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How do you work out what amount of carbs to start on?

Guna108 said:
@Pinkorchid Does the level that suits a person mean that if I tested 2 hours after eating the BG would have gone up less than 2m/mol? Is it the same if my BG is still at diabetic levels? It was 6.5 when I woke up this morning.
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If you are testing out foods and number of carbs, it is the amount of any rise from before eating to after eating that matters, and how long it stays elevated. The actual level doesn't matter for these types of experiments.
 
Guna108 said:
@Jim Lahey This scares me. I'm a teacher and am struggling to read my lesson plans these days due to blurriness of vision .
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I would strongly advise you to book an eye test soon just to be on the safe side. Also you should be called for annual retinopathy checks at the hospital, all diabetics are. If you speak to your Diabetes nurse maybe you can have your first one during summer holidays of if not the Oct half term.
 
I had read the advice that it's under 130g to start but choose to start at 100g a day, testing showed my blood sugar went down fast but I was seeing a small rise in the morning so I cut it to 85g. I discovered that more than 30g in one meal caused a sugar spike.
I also tested to check the impact of eating fruit and of eating lower carb bread, and have been very strict about the amount I eat.
I know some people go much lower, that depends on you own body and how it reacts - I didn't need to go any lower but I would not have know that without frequent testing at home.
 
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PenguinMum said:
I would strongly advise you to book an eye test soon just to be on the safe side. Also you should be called for annual retinopathy checks at the hospital, all diabetics are. If you speak to your Diabetes nurse maybe you can have your first one during summer holidays of if not the Oct half term.
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@PenguinMum I have just called my Dr surgery as I have not heard anything from the DN or retinopathy check yet. Thanks for the good advice.
 
TriciaWs said:
I had read the advice that under 130g to start but choose to start at 100g a day, testing showed my blood sugar went down fast but I was seeing a small rise in the morning so I cut it to 85g. I discovered that more than 30g in one meal caused a sugar spike.
I also tested to check the impact of eating fruit and of eating lower bread bread, and have been very strict about the amount I eat.
I know some people go much lower, that depends on you own body and how it reacts - I didn't need to go any lower but I would not have know that without frequent testing at home.
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Same here. I go with about 100 to 130g per day and it works for me.
 
Guna108 said:
@PenguinMum I have just called my Dr surgery as I have not heard anything from the DN or retinopathy check yet. Thanks for the good advice.
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Thats good, you usually get the retinopathy test at the hospital sometime within the first year after dx. The sooner you get your DN on to it the better chance of getting it during school hols. Once you have the first one they will call you every 12 months around the same time. In the meantime I recommend you go get an eye test at the Opticians just to check the blurriness.
 
PenguinMum said:
Thats good, you usually get the retinopathy test at the hospital sometime within the first year after dx. The sooner you get your DN on to it the better chance of getting it during school hols. Once you have the first one they will call you every 12 months around the same time. In the meantime I recommend you go get an eye test at the Opticians just to check the blurriness.
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The retinopathy eye screening is done by the national screening service. They visit local areas from time to time. It is not always at a big hospital. In my area it is at the local community hospital. They tend to visit for a few weeks a couple of times a year. You may find yourself having to wait until your local visit is due. However, you can check with your local surgery that you are on the list. I would be careful if you go for an eye sight test at your optician - if you buy new glasses you may be wasting your money as your blurriness may resolve itself as your body becomes used to lower blood sugar levels.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
The retinopathy eye screening is done by the national screening service. They visit local areas from time to time. It is not always at a big hospital. In my area it is at the local community hospital. They tend to visit for a few weeks a couple of times a year. You may find yourself having to wait until your local visit is due. However, you can check with your local surgery that you are on the list. I would be careful if you go for an eye sight test at your optician - if you buy new glasses you may be wasting your money as your blurriness may resolve itself as your body becomes used to lower blood sugar levels.
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I have read on this site about people having injections in their eyes and laser treatments etc. and am just hoping my eyes are ok and I can reverse any damage (if there is any) by reducing my carbs.
 
I decided that it would have to be all or nothing, so opted to keep a food diary (other half made me a class database with clever formulae to do compound dishes - carbs kept below 50g) and cut out all cereals (except small bowl porridge made with water), bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, cakes, biscuits, puddings (except plain Greek yoghurt and 10 blueberries) and alcohol. Root veg such as carrots, parsnips, celeriac only in small quantities but masses of mixed leaf salads, cucumber, courgettes and green veg., interesting cheeses and varied small quantities of meat. Lentils, chick peas, eggs and nuts for vege protein.
And 2 squares of dark chocolate for a daily snack..mmmmm!
I really missed chocolate cake and biscuits to start with but the benefits to energy levels, weight loss, smaller clothes size (back to 12/14 yay!)and, of course, digestive performance ( to be polite about it!) I just wish I’d known all this earlier! Thanks to all on this forum btw.
 
Guna108 said:
I have read on this site about people having injections in their eyes and laser treatments etc. and am just hoping my eyes are ok and I can reverse any damage (if there is any) by reducing my carbs.
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That is not something likely to happen to you. That is when they have macular degeneration or very serious eye issues. I am sure your eyes will be fine.
 
Because my bg is very sensitive to carbs I started at 80 gms about a year ago and I am now aiming for 50 gms per day. Initially I wanted to get off insulin (and did) and now I need to reverse my neuropathy. It was getting worse gradually for 5 years and now bg and neuropathy seem to be stabilizing but need to get better. See what works best for you then gradually decrease to as low as you can go. Is that 'limboing' down?
 
Guna108 said:
@Pinkorchid Does the level that suits a person mean that if I tested 2 hours after eating the BG would have gone up less than 2m/mol? Is it the same if my BG is still at diabetic levels? It was 6.5 when I woke up this morning.
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If you test before the meal and then 2 hours after a meal and it is no more than 2m/ than it was when you first tested then yes thats fine the meal was not to carby
 
Bluetit1802 said:
That is not something likely to happen to you. That is when they have macular degeneration or very serious eye issues. I am sure your eyes will be fine.
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I had retinal screening in June 18 (background retinopathy so nothing to worry about) a routine eye test and new glasses in Nov 18 and noticed bluriness with the new glasses over the next 6 weeks. I went to my Doctor who advised me to have another eye test to be on the safe side and it was discovered I had a real issue which got me an urgent referral to the hospital by the end of January 19. I have Branch retinal vein occlusion and if I hadnt had the second eye test in 2 months and had waited 6 months for my annual screening I would have lost more of my sight than I needed to. I am now on a course of Lucentis injections to save losing any more sight. That was my reason for strongly advising the OP to get an eye test just to rule out anything serious. I agree that someone new to Diabetes doing LCHF should delay getting new glasses while their levels settle but eye tests do pick up any other issues. I am glad I had two in 8 weeks.
 
PenguinMum said:
I had retinal screening in June 18 (background retinopathy so nothing to worry about) a routine eye test and new glasses in Nov 18 and noticed bluriness with the new glasses over the next 6 weeks. I went to my Doctor who advised me to have another eye test to be on the safe side and it was discovered I had a real issue which got me an urgent referral to the hospital by the end of January 19. I have Branch retinal vein occlusion and if I hadnt had the second eye test in 2 months and had waited 6 months for my annual screening I would have lost more of my sight than I needed to. I am now on a course of Lucentis injections to save losing any more sight. That was my reason for strongly advising the OP to get an eye test just to rule out anything serious. I agree that someone new to Diabetes doing LCHF should delay getting new glasses while their levels settle but eye tests do pick up any other issues. I am glad I had two in 8 weeks.
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That must have been an awful time for you. I hope things are better for you now.

Yes, no harm in seeing an optician, and probably good advice, but I wouldn't be wasting my money on new glasses before giving the blurriness chance to settle down.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
That must have been an awful time for you. I hope things are better for you now.

Yes, no harm in seeing an optician, and probably good advice, but I wouldn't be wasting my money on new glasses before giving the blurriness chance to settle down.
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Thank you. I have my second injection next Wed (they are 4 weekly) and with the info and support from the forum I have coped brilliantly. So if anyone needs them do not worry. I am just grateful that such treatment is available.
I concur that the OP should hold out on new glasses but I do think an eye test for the blurriness would be reassuring. Best wishes to you and the OP.
 
130 grams is a figure I believe "we" should dispute. This is what the high carb peddlers say is low carb due to their insistence that the brain requires this to function. This is why some "low carb" studies are still wins for low carb, but not as wide as you would expect. One of the original low carb keto guys is Eric Westman, he likes 20 grams per day of carbs and keeping things simple https://www.dietdoctor.com/se/wp-content/2014/10/no_sugar_no_starch_diet.pdf - I wouldn't do the snacks, but as a starting point for a newbie, I think not bad.
 
Mbaker said:
130 grams is a figure I believe "we" should dispute. This is what the high carb peddlers say is low carb due to their insistence that the brain requires this to function. This is why some "low carb" studies are still wins for low carb, but not as wide as you would expect. One of the original low carb keto guys is Eric Westman, he likes 20 grams per day of carbs and keeping things simple https://www.dietdoctor.com/se/wp-content/2014/10/no_sugar_no_starch_diet.pdf - I wouldn't do the snacks, but as a starting point for a newbie, I think not bad.
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I am vegetarian for religious reasons and it seems that my lacto veg diet of no meat, fish,eggs means being very low carb will be a little harder than for those who eat eggs etc. I just hope I won't feel too hungry! I'm going to give the vegan leto diet a go after I finish the 3 months on the vlcd .
 
PenguinMum said:
I had retinal screening in June 18 (background retinopathy so nothing to worry about) a routine eye test and new glasses in Nov 18 and noticed bluriness with the new glasses over the next 6 weeks. I went to my Doctor who advised me to have another eye test to be on the safe side and it was discovered I had a real issue which got me an urgent referral to the hospital by the end of January 19. I have Branch retinal vein occlusion and if I hadnt had the second eye test in 2 months and had waited 6 months for my annual screening I would have lost more of my sight than I needed to. I am now on a course of Lucentis injections to save losing any more sight. That was my reason for strongly advising the OP to get an eye test just to rule out anything serious. I agree that someone new to Diabetes doing LCHF should delay getting new glasses while their levels settle but eye tests do pick up any other issues. I am glad I had two in 8 weeks.
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Thanks for your useful advice. My test at the opticians will be in a month as it is the first Saturday available. I can't get weekdays due to my job. They have a special scanner to do a thorough check.
 
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