I actually don't have diabetes, but I have some level of Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Both my A1c and FBG are normal, but they won't be if I don't watch my diet. I can see my glucose spiking too high with home monitoring when I eat carbohydrates.

Hope you don't mind my asking, but something you just posted made me wonder... wouldn't that happen for everyone after high carb meal?

janieg, have you tested an hour after the carbs and again 2 hrs after the carbs? I'm curious if it settles after the 2 hr mark or stays high?

It does spike for everyone, but it's a matter of how high. Mine goes higher than normal, and stays elevated for too long. It seems to peak at the 90 minute mark or so, and it can take upwards of 5 - 6 hours to get it back down to under 100. I've seen mine spike as high as 190, and apparently a completely normal person would never go above 140 no matter what they eat.

This is a good explanation using some of the graphs that have been on various other sites over the years. This topic seems to get new addresses often.

http://bananapoop.com/health/hypogly...rance-test.php

This link is one I am more familiar with:
http://www.rajeun.net/gtt.html

In a glucose tolerance test --pure glucose is measured. One cannot say what a normal should be if it were food instead of pure glucose. The various types of impairment are compared to each other, but not to potential test results if food which needs to be digested are measured for the same time period.

Hi janie,

Being Diabetic and just having started monitoring at home, I am surprised at the frequency at which you are testing. I also would like to know who told you your 'magic number' was below 100. According to all advice I have been given by GPs, Diabetic friends and Diabetes sites you should test just before you eat and then 2 hours after the start of the meal, not straight after or 90 minutes after.

My A1c this year has risen to 7.1, but I am being retested in a week hoping my diet and weight loss will have brought the number down. My fasting numbers are between 110 - 120, except for a minor episode of 66. My +2 hour numbers reach 173, but if I can consistently keep them below 180 and my A1c trends downwards from now on, I can stay off the Metformin and try to control my Diabetes by diet alone.

Please be aware that all the experts agree too much self testing is counter-productive, as is setting unrealistic goals. Remember, as has been pointed out, your liver will produce glucose so it is not simply a dietary issue.

Dave.

Thanks for the links. Very helpful.

This graph in particular shows my impairment:

http://bananapoop.com/health/hypogly...est.php#curve1


After a very high carb meal of pasta and bread...

30 minutes post-meal: 166
1 hour post-meal: 162
2 hours post-meal: 166
3 hours post-meal: 148
4 hours post-meal: 128
6 hours post-meal: 82


This was a test I did to see if apple cider vinegar helped. These were virtually identical meals of "pauper's pasta." (Onions sauteed in olive oil over whole grain pasta).

6:30 94 pre-meal (no vinegar)
7:15 131 (45 min after eating)
8:05 149 (95 min)
8:50 131 (2 hrs 20 min)
9:33 159 (3 hrs) retest a minute later 154
10:05 141 (3 1/2 hrs)
10:35 122 (4 hrs)
11:00 133 (4 1/2 hrs)

5:51 86 pre-meal then took 2 Tbsp vinegar
6:36 118 (45 min)
7:26 129 (95 min)
7:51 112 (120 min)
8:11 119 (2 hrs 20 min)
9:01 121 (3 hrs 10 min)
9:51 126 (4 hrs)


Last week I really splurged and had a high carb meal AND dessert. At the 90 minute mark, I was at 190. I immediately got on the exercise bike. :eek:

I will go weeks without testing at all. This is not something I do all the time.

I test when I eat something new with carbs to see what effect it has on my BG. If it does really bad things, I don't eat it anymore.

Dave,

Keep testing even after you level off. After I dropped 20 pounds late 2012 I severed ties with my gp who was unresponsive to my then newish and growing neuropathy issue. I didn't rush to fill my metformin, instead cutting my dose to once daily until off for a few months.

I kept monitoring and right before I found a new gp I found wild swings taking place. I went back on metformin and have been on since. I may reconsider again, as I am further down in weight exponentially and even better a1c wise, but I thought it was a useful anecdote.

Janie,

I can tell by now what is good or bad, but test still. I do a day, 8-12 or more tests, at least once a week. I like to see the flow of my day, through activity, though lately more inactivity than anything.

I hope you have found some relief through this process. Mine would be the unknown variety, as in how much worse could this be. I imagine lots.

Yes, that's where I am. The only thing I know for sure with regard to my neuropathy and watching my glucose is that I'm at least not doing any additional damage which I certainly could have been doing before.

I've been doing some testing on the effects of exercise on your glucose levels, and it's pretty profound. When I saw I was in the 190s last week after a really bad meal, I immediately hopped on the exercise bike. 20 minutes later it was 106, but it went back up over 140 when I stopped and was continuing to digest.