Fed up with constant high morning levels!

[rowan]

I'm working so hard at this, sticking to 50-60g carbs a day and feeling a lot beeter than a few weeks ago! But I'm really fed up with this live dump thing, it's spoiling everything and will affect my HBA1C next month! It's commonly 12 - 14 in the mornings and gradually goes down thoughout the day to around 7 - 8in the evening. I have a low-carb snack last thing at night and have started having breakfast as soon as I get up, but it's already too late by then.
The only thing I haven't tried is having something to eat when i get up during the night for the loo, not a habit I'd want to get into, but if that would help I'll do it!

 

[Kaz70]

I know what you mean - I know my liver is trying to be helpful but I wish it had an off switch!

 

[rowan]

I know what you mean - I know my liver is trying to be helpful but I wish it had an off switch!

Oh I wish!
I just don't understand it. I've drastically cut down carbs, i practically lived on them until 3-4 weeks ago and now have hardly any because I desperately don't want to go on insulin so need my test next month to be good, but I can't seem to do anything about these high levels, they're already high when I wake up!

 

[jack412]

the morning liver dump is the last thing that goes..give it a month and see your numbers then.
just cut the carbs as much as you can. if you are very insulin resistant 50-60 may be too much, I would go down to 20g for the month, the atkins induction diet

 

[rowan]

So it does eventually go? Thank goodness for that! I was wondering why people who have got their levels right down don't seem to get high mornings. Maybe I'm too impatient but I really expected to be well under the teens all the time by now!

My weight loss stopped for the last week or so too but this morning there's been a 1.5kg drop since yesterday morning, so that might be sorting itself out at last

 

[rowan]

And I can now use my laptop without reading glasses again, so some things are definitely improving

 

[satindoll]

Even those of us who have been diagnosed and on treatment for years still get the liver dump on occasions, there is no rhyme nor reason other than the body does what it wants when it wants and there is nothing we can do about it, don't get hung up on it, accept it for what it is your body is doing its own thing and will continue to do so regardless of what you want.

 

[Daffodils1]

So glad to hear it goes, my morning numbers constantly higher, but hopefully reading these posts it may go down. Ni am experimenting with cinnamon at night as read that helps with bs so thought it could try and help overnight when most needed!! (Needs to be Ceylon, not cassis)

I saw nhs dietician yesterday for first time and one reason she gave for not cutting complex carbs too low was to stop liver doing this....but she also talked me through the plate theory of eating so I guess she's still with traditional nhs dietary advice on carbs et al.

 

[Kaz70]

And I can now use my laptop without reading glasses again, so some things are definitely improving

Lucky you, I had a salad about an hour ago and the world is getting blurred - forgot my tester this morning though so can only guess what's causing the blur!

 

[satindoll]

In a way be glad you still see the dump, it means your liver is still working and doing what it should which is to raise your bs levels when needed, if it totally stops doing this then you have another problem to live with, the fact that it does it when you least want it to is a small price to pay for having a working liver.

 

[jack412]

So it does eventually go? Thank goodness for that! I was wondering why people who have got their levels right down don't seem to get high mornings. Maybe I'm too impatient but I really expected to be well under the teens all the time by now!

My weight loss stopped for the last week or so too but this morning there's been a 1.5kg drop since yesterday morning, so that might be sorting itself out at last

when you start seeing decent lows of an afternoon, you know you are on the right track.
don't fall for the 'just one won't hurt" carbs don't give up easy

 

[rowan]

In a way be glad you still see the dump, it means your liver is still working and doing what it should which is to raise your bs levels when needed, if it totally stops doing this then you have another problem to live with, the fact that it does it when you least want it to is a small price to pay for having a working liver.

I've had liver damage in the past through medications for something else and now have to have 3-monthly blood tests for my liver and kidneys, which were also damaged by a different drug! So whenever there is any change we know about it quite soon.
I wonder if teh slight impairment I've been left with has anything to do with my high levels?

 

[rowan]

Even those of us who have been diagnosed and on treatment for years still get the liver dump on occasions, there is no rhyme nor reason other than the body does what it wants when it wants and there is nothing we can do about it, don't get hung up on it, accept it for what it is your body is doing its own thing and will continue to do so regardless of what you want.

My body always does what it wants, it's the bane of my life! My immune system tries to kill me so I have to take immuno suppressants to kill off my immune system. so I shouidn't be surprised it's found something else to screw up for me!

 

[rowan]

I saw nhs dietician yesterday for first time and one reason she gave for not cutting complex carbs too low was to stop liver doing this....but she also talked me through the plate theory of eating so I guess she's still with traditional nhs dietary advice on carbs et al.

I was always told to have a carb snack at bedtime 'to get you through the night' but I don't know now whether to have a no-carb or low carb snack! Comes to something when you hear medical advice and then do the opposite!

 

[satindoll]

I'm sure you have been told the morning numbers are the last to come down, your body has to learn to cope with lower bs levels, it takes time you will have to be little more patient, as your daytime numbers improve so your morning numbers will lower too, it could well be your liver impairment has an effect on your morning numbers, just give yourself a break and stop fretting, fretting won't help.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I was always told to have a carb snack at bedtime 'to get you through the night' but I don't know now whether to have a no-carb or low carb snack! Comes to something when you hear medical advice and then do the opposite!

It is people on insulin that often have a carb snack at bedtime to keep their overnight levels up and prevent hypos. The rest of us should not eat carbs at bedtime - it will raise your levels just as it does during the day. If you must have a snack at bedtime, have cheese, and defo no carbs at all.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I've just noticed you are on Gliclazide. I believe this is a drug that encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin. As you have cut your carbs right down you will need less insulin to cope with these lower amounts. Maybe you should discuss this with your doctor and consider dropping the dose a bit? You could well be having a glut of insulin in your body with nothing for it to do. This may not be helping your levels, it will certainly not be helping with any weight loss because excess insulin in the body gets stored as fat. I'm no doctor, so could be wrong, but it is worth discussing this at your next appointment.

 

[Daffodils1]

I was always told to have a carb snack at bedtime 'to get you through the night' but I don't know now whether to have a no-carb or low carb snack! Comes to something when you hear medical advice and then do the opposite!

I know, it is a bit baffling isn't it. Maybe we should should poll on who eats what, if anything before bed, and what does it do for bs nos?!

I tend to eat by eight and have no bed time snack, but maybe I should snack on something?

 

[Daffodils1]

It is people on insulin that often have a carb snack at bedtime to keep their overnight levels up and prevent hypos. The rest of us should not eat carbs at bedtime - it will raise your levels just as it does during the day. If you must have a snack at bedtime, have cheese, and defo no carbs at all.

Just read this after posting, v helpful, so no bed time snacking then if not on insulin, many thanks (and for other really helpful posts, leant such a lot from reading through this forum

 

[Bluetit1802]

Just read this after posting, v helpful, so no bed time snacking then if not on insulin, many thanks (and for other really helpful posts, leant such a lot from reading through this forum

Some people find a small amount of cheese is useful at bedtime to help combat the liver dump, but I find cheese makes me dream too much , and I am one of the lucky ones that rarely gets a liver dump. I have never been a snacker, never allowed to as a child, so 3 meals a day does me, and on lchf I am never hungry. On the odd occasion I do feel a bit peckish I have a decaf with double cream.