Diabetes Community

Could my continued nausea be becouse my blood sugar levels are slightly elevated? someone answer?

Hi,

Elevated blood glucose can cause stomach upset and nausea in some individuals. You are specifically asking about "continued" nausea without giving us any information about what caused it in the first place. I recommend that you talk to your health care provider about your concerns.

Take care, Laurie

Be sure to see the DR. and show a record of your blood sugar levels for at least a week. I test before meals, 1 hour after a meal and 3 hours after a meal right now just to see how long it takes my blood sugar to get back to 100 - 110. I am working hard to control it after the meal. I spike over 180 1 hour after a meal but then when I check it about 3 hours after the meal it has returned to a pretty good level. To answer your question, my blood sugar right now is 168 and nausea is present. Nausea and excessive thirst are big signs that the sugar is up. Nausea can be caused by many things. I do get it more often than not when my blood sugar is up. Confirm with your Dr. Ask how many days or weeks that he or she wants you to log your sugars and what times of the day. I am type one insulin dependent. Good luck with it.

krhudson

Hi Louise,

Do you know if when the Blood Sugars are over 180 for a length of time if that is ok as long as blood sugars are normal at the next meal? It seems as though I get a lagged result from my fast acting insulin Humalog. It is supposed to kick in well in the first hour and should be handeling the function pretty well by then. I test 1.5 hours later and I am still up over 180 but if I had taken more insulin at the meal time I would have reactions so it is a double edge sword. I want to just keep to where 4 hours after the meal the blood sugar is normal. Any other way, I would be having to many lows but the better news would be that the insulin would kick in harder that first hour. I do not want to keep eating to stay up with the insulin amount and on the other hand I do not want the sugar levels elevated longer unless that is normal just to target correct blood sugar levels at the next meal. What would be acceptable standards according to the American Diabetes Association?Thank you.

krhudson

That is up to your doctor.It usually is 2 hours after a meal and 140 or 120 as the target two hours post prandial-though I have seen as low as 110 recommended 2 hours after a meal.

I am not a health professional-so I can't make that call. I have read that levels over 140 start causing cellular damage.

Start testing at exactly 2 hours after meals and journaling and measuring your food intake-so when you talk to your doctor you can show her the pattern.

Louise,

You are right. I have seen many sites and resources that have ideal blood sugar at or below 120 (post prandial). Two good resources i have found are -

1. Diabetes Solutions by DR. BERNSTEIN. He has been T1 for over 60 years and though he started out as a Engineer, he went back to Medical school so he could officially get his research published in medical journal. His book has good information on lifestyle changes including specific exercises for Diabetes. He recommends very tight control and has been doing it himself for decades and also does same in his practice. (This book is available in most of our local libraries).


2. Free site (Blood Sugar 101) - I found this useful. It has lot of information. Site owner has also published a book based on the site..
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045621.php
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/16422495.php

Thank You. I will test 2 hours after meals and that will show the direction the blood sugar is headed I will shoot for 120. Today was spectacular for me since I had did my treadmill routine 3.25 miles a little past moderate and then weights and my blood sugar been around 80 all day. What a difference that makes. I avoided going low with 6 oz of oj right after the work out. If I could manage every day like that I would be in great shape. I have been a type 1 for 35 years and years ago 7.00 was the A1C target for type1 and then the standards changed. I did make the 6.5 when I was much younger and then started to get to 7.3. Seems a little more challenging for some reason. My last reading hit 8.00 which is really pushing it so next time I go in 3 months from now I will be in the low 7s with this concentrated effort. Thanks again.

krhudson

Very helpful information. Thank you.

krhudson

I am diabetic myself and so was my mother. Now, I have a 2 year old grandchild that has all the signs. I have not yet tested her yet. What is a normal blood sugar level for a 2-3 year old?

The ranges for children are the same as for adults.

This is an excellent set of links. I particularly found this intriguing!
WARNING: The American Diabetes Association is selling its endorsement to junk food companies and you will soon be seeing labels suggesting that many foods are great for diabetics that are not. The ADA criteria are that the food be low fat and have 30 grams or less of carbohydrate per serving. This is already much more carbohydrate than most people with diabetes can handle without dramatic blood sugar spikes.

Hmmmm! wonder how true this is!

This is why I have that figure of never exceeding 180 after a meal. Even people without diabetes can get to 180 after a meal before the insulin they produce does it's job and brings it back down probably quicker than for a diabetic. The other targets of the 140 for diabetics is much more rigid which is fine for the bench mark. That is why I question the requirement of 125 for a prediabetic after the meal. I almost am inclined not to go with that since even the non diabetic can get higher sugars after a meal. I have had Drs in the past that have not paniked at the 180 after the meal as long as 120 or so happens by the next meal. I think the goal would be to get it down as quick as possible so I adjust my insulin to do that. I try now real hard not to exceed 160 1 hour after a meal. By the 2nd hour after the meal I am happy at 140 and by the next meal I like to see about 105-110. That is tight control for a type 1 and I hope the A1C will reflect it. If not, I will stand corrected. I do not want to take to much insulin and fear the lows coming on or having to eat to keep up with it. That will cause weight gain. I suppose type 2s on light meds can stay at the 120 to 140 levels all day? with excersise. Not quite as complicated as type 1 but still must be very much on top of it.
We all just have to test and keep the blood sugars at the best level possible.

kr

I can only speak to my own experience and information obtained when I attended diabetes classes. Here it goes-taking your BG immediately after a meal gives no particularly useful information as you are correct in that even non diabetics will register BG in high ranges depending on the meal. The standard I received was a BG reading of 140 two hours after the meal. A non diabetic's BG will return to the normal range more quickly and 2 hours after a meal a non diabetic will show a BG reading between 70 and 90. My experience is as a non insulin dependent T2 on a low dose of Metformin. My daytime average in generally between 90 and 100. Most often my 2 hour post prandial is below 100 and my FBS is in the 95-110 range pretty regularly.

Louise's original post has blood glucose standards for DIABETIC people. Thos are intentionally kept a bit higher than the averages for non-diabetics since many diabetics are on medicines or insulin that will cause a dangerous low if you don't eat the correct amount of carbs to match the medication.

Metformin is supposed to be an exception to this condition snce it does not stimulate the pancreas to secrete more insulin, but just affects your body's ability to make use of the existing insulin and transport the sugar into your cells more easily.

For a person managing diabetes or prediabetes with diet and exercise alone, he/she could aim for lower after meal figures if desired. Eating smaller meals with less carb count more often may bring down the A1c more because there are less higher reading to figure into the average.

Even the high reading in the first hour or two after a meal count in the average and show up on your A1c. It just is a matter of how compulsive and careful you wish to be about your numbers and what your goal is.

Personally, if I go up over 165 even right after a meal, I get "fried brain" so I go the inconvenient route of excessive (for many) planning. It is a personal choice and I'm not recommending it for everybody. My goal is to get my numbers down to the point where my pancreas can hopefully begin healing itself by not being so overloaded with having to produce more insulin for a higher carb diet.