What would cause blood sugar to be higher 4-6 hours after a meal than it was at the 2 hour post meal reading? I've been having poor sugar control lately due to personal reasons and after eating a high carb meal 2 hours post was around 250, 6 hours post around 350. I had nothing to eat or drink but water after the meal. I thought after 2 hours it was supposed to keep going down? I don't think I suffer from Gastroparesis. I think I had read something about that could be the cause of something like this but I have irritable bowel syndrome and it seems my stomach empties just fine because I never suffer from constipation and sometimes I have to use the bathroom right after I eat. Of course I'm not positive about the Gastroparesis though. Is that very common in diabetics?

Eating a meal that is both high in carbs AND high in fat will push the resulting blood sugar spike out by a couple of hours at least due to slowed digestion and blood sugar rise from the fat. In a way, it's a form of gastroparesis, but it's diet induced and not a physiological problem.
Binging on something like pizza, for example can cause a spike 4-5 hours after eating instead of 2 because of the fat content of the pizza. The same thing might hold true for something like fettucini Alfredo or a similar dish.
Whatever the reason for that high reading, you really need to work on getting those numbers down. Diabetes doesn't put itself on hold because of personal reasons and most of us can't afford to take a vacation from controlling blood sugars.
Readings over 150 consistently are causing damage at the cellular level and the sooner you can get them lowered the less damage you will be doing to yourself.
Please take care of yourself!

In fact, it's virtually unavoidable by diabetics. It's the result of neuropathy of the vagus nerve and can take many years to reverse. As Lisa wisely counsels, the sooner you get those sugar numbers down the sooner you'll begin reversing it.

Your post sent me scurrying to Dr. Bernstein's book, which you should obtain immediately and read from cover to cover if you haven't. There are two passages I'd like to quote here from his chapter on gastroparesis:

"More commonly, however, you may have gastroparesis and not be aware of it. In mild cases, emptying may be slowed somewhat, but not enough to make you feel any different. Nevertheless, this can cause problems with blood sugar control."

and

"The big problem with gastroparesis, however, is its unpredictability. We never know when, or how fast, the stomach will empty. If the pyloric valve is not in spasm, the stomach contents may empty within minutes. On another occasion, when the valve is tightly closed, the stomach may remain loaded for days. Thus, blood sugar may plummet 1-2 hours after eating, and then rise very high, say 12 hours later, after emptying eventually occurs. It is this unpredictability that can make blood sugar control impossible if significant gastroparesis is ignored in people who take insulin or certain OHAs before meals."

-Richard K. Bernstein
Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution

Thank you for the helpful replies. I know diabetes doesn't put itself on hold because of personal reasons but I have many issues in my life right now that are making keeping my food addiction under control quite impossible for me. I don't want to go into all of my personal issues but I do know the damage diabetes causes and that I should be taking action. Right now I have no insurance that could help me with any kind of counsoling or medication so it's very hard at this moment.

Nobody on this forum demands that you do anything, or has any personal stake in how you deal with your high blood sugar. We're just trying to help you. Please don't feel like you have to justify anything to us.

I, too, have lousy insurance which would not pay for OHAs or insulin if I had to take them. Thank God and Dr. Bernstein that I don't. I'd be in real trouble if I had to pay for such medications. That's why I'm so meticulous about maintaining normal blood sugars. There is no personal issue more important to me and I do not allow any other issue, be it health related, social, familial or financial to interfere with it.

I wish you all success in your quest for optimal health.

Jim

Ozzyfan...I don't want you to feel like you have to justify your situation, but I'm also very concerned for your health.
I know that for myself if I were having personal problems, letting my blood sugars get out of control would only serve to make things worse as I'm an absolute witch to live with when my blood sugars are high (cranky, irritable and just plan crabby) and it hampers my ability to think clearly and make sound judgments.
Lack of insurance certainly makes things more difficult, but it also makes it that much more important that you do what you can to control your blood sugars with diet alone since you can't afford medical care and medications to help you keep some semblance of control over your blood sugars when you can't control your eating whatever the reason may be.

Ozzyfan,

You have my sympathy and empathy about trying to control things during hard times--whatever the reason. I recently went through a year of Hell dealing with my Dad's battle with lung, bone, and brain cancer. Then I had to deal with his death and the funeral details, then the executor duties...If that isn't Hell I don't know what else is. I had a *really* tough time trying to deal with daily going to work, going to the hospital or nursing home, and then keep up things at Dad's house too. I found that Chicken McNuggets and a Ceaser salad were my mainstays. While driving I'd get a double cheeseburger (pickles and mustard only) I'd throw away the top bun and nibble on the meat while holding the bottom bun and pinch off the bun part as I nibbled and toss it in the bag. That way I could keep my fingers fairly neat and still not get too many carbs. Well, it worked fairly well. My BG didn't look too bad. I still had to go to my doc to get my blood work every 3-4 months and I managed to average 6.2 on my a1C during that time. That all started about 18 months ago and I've gotten things more or less under control now. I'm still an emotional wreck and I just feel like I'm going on 'autopilot'. (Still settling Dad's estate.) I was SO worried about my Dad and working myself into a frazzle when I realized I wasn't going to do him any good by not also taking care of myself. So I just worked around my nutritional requirements the best I could. And I got by....
Bless you...get 'by' the best you can...whatever you are dealing with, also take care of yourself, because YOU are important too!

kjturner,
I'm so sorry for the loss of your father and all you've been through. Thanks for your reply.