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Can anyone help me figure out my blood sugar readings?

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Posted 8/15/2015 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hey all, hope you don't mind me popping in here from another of the forums.

Long story short, I've been having some symptoms lately that I wanted to address with my doctor, including excessive hunger (like...feeling hunger pangs, shaky, and sick even if I've just eaten), increased thirst, etc.

I had a phone consultation with him first because I have a high deductible and office visits are crazy expensive. He suggested I buy a blood glucose monitor at a pharmacy and track my blood sugar readings for a day or two so I could relay them to him and decide if I need to be seen.

I did my first reading right after getting the meter yesterday afternoon, when I hadn't eaten for several hours, and blood sugar was 80. I then ate dinner, which was rice, ground turkey with taco seasoning, tomatoes, yellow pepper, and zucchini, topped with plain Greek yogurt. I tested one hour after eating and I was at 142. I tested two hours after eating and I was at 99.

Per my doctor's recommendation, I did a fasting test this morning first thing, and got an 86. He told me to consume 40 to 60 grams of simple carbs and then test at 1 hour and 2 hours. I had half a gluten free baguette with raspberry jam, which came out to 43 grams of simple carbs. At 1 hour post eating my blood sugar was 152. In about 30 minutes I will do the 2 hour test.

According to the guidelines my doctor gave me, my fasting blood sugar should be under 100, so I felt OK there. Where I'm slightly concerned is the one hour post meal level, he said it should be under 140. With a "normal" meal I was slightly higher with the 142, and with the high carb meal, I was at the 152. Could this be cause for any concern?

Of course I am going to discuss the results with my doctor but now it's Saturday and I won't talk to him till Monday and I am kind of obsessing over it.

Not to mention I would do ANYTHING to get rid of this constant gnawing hunger feeling.

Any insights?

ETA: 2 hour post meal reading was 139 and doctor wanted it under 120. confused

Post Edited (RunningOnFumes) : 8/15/2015 10:47:47 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/15/2015 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome. Don't worry about posting in different forums! That's why HealingWell is so great - there are lots of different forums here.

I'm not a doctor but I've been dealing with my own blood sugar problems for about seven years and diabetes is in my family. I'm glad you can have these phone consultations with him and that you bought a meter. (By the way, if your doctor 'prescribes' a meter for you officially, it could be covered by your insurance. The meters are generally not expensive but buying the tests strips can be.)

Your fasting blood sugar reading is normal as your 80 is after not eating for several hours. The other results are elevated. This probably means you are not metabolizing carbs efficiently. There might be a few reasons for that. Sickness, infection, anxiety, fear, some other medications (like steroids or some blood pressure meds) can all contribute to elevated blood sugar. And of course, you might indeed be having problems metabolizing carbs. The fact that you had normal readings in the morning and after not eating seems to eliminate some of those causes though.

What to do. Check out any meds that you're taking for side effects. Don't overload on carbs until you see your doctor for some blood tests that he would run. Eat good whole food, a variety of protein and vegetables but not a lot of rice, bread or potatoes. If you have any of that, make it a very small portion along with the protein and vegetables. Don't skip meals.

Skipping meals may make your blood sugar bounce instead of staying level. Of course we do fast overnight while we sleep, but then we need to eat a solid breakfast (again not carb-loaded).

I don't know if the odd feelings you've been having like the thirst, hunger pangs and shakiness are because of blood sugar alone. Maybe but you can't know that unless you test your blood sugar at the time you're feeling that way.

And don't panic about this. I think what you're describing is explainable and it just might mean eating better and on a regular basis, but I also think the doctor would order some blood work.

I'm glad you found us there!
Posted 8/15/2015 4:54 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, the 139 is elevated. It sounds to me like you're not metabolizing carbs efficiently. I think your doctor is great to have you to do this test. It's almost like a glucose tolerance test at home. The GTT is done to see how your body reacts to carbs. The good thing is that your blood sugar did come down although not as fast as expected. Also, you had a normal morning fasting and the 80 after not eating for awhile. So, that's good news. It means you can control your blood sugar probably with diet and exercise.
Posted 8/15/2015 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Lanie! Interestingly, this (the symptoms) all started after I began taking Lexapro (an SSRI.) I'm just doing a little reading and it seems SSRIs can affect blood sugar control, but it is relatively rare. I was on Paxil for years and never had this issue, so I'm not sure it's contributing, but I will definitely bring it up as an option with my doctor.

It's baffling to me because I've always been a healthy weight and have mostly maintained a decent level of fitness, although I've not exercised in the past 2 months or so because of feeling so weak and hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I'm wondering if I can manipulate my diet enough to feel better enough to exercise and if that will help me out.

I'll take your advice on eating balanced meals the rest of the weekend and make an appointment with the doctor for Monday. I've blown through all the test strips that came with the monitor and don't want to buy more, since I feel like my levels aren't high or low enough to be super dangerous and warrant constant monitoring. I'm about to eat some plain non-fat Greek yogurt with cinnamon and hopefully feel better since eating nothing but carbs today has certainly made me feel yucky.

Thanks so much for your welcome and kind reply!
Posted 8/15/2015 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I don't think you're in any kind of a critical situation with this from what you're describing and, as I wrote, there 'might' be some other reasons about the elevated blood sugar besides the carbs. Hopefully, at least this can ease your mind if you're worried about it.

Diabetes and especially blood sugar problems like insulin resistance are not uncommon nowadays. And factors like family genetics push us toward this, so if you have any family members with diabetes, then you do need to pay attention to your blood sugar and curb it before it gets out of control. Carrying extra weight and also getting to middle age contribute to insulin resistance as well. Doing some sort of sustained exercise like running, walking, biking, swimming is great for blood sugar, and building up muscle is also helpful because muscle uses up glucose in the blood more that fat does.

I don't know why you've been so hungry. So, as I said the best you can do for yourself is to eat: protein (meat, poultry, fish), all sorts of vegetables and greens and a very small amount of carbs. Nuts, plain yogurt, cheese and boiled eggs make good snacks. Maybe if you snack between meals, you'll feel less hungry?

In any case, treat yourself well and eat sensibly! (And see your doctor!)

tongue
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