Blood Sugar Monitors

[Bards]

Hi - I’m nearly 10 months post Ivor Lewis and doing well. I do get dumping episodes though, and (I’m self diagnosing here!) they can include what presents as the drop in blood sugar Insulin trigger aspect (as well as all the other bits..!). Not a disaster, and sometimes self-inflicted by unwise eating decisions. Anyway, as part of my daily diet diary to see what triggers my (increasingly rare) Acid Reflux and Dumping I was looking at Blood Sugar Monitors.

I have absolutely no reason to suppose I’m pre diabetic, though will raise it at August Consultant appointment. Just wondering if anyone else had done this, and if you found it useful. I started doing gym classes as Rehab, and am now a bit committed to fitness and started lifting heavy weights so need to keep an eye on things. Free weights and lightheadedness don’t mix well and I don’t want to become reliant on Dextrosol - I’m trying to maintain a high protein, low sugar diet…

Thanks for any pointers

[jay2908]

hi Bards,

I’m 18 years post op and I’m glad you’re doing well. I’ve recently purchased a FreeStyle Libre 2 continuous monitor. It’s been quite interesting, seeing the spikes and drops in sugar levels. I’m planning to monitor myself for the 2 weeks and see patterns in eating and blood sugar.

As expected, I can see quite steep spikes and drops…which makes sense as I also get quite sleepy at the drops.

When exercising, my sugars remain good. It’s afterwards that you might see a drop.

Good luck with the gym.

Jay

[Bards in reply to jay2908]

Thanks - great to have a specific model referenced. Will order without further ado!

[liz_crisp]

hi I did. 2 week monitor and was surprised at how low my sugar can go before I feel it. I'm 14 years post op. I found it spiked when ever I ate something and then roller coasters if I carry on doing things or slowly flattens out if I sleep. I didn't spike above 8.7 all week despite eating lots of chocolate and cakes. It did drop to 1.8 and it had to drop to 2.8 before I felt it drop. It was surprising that any food would cause a drop regardless of sugar content. Fat intake slowed the whole thing down My resting rate seemed to be around 3.8 which kept registering low sugar Good luck with your recovery

[Bards in reply to liz_crisp]

Thanks - that’s what I’m assuming I’ll find. It turns out scoffing some carbs pre-workout is probably NOT helpful for many of ‘us lot’ May do some unwise eating moves just to check the correlation is as expected. Urrrggghhh…

[052517]

Hi Bards. I am 7 years post of and also use the Freestyle Libre 2 monitor. I wore it for nearly two years to watch the food patterns and blood sugar patterns. I now mostly just wear the monitor during the summer months as I have discovered that the heat and outdoor activities, most likely due to dehydration, can also cause me to have low blood sugars. I pack dextrose everywhere just in case of a low. My dietician has been very helpful finding oral rehydration products that are the correct ratio of salt and sugar solutions, not the healthy athlete marketed products.

[Bards in reply to 052517]

Yes - hydration as a factor something I’m not proactive enough on; appreciate the prod! The blood sugar drop aspect of dumping was never mentioned to me - shouldn’t really have to stumble across it on t’internet. And the idea of a sugar monitor was just a personal late night brain fart of mine, ditto Dextrose; nice to know I’m not as stupid as I look! Dextrose is a great little helper when going down a hole. Hopefully required less when I learn (AND IMPLEMENT!!!) lessons from FL2 monitor. Looking forward to receiving that next week.

Thanks to ALL for valuable advice - and reassurance I’m not casting aimlessly.

[spike3]

Hi, I am 17yrs post ivor Lewis,I still suffer occasionallate dumping and I have learned to recognise the symptoms. When they start I immediately have a 40g bar of kendal mint cake and I find that it deals with the problem in a couple of minutes. Hope this helps.

[Golfer51]

hi Bards, I’ve used Blood Sugar Monitors due to late dumping (5 years post McKeowen’s). My experience is that there was a delay between the CGM reading and my finger prick test. The CGM readings were lower than the finger pricks! I worked with a dietitian who used to work with oesophageal cancer patients. We monitored what I ate for a few months. My worse hypos are after bread, pastry, pizza, cakes, biscuits etc - I don’t eat bread at all but take Creon to slow the gut down. Eat lots of nuts, make my own granola and carry jelly babies with me. The late dumping comes an hour and a half after eating.

I exercise regularly - I’m 71 and play golf two or three times a week (18 holes) lots of nuts, apple, cheese and rye crackers to sustain me. Doesn’t help my handicap sadly!

Geraldine

[CrossTimbers]

Last summer, 6 years post esophagectomy, I was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia. I had periodic episodes for a couple of years prior, but they were infrequent and I didn't really recognize what was happening. Last year the episodes became more frequent and the doctor was able to diagnose. An endocrinologist prescribed both a manual blood meter (AccuChek) and also put me on a loaner CGM recorder for 3 months. The CGM was great for two things: identifying exactly which foods could trigger episodes and what symptoms I felt early on during an episode. In terms of triggers, I found dehydration is much more of a trigger for me than poor diet choices. On the food front, I found certain dried fruits are just as much of a trigger for me as the usual bread and sweets suspects. I've discovered that learning to identify the symptoms early in an episode allows me to respond with hydration and a slight carb boost to stop the episode from progressing. The bottom line is "listen to what your body is telling you." A monitor can help, but you've got to pay attention to what your body is saying and respond appropriately for you. As my diabetic husband reminds me, this is your disease and only you can manage it. Good luck.