Can anybody tell me how you can tell when your blood sugar/insulin level has risen? Is there a tell-tale feeling that you get?

I've read on other threads that sometimes blood sugar can go up just by tasting something sweet, even if it's sweetened with Splenda which isn't supposed to have any effects on blood sugar. How can you tell when it does?

I've been using some condiments that contains Splenda with my meats and also mixing powder Splenda with cream cheese for treats. I have noticed that I'm wanting to eat more often. Does that mean my insulin level is up?

Thanks for any insight!!

You can't always tell if your blood sugar is up by how you feel unless it is VERY high. For me, I know my blood sugars are too high when my mouth gets dry like it's stuffed with cotton no matter how much water I drink. Haven't had that feeling for a long time since my average blood sugars on this WOE are now about 100. The best way to tell for sure is to get a glucometer and check your blood sugar, but unless you are a diabetic you may find that the expense really isn't worth it just to know. If you know someone who is a diabetic, you could ask to borrow theirs if you want to check. Stick with the lower carb foods and you will do fine.

I doubt that using Splenda would have any effect on blood sugar levels. What it could do is trigger off your sweet tooth and get you craving sweet foods again.

I usually know when my sugar level is high if I feel very energetic, laugh a lot, have a lonnng To Do List. If the pendulum swings the other way then I know I need to watch it.

Wanting to eat more often is not something you need to worry about, unless it is wanting to eat more sweet stuff. Do not be hungry - in fact ensure that you are eating 10-12 times your body weight in calories.

Take care.

Thank you, you two!!

I don't have the symptoms that you two have mentioned, but it seems that it differs from people to people, right? One of my online friend said that when her sugar is really high, she feels light headed, and her vision gets blurry.

I'm glad to hear that Splenda shouldn't have an effect on my insulin level even though it does seem to trigger a sweet tooth for me. I will try to cut down on using Splenda other than what's already in the condiments.

Thank you for your insights!!

Unfortunately, if you are addicted to sugar, sometimes just the taste of something sweet can cause an insulin response. It doesn't usually raise your blood sugar. In fact, it can have just the opposite effect since your body produced insulin and now there is nothing for it to work on. The effect then is that your blood sugar drops and you get sugar cravings because your body is trying to raise it again which can send you looking for more sweet stuff that may or may not be low carb depending on what's available and how strong that sugar craving happens to be. Artificial sweeteners are a YMMV thing for most people. For myself, I found that Aspartame caused my blood sugars to bounce all over the place, but Splenda doesn't seem to have that effect so far. Maltitol doesn't seem to affect me either. In the end, because we are all unique, you will have to see for yourself how your own body reacts to the taste of sweets.