Type 2 How long before readings fall?

[andi2508]

I have been diabetic for about 4 years, metformin and diet controlled. In March last year I had normal range readings during the day, HBA1C of 42. After an absolutely horrendous year, which included watching both my parents die within weeks of each other, I've had several months off the rails with anxiety and depression. My morning readings are now 10+ and readings during the day are 7+. Should I ask for more Metformin (currently 1000mg) or will it go back down with weight loss and a low carb diet? Have I passed the point of no return?

 

[EllieM]

I'm very sorry about your parents. Stress on its own is a common cause for raised bgs and is also a common cause for people to fall off the rails diet wise.

Have I passed the point of no return?

Hopefully unlikely as many of the folk on here start with much higher bgs and reduce their bgs to normal with diet and no medication at all.

So, assuming you can motivate yourself to get back on the low carb wagon, you should hopefully find those readings go back down quite quickly. And as a result of normalising your bgs, your weight is likely to drop too. The fasting blood sugar tends to always be the last to come down, at least according to the T2s who post here.

But don't hesitate to talk to your doctor, particularly about your depression.

Lots of virtual hugs.

 

[VashtiB]

hello,

I echo @EllieM 's post that stress can raise blood sugar levels and also make it easier to fall off the rails diet wise.

My suggestion is to start off by recording what you eat particularly the amount of carbs. After a few days make a real effort to lower your carbs. My suggestion start by sticking to things that have no or very low carbs- cheese, double cream, meat, fish, eggs etc and see what effect that has on your levels. The sooner your bring them back down the less risk of complications.

Virtual hug and sympathy for what sounds like a really tough time.

 

[Robbity]

You've obviously had a really rotten time, and I'm sorry to hear about the loss of both your parents. Realising that you're now an orphan - even an older one like me - can come as quite a shock!

I've has my glucose levels go up due to stress (and other issues) - in spite of keeping to LCHF, though I have also done some occasional comfort eating - but when these situations resolve themselves my glucose levels have come right back down again - no problem. So get back low carbing, but if you feel it would help, then there's no harm in checking with your GP regarding more metformin as well.

 

[andi2508]

Thank you everyone, it certainly has been the worst time of my life so far. Upwards and onwards as they say. Today is day 1, I'm going to take it slowly as this weekend has been a tough one emotionally. My BS was 9.4 this morning, breakfast at 11am and I've just had lunch, I had all bran,full fat Greek yoghurt and blueberries with a cup of tea for breakfast and 2 ryvita with chicken and coleslaw for lunch with another cup of tea. My reading before lunch was 9.1 so maybe the all bran wasn't a great idea I'm planning chicken with a creamy sauce, asparagus and spinach for dinner .
I'm also going to try slowly narrowing my eating window to 8 hours with eventually 2 meals and just coffee in the morning.
I have about 5 stone to lose so I'm hoping that I will lose some weight too. I'm also going to up my exercise, more walking etc.
If that doesn't show some results over the next couple of weeks then it's back to my GP.

 

[Mbaker]

Using your monitor is a really good idea to see how foods react. A couple of tweaks to the meals above could be to replace the Bran Flakes with Coconut Flakes, essentially saving 5 times the amount of carbs, but with the same convenience (but admittedly more cost):

Ryvita are quite carby also, so a replacement could be slices of ham or toasted / air fried bacon. Just is case you are unaware you divide the carbs by 4 to get an indication of the amount of sugar equivalent.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Should I ask for more Metformin (currently 1000mg)

In my view there is no harm in increasing your medication for a while as you work to get your weight and BG down.

You can reduce the medication again once your BG is back down where it was.

 

[Resurgam]

If your numbers don't start to reduce by themselves then swap the high carb foods for lower ones, blueberries are the highest carb of the berries, other targets would be the crispbread and cereal.