Type 2 Blood sugar rising

[Speedbird]

6 months down the line and this forum has been such a great help.

Part of me is still in denial. I had no symptoms to speak of. Just a general feeling of malaise, but I put that down to hard work and long days. I am not overweight but since being on the lchf way of eating I have lost just under 15% of my weight, now down to 55 kg and far too skinny. Visceral fat at 6%. But of course, now I know that my blood sugar is higher than normal, I am trying very hard to keep it level between 5.5 and 6.5. It is always higher 2 hours after a meal than 1 hour, 7.7 last night.

We have our last meal at around 6pm. Breakfast is normally walnuts, almonds, Greek fat yoghurt and a few blueberries or bacon and eggs, vegetable soup at lunch time with home made coconut flour cheese scone, ham egg and mushrooms last nights dinner and I have a plate of cheese and a pickled dill about 7. And still I'm hungry quite a lot of the time. I don't sit around much either. A brisk walk with the dogs every morning for 40 minutes and I go to exercise classes 3 times a week. So why, please somebody tell me, are my blood sugars high in the mornings? They seem to be gradually rising these last few weeks. 8 today.

I have done IF, in fact I started doing it before it became fashionable as it helped with my work, jet lag and unfriendly hours and to a degree I still do it now.
Also my cholesterol has gone up to 6.4. HDL and LDL. Doc wanted me to go on statins but I refused as my triglycerides are 0.9. So giving up BPC for now.

Apologies if it's a bit long winded, just needed to get it all out.
There are some pretty knowledgable people on this forum which I admire.
So, before I resort to just eating worms, some help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you to anybody that's listening.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I would not discount the possibility that you are not T2 but Late onset T1. Misdiagnosis is common. Your low weight and continued weight loss are classic symptoms due to the body burning fat as it doesn't have enough insulin to burn the carbs. Do suggest this to your GP and ask for the c-peptide and GAD tests for this. They are expensive so he/she may not be keen.The former checks whether you have low natural insulin levels. With low insulin, the drug Gliclazide is often prescribed to stimulate any remaining beta cells. I was on this for a few years before moving to insulin. Do keep the carbs down and have enough protein and fats to help feel full, although you do appear to be doing this.

 

[carty]

I agree with diabell that you need to find out if you are type 2 but in the meantime why not try upping the fats in your diet I.am a skinny type 2 and I find that full fat yoghurt and Jersey double cream with a few berries and almonds almost every day and having snacks of cheese and walnuts between meals keeps my weight on and I am even gaining a little
CAROL

 

[azure]

I second what @Daibell has said. It may be worth asking if your doctor can rule out late onset Type 1. Contrary to popular belief, Type 1 can develop at any age and is often wrongly assumed to be Type 2 when an adult gets it.

Getting that ruled out would be a reassurance and a help in planning your way forward, I think.

 

[Speedbird]

Thank you everybody. Good advice.

I did ask the DN last month about maybe being Type1 but she dismissed it. So will ask for the extra tests, c-peptide and GAD.
I am about to see an endocrinologist as a PET scan showed some activity in the thyroid. It may be overactive so I wonder if that is the culprit.
I have just had a plate of salami and cheese, walnuts and creamy coffee for lunch so feeling good.

 

[AndBreathe]

6 months down the line and this forum has been such a great help.

Part of me is still in denial. I had no symptoms to speak of. Just a general feeling of malaise, but I put that down to hard work and long days. I am not overweight but since being on the lchf way of eating I have lost just under 15% of my weight, now down to 55 kg and far too skinny. Visceral fat at 6%. But of course, now I know that my blood sugar is higher than normal, I am trying very hard to keep it level between 5.5 and 6.5. It is always higher 2 hours after a meal than 1 hour, 7.7 last night.

We have our last meal at around 6pm. Breakfast is normally walnuts, almonds, Greek fat yoghurt and a few blueberries or bacon and eggs, vegetable soup at lunch time with home made coconut flour cheese scone, ham egg and mushrooms last nights dinner and I have a plate of cheese and a pickled dill about 7. And still I'm hungry quite a lot of the time. I don't sit around much either. A brisk walk with the dogs every morning for 40 minutes and I go to exercise classes 3 times a week. So why, please somebody tell me, are my blood sugars high in the mornings? They seem to be gradually rising these last few weeks. 8 today.

I have done IF, in fact I started doing it before it became fashionable as it helped with my work, jet lag and unfriendly hours and to a degree I still do it now.
Also my cholesterol has gone up to 6.4. HDL and LDL. Doc wanted me to go on statins but I refused as my triglycerides are 0.9. So giving up BPC for now.

Apologies if it's a bit long winded, just needed to get it all out.
There are some pretty knowledgable people on this forum which I admire.
So, before I resort to just eating worms, some help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you to anybody that's listening.

Hi there. Can I ask a few questions, in order to clarify my thinking?

You say you are not overweight, and have lost c15% of your weight, since changing your diet. When you changed your diet, did you hope you would lose some, or did it just happen? How tall are you?

You say you are still hungry quite a lot of the time. May I ask why you are hungry? Are you still limiting your food intake generally (not just the carbs)? How did you find out your visceral fat is 6%, and what was it at the outset?

Regrading your morning testing: Are you following the same testing regime you always have done? Are you still rising at the same time each day and testing at the same time, having followed the same routine?

What about your blood readings at other times of the day; are they rising too, or have they remained fairly stable?

You say your cholesterol has gone up to 6.4. What was it before? Do you know the HDL/LDL components, because your triglycerides are very good. Some people find that when they start low carbing, their cholesterol goes up a bit, then falls back again. You could be experiencing that.

I have a couple of other thoughts, but it would be useful to have responses to some of the questions I've asked, to furrther clarify my thoughts.

 

[Speedbird]

Hi AndBreathe

I was circa 66 kgs. 167cm in height. I was already losing weight albeit slowly back in March so it was a friend who noticed.

After being diagnosed in June, I started my Lchf to control my blood sugar and not to lose weight. Although initially my BS went down from hba1c 9.1 to 7.8 and last reading 6, I think it is on the rise again but my diet has not changed. It is only the past few weeks that I feel constantly hungry. I dare not eat more as my BS goes up.

I had a well-being check up that measured my visceral fat at 6% although I don't know what it was before.

I'm not working just now and am regular with my sleep pattern, always check my BS at the same time each morning. During the day it is between 5.8 and 7 but I make a conscious effort to eat less to keep it good. If it goes over that I get blurry vision. Today has been a good day and have managed to keep it under 8.9 That's probably because I'm saving myself as we are going out to eat tonight.

My cholesterol HDL 2.15 was 1.85
LDL 3.8 was 3.3. So gone up from 6.1 to 6.3.
I'm not on any meds.

Appreciate any information you can pass on.

 

[Daibell]

Thank you everybody. Good advice.

I did ask the DN last month about maybe being Type1 but she dismissed it. So will ask for the extra tests, c-peptide and GAD.
I am about to see an endocrinologist as a PET scan showed some activity in the thyroid. It may be overactive so I wonder if that is the culprit.
I have just had a plate of salami and cheese, walnuts and creamy coffee for lunch so feeling good.

I finally had my two tests done privately thru Medi-checks in the UK. The c-peptide is the important one as the GAD test for anti-bodies can give false negatives whereas if your insulin is at the bottom end then you are a T1 and in many ways it doesn't matter what the cause is.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi AndBreathe

I was circa 66 kgs. 167cm in height. I was already losing weight albeit slowly back in March so it was a friend who noticed.

After being diagnosed in June, I started my Lchf to control my blood sugar and not to lose weight. Although initially my BS went down from hba1c 9.1 to 7.8 and last reading 6, I think it is on the rise again but my diet has not changed. It is only the past few weeks that I feel constantly hungry. I dare not eat more as my BS goes up.

I had a well-being check up that measured my visceral fat at 6% although I don't know what it was before.

I'm not working just now and am regular with my sleep pattern, always check my BS at the same time each morning. During the day it is between 5.8 and 7 but I make a conscious effort to eat less to keep it good. If it goes over that I get blurry vision. Today has been a good day and have managed to keep it under 8.9 That's probably because I'm saving myself as we are going out to eat tonight.

My cholesterol HDL 2.15 was 1.85
LDL 3.8 was 3.3. So gone up from 6.1 to 6.3.
I'm not on any meds.

Appreciate any information you can pass on.

OK. Here goes with a few observations.

Whilst you have lost weight and will certainly be slim now, the NHS BMI Calculator suggests you've gone from 23.6 to your current 19.7 (healthy range is 18.5 - 25). Of course, you are likely to look different these days, and my own experience of losing weight as I reduced my carbs informs me it took a while for my body to settle into it's new shape, and even longer for folks to stop commenting. Your visceral fat is in a great range (healthy 1 - 12%).

Your current regime is unsustainable. You are continuing to lose weight, and you are hungry. That's not a good combination. It took me quite a while to stop my weight loss (I wasn't particularly trying to lose), especially as I didn't want to up the carbs too much. In the end, I added nuts and upped the fat a bit. Upping my fat consumption didn't have a material impact on my cholesterol levels. Personally, I would be very happy with your cholesterol numbers. This website helps a little to interpret them: http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

It sounds too me that right now, you need to try to stabilise your weight. Most of us have some foods that have little or no impact on our blood glucose. Do you know if you have any of those? They're usually fats and/or protein, although some notice if they really up the protein it can have an impact on their finger prick scores.

When is your next HbA1c due? In your shoes, I might be inclined to go to the Doc and ask for a panel of bloods to be run, including an HbA1c, and explain why. It will also be good to have some clarification about your thyroid, If that were getting up to some tricks, that could certainly impact on your numbers.

Fingers crossed for you..

 

[ickihun]

I've seen it mentioned somewhere that the thyroid can help or hinder cholesterol levels.
Also overactive thyroid is linked to weight loss.
I feel you may indeed be a type2 with an overactive thyroid function. Those extra tests will confirm thou.
Seeing an endocrologist will assist in weight gain. However with weight gain comes more insulin resistance.
Your higher bgs are due to liver dumps as on occasion your body thinks its in starvation mode.
Exercise some liver blocks and your bgs will be lower. Goodluck!

 

[Speedbird]

I've seen it mentioned somewhere that the thyroid can help or hinder cholesterol levels.
Also overactive thyroid is linked to weight loss.
I feel you may indeed be a type2 with an overactive thyroid function. Those extra tests will confirm thou.
Seeing an endocrologist will assist in weight gain. However with weight gain comes more insulin resistance.
Your higher bgs are due to liver dumps as on occasion your body thinks its in starvation mode.
Exercise some liver blocks and your bgs will be lower. Goodluck!

Yes. It's a wait and see at the moment until I see the endo. Thanks for your info.
I just need to know how I can exercise the liver blocks.What does that entail?

 

[Speedbird]

Happy and healthy new year everyone!

I may do the same as you Diabell, if I get no joy from the doctors, and get my tests done privately. Just for peace of mind.

Like AndBreathe, I do not want to lose more weight so will eat more fat hoping my cholesterol stays as it is. I am literally down to minimum carbs which I get mostly from veg and my homemade scone -coconut flour- but even that spikes me. But I will try to test my protein and see if that has an effect on my BS. Something I hadn't thought of.

That's a good website AndBreathe, thank you. Although it does calculate my 6.4 at high risk. But ratios are ideal so happy with that.

What a great forum. So glad I plucked up the courage to post.
Thank you.

 

[AndBreathe]

Yes. It's a wait and see at the moment until I see the endo. Thanks for your info.
I just need to know how I can exercise the liver blocks.What does that entail?

Some people find their blood glucose scores fall during the night, then begin to rise before they wake. That is when the liver sometimes makes a contribution to our immediate energy supplies. (The liver stores glucose for fast delivery in those flight or flight moments, when we've had an adrenalin rush.)

We can get a bit of an insight to this by setting an early alarm for a few days, and testing as soon as we wake, then again at our more routine time of day. Alternatively, the Freestyle Libre, which gives a 24/7 view of our blood glucose, can be very useful. To see the 24/7 graph over a 2 week period really can lift the lid on a mystery or two!

If you are experiencing dawn phenomenon, then some people find if they a small, protein based snack before bed, or alternatively eating something very soon after rising in the morning.

Personally, I didn't think I experienced dawn phenomenon until I used the Libre. I do have a rise in the morning, but for e it is modest.

You could try eating a small amount of protein (a little cooked chicken, or a Babybel cheese, as examples), and see what happens.

One final though - when did you change pots of test strips? I know I have sometimes had a batch of pots that read higher or lower than usual for some reason. Worth trying to think back?

 

[Speedbird]

Hi AndBreathe,
I took your advice and measured BG before bed it was 7.4. - a few weeks ago it would have been in the high 6s. - 2am it was 8.4! And at 6.30 8.7! These are all high for me but worryingly becoming the norm.
My diet has not changed. Last night I ate chicken, cabbage,courgettes and some slithers of carrot. Small plate of cheese to follow with a small square of 90% dark chocolate. Is that bad?

By the way, I have just opened new strips but always calibrate. They seem ok.

Consoling myself with a bfc now, something I haven't had for a while.
Out for a walk soon with my dogs then I will test again.