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Carb free but still too high

C

CatherineJohnson

Member
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11
Hi, I was diagnosed as type 2 at the end of December. I started a very low carb diet and have lost 2 stone already , which is great. My fasting BG has gone from 19.5 to 8-9.5 but I don't seem to be getting below 6.5 even hours after food and my overnight BG is never below 7.5. I have gone for days eating zero carbs and now I have less than 30g a day, but it just isn't going any lower. What can I do?
 
@CatherineJohnson Welcome to the forum.

I have read on here that if a person goes very high protein, it can raise blood glucose levels. What is your protein/fat ratio if you are zero/low carb?
 

I agree with Avocado's statement, and would also say I can easily rack up a fair few carbs if I get hungry and have a mountain of certain veggies. I'm thinking of the likes of those little green gems; Brussels sprouts.

Do you keep a food diary and have you tried weighing your portion sizes? I couldn't weigh everything I eat, but it was useful in the beginning to really get a handle on the carb counts.
 
Hi, I'm keeping a food diary and weighing my food. I'm eating cabbage, kale, cauliflower and broccoli as my carbs. My protein levels are maybe too high, I hadn't realised that would be a problem
 
Hi. Don't worry too much about your fasting sugars due to the overnight liver dump phenomenon. See what your levels typically are two hours after a meal and if below 8-9 mmol then you're fine. If not then do discuss meds with the GP.
 
I think you have done marvellous. I was diagnosed 5th Jan this year BG reading 19.3. Lost nearly a stone, BG readings now got into the 6s and sometimes 7s, even reached into the 5s. .Don't worry about it eveyrone of us is different with readings. You will get there .
 
All the advice above is great.
You may find the levels drop further, naturally, as you continue to lose weight, but I agree that those levels are a bit too high to run at long term.

You haven't said if you are on any medication, but perhaps your doc could put you on metformin?

It might also be worth you googling 'physiological insulin resistance' and 'gluconeogenesis' which might both be contributing to your current levels
 
CatherineJohnson said:
My protein levels are maybe too high, I hadn't realised that would be a problem
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Protein converts to glucose, same as carbs, just much more slowly and steadily. I sometimes get a second spike 3 or 4 hours after a meal that can be higher than the conventional post meal rise, if I had something like nuts at the end of the meal, that kick in later. This can be a useful tool in your arsenal for leveling BGs if you fluctuate too much or there will be a gap until you next eat, but it can cause confusion if you don't know about the phenomena.

Have a look at this nutritional calculator for low carbing and once you've added your weight, if you want to lose weight or maintain it and carb limit, it will tell you what balance of protein and fat you need to match your stated carb level to achieve those goals.

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/DietMakeupCalc.php
 
Daibell said:
Hi. Don't worry too much about your fasting sugars due to the overnight liver dump phenomenon. See what your levels typically are two hours after a meal and if below 8-9 mmol then you're fine. If not then do discuss meds with the GP.
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Thank you. I am always below 8 within 2 hours of eating. I was just worried because when I get to my next meal, my husband who isn't diabetic will be at 4.5, where as I will be between 6.5 - 7,5, and my overnights are always high. I wake up higher than when I go to bed! I looked at liver dump and that sounds about right x
 
Any fasting level between 5 and 7 is fine for a diabetic.
 

I love the idea of testing your partner. You must have a very supportive husband. I offered to test my wife's blood sugar and she offered to stick my meter.....well I am sure you get the idea

I was looking at your figures and thinking how incredibly well you are doing! I get the early morning 'liver dump' as well and was told by a specialist not to worry about it. Have you have an HbA1c recently......that is generally accepted to be the best measure of your levels.
 
Hi, keep on doing that with a few modifications as our peers suggest here. For some it might take a while to adjust than the others.From my personal experience It took me about 6 months to see the results on my HbA1c values.At first I was disappointed after so much 3 effort, And one other thing i did was to incorporate a small amount of carb like 40g rice(I do eat that with a lot of veggies and of course meat ) and have bit more bolus(like 2u-Total dose) to cover that 40g ,30 mins prior to the meal.So I don't know which worked, i mean incorporating a small carb or it took 6 months to adopt. I doubt for some people fats might cause to slow down the absorption of glucose in the blood stream.Let me know your results if anything i said would work for you..Cheers!!
 
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