Blood Sugar Spikes

Hello there, I usually post on the post-op pregnancy board but I have a question that relates to post-ops who are at least a year out from surgery. I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and have been having trouble with my blood sugar spiking within an hour after eating. Then, it goes back down to the normal range within two hours. I did not previously have diabetes and my OB has not yet diagnosed me with gestational diabetes, but she is concerned. Earlier today I spoke with the nurse at the office where I had my GBP four years ago. She said she has heard of some patients having this problem and suggested I stay away from foods with high sugar content. Well, I generally do not eat anything that has more than 10g of sugar per serving. I'm seeing this spike with a variety of foods. Has anyone out there experienced this? How did you and you doctor handle this? Thanks so much in advance for your reply!

Hi Denyse, Since I had my surgery, 5 years ago, I have noticed that my system is more prone to sugar spikes than it used to be,  I dump, so I never actually eat anything high in sugar.   I find that anything with white flour will cause that spike .   If I eat a handful of pretzels or some crackers......I can count on a spike and then a huge drop in my blood sugar....followed by shakes and sweats if I don't get some protein into myself quickly.   I avoid it by sticking to whole grains and NEVER eating any of it without being in combo with a protein (whole grain cracker and string cheese for instance).     Good luck with your pregnancy and congratulations!

Thanks for replying! I am finding on the post-op pregnancy board that several others have had this problem. I have a feeling now that we are going to see more research relating to blood sugar issues after WLS. Or maybe there already is some and neither I nor my OB has seen it yet! I do know the protein with everything trick but I don't always use it. I'm going to have to start though! Have a great evening!

Is ti spiking way UP or way DOWN?

Hi Vitalady! It's spiking way up - like as much as 150-200 within the first hour. Then it's back to the 70's or so within the second hour. By the way - I used to go to your website all the time! I learned so much from you. My friend Ann used to buy all kinds of stuff from you when we both had our surgeries four years ago. I hope you are doing well! :)

Thanks for your support!  We are both doing great.  This blood sugar thing makes us crazy, though.  But it drops down.  Suddenly.  And if we eat carbs, we can usually expect this about 2 hrs later, but it's cyclical.  Sometimes it hits for no reason whatsoever.  And of course, hitting at 3am, which is then MANY hours after food is very frightening.  Most docs blame us, insisting we must've eaten carbs to have the reaction, but I mean,  come on, after almost 13 yrs, I KNOW what I've eaten!  LOL  On the yahoo Grads, there are YEARS of files in the archives on this.  I see at the ASBS in June, this subject will be discussed, and what we ate will be blamed, EVEN THOUGH there is also research showing that there is a disorder in the pancreas that can cause this.  Noninsulinoma Pancreautogenous Hypoglycemic Syndrome  (NIPHS)  Noninsulinoma Pancreautogenous Hypoglycemic Syndrome  (NIPHS) You are preggo, you said?  (Congrats!)  Are you having corresponding lows or only normal & high?

I started having the glucose plunges/lows at 2 yrs out..I have to eat every 2-3 hrs..and yes! usually if I eat something higher in sugar or carbs within that 2 sometimes 1 hr I will have a drop. My doc has done a lot of labs periodically (the other doc and the new docs too) including fasting glucose tests I do not test positive for diabetes or low blood sugar. Using the glycometer shows me however that I have had days (really hard to get up on those!) with my glucose testing at 55!!!! come on now ...    I HAVE wondered before if it isn't something to do with the pancreas...interesting point there!   I normally eat high protein with a 60/40 ratio of protein/carbs for the most part. A lot of people from a couple years ago hit that 1.5 to 2 yrs mark and had the SAME thing going on..there's got to be some correlation somewhere??? doesn't there?

Absolutely.  Like I said, on the yahoo Grad list, we have years worth of archives on this subject.  To post there one has to be 1+ yrs out.  But 18-24 months is average.  For me, 20 months.  The same time the sugar craving**** My ND would like to do a GTT on me, but NO WAY!  That would make me feel so miserable I doubt if I could drive myself home even after. Oddly, I was with a freind who is (big surprise) about 16 months out and started having these to the edge of unconsciousness.  We were sitting at the endocrinolgist (pancreas is their affair), and she started spacing out on me.  Got the glassy eyes, slurring like a drunk and all that.  They tested and she was at 111.  WHAT?  She started the sweats and shakes, tested herself (when she scooped her brain together to work the meter) and now 103.  Getting worse, she tested again at 101 and we think that was as low as it got.   ???? She said her norm was 120-130.  Our conclusion on the Grad list was that it had dropped so very suddenly that it felt like the rug was pulled out from under her.  I saw it happen and didn't believe my own eyes.  My norm is around 85, or so my routine lab work indicates when I'm feeing fine. Another adder to this is that there are dogs who can detect low sugar.  My friend has one who is being trained for other purposes, but just detected one coming on the other day for her.  Her meter showed her at 84, but she feels bad at 80.  The dog caught it before she did.  Wish my dogs had a clue and could tell me before my brain goes numb.  Hate that feeling. I do keep PB and crackers in every nook & cranny of my life.  In case.  Glucose just means I'll have another in a few hours, so I avoid that.

Thank you for the congrats! This is all very interesting to me. I knew there had to be some research on this out there somewhere.  I have never had a glucometer reading below 70. But thinking back to before I was pregnant, I did experience some times when I felt shaky several hours after eating. When that happened, I felt like I couldn't get food into my mouth fast enough! I can't recall what I had eaten prior to those episodes though. I once asked my primary care physician about it and he dismissed it as nothing. That hasn't happened in awhile, but I generally eat about every three hours now so I could be avoiding having any lows that way. I can understand why doctors would blame us as post-ops and what we are eating for the blood sugar issues. It's very easy for most of us to fall back into bad habits and many of us begin to tolerate sugar and other carbs. But if we are keeping food journals and not seeing the highs and lows corresponding to carbs then there must be another reason for it!  I know that I have to be careful with sugary drinks like coke, sweet tea and juices. Those are things I just don't touch. However, it took me some time to understand that I have some issues with white flour. I can actually tolerate chocolate better than white flour. I've also noticed that using the Glycemic Index to help me regulate the carbs that I eat does help me feel better (and not dump). However, I have not been checking my blood sugar for a long enough period of time to know which foods are causing problems.   I am going to look around and see if I can find any of the information you mentioned from the ASBS.

Denyse, this is diabetes. Plain and simple. Spikes within 1-2 hours of eating is what happens to diabetics on a regular basis. I have been a diabetic for years, but have had a 5.3 A1c for about a year since i had RNY , and no more insulin or meds. That doesn't mean I don't have spikes after meals, it means my average blood sugar is in a normal range most of the time. You need a glucose tolerance test and see if you are diabetic and need any kind of treatment.