My blood sugar is currently 268! I took it about 20 minutes ago and it was 240 so it has only gone up. I took half of my Amaryl because I am about to go to bed and am afraid a whole one would lower it way too much while I am asleep.

I know why it is high is because I had a sweet tooth tonight. I am just surprised because my sugar has never been over 200 for as long as I have been diagnosed, or atleast not that I know of.

I am wondering if I should be worried? I am very tired and would like to go to bed so I get some sleep before work in the morning but wonder if I should just stay up and wait until it goes down?

I know I probably wont get an answer tonight but maybe someone will answer before I go to bed and if not I can use the advice for next time (hopefully I wont allow a next time).

Thanks.

It would depend on how much the Amaryl lowers it. I would not stay up just to watch it go down. If you feel that taking half will lower it enough, I would do that and take it again in the morning.

You could also try waking in the night to take your blood sugar. If it's still high, you can take the other half. Good luck and good night

My blood sugar is currently 268! I took it about 20 minutes ago and it was 240 so it has only gone up. I took half of my Amaryl...

I am wondering if I should be worried? I am very tired and would like to go to bed so I get some sleep before work in the morning but wonder if I should just stay up and wait until it goes down?



BigB:

I am going to guess that, based on the treatment and how you described the situation, you are (like me) a type II diabetic.

If that is the case, then I hope to set your mind at east about a few things. The most elevated glucose reading that I had while on Amaryl was in the mid 200's, prior to that, I was in the 300s when diagnosed. Because of the nature of type II, your response to a load of carbs is going to consist of a slow recovery time, down to some glucose level which is normally going to be above what is the fasting level for people with a normal response. The way many of us compensate, repair, or overcome this glucose tolerance problem is through weight loss and exercise--of course, there are some not as fortunate, that do all of the right things and it's still not enough, but this is going off on a tangent.

Your chances of having your blood glucose go so low that you are in danger while you sleep, after taking 2 mg Amaryl (or 1/2 of that) is pretty low. While you sleep, your body (liver) will adjust the insulin level (albeit dysfunctionally) to bring the glucose down or up to the level that your body thinks is the right value. Again, in those with normal response, that would be somewhere in the 70-100 mg/dL range. Many type II's will see a baseline sleeping level in the 100s. Heard of people that go to bed with a glucose at 90 mg/dL, eat nothing and wake up at 125 mg/dL? That's due to that response. How about those that go to bed at 150 mg/dL and wake up at 125 mg/dL. Same thing, same response back to a baseline level that your body "believes" is where it should be. Just to add a little more personal info, after monitoring mine for months, I was able to figure out that at 215-225 lbs, my baseline on 2 mg Amaryl was around 105 mg/dL sleeping. Whether I went to bed higher or lower than that level, I tended to end up around 105 mg/dL.

The times that I did run into low glucose (50-70 mg/dL range) was during the afternoons. I took my Amaryl in the morning, at about 6:30 am. My low's came invariably around 5:00 pm in the afternoon. I think this was due partly because of the gap from lunch to dinner without a snack, partly because I was more active in the afternoon, and partly due to Amaryl.

Good information, ubernier. As mentioned in an earlier post I was just recently diagnosed about 4-5 weeks ago. At that time my bs was over 500 (570). That day they(emergy care) brought it down to 260 with 2 shots of insulin and an IV drip. From that point on I have not tested above 500. However the next day when I visited my doctor and performed my 1st bs test it was 470 something. This began my struggle to bring it down to what everyone was saying the normal range should be (70-120). For one week I hung between 250-350. After attending a diabetes education class, I began to understand how to control this with my diet. I now found my bs from about 150-225. Finally I tested at 114. I was quite proud of myself but it was short lived as I apparently ate too much during my evening meal. It jumped up to 209.

I know that there is great concern when you bs goes lower than 50. I even have a package of OJ to give me a boost if that should happen. Right my goal is to get down under 100 before I eat. Then I can adjust my food intake to what my body can handle.

My medication is to take one 500 mg glucosage(sp) pill twice a day. It is my goal to ween myself if possible by controlling a eating habits. :)

Anytime we let those readings jump to over 150 I understand that we are opening the door wide open that after a few short years so diabetic complications can and will set in.
I to try and ween myself from some of my medication, and with a 45 pd. weight loss last yr. I did just that.
However my last C-Peptide test showed that half my beta cells are burn out (being diabetic for a # of years), so I know that I need a boost with the meds and insulin.

I am on a sliding scale, and I leave out the insulin, or lower it before the meds.
I have a "good" GP that does HA1C's ever 3 months, C-Peptide, once a yr. and allows me enough strips to test 4 times a day, so that I can keep and know my control!
Naturally I belive in the 2hrs. pp testing to see if a particular food is giving me grief.
He pushed Low-Carb!!

I had a similar surprise yesterday. Ate at Olive Garden and ordered the Marsala chicken since pasta is out of the question. I ate some of the roasted poatoes and half a bread stick and thought I was in good shape. I was shocked when I check my blood sugar one hour later--it was 226. I have never tested over 180, and only a couple times over 150. I walked a few blocks and tested at two hours and it ws now 110. Obviously I discounted the sweet Marsala sauce. This was a wakeup call to be more observant.

I keep hearing that if your glucose level is okay at two hours, you're doing well. But if it was 226 at one hour, then it would seem that there was damage being done even if the level returned to 110 at two hours.

Thanks for the advice! Just to let you know, weight is not an issue. I only weigh 140 lbs and am 5'9 tall so I am rather thin. Losing weight isn't an option, but exercise certainly is.