studies have shown that post-meal spikes in your blood sugar can cause of weight gain. This is for three reasons: The higher the spike, the more insulin secretion; insulin increases fat tissue and promotes weight gain. The body burns fat, a process called fatty acid oxidation, all the time. However, in a high post-meal spike situation, the body stops fatty acid oxidation and initiates carbohydrate oxidation instead. That means the body stops burning fat. After eating a high-carbohydrate meal (especially one that contains refined carbohydrates), a big post-meal blood su Continue reading >>

Blood Sugar 911

CBN.com - After experiencing periods of increased jittery nerves, violent trembling, and fainting – all signs of severely low blood sugar – author Dennis Pollock was on a mission to change his diet. Christmas Scare It should have been a pleasant night. It was the Christmas season, and we had just returned from our annual Christmas trip to Grandma’s house. We were sitting in our living room, watching a videotape that was one of my sons’ Christmas presents. I wasn’t having fun. It was happening again. Less than three hours after we had eaten supper I could feel that cold chill on my arms and those jittery telltale indicators that my blood-sugar levels were falling way too low. I quietly slipped out of the room and went into the bathroom to check my blood sugar with my glucometer—a device I had been totally ignorant of a year earlier but was now all too familiar with. As I suspected, my blood-sugar level was dangerously low, so low I knew I needed to take action fast. Grabbing a can of Coke, I drank the entire contents in under a minute. Now my blood sugar went the other way. Another test revealed the level had gone from 40 mg/dl to about 170 in a very short time. 1 (The normal range is 80 to 120.) My body began to tremble violently. I tried to go back into the living room and watch the movie, hoping no one would notice the trembling, but I realized the shaking wasn’t going to go away very soon. I slipped into the bedroom, put on a music CD, and got under the covers. As I trembled and shook, I could only think, What in the world is wrong with me? Looking Back The Christmas scare was not my first encounter with blood-sugar problems. As I look back over my life now, I realize I have had blood-sugar issues going back to the mid-1980s. In the early days I could n Continue reading >>

Meter Accuracy

Two things landed on my desk recently. One was a newspaper article saying that the Food and Drug Administration has asked the international body that sets standards for home blood glucose meters to tighten its accuracy requirements. (A public meeting on the topic is scheduled for March 16 and 17.) The other was a letter from a Diabetes Self-Management subscriber who described how she had attempted to compare two home meters with a plasma glucose measurement done in a laboratory — and how she was unnerved when she got three different readings. Stricter standards for meter accuracy would be a welcome development: Currently, most available blood glucose meters are accurate only to within 10% to 15% of the actual blood glucose level. But it will likely be a while before standards are changed and more accurate meters become the norm. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to get the best possible results from your meter. One of the most important is to use only strips made for your meter and to use them correctly. This includes making sure the strips have not passed their expiration date, coding your meter for each new batch of strips (if you use a meter that requires coding), and being careful to store your strips in their original container, away from sources of heat, cold, or humidity. Improperly used or stored strips are one of the biggest sources of error in home blood glucose monitoring. To check whether a batch of strips is OK, use a drop of the control solution (unexpired!) that’s compatible with your meter on one of the strips in the batch. If you still want to check the accuracy of your meter by comparing it to a laboratory measurement, there is a way to do that. But getting meaningful results requires doing it right — both on your end and on the labor Continue reading >>

When Your “normal” Blood Sugar Isn’t Normal (part 1)

In the next two articles we’re going to discuss the concept of “normal” blood sugar. I say concept and put normal in quotation marks because what passes for normal in mainstream medicine turns out to be anything but normal if optimal health and function are what you’re interested in. Here’s the thing. We’ve confused normal with common. Just because something is common, doesn’t mean it’s normal. It’s now becoming common for kids to be overweight and diabetic because they eat nothing but refined flour, high-fructose corn syrup and industrial seed oils. Yet I don’t think anyone (even the ADA) would argue that being fat and metabolically deranged is even remotely close to normal for kids. Or adults, for that matter. In the same way, the guidelines the so-called authorities like the ADA have set for normal blood sugar may be common, but they’re certainly not normal. Unless you think it’s normal for people to develop diabetic complications like neuropathy, retinopathy and cardiovascular disease as they age, and spend the last several years of their lives in hospitals or assisted living facilities. Common, but not normal. In this article I’m going to introduce the three markers we use to measure blood sugar, and tell you what the conventional model thinks is normal for those markers. In the next article, I’m going to show you what the research says is normal for healthy people. And I’m also going to show you that so-called normal blood sugar, as dictated by the ADA, can double your risk of heart disease and lead to all kinds of complications down the road. The 3 ways blood sugar is measured Fasting blood glucose This is still the most common marker used in clinical settings, and is often the only one that gets tested. The fasting blood glucose Continue reading >>

High And Low Blood Sugar Issues

Blood sugar concentrations or blood glucose levels are the amount of sugar or glucose present in your blood stream. Your body naturally regulates blood sugar (glucose) levels as a part your body”s metabolic processes. Glucose or sugar is the primary energy mechanism for cells and blood lipids. Glucose or blood sugar is transported from your intestines or liver to the cells in your body via the bloodstream. The absorption of glucose is promoted by insulin or the hormone produced in the pancreas. If your sugar levels are not balanced you may have high or low blood sugar issues. Low sugar issues are hypoglycemia and high blood sugar indicates that you have hyperglycemia or hyperglycemia symptoms. High or low blood sugar levels cause different problems. Low blood sugar levels can cause dementia, comas or death. High blood sugar is a major cause of damage to your body”s internal organs. Low Blood Sugar Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia indicates the level of glucose in your blood has dramatically dropped below what your body need to function. When your blood sugar drops below 70 milligrams per deciliter symptom will develop. You may feel tired and anxious or weak and shaky. Your heart rate may be rapid and you feel as if you are having a heart attack. Eating something sugary will bring your sugar levels back to normal almost immediately and symptoms will subside. Sugar levels that are below 40 mg/dL cause you to have behavior changes. You may feel very irritable and become weak and confused. You may not realize you need to eat to raise your blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels below 20 mg/dL will most certainly cause a loss of consciousness or perhaps you will experience seizures. You will need medical care immediately. Hypoglycemia symptoms happen very quickly. If you a Continue reading >>

How Much Should I Eat Daily To Control My Blood Sugar Levels With Diabetes?

The types of food you eat, when you eat them, the timing of medications and even physical activity levels can all affect blood sugar levels. A good component to type 2 diabetes management is keeping your blood sugar levels under control as best as possible. The road to management can be a challenging and winding one. The day-to-day efforts you put in trying to ensure you maintain your target blood sugar levels, can sometimes seem like minute-to-minute efforts. You’ve learned how to check your blood sugar, what medications you should take, recommendations on what you should eat, but have you learned what foods work best for you and your blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels are the one consistent factor in diabetes management that everyone, including doctors can agree require more information on how to manage them more effectively. What’s The Big Deal on Blood Sugars? Type 2 diabetes happens when your body is no longer sensitive to the insulin, or it begins to develop a delayed response to the way insulin is secreted to change your blood sugar levels. Beyond the complications associated with diabetes, high blood sugar levels can gradually do damage to all the blood vessels in the body. Over a longer period of time, these elevated blood sugars and damage can lead to a bigger problem of the loss in sensation throughout the body, particularly in the legs and feet. This condition is known as neuropathy. Deterioration of your eyesight, reduced kidney function and an elevated risk for heart disease are also potential complications. For more information read these guides: Episodes of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar put those with type 2 diabetes at just as high of a risk for complications. Loss of consciousness, confusion, risk of seizures and potential brain damage when Continue reading >>

How Soon After Ingestion Of Food Does Blood Sugar Rise?

After eating, your blood sugar levels begin to rise within 15 to 30 minutes, but only if your meal or snack includes carbohydrates. The speed and level of the increase depend on the type of carbohydrates and other nutrients found in the foods you eat, as well as on your body's ability to manage your blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates are the main constituent of food that can raise your blood sugar levels. The amount and the type of carbohydrates you eat influence how quickly your blood sugar levels change after eating. Carbohydrates from liquids, such as juices and soft drinks, are usually digested more rapidly, while carbohydrates from solid foods, such as pasta and fruits, take a bit more time to break down. Foods that don't contain carbohydrates or only very little, such as non-starchy vegetables, butter, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, cheese and nuts, do not have the ability to significantly influence your blood sugar levels. Glycemic Index and Blood Sugar Only carbohydrate-containing foods have a glycemic index, which can be used to assess how quickly and how high your blood sugar levels will rise in response to different foods. Many high-glycemic foods can raise your blood sugar levels within as little as 15 minutes after eating, including white and whole-wheat bread, most breakfast cereals, rice, potatoes, french fries, scones and pretzels. Low-glycemic foods have a more modest effect on your blood sugar levels and it may take a bit longer to see a rise. The rise in your blood sugar levels is first seen in your venous blood, the blood drawn at the lab, and it takes a bit longer for the changes in your blood sugar levels to be measured in your capillary blood, the blood used when testing your blood sugars at home. Fat, Fiber and Mixed Meals Other foods you eat with car Continue reading >>

Why Meters Can't Tell Us Our Blood Sugar Levels

Diabetes advocate and author Riva Greenberg has been on a "meter accuracy kick" lately — researching the heck out of this controversial topic. Very timely considering I've been seeing loads of expensive TV ads for Accu-Chek's new Nano meter, claiming that it's "23% more accurate" (!) Riva recently published a piece at the Huffington Post on why meter accuracy is both less, and more, critical than you might think. Truth is, she tells us, meter accuracy is only one part of a much larger story. A Guest Post by Riva Greenberg After being lucky enough to receive an iBGStar meter from Sanofi the day before its launch, I ran a few comparison tests between it and the Bayer Contour USB, which I'd been using the past two years, and discovered that the iBGStar consistently gave me a reading 20-25 points higher. So I took out all my meters. There were several, (Sanofi studies show most people use 4 meters on average) and I even ordered two new free meters from FreeStyle. I checked my blood sugar several times on my collection of 7 meters (some think I was a little obsessed) and saw it was rare when two meters gave me the same number! Given that I feel like my meter is my lifeline, I wanted to find out how meters work and why different meters give different results. I talked with a number of Chief Medical Officers, MDs and Medical Safety Officers at several meter manufacturers and I'm going to tell you what I learned in layman's terms. To better understand the science behind meter and strip technology, you can google "meter accuracy" for white papers and posts that would delight even the geekiest engineer. To better know how accurate your own meter is (in percentage terms), you can "check the package insert that comes with the strips and look online at prescribing information," sa Continue reading >>