Having sugar numbers go from usual to high above "in range"

Carol, I have been thinking about what the professor in my physiology class said in the 1980's about the insulin pump or pancreas burning out and refusing to produce any insulin at all. He said the doctors wait until the body's system breaks down and then they can treat us. I am thinking that with type 2 we are working on preventing it from getting any worse and as we age that is not easy to do. I still believe in diet and exercise to try to return to a more normal status quo without making our lives miserable and unhappy. Today I read what type 1 diabetics eat and do to find foods that work well for them. Black olives are fine, I read, and I happen to like them in my cottage cheese. I continue to read that processed food is not helpful so I eat as close to the raw as possible. I like spinach both raw and slightly cooked, so I do both. I continue the search for little things that make a difference. Two glasses of water before meals?
I am willing to try it for a while thanks to having a bathroom close to the kitchen. I gave up processed meats years ago except for an occasional hot dog in the campfire. No lunch meats at all. I gave up prepackaged cooked turkey slices after I read about them. I hate to bake a whole turkey to get a slice.
Inch by inch, we can learn to make our bodies work better, but I don't want to continue this until I am 110. Or 115. I have friends in Heaven I want to see.
It would feel good to feel better, however. The neuropathy can come from things other than diabetes, I read. Hmm....Dorisena

@dorisena Thanks for staying in touch. My numbers were high again this morning so that's four days it's been abnormal for me. It was not as high as it was yesterday but too high. I've checked all day along and it has dropped from the high this morning to normal this afternoon. So it seems to be zooming up at night and then falling steadily during the day. Because it does go down, I think this means my insulin is working. I know which foods work for me and if I deviate, I can expect a spike, so I rarely eat out of my plan. I wonder since I've been eating the same foods for three+ years if my body needs some change. The problem is I don't know what to add. I eat all leafy greens (have always loved them). I love a lettuce salad too. Meats have not been good for me and neither have fruits. So I just need something different to give my system a push. This is really irritating, like when I was first diagnosed and knew nothing about diabetes and neither did the PCP. I researched and read books and educated myself to know what to do. Now with this problem I need to be my own doctor again and figure out what's causing the numbers to be out of range.
If you have any more ideas, I'd love to read them.
Grateful for you sharing your experience.
Carol

Carol, when I learned about low blood sugar, I understood that the numbers should go up after you eat and then drop down and then go back up again after you eat again. Exercise or not during the day will make a difference in the numbers. When are you testing? You may be confusing yourself with all that testing. I was taught that blood sugar numbers consistently over 200 is not good. My cousins was told she shouldn't be past 160 in the evening, but she doesn't test much, and she eats food I would not attempt at night, so her body works differently than mine, as she is younger. With stress, the numbers will spike dramatically high and sometimes drop very low after that, which is why doctors have to be careful about these blood sugar lowering medications.
I feel terrible if my numbers get much below 100 but that is what is considered "normal." The pain medications will automatically raise numbers higher and doctors have to be careful when ordering them after surgery. My fasting numbers were in the 140's in the nursing home with no exercise, and I got along fine with that temporary problem. I like it at 102 but have not been there since my shoulder injury. The pain was awful so I was not surprised. I suspect a four day change in numbers is not a terrible concern, but actually the neuropathy is causing trouble for you. I am no doctor, just your friend in this battle. Dorisena

@retiredteacher, my doc told me that if your blood sugar drops at night (or early morning while still sleeping) the liver starts producing glucose, which raises morning fasting blood sugars. Since I'm on long-acting insulin at night (i know you aren't) he had me decrease it and to be sure to have a reasonable bedtime snack to prevent my blood sugar from dropping too much overnight and stimulating the liver to make sugar. I'm not a doc, this is just what mine told me. It's called Smyogyi Syndrome and I'm not sure but I thing it happens to non-insulin dependent diabetcs also.

Carol, so that's why her doctor told my sister to eat a snack at bedtime and she chowed down, getting more obese every day. She wasn't controlling her eating and she wasn't educating herself and she argued with me, and then just quit paying any attention to it at all. She lost her eyesight bad enough to not be able to drive, and had other chronic illnesses as well. Yes, she died very ill. I don't really know what all medicines she was taking, except that she said she was on six blood pressure meds and they weren't working. She drank as well, and took addictive pain meds which she said were not harmful. Ignorance is not bliss. Dorisena

@dorisena Sorry about your sister, but people make their own choices. She, apparently, did what she wanted though it was not healthy. That's why we have to research and read and be informed so that we can make select what works and is healthy, if that's what we want to do.
Carol

We are on the same team, Carol. I really appreciate that because I was not considered a healthy child and as an adult I always wanted to be the healthiest I could manage, raising the garden, working hard, and sleeping well. At middle age, I began to appreciate learning as much as I can, and that helps me feel competent to face challenges. One of the benefits of all this study is that my brain is still working, a little slower, maybe, but helping my decisions which I must make on my own. I don't have a family that tells me what to do. I am grateful for that. Dorisena

@retiredteacher Carol, you have been under a lot of stress, plus your neuropathy has caused you to not be able to exercise. Both of those can be the cause of your numbers being higher than they had been. Plus, as we age, our bodies do have more of an insulin problem. I am also very controlled and on no medications but even for us the day may come when we need to be on something.

Interestingly, my numbers have been higher recently also. They are not bad, but today my bg was 121 two hours after breakfast. That's higher than usual for me. Also, recently I have been very stressed so now that we are talking about this I wonder if the stress may be causing a problem for me. I am still getting exercise most days.
Jk

@contentandwell I have been so strict over the last three days that I thought my numbers would be down this morning. However, they are as high as ever, then go down during the day.I haven't eaten anything different, but other than household chores I have not been able to exercise. There is always stress but now added more because these numbers just came overnight and I have never seen this before. I have the tremors on the inside and my feet are in pain all of the time.
I am basically anti-doctor because there are only a couple of specialists in this area.
I am just confused---researching and reading trying to see what's going on.
I know you are having stress too. Have you changed anything to try to compensate for higher numbers?
Maybe others are having higher numbers too.
Stay in touch.
Carol

@retiredteacher The only thing I have changed is that I am watching my carbs more carefully. I do not test much, never more than once a day. I may need to start doing that. Hopefully, things will even out before my endo appointment at the end of September. I really do not want to have to take any more pills.
You are under far more stress than I am though. I definitely think that, along with the lack of exercise, are the causes of your problem.
JK