Blood sugar much higher, what happened?

[70sFan77]

Hey all,

Whenever I test my blood sugar, normally fasting would vary between 75 and 110. 2 hours after eating vary between 90 and 140. However tonite I got an average of 230!!! What's wrong? Could my beta cells be gone? There are factors I'd like to point out:

-I'm recovering from either a cold or a flu, I'm still coughing from it.

-I started a new bottle of TrueTrack test strips.

-I forgot to take my metformin and chromium for dinner tonite, although other readings were never nearly that high whenever I forget.

FYI for those of you who have not seen my first post back in September, I was diagnoised as a T2 on July 17th, BG was 434 mg/dl and AC1 was 12.2. So far I only take two 500mg pills of Metformin a day.

Thanks for any info.

[dbaratta]

Hey all,

Whenever I test my blood sugar, normally fasting would vary between 75 and 110. 2 hours after eating vary between 90 and 140. However tonite I got an average of 230!!! What's wrong? Could my beta cells be gone? There are factors I'd like to point out:

-I'm recovering from either a cold or a flu, I'm still coughing from it.

-I started a new bottle of TrueTrack test strips.

-I forgot to take my metformin and chromium for dinner tonite, although other readings were never nearly that high whenever I forget.

FYI for those of you who have not seen my first post back in September, I was diagnoised as a T2 on July 17th, BG was 434 mg/dl and AC1 was 12.2. So far I only take two 500mg pills of Metformin a day.

Thanks for any info.

Being sick can raise BG levels. You are not on insulin so you can't adjust for it and that makes it hard. Call your doc, he may want to increase your met for a bit. Not sure.

Keep in mind that diabetes is progressive. You are probably just having problems due to being sick though.

[fgummett]

Can you please clarify what you mean by "an average of 230"... is this a single reading or multiple readings?

As Poppy mentioned above, sickness can affect BG levels, I've also noted a difference between batches/lots of test strips.

Did you retest after washing your hands in warm soapy water, rising and drying well... food/dirt contamination can cause poor readings.

Did you eat anything different at this meal which could account for an higher BG?

[foxl]

I have been running high for three weeks, due to flu complicated by sinus infection. No fun.

[cdngoose]

I have been running high for three weeks, due to flu complicated by sinus infection. No fun.

Just a stomach bug here. Today I awoke to a BG of 10.9 and 2hr later with drinking just water, it was 12.3 had a protein drink; 2 hr later 20.7

[foxl]

Just a stomach bug here. Today I awoke to a BG of 10.9 and 2hr later with drinking just water, it was 12.3 had a protein drink; 2 hr later 20.7

ooooh FRUSTRATING. 3 weeks of similar ...

[genie86333]

Lots of possibilities, not enough info.

First off, as Frank asked, did you wash your hands & re-test?

Did you re-code (put in the new computer-chip-thingy) your meter when you started the new box of strips?

It's possible that being sick & not taking your met/chromium combined to a higher-than-normal reading.

What did you eat?

Did you do anything different today than other days (different/more/less food, different/more/less exercise, even anything stressful like a fight with your spouse, child, boss, neighbor, bad grade on a test, etc.)

[70sFan77]

Thanks for the replies. During the night and into the morning my blood sugar finally came down, going down to 121 in the morning. Still a little high but better than 230! Yes I checked several times to ensure I was getting the right reading and it was around 230. To answer your questions:

-Yes I did put in the new coding chip as I always do.

-Yesterday, I had two bowls of vegetable soup for lunch containing tomatoes, peas, and other veggies. For dinner I had a vegetarian burrito at Chiptoles. An hour or two later I had two 2x3 inch pieces of mochi with avocado, which is made of Japanese sweet short grain brown rice.

-I washed my hands to double check and it was the same.

-Nothing unusual happened yesterday in my personal life, I was just feeling a little sick and it made me feel hot at times as well. When I first tested after eating mochi it was 160, I decided to go out for a walk to try to reduce the BG level. I think it could have caused it to go up as Dr Bernstein said exercising with high BG levels could cause it to go up. Guess I may have screwed on that. I was feeling completely normal aside from peeing more than usual. Actually, I decided to try to drink two big bottles of water to try to reduce my blood sugar and it caused me to pee like crazy!

Thanks for more feedback some of you may post.

[70sFan77]

Update!

When I woke up after sleeping in late, my blood sugar was around 140. Later I had a burrito and the reading was 198 about 2 hours later. Later my late dinner was made of two scrambled eggs and one spoonful of organic peanut butter. I also drank some Zevia soda sweetened with stevia. An hour later, guess what? 102! :D

[genie86333]

Update!

When I woke up after sleeping in late, my blood sugar was around 140. Later I had a burrito and the reading was 198 about 2 hours later. Later my late dinner was made of two scrambled eggs and one spoonful of organic peanut butter. I also drank some Zevia soda sweetened with stevia. An hour later, guess what? 102! :D

The tortillas on the burritos (and maybe beans if there were any...) may be part of the problem (especially since you had another one the next day & had another spike to almost 200) - some people can handle wheat tortillas, so you may want to try them. Also rice, even if it's brown, can cause spikes in *some* people.

You had lots of strikes against you - being sick, forgetting meds, carbs, possibility of exercising raising blood sugar. Some combinaton of these things caused the high reading. However, don't stress too much. One messed up day isn't bad in the long run...just keep watching out to make sure that there isn't a pattern of highs forming. Sounds like last night it was all good!

[Granny Shanny]

Yep, I think you're being ambushed by the rice & the tortillas. Especially if the rice was sweetened somehow the way they do sushi rice.

If you're making your own burritos, try using low-carb tortillas. I've found a whole-wheat high-fiber brand that doesn't spike my glucose, and I even took one to a restaurant with me tonight (would never try this at a chain restaurant, but local mom & pop places around here are more forgiving! :D). Ordered the steak fajitas, told the waitress to hold the tortillas & only give me half portions of the beans & rice. Added sour cream & guacamole for a little fat to slow the absorption, & 90 minutes later I was 149. Higher than usual, but not in orbit.

[spyderveloce]

The sandwich shop in my office building uses Spinach wraps. It's a green tortilla shell made with spinach and I don't know what else. It didn't taste like spinach but had a slightly, not unpleasant "green" flavor to it. Anyone else have any experience with these?

I'm critical of my food and didn't know that they used these until they handed it to me and I questioned the seemingly "bad" tortilla they used.

[70sFan77]

I'm still not that much better, but I find that if I eat eggs my blood sugar goes down to around 100. Does eating a lot of protein help? Today I did not eat any burritos, I only had a salad for lunch and fish sticks a couple of hours after until I ate the eggs. Before I had eggs it was 186. Oh also, I notice I got hot and sweaty when I walked to the store and back, I am def still infected.

[genie86333]

I'm still not that much better, but I find that if I eat eggs my blood sugar goes down to around 100. Does eating a lot of protein help? Today I did not eat any burritos, I only had a salad for lunch and fish sticks a couple of hours after until I ate the eggs. Before I had eggs it was 186. Oh also, I notice I got hot and sweaty when I walked to the store and back, I am def still infected.

Yes, eating protein helps, especially if it's instead of carbs or with a limited amount of carbs. The fish sticks you had probably had some carbs from the breading, plus the salad had a few (or maybe a lot depending on what type of salad dressing, if there were croutons, etc.), which resulted in the 186. Then you had eggs - no carbs...and your levels went down. The walk may also have helped (if it was around the same time.)

[70sFan77]

Good news, for the past two days my blood sugar have been in somewhat better control and hopefully it'll be back to normal once I completely recover, which I am almost there. Yesterday was 110 at wake up, 125 after eggs, 135 after a big salad and sauteed tofu (no, no sugar containing dressing). Then I had a TV dinner for dinner, I forgot to check my sugar though. That kind doesn't spike me as bad as other types tho. Today so far was 120 and 108. Yay! How do you guys manage your blood sugar levels during illnesses?

[spyderveloce]

Good news, for the past two days my blood sugar have been in somewhat better control and hopefully it'll be back to normal once I completely recover, which I am almost there. Yesterday was 110 at wake up, 125 after eggs, 135 after a big salad and sauteed tofu (no, no sugar containing dressing). Then I had a TV dinner for dinner, I forgot to check my sugar though. That kind doesn't spike me as bad as other types tho. Today so far was 120 and 108. Yay! How do you guys manage your blood sugar levels during illnesses?

I've actually found it much easier this last week to stay between 80 and 140 (I hit 141 once). I've been eating a lot of sunflower seeds (my new vice) and making sure that if I have starchy foods I balance it out with a green vegetable if possible. I keep my portions smaller and keep some lifesavers on hand for those times (around 10:30 - 11:00 am) that I get to feeling low. I've found that I can still have my 2 pieces of morning toast. I've found that I really like Brownberry Oatnut bread that contains whole sunlower seeds and oats and has NO HFCS in it. Add a slice of white american cheese and I'm good most of the morning with only a raise of about 20 from my morning reading of 108. I really think adding the greens to my diet and the sunflower seeds in place of sweet treats helps. My bosses wife is trying to kill me though. She went to Culinary school and sends in the most godawful, to die for confections and treats. I've taken to having only one of her treats and nibbling on it a little over my 8 hour day. Think I'll buy her some Agave nectar and ask her to make some treats I can really enjoy.

As for illness.... it was during my son's bout with H1N1 that I found out I had Diabetes a few weeks ago. I went in and tested in my doctors office at a 578. After a round of Tamiflu on top of my 4mg Avandaryl per day my BG went down considerably. Never even noticed that I had the flu but for a few mild symptoms.