Increasing insulin needs on LCHF

[Picci]

Three weeks ago I got myself back onto the low carb wagon after suffering from a period of burn out.

The first week or two I had to reduce my quick acting and background on a daily basis, my bgs were fantastic, running between 4.5 and 5.5.

Sadly things are changing, I'm now having to increase both my quick acting and background quite dramatically and I'm on doses of novorapid similar to when I followed a higher carb diet.

My bolus for protein is now 1:1 and I also have include 2:1 ratio for carbs from salad items for example.

My BGs are no longer stable and my averages over the week are 8.9mmol.

I've basal tested and for now that is stable at present (I'm female so this needs tweaking throughout the month).

I'm having 10% carbs; 20% protein and 70% fat per day.
Last night I had a tuna salad dressed in olive oil for dinner.
28 g protein = 3 u.rapid.
10 cho salad = 2 u.rapid
5 units in total. I was 7.2 mmol prior to this and 5.5mmol 4 hours later on going to bed which was a good result, for a change.

Is this normal to have such high doses of rapid for such small quantities of carbs/protein?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Christine.

 

[Ali H]

Yes it seems to be, I have lowered my bolus but my ratios are similarly pants. Apparently for some of us low carbing can increase our insulin resistance. Does my head in.

Ali

 

[noblehead]

I'd expect to inject a similar amount to you Picci when eating a low-carb meal that is high in protein & fat, it can be disappointing because you expect that such meals which are low in carbs wouldn't need much insulin but high-fat food can cause insulin resistance and your not the first to find this out, I'll tag some low-carbing type 1's who might be able to suggest something @Dillinger @Spiker @Heathenlass @robert72

 

[vintageutopia]

...listening in. I don't take insulin, but I am experiencing some similar issues.

 

[Heathenlass]

Three weeks ago I got myself back onto the low carb wagon after suffering from a period of burn out.

The first week or two I had to reduce my quick acting and background on a daily basis, my bgs were fantastic, running between 4.5 and 5.5.

Sadly things are changing, I'm now having to increase both my quick acting and background quite dramatically and I'm on doses of novorapid similar to when I followed a higher carb diet.

My bolus for protein is now 1:1 and I also have include 2:1 ratio for carbs from salad items for example.

My BGs are no longer stable and my averages over the week are 8.9mmol.

I've basal tested and for now that is stable at present (I'm female so this needs tweaking throughout the month).

I'm having 10% carbs; 20% protein and 70% fat per day.
Last night I had a tuna salad dressed in olive oil for dinner.
28 g protein = 3 u.rapid.
10 cho salad = 2 u.rapid
5 units in total. I was 7.2 mmol prior to this and 5.5mmol 4 hours later on going to bed which was a good result, for a change.

Is this normal to have such high doses of rapid for such small quantities of carbs/protein?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Christine.

It sounds too early to be insulin resistance ( something that has never happened to me, BTW , rather, insulin sensitivity increased )

( edited to say I mis read the posts above - yes, fat in a meal will cause a degree of insulin resistance, or rather , delayed absorption with a later rise in BG following a lower reading )

From what I remember there was a period of time in the first six weeks when I had settled into smugness at a nice , steady, no higher than 6, ever, when the Gods proved yet again that they have a sense of humour ! In my case, it was the bolus ratios that needed tweaking for different times of the day, and it did settle down and has been steady ish for a few years now. It's entirely possible that rather than try to estimate your ratios for specific foods such as protein, salad etc, try altering your ratios to fit in with time of day ?

I don't adjust ratios at all for different foods, it goes kind of like this:

Calculate the number of carbs .
Calculate the grams of protein.
Same for fats

Treat the protein as carbs minus 50% e.g 100g Tuna,= 24g protein= 12g carb.
Fats as carbs minus 90% ( not always, sometimes the fat is almost negligible. If I'm on a cheese binge well, that's a whole other story involving split bolus! )

Calculate the bolus for the total meal, carbs actual and for potential gluconeogenesis according to the ratio needed for that particular time of day .

That's the rough guide, anyway, it does get a little more complicated than that at times because of my unusual diet and nerdiness in number crunching . But the above sounds a little less complicated than what you are doing at the moment ? Which as I read it, is calculating a bolus on different ratios for carbs and protein separately within the same meal ?

Signy

 

[donnellysdogs]

Incidentally since dropping the dairy from my eating and concentrating more on the meditereanean eating my basal rates have reduced down again
And my bolus's are also far less. Mind you most foods are white fish or oily (2 days a week), eggs less but only once or twice a week. White meat or red meat once or twice a week. Insulin totals now for me are around 22 a day compared to 35ish with so much dairy and saturated.

 

[Picci]

Thank you @Ali H @noblehead @Heathenlass @donnellydogs for your feedback and advice. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated at the increase in my bgs. My aim is to get a lower hba1c after burn out, and 2 weeks in I'm just struggling so much.
I'll take all advice on board.

Christine

 

[Suzanneal]

I have been having the exact same problem @Picci so your post very interesting to read. I too am going to cut the sat fats, they make up alot of my diet along with veggies so its a big change and I am hoping (praying!) it works. Really interesting @donnellysdogs

I have posted a similar post in low carb that will probably be helpful to anyone following this too..