fluctuating blood sugar levels

[homeschoolmom]

I've been wondering how much blood sugar levels fluctuate after eating. If I eat a dessert, I usually do some activity afterwards (push-ups, running up stairs, etc.). I check my blood sugar about an hour after eating -mainly so I know what my "peak" number is. Lately, my peak after a dessert has been high 90s (with 5-10 min. of exercise after eating). Tonight, I decided to check 2 hours after, and it was 115. I checked again 15 minutes later and it was 121. I did some more push ups and jogging in place, and took it 15 min. later and it was 94. So, I'm wondering if blood sugar levels might come down temporarily because of some exercise but then go back up again? I had always assumed that once they were low, they pretty much stayed at that level. Is this not the case?

[Emm]

There are plenty of things that can change your BG level - and remember too that different foods digest at different speeds. If you eat ice cream its fat content is likely to make it digest slower, so you may notice it peaks later than you'd expect. If you eat something like a banana or sweets you'll see them peak quite soon because they are fast acting foods.

Some exercise - especially in short sharp bursts - actually puts your BG *up*, so be careful of that! A good 30 minute paced walk is better than a quick load of rough exercise.

It's great that you're testing your reaction to foods :) Are you on meds?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you do know that eating high carb foods is putting strain on your pancreas - even if you appear to be coping well - and can make a difference of years (apparently) between pre-diabetic and fully diabetic...
... ok I'll walk out backwards now lol.

(I've assumed you're pre-diabetic, and now that I've re-read this I really don't know why. Am I wrong?)

Ah! Now I know why I assumed pre-diabetes - because this is in the pre-D forum. LOL. Sorry 'bout that.

[xMenace]

a 115 and a 121 are the same reading. These things are not that accurate, up to 20% off. You can't make any conclusions based on such small differences.

[Ronin]

Hi Homeschoolmom!

I concur with the other replies to your posting.

A few things to consider. First of all is that while it is good to test and see what happens when... It is equally as important to take these results for what they are -- data. Do not obsess (easy for me to say now, but I went through the test obsession like most people here did). Relax.

As Emm stated, any time you eat high carb foods, particularly foods with a high GI rating, you are stressing those beta cells. So, the lesson to be learned is what foods drive you into very high ranges, and avoid them in the future (despite the fact that you love them) or (as a compromise) restrict the portion size of the high-BG-drivers (yes portion size is important). You will have to savor those foods more as you eat less of them, but you can, so to speak, have your cake and eat it too, only in smaller portions.

[lottadata]

It takes a while for the food you eat to digest and so the glucose from the carbs you eat enter your blood stream at different rates depending on how long they take to digest. If you eat very slow carbs like pasta, or carbs mixed with a lot of fat like pizza they may take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to show up. If you still have a robust second phase insulin response, you may never see them, because they get mopped up. Others do.

That said, both readings were within the margin of error for most meters, so they probably are the same.