Can't get blood sugar under control - advice?

[HeyJules]

I have been a type 2 diabetic for 7 years and it has always been fairly well controlled, until this year and my HbA1c readings have been pretty stable ... generally between 4.7% and 5.1%

I always managed my diabetes with diet (and honestly, didn’t do much except not eat sweet or very sugary things) for the first 6 years and didn’t do readings much but when I did, they were usually between 7 and 9.

However, I have had high cholesterol of 7.4 with my triglycerides in the 900’s and high blood pressure and I’m about 4 stone overweight.

Last year I gave in went on a statin, I started taking slow release metformin because my HbA1c started to creep up and I’m also on Ramipril as my blood pressure was really high over the summer

So now cholesterol is good (3.9) blood pressure is good BUT glucose levels have shot up. In March my hba1c was 5.4% (my highest reading until that point) and 3 weeks ago it was 7.3%!!!

I asked to be tested early because I had started doing blood glucose readings and noticed that my glucose levels were between 10 and 16. Sadly I'm not able to see the diabetic doctor until my appointment at the beginning of October.

So, in the meantime, I decided to start low carbing to see if that helped.

I have been low carbing for a week (and I mean super low carbing - just veg, protein and eggs) - with the occasional apple but I'm not noticing much of a reduction in my levels. For example, the other night I had chicken breast with a few fried onions and peppers + green beans and brussels sprouts and it still went from 9.9 to 13. Maybe I'm being impatient, but I don't really understand why I can't get rid of the sugar in my blood.

Even exercising doesn't seem to help much for example going from 9.9 down to 9.2 which goes straight back up again as soon as I've had a cup of tea - I've not had a glucose result lower than 8.9 since I started measuring a couple of weeks ago and I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do next and my average seems to be about 10.7

I am dieting at the moment and losing weight - 8lbs in 3 weeks, so hopefully that will help but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I don't usually advise going straight into keto, but I think you might want to try no more than 20 grams of carbs a day for a while. No more apples, and you might want to just stick with stuff like cauliflower, broccoli, leafy greens etc for a bit. The rest can get carby in big portions. Especially the onions.

Also.... Statins affect bloodsugars. In some people it even causes T2 to begin with. So you might want to reconsider those. As diet makes your bloodsugars and weight drop, your cholesterol will get better eventually too, it just takes a little time. (And remember, on a LCHF diet, cholesterol can go up for a bit as the liver rids itself from what it had stored.).

Hope this helps...
Jo

PS: maybe have a read here, and also Dr. Jason Fung's the Diabetes Code... https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

 

[Patrick66]

Hi,
These things take time. Give yourself a couple of weeks.

We know that stress does strange things to blood sugar levels so, the more you stress, the higher its going to remain so, if you can, try and worry less and let your system adjust.

Weight loss is great so keep up the good work there.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Going LCHF is the right thing for you to do but be patient and wait until your BMI is in a good range. Statins increase BS so be aware of that. Also your total cholesterol number isn't of much use. You need to know your lipids ratios and make sure these are in the good range. Many GPs don't know this. Make sure you don't have a higher dose of statins than you really need as your body needs good cholesterol. Good luck with the diet.

 

[Annb]

I am T2 - diagnosed about 12 or more years ago but possibly had GD which never went away - 52 years ago. I've been low carbing for about 18 months now with no weight loss or good control over BG. So added to low carbing I tried intermittent fasting, with no reliable effect either. Now added 5:2 diet. It went well at first but recently this has also bottomed out.

BG was 8.9 at 2300 yesterday, 4.6 at 0645 this morning. That was after taking a higher dose of insulin last night when BG had been high all day. The extra kept my BG down until I got up (but up to 8.9 an hour later - 8.5 at present - 1300, so it is falling a little bit) and I understand that there is a dawn phenomenon - I'm OK with that and I know that the liver dumps glycogen to push BG up sometimes, but what I don't know is if there is any harm done by the liver keeping on dumping from morning onwards. I can't take insulin, or Metformin unless I eat and I'm trying not to eat until noon at the earliest. On recent performance, the reading will stay around the 8 or 9 mark all day now.

Does anyone know if these high readings will do harm, even though it is not due to food?

 

[Goonergal]

Is the only thing that changed the statin? If so, I’d be looking at that. You might find this thread helpful:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

You might also consider intermittent fasting - eating only in a narrow ‘window’ so that your pancreas gets a bit of a rest. If you can go at least 18 hours a day without eating (easy if your evening meal is not late and you either skip or have a late breakfast) and eat any meals in the remaining 6 hours.

 

[mojo37]

I am T2 - diagnosed about 12 or more years ago but possibly had GD which never went away - 52 years ago. I've been low carbing for about 18 months now with no weight loss or good control over BG. So added to low carbing I tried intermittent fasting, with no reliable effect either. Now added 5:2 diet. It went well at first but recently this has also bottomed out.

BG was 8.9 at 2300 yesterday, 4.6 at 0645 this morning. That was after taking a higher dose of insulin last night when BG had been high all day. The extra kept my BG down until I got up (but up to 8.9 an hour later - 8.5 at present - 1300, so it is falling a little bit) and I understand that there is a dawn phenomenon - I'm OK with that and I know that the liver dumps glycogen to push BG up sometimes, but what I don't know is if there is any harm done by the liver keeping on dumping from morning onwards. I can't take insulin, or Metformin unless I eat and I'm trying not to eat until noon at the earliest. On recent performance, the reading will stay around the 8 or 9 mark all day now.

Does anyone know if these high readings will do harm, even though it is not due to food?

I think maybe a trip to the dr's is in order if neither the insulin or metformin are doing anything much for your BG.

 

[HeyJules]

Is the only thing that changed the statin? If so, I’d be looking at that.

Thank you - I've been thinking about stopping the statins until my Dr. appointment to see if that makes a difference. Apparently, it only takes 3 days or so to clear the system. I have another blood test before the appointment, so I'll see what that does to my cholesterol...

 

[ianf0ster]

Thank you - I've been thinking about stopping the statins until my Dr. appointment to see if that makes a difference. Apparently, it only takes 3 days or so to clear the system. I have another blood test before the appointment, so I'll see what that does to my cholesterol...

Hi HeyJules,

I know that we are all different, however I would like to contribute my experience to that of your other responders.

1. Statins in up to 25% of cases increase Blood Glucose (sometimes significantly). Don't be fooled by Pfizer suggesting it is only other manufacturers statins that do this and that their Lipitor (Atorvastatin) is in the clear!

2. I agree with JoKalsbeek that personally I would not have gone straight for Keto, rather than easing in via LCHF. It is extremely important that you think about this as a lifestyle change - a marathon, not a sprint.

3. You appear to be unaware that most fruit and many veg contain too much Carb to be used (for many, but not all) in a Low Carb diet. So personally speaking, for me Apples are out, as are all other fruit apart from Avocado and berries. Similarly all root veg are out, as are Beans (apart from the French Bean types) , Legumes (including Peas) and Onions. Green Peppers are OK for me, but Red Peppers are significantly sweeter - so are out.

So in short, I suspect that you aren't really doing Low Carb, much less 'Keto' and that you are hampered by your Statin dosage.
However many people (and their GPs) freak at eating lots of nice fatty Meat, fatty Fish, Cream, Hard cheese (soft cheeses often have more carbs) etc. Because although there is no proper evidence against Saturated Fat, it is indisputable that it does increase LDL (it also increases HDL and lowers Tryglicerides).
Note that some people need to avoid Milk (the more skimmed - the worse it is) because they take out the good stuff (fat) and leave the lactose (sugar).
So eat your berries with cream or full fat yoghurt and drink your tea black (or green) and your coffee 'bullitproof' !

 

[LIAnneB]

Can you tell me what Bullertproof coffee is please

 

[Goonergal]

Can you tell me what Bullertproof coffee is please

It’s basically coffee with butter and (MCT) coconut oil. Google for recipes.

 

[Daphne917]

Thank you - I've been thinking about stopping the statins until my Dr. appointment to see if that makes a difference. Apparently, it only takes 3 days or so to clear the system. I have another blood test before the appointment, so I'll see what that does to my cholesterol...

@HeyJules as others have said it could be the statins - when I was diagnosed with an hba1c of 48 I was prescribed statins because ‘all diabetics should take them’ (I think that theory may be changing though) and within 4 months my hba1c increased to 54. I came off them due to other side effects and, within 4 months, my hba1c reduced to non diabetic levels where it has remained for approx 6 years. My GP has now put statin intolerant on my notes as we do not want to take the risk of it happening again. BTW I tend to eat between 100 -130g carbs a day so at the higher end of low carb.

 

[Shaparon]

Good afternoon everyone