High readings on low carb - starting to get stressed.

[Emmar]

I have only been LCHF for a few days so I appreciate my body is adapting. For the first few days my bs readings were improving. Over the last couple of days I've tried to lower carbs more (at first I would have a slice of toast with eggs but now I'm just having eggs and ham etc). Yesterday I ate (b) an egg, asparagus and ham (l) avocado, prawn cocktail and lettuce (d) chicken Caesar salad, coleslaw, olives no croutons (s) salami, cheese, nuts. When I woke this morning my bs was higher than when I went to bed. For breakfast today I had mackerel and scrambled eggs made with cream. Again just tested bs before lunch and just as high as before breakfast?! Am I doing something wrong? Not sure if it's relevant but I am due my period this week- I don't know if this affects bs levels? Any advice would be great thank you .

 

[Kaz261]

I can't advise too much re LCHF as I'm pretty new to it myself, but it looks like you're doing good to me. Watch the prawn cocktail sauce as it can have quite a lot of sugar in it. My bs levels go up a couple of days before my period is due and stay like it for the first couple of days I'm on. I have RH not diabetes but my overall bs control around that time is so much more difficult. My GP prescribed the pill for me yesterday to see if it helps. Hope your levels sort themselves out soon. It can be very frustrating!

 

[VinnyJames]

Your diet sounds good and very low carb.
It's early days yet so try to be patient.
Test yourself pre meal and 2 hours after.

Don't worry about morning blood sugars at this stage as it's likely you are getting 'liver dumps' due to the new diet.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Emmar]

I wasn't aware of the "liver dump" thanks for that - learning something new here every day x

 

[13lizanne]

My morning reading is usually highest of the day @Emmar and yes, your hormones will affect your BG levels. If you have a cold, or indeed any infection, that too will affect your readings! However,looks like you are doing really well with your diet and are sure to see your BG drop soon. A bit of exercise every day helps too, a 30-40 min walk drops my readings by .75 to .1.5. Good luck with it all

 

[LinsT]

Hi @Emmar It took me a few weeks before I saw sustained reductions in my BG. I remember feeling just as you are now! Very disappointed as I was eating very low carb but still seeing high readings. But it does work eventually, it just takes time. This is not based on any scientific research that I'm aware of - its just my opinion - but in those first few weeks I believe we're just sugar logged - like a totally soaked cloth - and as we stop taking as much sugar in our diet - our bodies start to use up some of the stored stuff - and as there is so much of it initially it means our sugar levels stay high for a bit - until the 'cloth' starts to get a little drier!
So please don't get stressed - you will see results soon if you continue to manage your carb intake xx

 

[LinsT]

The other issue initially is our resistance to insulin. Lots of sugar around but our insulin behaves like a knackered stressed working mum who gives up trying to keep on top of stuff and just sits down and has a cup of tea instead!
Once she's had a bit of a rest she might start getting things done again
And no - I don't know where all these strange analogies have come from either .... I think I'd better go to bed!

 

[Kristin251]

Yes hormones certainly play a roll. Also excess protein plays a roll. Are you eating a lot of P at dinner? That can effect fastings as well.

 

[Emmar]

Hi Kristen251, yes I am eating a bit more protein than normal - is this not good?

 

[Jessica120714]

Mine were a bit all over the place at first especially with liver dump but they soon settled after a few weeks. Exercise really helps me. My period makes my sugars go up but as long as the readings are good before meals and 2 hours after, you are on the right track

 

[Oldvatr]

I wasn't aware of the "liver dump" thanks for that - learning something new here every day x

When I started LCHF, I found I was getting liver dump by mid morning. I was not eating breakfast and using LC snax, so my liver went into starvation mode. I get round this now by eating a standard breakfast which for me comprises 2 slices of toast and butter with an LC topping such as cheese or ham. It hardly affects my bgl, but stops the high levels later. Note: I use 5 seed bread from Aldi which is cheap and relatively low carb, lo GI. Sometimes i have porridge instead with sweetner, but that does give a small bump in the bgl.

 

[Robbity]

Hi Kristen251, yes I am eating a bit more protein than normal - is this not good?

Too much protein can also get turned into glucose, so it's worth being aware of this. Look at one of the low carb nutritional calculators to help you work out/check suitable proportions of carbs, protein and fats for you. But the main thing is to be patient and not to stress too much. We're all different so some of us may take longer than others to see improvements in our own very individual diabetic circumstances.

Robbity

 

[Neohdiver]

When I started eating LC, I continued to have elevated morning readings (it is called dawn phenomenon). As others have noted, it is a liver dump of glucose into the bloodstream - it happens around dawn, and is our body's way of giving us enough energy to get out of bed. For some (including me), this dump continues until I eat something.

After a few weeks, it calmed down - it is typically the last thing to normalize. I'm rarely out of the normal range in the morning now.

One trick I learned is that if I eat a serving of nuts (always) or cheese (less reliably), it drives my blood glucose down - so if my morning reading is particularly high I do this. (I also use this trick if my pre-meal blood glucose is too high for the meal I want to eat. For example, if I'm going to have a large salad - which typically pushes my carb limit - and my blood glucose is above 6.7, I want my BG lower before I start eating the salad. I eat handful of nuts about a half hour before I start the salad.)

After you've been doing this for a while, you'll start to see patterns - nuts may not work for you, but something else may!

 

[Daffodils1]

Hi, loads of good advice above, you sound to be doing great. Drinking water supposed to help too, throughout the day.

 

[Daphne917]

I have only been LCHF for a few days so I appreciate my body is adapting. For the first few days my bs readings were improving. Over the last couple of days I've tried to lower carbs more (at first I would have a slice of toast with eggs but now I'm just having eggs and ham etc). Yesterday I ate (b) an egg, asparagus and ham (l) avocado, prawn cocktail and lettuce (d) chicken Caesar salad, coleslaw, olives no croutons (s) salami, cheese, nuts. When I woke this morning my bs was higher than when I went to bed. For breakfast today I had mackerel and scrambled eggs made with cream. Again just tested bs before lunch and just as high as before breakfast?! Am I doing something wrong? Not sure if it's relevant but I am due my period this week- I don't know if this affects bs levels? Any advice would be great thank you .

Hi @Emmar have you recently started taking statins as these can cause BS to rise in some people - me included!