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Low carb not working for Type 2?

Dr Snoddy

Dr Snoddy

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1,322
Location
London, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
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I am interested to know if any Type 2's have stuck to a low carbohydrate diet but have not managed to get into remission? We are delighted to celebrate those who have but do not seen to hear from people for whom this approach has not worked
 
Define “working” and remission.

I’m consistently under diagnostic levels but cannot reach normal, stuck in the prediabetic range on under 50 a day and just into ketosis. Without low carb I’d undoubtedly be higher and possibly need medication which I currently don’t. I consider it to be working and in remission (under 48mmol and no meds) as if I presented myself to an unsuspecting dr I wouldn’t get a diagnosis. I don’t think low carb perfect and returns everyone to a totally normal situation but it’s the best first line defence we have right now.
 
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I was wondering about people who still find that their blood glucose remains in the diabetic range despite having a low carbohydrate diet ( defined as < 130g carbohydrate per day) and maybe also taking Metformin.
 
I was in remission on low carb for 9 years. Since having Covid in March 2020 I can no longer control my T2 with diet only.
 
Odd to hear the question asked, yes I guess that’s me but I achieved remission to the point the DSN suggested taking me off the register, I was around 20 to 30g per day and cured myself for a couple of years.

Unfortunately I found that I could not deviate at all from the path of enlightenment, If I ate a sandwich because I was on the road and stuck for lunch, my numbers would rocket. There was zero tolerance as far as my body was concerned, If I ate the sandwich and my BG went up to 17 it would stay there for ever, felt like punishment.

Eventually I failed in my opinion because BG crept up and up, gave in to the prospect on insulin, after many months of fighting with DSN, I still mostly eat lchf, but now my numbers are pretty good and if I need to “cheat” and eat the sandwich, I can get my numbers back to normal in 20 minutes or better still avoid the spike altogether.

I have come to think of diabetes as an allergy to carbs.

I have to say in the days of low carb yet high BG, it wasn’t much fun.
 
I am not in remission but consider to have my BG under control. I am under 100 g of carbs a day usually under 50g. My last A1C was 38 and hasn’t been higher the 40 for 4 years.
I still can’t get my FBG under 7 most days. And still have weight to loose to be considered normal weight.
However if I eat any grains, legumes, or fruit that isn’t berries I spike to over ten.
So I have managed my BG but not in remission. It is not a realistic goal for me to have and a have good quality of life at the same time.
 
I have been eating no more than 40 gm of carbs a day for some time, as my Hba1c was 42 when I ate no more then 50 gm of carbs and I really wanted to be in the truly normal numbers.
My Hba1c levels are still 42 - though if anything my after meal blood glucose levels are lower still.
 
Dr Snoddy said:
I was wondering about people who still find that their blood glucose remains in the diabetic range despite having a low carbohydrate diet ( defined as < 130g carbohydrate per day) and maybe also taking Metformin.
Click to expand...
mine is in the bottom of the diabetic range now, despite low carbing but no meds. I have been like this since getting covid. Before then I was in the pre=diabetic range for 9 years almost.
 
Dr Snoddy said:
I was wondering about people who still find that their blood glucose remains in the diabetic range despite having a low carbohydrate diet ( defined as < 130g carbohydrate per day) and maybe also taking Metformin.
Click to expand...
I’m still in the diabetic range doing low carb I’ve just lowered to 140g carbs a day..I took Metformin for 2 days it made me feel like I was having a heart attack !!
 
Fenn said:
Odd to hear the question asked, yes I guess that’s me but I achieved remission to the point the DSN suggested taking me off the register, I was around 20 to 30g per day and cured myself for a couple of years.

Unfortunately I found that I could not deviate at all from the path of enlightenment, If I ate a sandwich because I was on the road and stuck for lunch, my numbers would rocket. There was zero tolerance as far as my body was concerned, If I ate the sandwich and my BG went up to 17 it would stay there for ever, felt like punishment.

Eventually I failed in my opinion because BG crept up and up, gave in to the prospect on insulin, after many months of fighting with DSN, I still mostly eat lchf, but now my numbers are pretty good and if I need to “cheat” and eat the sandwich, I can get my numbers back to normal in 20 minutes or better still avoid the spike altogether.

I have come to think of diabetes as an allergy to carbs.

I have to say in the days of low carb yet high BG, it wasn’t much fun.
Click to expand...

You haven't failed at ALL. What you have done is find a solution that works for you after trying many things, it may not be the perfect approach but it works for you, well done. x
 
Lesley's said:
I’m still in the diabetic range doing low carb I’ve just lowered to 140g carbs a day..I took Metformin for 2 days it made me feel like I was having a heart attack !!
Click to expand...
You may find, as I did, that I had to get to around 100g of carbs or under a day to make a difference to my blood sugar levels. Anything above that makes my blood sugar levels high again.
 
As far as I know, I'm in remission range, but I'm not off all meds yet. Sadly, I am way past due for a checkup, but to be frank, I hate going to the blood collection lab under current covid procedures so I'm procrastinating (and have been for months).

So...maybe? Maybe not? Not sure yet.
 
I have 20g carb a day and my last Hba1c was 50 - the highest I’ve been - I am disappointed as when I was doing 70g carb with a split dose of 80mg gliclizide I was in the very low 40s even had a couple of 39s - I am seriously considering asking to go back onto the glic, I’ve been off it 3 years and haven’t had a Hba1c below 48. Maybe I’m just too far down the line I don’t know. I have a new surgery now since we moved and they are very pro keto so will have to see
 
Not on metformin, can’t tolerate it at all even the slow release.
I did under 50g of carbs for one month then under 10g for two months and lost only 5 points on hba1c going from 58 to 53.
I’m on trulicty 0.75mg weekly.
I’m now back on ultra low carb after few days off the wagon.
Majority of days I’m under 20g of carbs (possibly about 15], once or twice a week at weekends I have a meal that’s under 40g.
 
For about 4 years LC worked but now I'm struggling. Very high stress levels I feel are to blame. Still no meds though I asked for help last year and was refused. I'm sure if I cut out all carbs it would work but I don't want to. Still eating same as what gave me HbA1c's in the 30's now in the 40's so know it's no longer working. Not bad enough for anyone to help me but I know it's getting worse.
 
I've done low carb for several years, with the exception of going off the rails last year... never reached remission. Even doing Keto for about 2 years, still needed insulin. I'm now on around 30-60g of carbs per day, 44 units of long acting, and 6 units per meal of fast acting. If I wasn't doing low carb, then I'd be on so much more insulin.
 
Oh and for your under 130g I had been doing that if not stricter for about 2 years and lowest I got was 53
 
Well very low carb for me is working. I keep to less than 20 grams a day and usually less than 10 grams a day.

I think that we all have to make our own choices and there are so many factors. One factor for me was that I had a very high stress job. I have just resigned and hope my new job will be less stressful. I currently have a cold and that has increased my levels. I took the approach that food was the one thing that I could usually control so I should do that. I am also worried about insulin resistance and wanted to delay as long as possible adding more insulin to a system that was already resistant. I'm fortunate in that I don't have to worry about money when it comes to shopping for groceries and my husband is happy to cook for me every day. So what is possible for me may not be possible for someone else.

I expect that over time this may become more difficult unless I keep really low carb as that is the only thing in my view that has any possible hope of lowering my insulin resistance or. at least not increasing it.

For me the real challenge is comfort eating. I use artificial sweeteners and don't think I could sustain very low carb without them. I tried stopping them but it didn't go so well. I will have another attempt at some stage as I would really prefer not to be reliant on them.

The only other thing keeping me on the straight and narrow is that low carb has got rid of my asthma.

I agree that my view is that I am really intolerant to carbs.
 
I think we hear from ppl ‘not in remission’ all the time.
Personally I have never expected or even wished for remission.

as far as I am concerned claiming remission is likely to lead to complacency, and that is something I definitely want to avoid! How many times have we seen posters get everything under control with weight loss and low carb, then a year later they return having fallen off the wagon, gained weight and back on their old food habits?

it is human nature - diets rarely work, do they?

but I don’t see low carb as a diet. It’s a lifestyle, and one I need to keep up as long as I live.
If I looked on it as a step towards something I would be sowing the seeds of my own destruction.
Instead, I see it as a path I must stick on permanently. Mindset is everything.

By eating keto and gluten free I can eat an enjoyable range of foods and keep my blood glucose consistently below diabetic levels, and keep my reactive hypoglycaemia at bay (it is always lurking to strike if I let my guard down).
I’m happy with that, and I definitely don’t think ‘remission’ is an appropriate word for my situation.
 
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