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

[Member496333]

I’d start at zero and work downwards from there

 

[Rachox]

Yes, I agree. I didn't explain myself properly. When I said I initially started high at about 100g. I didn't mean I started high carb, I meant I started at the higher end of low carb rather than at the lower end, which is where I ended up.

Indeed it’s all relative, I think 100g is high now but at the start I thought 100g was low!

 

[Shas3]

I’d start at zero and work downwards from there

I was expecting this

 

[Member496333]

Indeed it’s all relative, I think 100g is high now but at the start I thought 100g was low!

Yep. High and low are relative terms. If I managed to hit 10g these days I’d call it a carb binge

 

[KK123]

Yes, I agree. I didn't explain myself properly. When I said I initially started high at about 100g. I didn't mean I started high carb, I meant I started at the higher end of low carb rather than at the lower end, which is where I ended up.

Ha ha, thank you bluetit!

 

[Guna108]

For people who have a high HbA1c at diagnosis, it might be better to start at the top of the low carb range (around 125g/day) to try and avoid treatment-induced neuropathy or retinopathy. As the HbA1c improves, the amount of carbs could be adjusted downwards, as required.

@Dark Horse I did not realise my sight/ nerves could get worse by lowering my carbs.

 

[bulkbiker]

@Dark Horse I did not realise my sight/ nerves could get worse by lowering my carbs.

Some (not everyone) can experience visual disturbance when rapidly lowering carbs. Other seem to be fine with it.
I cut virtually all out from the day of my diagnosis.

 

[Guna108]

Some (not everyone) can experience visual disturbance when rapidly lowering carbs. Other seem to be fine with it.
I cut virtually all out from the day of my diagnosis.

I think this explains the blurriness I have now when looking at my phone or trying to read.

 

[Robbity]

I didn't ever pick a number of carbs! I was told by my DN at first appointment to avoid sugar - so I just cut out all the obviously sugary foods at first. A little research told me it was all carbs not just sugary ones I should be avoiding, so again I simply cut out all the obvious culprit foods. This brought me down at my first review to a pre-diabetic HbA1c. After that, having found the forum and got myself a meter, I began using my meter to set target glucose levels, and do a little refining of my diet, though basically what was left was very much what I'd usually eaten anyway - and I've always eaten "normal fat"!

So I'll check carbohydrate content but have never seriously set myself numerical limits on the amount I eat, but essentially make my choices from what suitably low carb foods I enjoy eating that keep my glucose down to acceptable levels, and this is around 50g carbs a day maximum, though very often I'll be eating less.

Robbity

 

[Member496333]

Some (not everyone) can experience visual disturbance when rapidly lowering carbs. Other seem to be fine with it.

I developed more severe retinopathy, maculopathy and then macular oedema in one eye as a result of aggressively beating my diabetes. In fact I’ve recently developed oedema in the other eye which is likely to soon need treatment. My glucose has been flatlined for more than eighteen months, so these things can most definitely get worse before they get better. Obviously I don’t wish to alarm anyone, but nonetheless that’s my story. I’ve read that diabetic eye problems in particular can take more than three years to settle.

 

[Guna108]

I didn't ever pick a number of carbs! I was told by my DN at first appointment to avoid sugar - so I just cut out all the obviously sugary foods at first. A little research told me it was all carbs not just sugary ones I should be avoiding, so again I simply cut out all the obvious culprit foods. This brought me down at my first review to a pre-diabetic HbA1c. After that, having found the forum and got myself a meter, I began using my meter to set target glucose levels, and do a little refining of my diet, though basically what was left was very much what I'd usually eaten anyway - and I've always eaten "normal fat"!

So I'll check carbohydrate content but have never seriously set myself numerical limits on the amount I eat, but essentially make my choices from what suitably low carb foods I enjoy eating that keep my glucose down to acceptable levels, and this is around 50g carbs a day maximum, though very often I'll be eating less.

@Robbity I think I am just worried about having low enough carbs,but not being hungry and still being able to lose weight. It is not so easy as I don't eat meat,fish or eggs.

 

[Guna108]

I developed more severe retinopathy, maculopathy and then macular oedema in one eye as a result of aggressively beating my diabetes. In fact I’ve recently developed oedema in the other eye wich is likely to soon need treatment. My glucose has been flatlined for more than eighteen months, so these things can most definitely get worse before they get better. Obviously I don’t wish to alarm anyone, but nonetheless that’s my story. I’ve read that diabetic eye problems in particular can take more than three years to settle.

@Jim Lahey This scares me. I'm a teacher and am struggling to read my lesson plans these days due to blurriness of vision .

 

[Member496333]

@Jim Lahey This scares me. I'm a teacher and am struggling to read my lesson plans these days due to blurriness of vision .

Blurriness probably isn’t a major concern in the short term. I never experienced blurriness during all of my experience. Some major disturbance because of the oedema, but not blurry in the typical sense.

 

[mr_cat]

I developed more severe retinopathy, maculopathy and then macular oedema in one eye as a result of aggressively beating my diabetes. In fact I’ve recently developed oedema in the other eye wich is likely to soon need treatment. My glucose has been flatlined for more than eighteen months, so these things can most definitely get worse before they get better. Obviously I don’t wish to alarm anyone, but nonetheless that’s my story. I’ve read that diabetic eye problems in particular can take more than three years to settle.

My experience too a nice reward for quickly trying heal the body had quite few ilea injections thus far, oh the fun.

 

[Ketocate]

Some (not everyone) can experience visual disturbance when rapidly lowering carbs. Other seem to be fine with it.
I cut virtually all out from the day of my diagnosis.

It happened to me when I first started keto. I suddenly didn’t need my distance glasses to watch tv etc it made everything blurry but equally I had to buy ready readers because I couldn’t read my phone screen. This went on for about a month then one day I woke up and everything was back to normal

 

[Shas3]

@Dark Horse I did not realise my sight/ nerves could get worse by lowering my carbs.

Just to add ... and I don’t mean to scare anyone.... A RAPID reduction from an initial HIGH HbA1C can lead to TIND (also called Insulin Neuritis but doesn’t have to be only due to Insulin). There are a couple of threads .. please look up. Yes, it is rare but can be quite disturbing and rather painful. I believe i have gone through it and honestly doctors don’t seem to be too aware of this issue as it is rare. I went from 11.8% HbA1C (old system) to around 7.5% in less than 3 months. Was patting myself on the back and all hell broke lose with weakness, tingling in feet which led to a fall which led to fracture.. led to living in cast for a couple of months and when the cast came off i had a foot drop in both legs... which is extremely rare.. it was a depressing situation... doctors couldn’t nail the cause. Innumerable tests just proved that my peroneal nerves were not working but the cause was unclear. Anyway, this type of neuropathy tends to be temporary in most cases but recovery can be slow. I am thankfully doing well.

This is not about carbs but about rapidly reducing sugar levels from a high starting point.

 

[Guna108]

Just to add ... and I don’t mean to scare anyone.... A RAPID reduction from an initial HIGH HbA1C can lead to TIND (also called Insulin Neuritis but doesn’t have to be only due to Insulin). There are a couple of threads .. please look up. Yes, it is rare but can be quite disturbing and rather painful. I believe i have gone through it and honestly doctors don’t seem to be too aware of this issue as it is rare. I went from 11.8% HbA1C (old system) to around 7.5% in less than 3 months. Was patting myself on the back and all hell broke lose with weakness, tingling in feet which led to a fall which led to fracture.. led to living in cast for a couple of months and when the cast came off i had a foot drop in both legs... which is extremely rare.. it was a depressing situation... doctors couldn’t nail the cause. Innumerable tests just proved that my peroneal nerves were not working but the cause was unclear. Anyway, this type of neuropathy tends to be temporary in most cases but recovery can be slow. I am thankfully doing well.

This is not about carbs but about rapidly reducing sugar levels from a high starting point.

@Shas3 That sounds horrible. I am glad you are doing well now though. My Dr told me nothing about complications when he told me I had T2. I'm learning so much by going on these forums.

 

[Shas3]

@Shas3 That sounds horrible. I am glad you are doing well now though. My Dr told me nothing about complications when he told me I had T2. I'm learning so much by going on these forums.

Thanks and yes doctors for some reason are focused on bringing down the high numbers soon and ignore the possibility of TIND related complications. I guess just because it is rare, they forget or ignore. Having said that my understanding is it is only seen in few patients under ALL THREE conditions that I mentioned- Very high at diagnosis, Very high for a while (years, not months) and significant + rapid reduction (in 2-3 months coming down by more than 2 percentage points on the old HbA1C). And in hindsight i fit all three. If you don’t fit these, highly unlikely you face this complications. Nevertheless the better approach seems gradual reduction as body gets used to lower numbers

Good luck

 

[Pinkorchid]

Is a 100g high? I thought anything under 130 was classed as low carb according to this website?

130g and anything under that is low carb. Some go very low to about 20g a day and others have double that or even more. Low carb it is finding the level that suits us personally so some go much lower than others just find the level that suits you but take it slowly.

 

[Guna108]

130g and anything under that is low carb. Some go very low to about 20g a day and others have double that or even more. Low carb it is finding the level that suits us personally so some go much lower than others just find the level that suits you but take it slowly.

@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.