Higher blood sugar due to "getting older"?

(Bob M) #1

My doctor told me my blood sugar was higher last time. It was. This is a comparison of what my blood sugar used to be over about 14 months. You can see they were basically exactly alike:

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I think my blood sugar is higher because I had to switch to a different drug, and after I switched drugs, that’s when I developed higher blood sugar. I can’t prove that, though, because I wasn’t religiously taking blood sugar (why do so, when the above is what I was getting?). I started retaking blood sugar when my HbA1c went up. This is what caused me to start taking blood sugar measurements (the blue test of 5.6 was in October 2023, as compared to 5.2 at the end of March):

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That’s an increase of 0.4 in about 6 months. I started the new drug sometime around March of 2023. Probably a bit before.

Edit2: 5.2 = 103 mg/dl blood sugar; 5.6 = 114 mg/dl blood sugar, an increase in 11 points AVERAGE per DAY, in 6 months, with no change in eating.

My doctor thinks I’m getting older and getting older is what’s causing my blood sugar to go up. I’m not convinced.

I’m eating slight more carbs: some raw milk, and a few chocolate chips at night. Today, my lunch with raw milk (but also some onion) caused my blood sugar to go from 120 to 138. The chocolate chips last night caused my blood sugar to go from 100 to maybe 115 (but I also had tomato too). That’s the extent of carbs. And my blood sugar goes up and back down in 1 hour.

Edit: To provide perspective, my morning jog with my pup, and yesterday’s 60 minute body weight training, caused a 25 point rise in blood sugar, while “lunch” (first meal) and “dinner” (second meal) are currently providing about a 15 point rise.

That average glucose was 93. Now, I rarely go below 100 even at night. This morning, my blood sugar was about 107, and last night I hit high 90s.

I should note that I’m the thinnest I’ve been in a long time, and also the strongest. I’m up to 10 pull ups, which isn’t bad.

So, did you suddenly get higher blood glucose while getting older? I just turned 60.

(Brian) #2

If you are going to keep taking the new meds, it would be interesting to see whether the A1C levels off at the new level or continues to go up. And if you do discontinue the new meds whether the A1C levels will return to previous levels.

I don’t buy the “because you’re getting older” thing. But then again, I’m no medical expert, just a schmuck on the internet reading posts and peckin’ out replies. LOL!

(Bob M) #3

Hi Brian,

That’s the crux: I have to take the new meds. I’d love to stop, and see what happens to blood sugar, but I can’t stop.

I agree with you though that it seems “age” is unlikely. I would think that it’s the meds, because it’s really hard to get a 10 point rise in HbA1c in 6 months if you keep your eating the same.

The only other thing I’m concerned about is something happening to my pancreas. These are some other tests over the same dates:

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My fasting insulin used to be around 10, and on those tests it was really high, as was my c-peptide.

I just don’t know how to interpret these though. If insulin is that high, you would think that would drive down blood sugar or at least prevent fat loss. I should be gaining fat. But I’ve been losing fat and gaining muscle. Doesn’t make sense.

(Edith) #4

Did you start adding the raw milk about six months ago? That would be the easiest thing to test for now since you cannot stop your med. Milk is a tricky thing. Maybe your body hyper-reacts to the lactose?

(Bob M) #5

I can’t remember when I added it, though I could stop drinking it. I won’t drink it tomorrow (I’ll eat OMAD with no “lunch”), so I’ll see if I can compare what happens.

(Bob M) #6

This is probably why it’s not milk:

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This is today’s blood sugar. The humps around 6:30 am are a jog with my pup. The hump at 10:30am-11:30am is lunch with raw milk (and onions). You can see the blood sugar going down after that.

If raw milk was causing higher blood sugar, I would think it would do so longer.

(Bob M) #7

More data. Today, I’ve not eaten anything. Notice the totally flat blood sugar (the bump at around 6:45 am was due to a shower, I think; not sure whether that’s a sensor issue or if taking a shower affects blood sugar):

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But the average is 118. While not eating. And here’s some data analysis. I’d ignore at least the first day, which is where I put the sensor in.

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The standard deviation is only 10-12, meaning I’m not eating high carb. Thus, it’s not food that’s causing high blood sugar.

To me, this means it’s the drug I switched to or a physical issue with me, perhaps my pancreas. I can’t go off the drug, so there’s no way to test that. I have a physical coming up, and I’m going to get a bunch of blood tests done. After that, I’ll see what happens.