why would BG go low after eating (if it's NOT too much insulin?)

[Ariel22]

i have this weird thing that's happened a couple times.

i eat bagels for breakfast a lot. they tend to make my blood sugar a little high.

i give myself roughly the same amount of insulin for it whenever i eat it. ok, so they usually tend to make me high.

this morning i ate one, and half an hour later i checked and my BS was much lower than it ever is after i eat one. lower than when what it was before i ate, even.

this is inexplicable to me. it has happened before, not often though.

i didn't do anything different than usual. what's the explanation for a food that usually makes me high after eating, randomly being low one day? i shouldn't be low after eating anything really. i never am, and if it ever happens, i never know why this is.

does anyone have an explanation for this? does it have something to do with the other insulin (levemir?) i don't know, i'm just reaching for something here

[Scratch]

In my experience, my body's morning basal metabolism is the most variable, I don't get particularly consistent results. I can eat the same food from day to day and inject the same amount of insulin from the same starting level, but end up with widely divergent results.

I just deal with it, either eat a little more 2 hours after breakfast bolus, be happy that I'm on target, or inject more insulin as needed based upon blood sugar results.

[kgm0612]

You mentioned testing & being low a half hour later. Did you check your BS at the 2 hour mark?

I usually eat the same food item for breakfast (2 slices toasted light wheat toast with butter) and will get different results each day. Very frustrating!

Karen

[Ariel22]

but isn't that strange? to be high some days, but inexplicably low on others?

there has to be some sort of explanation, right?

[davef]

but isn't that strange? to be high some days, but inexplicably low on others?

there has to be some sort of explanation, right?

Ariel,

I'm a T2 not using insulin, but one thing I have learned to accept is that diabetes is consistently inconsistent, so sometimes there are no explanations. I know that sounds a little glib, but when you think how complex our bodies are and how many different factors can influence our levels at times it is simply impossible to find out why something you always eat and works, just doesn't work at other times.

[fgummett]

Alignment of the planets... space aliens... :T

[alicat61]

but isn't that strange? to be high some days, but inexplicably low on others?

there has to be some sort of explanation, right?

:) Hi Ariel,
It is the nature of the Beast It can be very frustrating to say the least.
Lots of things can effect blood glucose levels such as stress infection hormones weather. That is why it is so important to test often

[genie86333]

Also, maybe you hit a spot from where your insulin was more rapidly absorbed...

So many things can affect your bg levels that this happens all the time. That's why we test regularly, even if we shouldn't "need" to do so.

[jenb]

Ariel...the 2 most common causes of my post-meal lows are overestimating carbs and over-drawing insulin. Doesn't happen often, but very frustrating when it does.

Jen

[Des]

The cpomments above are great and I feel slightly silly adding mine but what the hey.... I am new to this thing and work very hard in keeping my levels low but some times they freak out, like yours did, and spike for no apparent reason... it would get me so down it was unreal... just seemed so pointless all the exercise and carb counting and Gi food planning and then BLAM 14.6 spike from a pre-meal of 5.4 with a mere 30 carbs!!! I lost the plot big time... but the next time I was at my Diabetes school my tutor (for want of a better word) said to me that concentrating on your daily numbers will just lead to frustration and eventually giving up... look at the bigger picture.. look at your rolling 7 day averages... so you have a bad day... big deal... adjust your meds,food,exercise and then check your average results at a later date.

The slightest change in out lifestyles effects these results... and as such we need to accept that and continue to learn what we can do to counter these weird ups and downs.

Best of luck and keep testing.


Des

[Ariel22]

thanks everyone for the tips

i'm not someone who likes randomness, especially when i can't explain a low BS after i eat.

i do know that it would normally mean i didn't count right and gave too much insulin, but in this case, it was the same meal that i eat often for breakfast, with no weird reaction before.

that i don't get. did someone say that stress levels affect blood sugar? is this true?

[alicat61]

:) Hi Ariel,
Yes it is true that stress effects your blood sugar levels.
Some people it causes them to be higher than normal. Moderate stress does this to me but with major stress I find I have lower than normal levels.

[BlueSky]

Changes in insulin sensitivity cause getting unexpected BG levels, in spite of accurate carb counting and correctly calculated insulin dosing. Things like excercise, stress and infections can have a major effect on insulin sensitivity. And bear in mind that the variability in the level of even the best modern inulins is about 25%. Absorption rates also vary enormously, depending on activity levels, the condition of injection sites and the size of the dose.

You shouldn't be surprised by variable and unexpected BG levels, especially if you are injecting large amounts of insulin. It comes with the territory. And it seems to get worse as time passes. In view of all the variables, it is amazing that that the results of insulin treatment are as consistent as they are. The obvious way to minimise variability is to cut back on carb consumption and reduce insulin dosages accordingly. Doing this doesn't eliminate variability, but it gets rid of the really big swings.

[mortis505]

Many things can effect BG levels. Stress, illness, infection, activity, weather, caffeine, cycle, etc, etc. Testing is key.

[shiftzor]

Alignment of the planets... space aliens... :T

I personally blame the aliens! They have a lot to answer for. :D

Only thing that can be done is remove as many variables from the equation as possible, I would suggest that bagels are the first one to remove (high carb and high gi). I don't eat more than 20grams of carbs for breakfeast as it gives me spikes and makes things unpredictable. I make up for the lack of carbs in other meals though :D.

[fgummett]

I agree... have you read up on Dr Richard Bernstein and the Law of Small Numbers..? In brief... smaller inputs of both carbs and insulin make for more predictable outcomes.