How to bring down sugar when it rises for the wrong reason

[pam]

I've been dieting pretty severely this week and now my sugar has spiked. Years ago when this happened, my doctor said that if I didn't give my body enough carbs or sugar, it would think there was a problem and my body would create more insulin (or something to that effect) and cause my sugar to rise.

Well, it's doing it again.

I don't want to eat a lot of carbs and stuff to make it go down, and I want to lose weight, but I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

How do I strike a balance and get the sugar back down -- FAST?

[seacomp]

People here will need some more information if they are to help you. What medication(s), if any are you on? What diet were you on/ Specially, what were you eating? or not? What are your readings?
Generally the most useful thing a T2 can do to reduce their BG is exercise. Without knowing more about the problem, it's hard to give any more detailed info.

[Cinnabon]

Hey Pam...
Give us a bit more info. I agree w/ seacomp that exercise is key for both T1 & T2.

[Simon]

Starving yourself causes the body to release adrenalin and this in turn causes a liver dump and inhibits your insulin which is why you're getting a rise in bg. If you want to eat less then eat often to minimise this problem.

[pam]

Thanks, I'm on 30 mg of Actos a day and that's it. I don't exercise other than a little bit of walking every day or so.

My sugar is always around 140 but was 177 yesterday and 191 today. I felt like I was coming down with a cold the other night, had a slight fever, then it went away but I still feel like I fought off a cold. I'm thinking maybe there is an infection in my body somewhere or a cold is still in my system.

I've had muscle cramps the past few nights at night, which happens when I eat too many carbs but considering how I've cut back, I'm thinking it's the opposite, my body is creating insulin and that's causing this issue.

I'm going out for lunch today and plan to eat more than I've been eating, and will check my sugar tomorrow but if it is still going up, I don't know what to do.

[Cinnabon]

I felt like I was coming down with a cold the other night, had a slight fever, then it went away but I still feel like I fought off a cold. I'm thinking maybe there is an infection in my body somewhere or a cold is still in my system.

This could be adding to your higher readings. Any infection i the body throws u off.

[pam]

I know, but I don't have a fever and don't want to take aspirin since that won't get rid of it, and I don't want to do antibiotics if I don't know what's wrong. I just feel .... bleh.

I ate breakfast at 7 am and by 9 am wasn't feeling thirsty or anything, but now it's 10:30 am and I'm feeling dry but won't check my sugar until tomorrow morning.

I have this feeling there is a virus in me that's throwing my sugar off, plus my not eating enough isn't helping. 50 carbs a day isn't enough for me.

I just know how I feel when my sugar goes up a little bit more, the dry throat, constantly needing to drink, and I really REALLY don't want to get to that point.

[Ritehsedad]

Pam,

2 things...

How is your stress level? Stress sometimes has a larger impact on me than food. It almost sounds like you've entered a viscious cycle, your sugar is up, causing you stress, which causes your sugar to go up, which causes...

Exercise is important. Your muscles actually store glucose (as does your liver, but your muscles can store more because of their mass). When you exercise you will deplete the glucose in the muscle cells and your insulin resistance will go down. One of the big benefits of exercise is that for several hours your body will be working to replenish the glucose supply in your muscles.

[pam]

Stress level is horribly high due a dead hard drive on an important computer (yes, I have a backup) and some other issues.

I just called the doctor to see if I could get an A1C and sugar test, godnose why, but all I got was "your insurance won't pay for it."

I have no insurance. Waiting for them to call back so I can run over and get the test. I did have a good lunch at a restaurant with carbs and I think I'll just have to cut back on the amount of food I eat, not only carbs.

It's a vicious cycle. Carbs keep me fat. No carbs makes me sick/

[ginag]

Pam, Like you, I am T2; but I control my sugar with low carb diet. Couldn't tolerate the metformin. My last a1c was 5.7. My doctor says as long as my tests are good, I should continue with my method. However, I seem to have liver dumping during the night and find that my fasting count in the morning is always the worst of the day, from 140 to 160s . For the last 2 evenings though I have been taking one piece of sugar free hard candy before bedtime. The first morning my fasting sugar was 118 and this morning it was 122. That is a big improvement for me. I intend to keep doing this and hope I found a remedy for this liver dumping thing. I also will try to take it during the day if I find myself skipping a meal. It also serves as a nice little treat!!!
Good Luck. Gina

[pam]

Doctor can't see me to take a blood test until Monday. They did tell me not to eat too low carb, gee, thanks!

Tomorrow I'll do half an hour on the treadmill for exercise, I swear.

[Ritehsedad]

Pam, If you really want an A1c, they make an over-the-counter, 1 time A1c test kit ( a couple manufacturers, I think. If you can wait a minute, I'll try to google it...OK, I'm back.

Here's one I found. I think they run about $30. http://quickmedical.com/choice_dm/

Good Luck, let us know how you're doing!

[pam]

Thanks :)

Checking it this morning, 135. I feel better, so whatever I was fighting off seems to be gone.

I also ate "normal" yesterday without really dieting, though I was careful. I'm going to be cutting back a little bit but not so severely and see if I can lose weight plus keep my sugar from yo-yoing.

[Cyborg]

Doctor can't see me to take a blood test until Monday. They did tell me not to eat too low carb, gee, thanks!

Tomorrow I'll do half an hour on the treadmill for exercise, I swear.

Did your doctor quanitify what he meant by "not too low carb"? If not, what use is his statement? Many many many of us here on this forum control our diabetes by eating lower carb diets. The medical community and the ADA seems to be a little lacking in what really "works" for diabetics.

[pam]

Wasn't the doctor, it was the girl at the desk. I haven't ever seen a doctor there, just the nurse practitioner and yes, I'm looking for a new doctor but haven't found one yet.

My sugar rarely spikes unless I'm sick, I don't even check it very often. My body always tells me when it's higher which is why I checked it this week out of the blue.

But how odd I didn't have a muscle cramp last night and my sugar was fine today when I ate Chinese food for lunch yesterday? It's the major cure-all, I swear! Glad I have half of it left for today!

[Cinnabon]

Viva the MSG!!! LOL
Im glad ur doing better. We do have that auto response mechanism when were about to get sick, our BS tells. When we r sick our BS tells, and when we r still sick, it speaks.

[Cyborg]

I would insist on seeing the endocrinologist and having full bloodwork drawn up.

Secondly, testing your blood sugar at least 3 times a day is extremely important to control your diabetes. I test between 7-10 times a day. If you want to know what foods affect you so you can make wise decisions as to what to eat, you need to test before you eat, and 2 and 4 hours after you eat.

There are many factors that can raise your blood sugars other than foods. More testing can help you identify what these things are. Stress is a major contributor to increased blood sugars. Lack of food can cause gluceogenisis which can raise blood sugars. If you can identify these patterns that raise your sugars, it gives you the power to do something about them.

Being a type 2 diabetic without insulin makes it much harder to "knock" down high blood sugar values. You have to find ways to prevent high readings or more creative ways (such as exercise) to bring them back down.

Good luck :)

[pam]

3 times a day?? LOL. I test maybe every 2 months other than seeing the doctor twice a year. My sugar is very steady unless I'm sick or eat the wrong foods, which I don't do too often. A rise of 10 points (150+) and my body tells me by my dry lips.

When I was first diagnosed I'd test every day, but then realized after a year or so how steady I was once I got it under control, so now don't find the need to test. And, my A1C of 6.1 tells me I'm doing fine!

I've seen enough endocrinologists due to PCOS than you'd believe and now I just am looking for a good diabetiologist.

For a month or so I was hooked on those Little Debbie snack cakes, the jelly roll type, even though I don't like chocolate. I ate a package of 2 every day and my sugar never went over 140.

If I eat a slice of white bread or half a white flour roll, my sugar will hit 180 and I'll get muscle cramps.

Isn't the body odd?

[Ritehsedad]

Glad to hear your feeling better. Hey, whatever works for you is great!

[pam]

Thanks! I really think most of it was my body fighting off some sort of infection, in combination (a small part) with my eating about 50 carbs a day. I realized I can't cut back that severely so will cut back little by little.

I'm not much for exercise and want to walk a little more, but if I walk too much I get leg cramps during the day. I have massively muscled legs, like a power lifter, due to PCOS .. so if I get a cramp it's SEVERE!

I bought one of those Sweatin' To The Oldies videotapes years ago but never opened it, so may open it and do a little dancing :)