About stress and blood sugar: I've noticed twice now a change in my blood sugar that seems to correlate with stress.

A week or so ago my blood sugar shot up 20 points between my 1 hour post meal and my 2 hour post meal measurements. I had expected it to drop, so I was surprised. It happens that between the two measures, I became very irritated with someone. Even at the time I realized I was overreacting to something fairly minor. I wondered if my blood sugar had risen because of my anger, or if my anger was because my blood sugar was up.

Then this afternoon I noticed the same thing in reverse. I've been frustrated all day because my blood sugars are 10 points higher than I feel like they should be. I've also been worrying all day about a loved one. At about 1 someone emailed me a question that required some focused attention for an hour - which took my mind off the other issue. My blood sugar dropped from 109 at 12:35 to 82 at 4:15. Did the lowering blood sugar help me feel less stressed or vice versa?

Do I need to add stress management to my blood sugar campaign?

Oh wow.

There are so many things that factor into blood sugar levels. Yes, I have read that stress will alter your BS as well as some illness or onset of illness.

We also know about some drugs that have the effect.

However, foods all react differently too.

You didn't mention food intake.

For example, for me orange juice will send the BS up immediately.

However, pasta has a delayed effect that goes over hours.

Not going to be much help.

However, my main comment is you are managing your BS really well from the numbers I see in the post.

Lately, my blood sugar is all over the place and it very definitely has to do with eating too many carbs.

Got to get back to something that resembles the 6-6-12 approach that Dr. Bernstein follows.

I never did do it that precisely but I did get close.

Ralph

I've been eating one meal a day in the evening, almost always a small salad and some meat, usually beef. Other than that I only have coffee with cream, coconut oil, and Splenda at breakfast time.



Orange juice and pasta are total no-no's for me. I just don't eat them. Since I've only been testing my BS recently, I don't know how they'd affect me.



Thanks. I'm not actually diabetic - yet. That's where I was headed, though, so I'm hoping to avoid it. I'm working on following Jenny Ruhl's suggestion to use the glucose meter to decide what to eat. I've only been at it a couple of weeks, and I'm feeling a bit timid about trying "riskier" foods.

At what time of the day was your 2 hour post meal measurement? What was your actual reading at the 2 hour mark?




How long was the lower reading after a previous meal?




Know that stress impacts blood sugar levels, so regardless of which came first, keeping stress levels down is important.

At 7:00 pm my reading was 92. I ate dinner, a salad and hamburger. At 8:30 pm my reading was 99. At about 9 pm I had a spat with my son, because I'd just sat through a God-awful movie (Funny People) with him, and I wanted to watch something light and funny, but he turned the TV to one of those dumb reality programs. I was pretty tired at the time and over-reacted. At 9:30 pm I was surprised that my reading was 120. It's usually never that high except sometimes first reading of the day.



I had coffee with cream, coconut oil, and Splenda at breakfast time (finished by 7 am). Then I had nothing else all day. I believe the low reading was at 4 pm or so. I'd actually not seen such a low reading since I started this experiment 2 or 3 weeks ago.



Thanks.

Costello22,

I believe that someone having a slow digestion, possibly helped along by a high fat meal, the blood sugar topping out 2-2 1/2 hours after the evening meal at only 28 points higher than the pre-meal reading is normal for most non-diabetics. Blood sugars don't stay static and a spread of 28 points even if it is that long after a meal is not a problem.

I was looking at your weight and age in your profile, and being you said you're not diabetic, I assume you're not on any medications that are helping control blood sugars. I would say count yourself lucky, and just realize how important it is to get that weight down before your body turns on you, as you're in that age and body weight group that is at high risk for serious health issues. You've put a dent in it, so you're on your way...

Keep a good mood and keep improving on eating for balanced nutrition that lets you see positve results... Good luck!

Thanks, Cajunboy! Working on the weight. It's a struggle.

Hi costello22. In "The Diabetes Solution" Dr. Bernstein writes that stress does not affect blood sugars, i.e. the kind of stress we feel when worrying about a loved one (I hope that is working out, btw!). He does, however, note that adrenaline does affect blood glucose...you said you were very irritated with someone, and for sure that provokes an adrenaline response..."flight or fight."

I think stress management is important for all of us in this crazy world we've created...whether you manage your stress/frustrations by taking a long walk, listen to soothing music, meditate, etc....these things can only be good for you. I hope things settle down for you soon.

Thanks, Sue. Unfortunately I'm always on the edge with the stress.

Adrenaline, eh? That makes sense. Adrenaline would kick your body into releasing blood sugar to fuel the fight or flight thing.