[am1977]

Tami, I don't really agree with Wise Words approach sometimes, he seems to take a very antagonistic approach. I think he likes to get a rise out of people, and I hope you won't take that personally.

Anyway, I think a lot of the posters here have given you good advice and I hope you will take them up on what they have mentioned.

I wish you luck with everything and hope to see you again. Feel free to ask any questions.

Take care,

Andrea

[EdnBama]

... "finger poker thingies" ... I love this forum! Helps me with all the techno-lingo!



--Ed

[WiseWords]

Originally posted by Tami
She said that no matter what a person eats,
their blood sugar should never go over 120
if they don't have diabetes.

I hadn't been eating anything that was good for me
but she said that didn't matter.

She said that it didn't matter what I ate that my blood sugar
should not go over 120 if I don't have diabetes. Is this true?
Tami

NO, it is NOT true.
This is not a debatable point.
The level of 120, now reduced to 110, is for the times that
one has not eaten.
In a non-diabetic, the blood sugar is kept from staying too high
by the production of insulin from the pancreas,
but that production only occurs when the BG level
goes above 120. That is when the insulin producing cells in
the pancreas produce insulin.
The blood sugar, even in a non-diabetic, does indeed go above
120, after eating.
Generally it won't go more than 140-150, with an average size meal,
but of course, "average" varies with the person.
It is considered safe if it stays below 180 for up to two hours
after a very large meal.
In a non-diabetic, the blood sugar will come back down
to a normal level below 120.
But to suggest that no matter what a person eats,
their blood sugar should never go over 120, is just plain wrong !
It is not a little bit wrong, nor subject to a slight difference of opinion.
It is completely wrong.

That is how the pancreas gets a signal to produce insulin---when the
blood sugar goes up after eating.
That is how it works.

By your own admission, you said that you had not been
eating anything good for you.
So, your BG was above 120 because you tested after eating.
If it stays higher for more than 3 or 4 hours, or after a
10-12 hour fast, then you might have diabetes.

Pre-diabetes, and other extraneous thoughts have nothing to do
with what your Mother said.
A healthy person's BG should always go over 120 after they eat,
especially if they eat a lot of junk food,
which is what it sounds like you did.
Below 120 is for between meals, not right after one has eaten.
Your question was not about normal blood sugars for a non-diabetic.
Your question was about after eating, and about the
comments from your Mom, which are wrong.
If you have blood sugars that remain high, or are above 120
in the morning, when you first get up, then you will have cause for concern.
This is all so obvious, I didn't expect it to generate any difference of opinion.
Your Mom is wrong. There is no debate about it.
Here are some links to verify it:
1. Joslin Diabetes Center - (They should know !)
2. Normal BG levels before & after eating
3. Diagnosing Diabetes
4. Normal Blood Sugars
Even these sites have slightly different numbers because
there are no exact numbers.
If you have a high BG for no reason at all,
then you will know it from testing, and
it won't matter 5 or 10 points one way or the other.

[Tami]

Alrighty then. You are correct, sir. I will call my mother immediately and tell her what a doofus head she is. Well, not really. A little paranoid maybe, but not a doofus head.


Tami

[WiseWords]

I didn't say your Mother was a doofus,
but she does represent an example of the
single biggest problem with
trying to achieve good control---incorrect ideas.
One has only to read the many message boards and
forums for diabetes to see how many false assumptions
are out there !
I am not trying to win any popularity contest.
Accuracy is more essential, even if the directness
doesn't make one feel all warm and cuddly.
One can do that after their condition is under good control.
Click for happy face.

[Andrea]

Wise words,

Why do you feel it is so necessary to insult people? Does it make you feel smart? Powerful? Knowledgeable?

It actually is true that if a person has no trouble with glucose metablolism, their blood glucose levels shouldn't go above 120 mg/dl. Of course, it is possible, but usually only happens in the case of transient illness and other extrenuating circumstances. It must also be noted that although we like to talk in nice round numbers, the body doesn't work like that.

I had friends in university who liked to play with my glucometer. One friend would test (and find his blood glucose level almost always at 5.6mmol/L or 100 mg/dl), then drink a litre (a quart) of orange juice. He would then test his blood glucose every 15 minutes for an hour and it never went above 5.8 mmol/L or 104 mg/dl. That is how a working pancreas is supposed to work!

Anyway, i understand the desire for accuracy. There are so many myths about diabetes out there that i don't even know if it is possible to dispel them all. Especially since it is sometimes our doctors and other medical professionals who are giving false information. I agree with you that it is frustrating to read information on the net that it not correct. But that is no reason to insult or chastize others. People come to a forum because they want support and to LEARN. It is normal that not everyone in the world knows everything there is to know about diabetes. Please be respectful of others.

Andrea

[EdnBama]

I was surprised when my doc told me yesterday I should decrease my carb intake even more ... even though my A1C for the last 3 months was 4.6, the two previous readings were 4.7 and 5.0.

Imagine that.

--Ed

[WiseWords]

Originally posted by Andrea
Wise words,
Why do you feel it is so necessary to insult people? Does it make you feel smart? Powerful? Knowledgeable?

Your assumptions, as usual, are way off base.
I do not feel it is necessary to insult people,
nor did I say that I did.
Don't attempt to get me to defend your mis-interpretations
of the facts.

As I have had diabetes for more than six times the length
that you have, (and am active in educational areas),
I do not regard you as the all knowing
source of wisdom that you perceive yourself to be
on many boards.

Whenever I give out some factual information,
I include links to verify or expand upon it,
for those who want to learn more, or question what I have said.

There are many obvious areas for diabetics,
which should not be debatable with regard to
proper care or procedure.

Telling someone that the idea they had is incorrect,
and then proving it to them,
is not insulting,
although I will acknowledge that some egos may be bruised.

Originally posted by Andrea It actually is true that if a person has no trouble
with glucose metablolism, their blood glucose levels
shouldn't go above 120 mg/dl.

That is only so, concerning areas of a so-called
normal BG, when a person has not recently eaten food.
No one was disputing, or for that matter,
even discussing, what the normal range of the BG is for a human being.
The discussion, which did seem to get off track,
was about whether or not the BG rises after a person eats.
The answer is that it does rise, and it doesn't matter whether
one is a diabetic or not.
In a non-diabetic, the pancreas starts producing insulin
when the BG rises, and that brings it back down to a normal
level below 120.
Going above 120, after eating, does not mean that one is a diabetic,
which is what started off the discussion.

Originally posted by Andrea Of course, it is possible, but usually only happens in the
case of transient illness and other extrenuating circumstances.
It must also be noted that although we like to talk in nice round numbers, the body doesn't work like that.

120 was not being used in this discussion as an absolute,
exacting number. 120/110 was being used as the standard
reference numbers that they are.

Originally posted by Andrea
I had friends in university who liked to play with my glucometer.
{I bet he did !} One friend would test (and find his blood glucose level almost always at 5.6mmol/L or 100 mg/dl), then drink a litre (a quart) of orange juice. He would then test his blood glucose every 15 minutes for an hour and it never went above 5.8 mmol/L or 104 mg/dl. That is how a working pancreas is supposed to work!

Actually, I have read enough of your posts to know that
you know better than that.
That is not at all how a pancreas is supposed to work.
He may have had other problems with an over-active pancreas,
or, it may have been do to the extra large amount of carbs
from a whole quart of OJ---about 108 gms of carbs all at once.

BTW, your constant use of the word "glucometer" is,
I believe, a carry-over from one of the meters you
used to have. That word is also occasionally misused by
professionals when referring to a BG meter, or just a meter,
among those in a diabetes group. I don't know if it may
also be a French word. Glucometer is the name of a specific
brand of meters for blood glucose testing, but it is not
a generic term for BG meters.

Originally posted by Andrea
Anyway, i understand the desire for accuracy.
There are so many myths about diabetes out there
that i don't even know if it is possible to dispel them all.
Especially since it is sometimes our doctors and other medical
professionals who are giving false information.
I agree with you that it is frustrating to read information
on the net that is not correct.
But that is no reason to insult or chastize others. People come to
a forum because they want
support and to LEARN.{They are not going to learn by
giving support to incorrect ideas. That would be insulting.}

It is normal that not everyone in the world knows everything
there is to know about diabetes. Please be respectful of others.
Andrea

Always try to be, but not at the expense of truth and knowledge.
Have a good & healthy New Year.

PS: By the time this is posted, it will probably be New year's
in Paris. What is it like to celebrated in Paris? There is a
lot of extra police protection at large events in the US.
Times Square in NYC will be on the internet at this link:
---> New Year's - 2004

[TAutry]

Hi All,

Time for a little moderation here. Let's lower the tone a bit. Some of the posts in this thread are getting too close to being personal attacks. Limit your comments to diabetes and reduce the use of irrelevent quotes. Otherwise the thread will be closed and any member that doesn't comply will be banned.

Remember: At Diabetesforums.com we work and play well with others.

Travis Autry
Diabetesforums Moderator