Regaining BG control

[Marie4james]

Hi everyone, I was dx with T2 back in 2014 and my GP put me straight on Gliclazide - eventually to 80mg twice a day. After research on these forums I began the LCHF diet and started experiencing regular hypos so came off medication. I gained good control through diet for a couple of years. I then fell into a false sense of security and stopped checking my BM ans wasn't
careful with my eating. This, of course has caught up with me and my latest HBA1c was 53. I was prescribed gliclazide again (one 40mg) but immediately experienced hypos. I am now back to the LCHF, however, I am finding the levels of carb I can tolerate now to be much lower than before, with post meals spikes 10-13. Background info: I am a healthy weight (always been low end of my ideal) but very inactive due to multiple orthopaedic surgeries from a fractured spine, so walking off a meal isn't an option. Does anyone have any insight into how I can get this under control? Should I ask for metformin? Should I give my BG a chance to settle after a period of being super strict on LCHF? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi everyone, I was dx with T2 back in 2014 and my GP put me straight on Gliclazide - eventually to 80mg twice a day. After research on these forums I began the LCHF diet and started experiencing regular hypos so came off medication. I gained good control through diet for a couple of years. I then fell into a false sense of security and stopped checking my BM ans wasn't
careful with my eating. This, of course has caught up with me and my latest HBA1c was 53. I was prescribed gliclazide again (one 40mg) but immediately experienced hypos. I am now back to the LCHF, however, I am finding the levels of carb I can tolerate now to be much lower than before, with post meals spikes 10-13. Background info: I am a healthy weight (always been low end of my ideal) but very inactive due to multiple orthopaedic surgeries from a fractured spine, so walking off a meal isn't an option. Does anyone have any insight into how I can get this under control? Should I ask for metformin? Should I give my BG a chance to settle after a period of being super strict on LCHF? Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi Marie4james,
Sorry to hear that your HbA1C has gone higher again.
I too am a TOFI (Thin Outside, Fat Inside) T2.
I don't have the experience of a relapse or 'carb creep' yet as I am still fairly new to T2D.
However I do know that the phrase Low Carb covers a very broad range , so hopefully there is plenty of scope for further reduction, if that seems OK for you.

From my own experience I found it useful to just keep gradually reducing carbs or cutting out certain foods to which I had the worst BG reaction. I wanted to find the right 'Way of Eating' for me because I need this to be sustainable, so I didn't leap straight in with Keto, but some people prefer to do it the opposite way around to me.

As a reminder, things other than Carbs can raise your BG including:
Lack of sleep
Stress
Infection
Injury
Medication including (but not limited to) Statins

Metformin is considered one of the mildest, safest T2 drugs, indeed some in here take it even after their BG is well into non-diabetic levels. So it is certainly worth considering.
But only you can decide if you want to go that route earlier, or wish to try a bit harder with LCHF first.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @Marie4james,

Well done for getting back on the wagon. Great start!

Since when have you gone lchf again? What's your level of carbohydrates?

I would probably give it a couple of weeks to see if blood sugars settle again.

However, if you find that going low carb/keto doesn't seem to improve blood sugars, it might be worthwhile getting some more tests.