Diabetic with higher sugar in the summer

TCR

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 11:37 am

My husband has diabetes and is on metformin. Every summer his sugar shoots up. Anyone have this issue and know what causes it?

BatyaEsther

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 11:42 am

What does he eat or do differently?
Consider meeting with a Dietitian Diabetic educator.

spoiled

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 4:26 pm

Please pm me, I might be able to help you

Sunny Days

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 6:27 pm

Does he drink enough? Short on fluids can cause hyperglycemia

notshanarishona

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 8:51 pm

I have the opposite.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 9:06 pm

How careful is he with sugars and starches?

Summer is all about ice cream, fresh fruits, french fries, hamburger buns, and all the other picnic favorites. It's h*ll for diabetics. Sad

Definitely check with a dietitian, and see if they can recommend summer treats that won't make him worse.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 10:22 pm

Regardless of what kind of diabetes he has, he is most likely eating something that is causing the higher sugars. No one believes that it matters, but it does. Frantic crummier got it right. People treat themselves more often and then they wonder.

There are, of course other causes of high sugar. Could be dehydration or any one of a dozen other things. One can’t cheat the body.

I recently wore a continuous glucose minitir for two weeks. I actually have great sugars but needed to see it for myself because my A1c is higher than expected. Turns out my average blood sugar is WAY lower than my a1c. Wearing the monitor calmed me down about it. Recording food and Che king the monitor would be very telling.

Highly recommend the diabetes code by Jason Fung and dr Bernstein’s diabetes solution.

Last edited by Chana Miriam S on Tue, Jul 14 2020, 10:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

4sure

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 10:25 pm

It could be dehydration.

itsmeima

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 10:26 pm

Is he outside a lot? This may be a stretch, but can it be that his insulin is going bad?

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Jul 14 2020, 10:29 pm

itsmeima wrote:

Is he outside a lot? This may be a stretch, but can it be that his insulin is going bad?

Doesn’t sound like he is taking insulin.

Plonis

Wed, Jul 15 2020, 12:58 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

How careful is he with sugars and starches?

Summer is all about ice cream, fresh fruits, french fries, hamburger buns, and all the other picnic favorites. It's h*ll for diabetics. Sad

Definitely check with a dietitian, and see if they can recommend summer treats that won't make him worse.

Even better than a dietitian, check to see how HE responds to those foods. For example, I can eat a lot of fresh fruit, or a bowl of ice cream, without spiking my blood sugar. That's how my body responds. But that one hamburger bun can do me in. For other people it can be the opposite.

This is a more expensive, but quicker way to find out what foods are actually good for glycemic control: https://www.daytwo.com

I personally am with Andrea, and would suggest the continuous glucose monitor for two weeks. Really eye-opening what you can miss with fingersticks.

TCR

Sat, Jul 18 2020, 10:52 pm

He doesn't eat that much during the day, just a fruit/milk shake with no added sugar for breakfast, and a salad with tuna for lunch. His blood sugar is also higher upon waking up. He is sick of dieting; tried that, also tried intermittent fasting. He stopped taking metformin because it wasn't helping too much. But every summer the levels go up...he drinks a lot; no dehydration here

Chana Miriam S

Sat, Jul 18 2020, 11:00 pm

TCR wrote:

Suggest he eat real food. Shakes go straight into your blood stream. Anything highly processed does. Even programmes like weight watchers ‘charge’ points for shakes or fruit that is processed like that. When fruit eaten whole is ‘free.’ Not that too much fructose can’t cause other damage ( non alcoholic fatty liver) but blended it’s straight to your blood stream, True story.

It’s actually better to fix type 2 diabetes with food, not drugs if you have a choice. Drugs won’t stop damage, you have to stop eating things that cause sugars to rise to stop diabetes in its tracks. That’s why people on insulin still get diabetic complications. But even people on insulin who change their diets sufficiently can go off it when their sugars return to normal.

Also morning sugars being high are called the dawn phenomenon. You can google it. It’s a thing. Again, overall improving ones diet and ceasing to eat the things that spike sugar specifically can help solve this. To some extent it’s a normal thing given that we all have am cortisol increases which increase our blood sugar to help us get our days going but how high it goes is still a result of insulin resistance and how high our sugars get from what we eat. Once again, I highly suggest reading the diabetes code by Jason Fung.

Miri1

Sat, Jul 18 2020, 11:03 pm

Does he drink enough during the summer?
Could that influence sugar levels?