Feel as if I have messed my body up losing weight too fast

[determined45yearold]

Hi all,

Sorry i've not introduced myself in the newly diagnosed section but I've been browsing the forums for the last few months and feel part of the community although this is actually my first post.

I was diagnosed on 20th December 2016 as a Type 2 diabetic with a hba1c of 58 and was 92kg (14.5 stone)to start with. I started reading the forums and watching a few videos and everything seemed to make sense regarding consumption of carbs and the effect it had on your body continually wanting to eat them. The first doctor i seen said i had to go on tablets straight away but i asked for 1 month to try and make some changes. My cholesterol was 6.4 and trigs were very high .I had about 2 to 2.5 stone that i could do with losing but still felt pretty healthy and strong although i had been running on empty for many years and always seemed to have problems with sleep.

I started off so well by cutting out virtually all bread, cereals, rice, chips, potatoes etc and started walking at least 4 miles every day although i was already doing a fair bit of walking anyway but had a really sedentary job and 2 hours of commuting each day. I was having bacon, sausage, egg, beans, tomato for breakfast almost every day or some slight variation of it and then having full fat yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and a few strawberries at morning break followed by a salad and chicken dish at lunchtime. I would then have a salad with steak and mushrooms or other meat dish for tea and would have peanut butter or single fat cream at other times to satisfy my hunger if needed although i was rarely hungry.

I managed to get my hba1c down to 44 by the end of January ( yes within about 5 weeks) and had got down to 84kg with cholesterol going down to 5.7 and trigs and liver function back to normal. I was actually feeling better than i had done in many years and had fantastic energy. I had been checking my blood sugar and had seen my fasting blood sugar come own from 7.1 to low 5's which was superb.

I continued along the same path and then got down to about 78kg by the end of february of this year but started feeling a bit rough and had lost muscle along with fat. I didn't really notice it until i took a few photos and seen how thin i had got and noticed i had lost an inch of muscle from my thighs, going from 23" to 22". I still have a BMI of 25 but feel that going any lower than this would make me look far too thin. I must have been consuming far too few calories on my initial diet and this incorporated with the walking and 3 times a week swimming led to such fast weight loss.

I took myself back to the doctors although i actually also went to A and E first as i felt as if i was going to have a heart attack during march. I started going lightheaded and a bit dizzy while i was out doing my walking and also at other various times. Also started feeling a bit weak on the left side of my body and going dizzy when standing up if i knelt down. My blood pressure was around 140/80. The hospital and the doctors didn't take me seriously and just think that i had health anxiety which of course i have got a bit of but I really don't understand what is happening to me at the moment. When the doctor got another hba1c done it had gone down to 39 which he was very happy with but why am I feeling so bad. The blood test did show that i was dehydrated but i have been drinking over 3 litres of water every day so would have thought that would have made some difference by now. I have tried to start re-introducing carbs into my diet as the weight loss is too much but everytime i tend to eat it is as if someone has given my amphetamine or something similiar. I seem to be on an emotional roller coaster every single day and although i am eating enough to keep weight on it is such a chore.

Have i messed up my body in such a small space of time by trying to go low carb? and why am i having such adverse affects everytime i eat. I have been back the doctor to try and get on metformin or whatever but he can't give me it as my Hba1c is so low. whenever i eat anything with a smallish amount of carbs my bloodsugar goes up but as soon as it goes over 7mmol i start to feel so awful. Once it gets back down to 5 to 6 i feel OK This has been going on for six weeks or so now. Have i damaged my metabolism or have i become totally carb intolerant? I know my blood sugar is up again but i can't believe how bad a reaction i'm having to the food i am trying to eat as i really don't think i'm having that many carbs. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[zand]

Your diet looks pretty good to me, plenty of protein there to support your muscles.

Are you having enough salt? Or drinking too much water? Too much water can deplete the electrolytes in our system and cause dizziness etc.

You could add calories by adding fat and see how that goes.

The gut takes a while to get used to changes in the diet so it's best not to swap and change what you eat too often or too quickly.

I don't honestly think you have done any long term harm at all. The weight does just fall off some people with LCHF. You just need to find a way of following lowish carb and balancing that with enough fat. I would add veggies if you want to add a few more carbs. The fact that you feel better at 5-6 than 7 is a good sign.

Others may not agree with me but I think you have done really well. It's just a matter of finding the maintenance diet that suits you for life now. You will get there with trial and error. You were already carb intolerant that's why your HbA1c was 58.

Oh and welcome to the forum

 

[douglas99]

Hi all,

Sorry i've not introduced myself in the newly diagnosed section but I've been browsing the forums for the last few months and feel part of the community although this is actually my first post.

I was diagnosed on 20th December 2016 as a Type 2 diabetic with a hba1c of 58 and was 92kg (14.5 stone)to start with. I started reading the forums and watching a few videos and everything seemed to make sense regarding consumption of carbs and the effect it had on your body continually wanting to eat them. The first doctor i seen said i had to go on tablets straight away but i asked for 1 month to try and make some changes. My cholesterol was 6.4 and trigs were very high .I had about 2 to 2.5 stone that i could do with losing but still felt pretty healthy and strong although i had been running on empty for many years and always seemed to have problems with sleep.

I started off so well by cutting out virtually all bread, cereals, rice, chips, potatoes etc and started walking at least 4 miles every day although i was already doing a fair bit of walking anyway but had a really sedentary job and 2 hours of commuting each day. I was having bacon, sausage, egg, beans, tomato for breakfast almost every day or some slight variation of it and then having full fat yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and a few strawberries at morning break followed by a salad and chicken dish at lunchtime. I would then have a salad with steak and mushrooms or other meat dish for tea and would have peanut butter or single fat cream at other times to satisfy my hunger if needed although i was rarely hungry.

I managed to get my hba1c down to 44 by the end of January ( yes within about 5 weeks) and had got down to 84kg with cholesterol going down to 5.7 and trigs and liver function back to normal. I was actually feeling better than i had done in many years and had fantastic energy. I had been checking my blood sugar and had seen my fasting blood sugar come own from 7.1 to low 5's which was superb.

I continued along the same path and then got down to about 78kg by the end of february of this year but started feeling a bit rough and had lost muscle along with fat. I didn't really notice it until i took a few photos and seen how thin i had got and noticed i had lost an inch of muscle from my thighs, going from 23" to 22". I still have a BMI of 25 but feel that going any lower than this would make me look far too thin. I must have been consuming far too few calories on my initial diet and this incorporated with the walking and 3 times a week swimming led to such fast weight loss.

I took myself back to the doctors although i actually also went to A and E first as i felt as if i was going to have a heart attack during march. I started going lightheaded and a bit dizzy while i was out doing my walking and also at other various times. Also started feeling a bit weak on the left side of my body and going dizzy when standing up if i knelt down. My blood pressure was around 140/80. The hospital and the doctors didn't take me seriously and just think that i had health anxiety which of course i have got a bit of but I really don't understand what is happening to me at the moment. When the doctor got another hba1c done it had gone down to 39 which he was very happy with but why am I feeling so bad. The blood test did show that i was dehydrated but i have been drinking over 3 litres of water every day so would have thought that would have made some difference by now. I have tried to start re-introducing carbs into my diet as the weight loss is too much but everytime i tend to eat it is as if someone has given my amphetamine or something similiar. I seem to be on an emotional roller coaster every single day and although i am eating enough to keep weight on it is such a chore.

Have i messed up my body in such a small space of time by trying to go low carb? and why am i having such adverse affects everytime i eat. I have been back the doctor to try and get on metformin or whatever but he can't give me it as my Hba1c is so low. whenever i eat anything with a smallish amount of carbs my bloodsugar goes up but as soon as it goes over 7mmol i start to feel so awful. Once it gets back down to 5 to 6 i feel OK This has been going on for six weeks or so now. Have i damaged my metabolism or have i become totally carb intolerant? I know my blood sugar is up again but i can't believe how bad a reaction i'm having to the food i am trying to eat as i really don't think i'm having that many carbs. Has anyone else experienced this?

I don't think anyone can answer this question for you.
If it is a medical issue, only your doctor can advise you.
Obviously any weight loss diet will reduce your fat, and muscle.
Exercise helps to avoid some of this, but you usually need to build muscle back up after you've finished losing weight.
I wouldn't expect to feel bad if my BG went over 7, even non diabetics can see BG peaks up to around 11 at times.
As @zand says, maybe try increasing your salt intake.
If you do try altering your diet, only change one thing at a time, and try for at least a couple of weeks, and sometimes you will feel worse before feeling better, but it can be difficult to know if it is that, or if you are just actually getting worse, which is why you should really only be taking advice from your doctor.

 

[douglas99]

This may actually be a form of dehydration, oddly enough


Hyponatremia
It's possible to become overhydrated while exercising. This is known as hyponatremia and it's caused by low sodium (salt) levels in the blood. It can occur if too much water is drunk over a short period of time.
Hyponatremia sometimes affects athletes whose blood sodium level is reduced through sweat and then diluted by drinking large amounts of water.
Symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea, vomiting and headache. In serious cases, the brain can swell, causing confusion, seizures, coma and, in rare cases, death.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dehydration/Pages/Causes.aspx

 

[Resurgam]

I have been eating low carb for a long time and I take a complete vitamins and mineral tablet a few times a week so as to be sure of having enough - yes I eat a lot of fresh plant life, but the soils are so depleted in some places that it is impossible to be sure of getting all the trace elements. Drinking a bit too much water can cause complications too.

 

[lindisfel]

If you tell him to take more sodium with his bp 140/80 you will cause him to have htn if he is salt sensitive. With all that exercise and his age his bp should be lower anyway. The rapidity in which he replaces blood cells from his rapid drop in hba1c is a little disturbing! Full blood tests would not come amiss! D.

 

[nomoredonuts]

Hi @determined45yearold and welcome to the forum.
I put this question over on the Low Carb forum this week, and had some very helpful responses: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/losing-too-much-weight-on-lchf.119786/
One problem is that very few members are qualified to give medical advice (and the guidelines suggest we don't anyway). However you can choose to follow ideas as you wish, and to that end I am upping my protein intake as I build up my missing muscle mass. Peanuts cover both salt/protein for me.

 

[determined45yearold]

Hi thanks for all your replies, I really am starting to wonder if i am lacking in some electrolytes or missing out on some vitamins and minerals, Can i get these tested at boots or some other walk-in pharmacy?

I have noticed that my thumb nail seems to have developed one or two deep ridges that on the internet are referred to as Beau's lines. It is not as severe as the picture i see on the mayoclinic website example but it is quite deep. Along with other illnesses it does mention that zinc deficiency is a possibility along with uncontrolled diabetes.

I thought my blood pressure was a bit high but I did have it down to around 125/78 straight after doing my evening walk back in january but my resting blood pressure is more like 140/80 now and generally around 134/80 after an hour at the gym or walking. I am thinking the High Fat part of low carb could have helped contribute to this.

I think i have had undiagnosed diabetes for a few years as i do seem to have a few mild complications and have managed to get the doctor to get me an appointment with the endocrinologist but only after a real struggle to get it seeing as i'd got my hba1c so low, Unfortunately that appointment isn't until June. I have some tingling in my fingers and toes and also my right foot has some slight tenderness on the underside. I also get some tingling in my thighs and a slight burning under my knee. I don't have these feeling all the time but as soon as my bloods go up i start to get them. I never knew what they where until i was diagnosed in December and i started seeing how they where all parts of diabetes. Can't believe i had been running on empty for so long and never suspected diabetes.

 

[Brunneria]

You asked if you could have damaged your metabolism and become carb intolerant.

The answer is no, you haven't damaged it further (if you have been an undiagnosed diabetic for some time, then it was already 'damaged'). And you may well have given it time to rest, and heal - to some extent.

However, going very low carb does make us temporarily more carb intolerant. There is a very complicated technical explanation for this, but to explain it at the level that I understand: the fewer carbs we eat, the less insulin our body has to produce to deal with those carbs. And our body learns to expect the amount of carbs we regularly eat. So insulin production decreases, and insulin response time slows down. Then, if we suddenly increase the carbs in a single meal or snack, it catches the insulin production snoozing, and it takes a while to gear up. This is what causes sudden high blood glucose, and makes us think we can't tolerate carbs any more.

So if a very low carber eats a donut, they will have a higher blood glucose reaction than a normal carber would for the same donut. But don't worry. It isn't a permanent problem.

The good news is that low carbing gives your pancreas a rest and helps to prevent straining or 'wearing out' the beta cells that produce insulin, and it just takes a few days for the pancreas to get back up to speed for a normal carb intake - at which point, you will get back the old amounts of insulin production.

So, if you decide to re-introduce carbs to your diet, whether for the long or short term, all you need to do is to take it slowly. Gradually increasing carb intake over several days. Don't just fall head first into mashed potatoes and fruit salad.
By doing it gently, you will give your pancreas time to 'wake up' its insulin production, and avoid the sudden spikes in blood glucose you will get if you go too fast.

 

[determined45yearold]

Hi Brunneria, I understand what you are saying but this has been going on for weeks now and i don't seem to be getting any more carb tolerant. I never felt anything like this when i had undiagnosed diabetes and only felt bad when i had a really large meal.

This morning i had 1 piece of burgen linseed toast with butter , 1 avocado and 2 scrambled eggs along with 2 sausages and a two tablespoons of baked beans and felt terrible one hour later. People are talking about consuming 100g of carbs per day as low carb and i don't think i am getting anywhere near that as i can't take the effect it is having on me.

 

[DaftThoughts]

What are your glucose values after these meals when you feel bad?

 

[determined45yearold]

It seems to be almost every meal now but i have checked at times and it may have been around 9 or 10 one hour after eating.

 

[determined45yearold]

@lindisfel
is it possible to get these tests done anywhere but at the doctors surgery? he thinks i just have health anxiety but i really do think there is something else going on and he is very reluctant to give me any more tests. Again in January i felt better than i had done in years but now i am feeling awful so much of the time. My sleep is also really poor and i am up at least 5 times every night with a really dry mouth and need to urinate at that point aswell but the frequency of urination doesn't feel like the diabetes if you know what i mean.

What exactly do you mean about the rapidity that i replace my blood cells? is this too fast considering my change of diet and cutting right back on carbs. looking back i was having at least 5 pieces of white bread most days along with chips, chocolate etc.

Thanks

 

[Brunneria]

Hi Brunneria, I understand what you are saying but this has been going on for weeks now and i don't seem to be getting any more carb tolerant. I never felt anything like this when i had undiagnosed diabetes and only felt bad when i had a really large meal.

This morning i had 1 piece of burgen linseed toast with butter , 1 avocado and 2 scrambled eggs along with 2 sausages and a two tablespoons of baked beans and felt terrible one hour later. People are talking about consuming 100g of carbs per day as low carb and i don't think i am getting anywhere near that as i can't take the effect it is having on me.

There may well be a few other factors at work here.

My own experience (backed up by observing a lot of similar comments on the forum) is that once we are used to having our blood glucose at certain levels, and stable, once we stray out of that comfort zone, we feel a lot worse than we used to.

For example, maybe before diagnosis, your blood glucose was zipping around all over the place from 5mmol/l to 15mmol/l or more. It was what you were used to - and you didn't feel great, but it felt kind of normal.

Then you get the diagnosis, do the research, and switch to very low carb. And your blood glucose settles down, stabilises, and you feel better. And this is your new normal. Could be 4-7mmol/l. Could be higher. Or lower.

At this point, straying outside that new normal actually feels worse than when you had much more blood glucose variation.

Something else to consider - going up to 8 or 9 an hour after food is also normal.
Maybe not ideal, but it is definitely normal for large numbers of people. In fact, I believe that the NHS doesn't consider blood glucose to be a problem unless it strays higher than that at 2 hours.

Now, I prefer to keep lower targets, because I feel better with lower targets. But you will find plenty of people saying things like 'blood glucose rising to 11mmol/l is within the normal range.'

I suppose this is where we all just have to make our own decisions on what is acceptable and tolerable for our long term health.
Have you read the www.bloodsugar101.com website? I find that she talks excellent sense on there, and I aim for her blood glucose targets over the long term, in the hope that I can reduce/prevent deterioration.

Hope that helps.

 

[determined45yearold]

Hi Brunneria, I understand all of what you are saying and I have read so much from all these websites and it makes sense. I feel i did have really good control in January and felt great for it but once the extra weight came off and then i started getting lightheaded and dizzy at times it worried me and continues to worry me. I feel as if my body has now lost a certain amount of Blood Sugar control but as you say i'm probably running at levels it has been previously even though i am not eating any of the sugary stuff i once did and also very limited amount of carbs.

I would say that the feelings am i having after eating could even be making me feel anxious around an hour after i have eaten and then i settle back down . This is not something i have ever experienced before and i have never suffered with anxiety or depression. It seems that no-one else has any of these side effects from elevated blood sugars after eating and i never used to. It is such a roller coaster every day though and i am really starting to struggle with it.

 

[Indy51]

I'm starting to wonder about LADA/1.5. I usually do when people are eating low carb but still having high BG levels.

 

[busydiabeticmum]

Hi all,

Sorry i've not introduced myself in the newly diagnosed section but I've been browsing the forums for the last few months and feel part of the community although this is actually my first post.

I was diagnosed on 20th December 2016 as a Type 2 diabetic with a hba1c of 58 and was 92kg (14.5 stone)to start with. I started reading the forums and watching a few videos and everything seemed to make sense regarding consumption of carbs and the effect it had on your body continually wanting to eat them. The first doctor i seen said i had to go on tablets straight away but i asked for 1 month to try and make some changes. My cholesterol was 6.4 and trigs were very high .I had about 2 to 2.5 stone that i could do with losing but still felt pretty healthy and strong although i had been running on empty for many years and always seemed to have problems with sleep.

I started off so well by cutting out virtually all bread, cereals, rice, chips, potatoes etc and started walking at least 4 miles every day although i was already doing a fair bit of walking anyway but had a really sedentary job and 2 hours of commuting each day. I was having bacon, sausage, egg, beans, tomato for breakfast almost every day or some slight variation of it and then having full fat yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and a few strawberries at morning break followed by a salad and chicken dish at lunchtime. I would then have a salad with steak and mushrooms or other meat dish for tea and would have peanut butter or single fat cream at other times to satisfy my hunger if needed although i was rarely hungry.

I managed to get my hba1c down to 44 by the end of January ( yes within about 5 weeks) and had got down to 84kg with cholesterol going down to 5.7 and trigs and liver function back to normal. I was actually feeling better than i had done in many years and had fantastic energy. I had been checking my blood sugar and had seen my fasting blood sugar come own from 7.1 to low 5's which was superb.

I continued along the same path and then got down to about 78kg by the end of february of this year but started feeling a bit rough and had lost muscle along with fat. I didn't really notice it until i took a few photos and seen how thin i had got and noticed i had lost an inch of muscle from my thighs, going from 23" to 22". I still have a BMI of 25 but feel that going any lower than this would make me look far too thin. I must have been consuming far too few calories on my initial diet and this incorporated with the walking and 3 times a week swimming led to such fast weight loss.

I took myself back to the doctors although i actually also went to A and E first as i felt as if i was going to have a heart attack during march. I started going lightheaded and a bit dizzy while i was out doing my walking and also at other various times. Also started feeling a bit weak on the left side of my body and going dizzy when standing up if i knelt down. My blood pressure was around 140/80. The hospital and the doctors didn't take me seriously and just think that i had health anxiety which of course i have got a bit of but I really don't understand what is happening to me at the moment. When the doctor got another hba1c done it had gone down to 39 which he was very happy with but why am I feeling so bad. The blood test did show that i was dehydrated but i have been drinking over 3 litres of water every day so would have thought that would have made some difference by now. I have tried to start re-introducing carbs into my diet as the weight loss is too much but everytime i tend to eat it is as if someone has given my amphetamine or something similiar. I seem to be on an emotional roller coaster every single day and although i am eating enough to keep weight on it is such a chore.

Have i messed up my body in such a small space of time by trying to go low carb? and why am i having such adverse affects everytime i eat. I have been back the doctor to try and get on metformin or whatever but he can't give me it as my Hba1c is so low. whenever i eat anything with a smallish amount of carbs my bloodsugar goes up but as soon as it goes over 7mmol i start to feel so awful. Once it gets back down to 5 to 6 i feel OK This has been going on for six weeks or so now. Have i damaged my metabolism or have i become totally carb intolerant? I know my blood sugar is up again but i can't believe how bad a reaction i'm having to the food i am trying to eat as i really don't think i'm having that many carbs. Has anyone else experienced this?

Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time!
I was on low carbs (really low) for almost a year... now that I am starting to reintroduce carbs (pregnancy) I have been feeling the same... so now I have gone back to low carbs.
Listen to your body. If something feels wrong and the doctor's answer doesn't help ease your mind... then keep pushing. You know what is right and what feels wrong!

I would go back to gp and annoy them until they do their job... FYI my hubby had to fight for 3 years to be diagnosed with a permanent slipped disc and sciatica. He was left in agony all that time, it wasn't until he became suicidal from the pain that they actually started to take him seriously!

We can't diagnose for you... we can't do tests etc, you need a doctor for that! Sorry, really wish I could help further!

 

[robin47]

Hi, I am 70 and I've tried both HCLF and LCHF diets several times over a 6 year period when I was diagnosed as T2. Finally I settled for the Version of HCLF recommended by the brilliant Dr John McDougall and I've never looked back. His book "The Starch Solution" just made perfect sense and the diet was so easy to apply. Typically I have 40 grams of whole grain rice,kale and garbanza beans(Chick Peas). I rarely feel hungry and after losing 22 lbs initially my weight is now steady at 147 lbs. You do not eat meat, poultry, fish or dairy on Dr McDougall's diet but apart from starch I eat a SMALL amount of fruit(blueberries,raspberries and banana) plus vegetables(broccoli,cabbage,Brussels). Other than that I walk about 1000 miles a year as measured by Map My Walk and/or Fitbit. His website has tons of FREE info and brilliant WEBINARS. I am not saying this will work for everyone but it does for me and I have had great results for the last 3 annual diabetic check ups. Worth a look?

 

[paulins]

Check the impact that medication for other conditions can have on your weight loss attempts and on maintaining weight loss. I lost 6 stones on the NC diet within 5 months of being diagnosed in January 2014 with type 2 diabetes and learned to run. But I have to work incredibly hard to keep it off and it has only been in the last 3 months when one of these other drugs was stopped that it suddenly became much much easier! I mentioned this to my GP who seemed surprised that I had not been told this and it is not on the information sheets that come in the packs with the drugs! Both drugs were to deal with a hormone problem.

 

[determined45yearold]

Hi Paulins,

I don't have any problem losing the weight when doing low carb, i'm struggling to keep it on. I would love to carry on with the high fat part of the diet but i'm concerned about my blood pressure not coming down from 140/80 and my recurring episodes of light headedness and feeling dizzy when out on my walks.

I'm having less and less sleep and seem to only be managing an hour or two at a time and then having to get up with a seriously dry mouth and having to go the toilet. It is so tiring and stressful, i was up five times last night and then struggled to get back to sleep each time.

I also forgot to mention that i had bloods done at the doctors in march and my UE results came back as satisfactory rather than normal. i think the normal values where 2.8 - 7.8 , mine were 6.5 in December and had gone to 8.4 in march, would this be from too much protein in my diet?

I have another doctors appointment next week but really don't feel as if i am getting anywhere but i certainly feel as if something is wrong. My head has been all over the place all day and feels as if i am just about getting back to normal now seeing as i haven't eaten for 3 hours. I don't have my meter with me but i guess my bloods have dropped back to around 5 or 6 and that is why i'm feeling better.