Confused with bs levels

[Donaldfr]

Hi

I have been diabetic for about 6 years and was in control of it till last year. I got Covid and then work from home ruined my diet plan. I have been doing 16 8 diet for last 5 years which has kept my weight in check but since covid a year and 2 months ago i just started eating anything i wanted. I had no strips so wasnt testing at all. Was too scared to get bloods done as i did not want to go to hospital. I started having a few symptoms again like thirst and from 0 to 1 and then 2 toilet breaks in the night. I got a meter and got my first reading of 20, felt like a slap on the face. Straightaway went low carb as i was earlier. I booked bloods in with gp as well which is next week. Its now been 8 weeks i went low carb predominantly meat, salad, fish, cheese and nuts but my levels are not coming down. I want to say i dont do exercise as i work 12 hours a day and commute for 2 hours but i will find time from somewhere. I am feeling extremely low and completely unsure what to do. I know its my fault and i have been very careless in last 1 year but i am trying to put it right now. My levels have gone in low 10's so anywhere between 9 and 14 but these are still very high numbers.
Its all my fault and as much as i am trying to rectify it, i am unable to get anywhere.
I am blaming covid but i have just been so off the diet plan i used to follow.
I need some help and guidance please.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Donaldfr and welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on trying 16:98 and Low Carb. However it's just plain silly to avoid taking blood sugar readings when you fear a bad result. You need to know how bad it is in order to decide the best plan to deal with it!

Are you testing before and then 2hrs after each meal? Around 2hrs after first bite is considered to be optimal for most people and most meals - though this does vary since we are all different in our particular reactions and certain foods affect some more than others.

Exercise is good, but you just need a reasonable amount - you can't out-run or out-cycle a poor diet. It is by keeping the BG spikes on meals to around 2mmol or less and then aiming for a max BG reading of 8.0 mmol or less that you will get healthy.

Having said that, I'm concerned that you've had a reading as high as 20. It's possible that your Beta cells are starting to produce less Insulin after being overworked for years. This may explain you still having high BG numbers, though it may be that you aren't eating as Low Carb as you think you are. Many of us are eating very Low Carb - even down into the Keto range, in my case I aim for a little higher than that ( at 20mg to 40 mg of carbs per day).

Have you read JoKalsbeek's nutritional thingy about Low Carbing?
The Nutritional Thingy. | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

 

[Alison Campbell]

Hi welcome to the forum. Your no longer seeing 20s so you have made huge progress. Please give it more time and I am sure you will reach your goals.

I understand you on working from home temptations and I suspect I have had covid as my partner took part in research and he tested positive for the antibodies although neither of us had symptoms.

I went from prediabetic to HBA1C over one hundred being sent to hospital for ketones, bloods of 24 and type 1 investigations. 6 months later with metformin and a much improved diet I am getting there and plan to be off the meds at some point this year.

Remember that HBA1C will cover approx last 3 months so don't be alarmed if your new regime isn't fully reflected. Keep going, keep testing and I am sure you will see better numbers very soon.

 

[Donaldfr]

Hi

Thanks for the guidance. I am doing testing before and 2 hours after and i am usually up by 2 to 2.5 points on reading. Yesterday i started my day at 12.3 and then in the evening i was still 12.5 and i only had salad no dressing all day. Had chicken curry homemade and cauli rice and another salad and slept at 14.1 so my numbers are stuck between 11 and 14, i have not seen anything in 15s since some time and the average has come down on 30 day and 15 day on the reader. I need to add some exercise to my routine, i cant reduce my diet from 2 salads and some chicken or fish or lamb. I have done almond bread for last 7 weeks atleast and slowly getting used to it to a point where I have started liking it to a normal toast now. I hate cauli rice though as it still tastes of cauli but i am sure i will find a way to get that sorted. My carb content at the moment os only the carbs in salad like tomatoes or from half a carrot with any kind of meat or eggs. I will keep working on this and get my levels down. I gained about 6 kilos in last 1 year but havent been able to reduce my weight yet in 8 or 9 weeks of low carb but its a year of abuse i have given to my body and i dont think i will loose it so quickly.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi

Thanks for the guidance. I am doing testing before and 2 hours after and i am usually up by 2 to 2.5 points on reading. Yesterday i started my day at 12.3 and then in the evening i was still 12.5 and i only had salad no dressing all day. Had chicken curry homemade and cauli rice and another salad and slept at 14.1 so my numbers are stuck between 11 and 14, i have not seen anything in 15s since some time and the average has come down on 30 day and 15 day on the reader. I need to add some exercise to my routine, i cant reduce my diet from 2 salads and some chicken or fish or lamb. I have done almond bread for last 7 weeks atleast and slowly getting used to it to a point where I have started liking it to a normal toast now. I hate cauli rice though as it still tastes of cauli but i am sure i will find a way to get that sorted. My carb content at the moment os only the carbs in salad like tomatoes or from half a carrot with any kind of meat or eggs. I will keep working on this and get my levels down. I gained about 6 kilos in last 1 year but havent been able to reduce my weight yet in 8 or 9 weeks of low carb but its a year of abuse i have given to my body and i dont think i will loose it so quickly.

Bizarrely enough, you CAN reducee your diet further... By going all meat/poultry/fish/cheese/eggs and ditching the salad, and the apparently hated cauliflower. So technically, if you went for a carnivore diet, you could bring back your carb intake to practically zero. It's not an easy diet though, and considering what you're eating now and the absence of spikes after food, just starting high, you normally shouldn't be seeing the numbers you are. With covid in the mix all bets are off, as it seems to affect people in many different ways in the long term, especially blood sugars. So I do think it'd be wise to get some testing done to see how much insulin you still produce at this point. Time to ask your GP to step in. Maybe temporarily consider metformin, as your baseline seems to be high and not so much affected by the food you eat. Best to make the call and get some help to get to the bottom of this.

 

[Donaldfr]

Bizarrely enough, you CAN reducee your diet further... By going all meat/poultry/fish/cheese/eggs and ditching the salad, and the apparently hated cauliflower. So technically, if you went for a carnivore diet, you could bring back your carb intake to practically zero. It's not an easy diet though, and considering what you're eating now and the absence of spikes after food, just starting high, you normally shouldn't be seeing the numbers you are. With covid in the mix all bets are off, as it seems to affect people in many different ways in the long term, especially blood sugars. So I do think it'd be wise to get some testing done to see how much insulin you still produce at this point. Time to ask your GP to step in. Maybe temporarily consider metformin, as your baseline seems to be high and not so much affected by the food you eat. Best to make the call and get some help to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks for your reply.
This is what concerns me a bit too, i have just stayed over 10 all the time practically. Whether i eat or not does not make a difference and if i eat i manage to stay within 2 points spike, i do consider taking medicine if offered after the bloods to get bg levels under control first and then seeing how it goes, as i said i have eaten **** for a year it might take some time to get this back down to acceptable levels.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thanks for your reply.
This is what concerns me a bit too, i have just stayed over 10 all the time practically. Whether i eat or not does not make a difference and if i eat i manage to stay within 2 points spike, i do consider taking medicine if offered after the bloods to get bg levels under control first and then seeing how it goes, as i said i have eaten **** for a year it might take some time to get this back down to acceptable levels.

Normally, after 8 months I'd expect more improvement in the baseline in spite of having been high for a while, but like I said, with covid in the mix... Anything is possible. It's a good thing you've got bloodwork booked.