I’ll admit, I don’t recall how quickly her GD resolved. It was several years ago now. It did resolve…but was it immediate? Hmm. I’ll have to ask her.
Having said that, BGLs of 160 even for a non-diabetic isn’t outside the realm of normal…although 2 hours out does seem unusual. Makes we wonder what the meal consisted of. If it was high carb/high fat, you might have caused a prolonged high. There are certain things even I eat (being type 1) where the right combo of “bad stuff” can actual result in a delayed high…where I test an hour out, and it seems relatively normal for the insulin and carbs I ate, but then 2-3 hours out my BGLs shoot up…so the food had a delayed affect hitting my blood stream and required more insulin than is normal (a temporary insulin resistance).
Oh…curious as well what kind of exercise…certain exercises can result in a temporary rise in BGLs, counterintuitively. What happens is if you push yourself hard (prolonged running, weights, etc), your body uses up the insulin in your system to convert the BG to energy, resulting in LOW insulin levels. In response, your body releases glycogen in order to provide additional “on board” nutrition. This raises BGLs levels until your body produces more insulin to then use this “nutrition” that comes from the liver. When glycogen stores are exhausted, you end up with low insulin levels that can cause highs to result longer than normal. Hours later, your body will eventually convert any new sugar you consume back into glycogen stores.
Funny you mention that…the day I took the 1 hour glucose test at 28 weeks pregnant I did a pretty intense HIIT workout that morning and then ate a late breakfast of eggs. Ended up 20 points over when I did the test that afternoon. I then read about how exercise can affect your BG! But perhaps it just showed that i truly was insulin resistant in pregnancy.
As for meals, one was pasta with meat sauce, texas toast garlic bread, salad and brownie. I believe I also had a vodka and club soda. So maybe it was the alcohol (even though zero carbs), or I have read pasta takes longer to make your BG rise. The brownie and lack of enough protein didn’t help either! But a truly normal person would process it fine, so clearly I am not normal yet!
I’m not sure. That seems likely a perfect storm for triggering prolonged highs! Brownies, for example, tend to be high in saturated fats PLUS a lot of carbs. Can’t get much worse than that!
I’ll admit I’m not up on the effects of alcohol on BGLs, but I do believe there is an effect. I just don’t drink alcohol enough (as in, almost never) to have really paid attention.
Alcohol doesn’t affect mine as much as a slice of pizza does, for sure. Fruit based mixed drinks will spike it for sure, but that’s the fruit juice, not the alcohol.
Just remember that all that walking and the Florida heat/humidity…lows can sneak up on you. My DH is diabetic as a result of a double lung transplant. He knows to test regularly, but he forgets…We arrived at Mama Melrose’s a little early for our lunch ressie and I noticed his color was off, and he mentioned he was a little shaky…he tested and, whoops…53? My DD, who is a 911 dispatcher, stepped over to the bar, and asked the bartender for a couple of sugar packets and a glass of water. She dumped the sugar directly into his mouth, lol, and made him drink the water. Not the best solution, but they had us seated within 5 minutes, and food on the table very quickly, and we were fine…He hates to test, and he doesn’t pay attention to how he’s feeling…just make sure others in your party are paying attention for your daughter
Curious if your husband is on insulin. Lows are rare in Type 2 diabetics unless they are taking insulin.
However, hypoglycemia can happen in some people if they over-indulge in a lot of carbs without much protein/fat to balance it out, triggering an over-production of insulin.
Lows in Type 1s or those taking insulin, however, can experience lows often. I know from first hand experience.
As such, I agree that extreme tiredness and heat can make you misjudge how you feel, making your usual symptoms for lows.
It is an awesome decision, actually! I’ve done similar myself when I didn’t have any other immediate source of carbs handy. Sugar packets work nicely!
Thank you all for your input. This has been very helpful. My Sweet Sister has been in touch with her care team and they have developed a mutually agreed upon care plan. She is in a great frame of mind now and dedicated to getting her health in control. We have many more adventures ahead.
