Chicken or egg?

charliebarker said:

In the last couple of days my BSL has been slightly more elevated than normal and I've also been feeling jittery, stressed and easily irritated! Is it the levels that are making me feel like this or the feelings affecting the levels?? (By elevated I mean low 8's versus mid/high 6's - and no spikes above 1.5 after meals)

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I tend to get jittery when I'm higher than normal and definitely anxious and moody. Even if I'm in range but higher than my standard

Lows make me tired and eye droopy as well as moody but the highs more so

charliebarker said:

Do think actively trying to relax will help - or is it just a BS thing?

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I do try to do a little yoga stretching and some deep breathing for a few minutes and it helps sometimes but it helps more to keep bg steady.

Now exercise raises me but are you able to take a nice relaxing walk for about 15-20 min. That should bring bg down as well as tame the jitters and anxiety.

charliebarker said:

Thanks - will go for a walk. Wish I knew how to keep my bloods steadier - that would be amazing!

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Do you care to share their range and a typical diet you eat?

One thing that helped me immensely was finding the right bf. If I didn't get bf right the whole day was messed up and running high

charliebarker said:

I eat less than 50 carbs a day, diagnosed 4 months ago and still stabilising (no meds) recent fasting bloods 6.5 ish, and daily averages 6.9 but yesterday and today in the high 7's -mid 8's, along with the jitters and mood swings.

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Are you nursing an illness? Perhaps one that hasn't shown itself fully?

charliebarker said:

I eat less than 50 carbs a day, diagnosed 4 months ago and still stabilising (no meds) recent fasting bloods 6.5 ish, and daily averages 6.9 but yesterday and today in the high 7's -mid 8's, along with the jitters and mood swings.

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I can only tell you my experiences. I was type 2 before the progression to LADA, which I am now.
When I was type 2 (as well as now) I had to stay under 20 c per day. No grains, starchy veggies, sugars, juice etc. I tolerated NO carbs at bf. I would spike much higher at bf eating the same food than later in the day. I would walk a slow to moderate pace after meals for about 15 min when I could. This helped a LOT! I doesn't have to be strenuous or brisk by any means. Just constant movement. Raising your heart rate raises adrenaline and cortisol which raises bg so in the morning just make it relaxing.
I have been 20c or less per day for over 25 years when I started Atkins and never looked back all through my D progression. Carbs make me feel like junk. Achy, exhausted, etc. Now as a LADA I found myself landing on the exact same diet it have eaten for years.
Not all carbs are equal. You may be able to eat more than me but there are the 'danger ' ones like all things made with flours or grains including rice. Starchy root veggies, legumes, sweet fruits can all create a large spike.
Above ground veggies tend to not create such a spike so you might be able to eat more of those.

What's left?
Proteins of course but moderating those is important too. 58% of protein can turn to bg
Above ground veggies. I like using large lettuce leaves instead of breadfor sandwich fillings. I use a spoon for peanut butter or melted cheese.
Fats that I use regularly are avocado ( very satisfying, as is a piece of cheese) mayo, olive oil, pecans, macadamia nuts and olives.
I don't eat fruit but berries are best and eaten with some fat.

I don't gob fat but rather just normal amounts. I don't eat chicken skins, fatty sausage ( plenty of good chicken sausage) lots of butter or animal fats. Animal fats tend to raise me higher and keep me higher longer. I prefer plant fats. Fats still make up 75-80%!of my diet. 15-17% protein and about 5 carbs, mostly on avocado, nuts and lettuce. Some asparagus , scallions but broccoli sends me sky high, love it though.

I use portion control. I don't need nearly the amount of food I'd love to eat.

You might just need to switch some of your carbs for slower digesting ones to tame the beast.
8's would have me jittery. In fact the jitters is my indicator that I'm going up. For me, I can take insulin. You can take a walk or not eat that food that is making you go there. If weather doesn't permit I would walk up some stairs for a few minutes or dona few light push ups on the counter. Typically that was enough. Again, strenuous can raise you first.

It's such a challenge to figure out what to eat that I just keep everything simple. It's not boring for me as I enjoy all my food. It can be a bit monotonous but it's 'just food'

Bf. Thin slice turkey on lettuce with mustard and mayo
Lunch. 2 oz protein, 2 oz avocado and some rW chopped veg like scallion, radish, celery
Dinner Same as lunch

I have a large variety of precooked proteins and choose which one I want. Then I add a few veg, avocado and either mayo or olive oil.

Hope that helps. You'll figure it out. It takes time and trial and error. Keep testing to eliminate spiky foods and find foods that work great. Avocado at all meals keeps any potential spike lower and slower for me. Very diabetic friendly and a perfect fat source. But this again is just my experience through oodles of testing

Did you just change to a new batch of testing strips? My August readings were consistently higher which coincided with a different batch no. of strips. When I started another new batch in a September they returned to where they had been in July!

charliebarker said:

Tested before I left 7.... 15 minted walk, fast but not silly fast - not out of breath but felt that I've 'moved.... Came back tested straight away.... 5.3. ! Huzzah! Thanks for reminding me about the wonders of a constitutional!

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EXCELLENT!! Doesn't take much!! I have a treadmill I used in cold weather but slow up and down stairs works too.

The two things that raise me most is if ciurse carbs and a large meal.
Then excess protein

Saturated fat doesn't raise me much but it raises me after the theee hour mark and then I don't come back down either. Same as with too many nuts or too much cheese. Fat impedes insulin so it's important to balance th emeals. Never with no fat but never with excess. At least for me.

Happy you figured it out!! A walk after dinner should help your fasting too!!
Just remember you can't beat it out of you, less is more. By that I mean a slow to moderate walk lowered me much more than a brisk one. Some yoga stretching always worked too. Just simple stretching muscles. Feels good too!!!

Do you want to lose weight?

I hope your jitters went away after your walk!

Seems like your diet is right on track!
The things you can pay attention to is meal SIZE ( not over filling the stomach) and which type of fats you eat. As I said you may see a difference with plant fats vs animal. I LOVE me some rare lamb chops and rare lean steak slices but I do cut off visible fat.
Keeping protein moderate was a huge key in getting bg to my goal. The .8-1 g per kg LEAN body mass worked great. I eat 2 oz lunch and dinner and an ounce of cheese with a cocktail pre dinner. MOST people don't need more than 60 g per day

Here's another thing that helped. Keeping carbs and protein about 4 hours apart allows bs AND INSULIN to come back to baseline instead of keeping topping it off and higher. For me I need to eat every three hours as my insulin runs out by then ( not your problem) so I eat 4 small snack sized meals and a cheese snack. As type 2 it might not be such a good idea.

If you have body fat to loose you don't need to eat lots of fats which will allow your body to burn your own body fat. GREAT JOB on the weight loss!! Feels great huh!!!

Lastly, for me, and I'm not at all pushing keto, but it's the only thing that keeps my bg steady. 20 c or less per day keeps my glycogen stores as empty as possible. Then there's somewhere for my. Utrients to go rather than turning to bg and floating around.

You're doing awesome. Sorry if I'm rambling and saying things you already know. I'm sitting in a lobby waiting while getting an oil change !!

Keep up the great work!

Kristin251 said:

58% of protein can turn to bg

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You keep saying this Kristin and it simply isn't true for Type 2 diabetics. I linked to a study that shows it's more like 2g of 100g consumed protein and even then had no effect on blood glucose.

Indy51 said:

You keep sayig this Kristin and it simply isn't true for Type 2 diabetics. I linked to a study that shows it's more like 2g of 100g consumed protein and even then had no effect on blood glucose.

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It was for me when I was type 2. Actually reducing my protein is what brought my bg back into range. We are all different. I imagine this could be the case here as well.
I have quite a few type 2 friends that also found reducing protein reduced their bg. Not sure what else to say ...

People also debate whether saturated/ animal/ cheese and dairy make them IR. It certainly does me. This is where examine different foods is essential.

Kristin251 said:

It was for me when I was type 2. Actually reducing my protein is what brought my bg back into range. We are all different. I imagine this could be the case here as well.
I have quite a few type 2 friends that also found reducing protein reduced their bg. Not sure what else to say ...

People also debate whether saturated/ animal/ cheese and dairy make them IR. It certainly does me. This is where examine different foods is essential.

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I didn't think you could change type? Weren't you simply misdiagnosed as T2 at first and then reassessed as LADA? That's what I have seen happen with others on this forum.

zand said:

I didn't think you could change type? Weren't you simply misdiagnosed as T2 at first and then reassessed as LADA? That's what I have seen happen with others on this forum.

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Yes, LADA is Type 1 but late onset and takes a period of time to develop. It is an autoimmune disease. Type 2 is a metabolic disease. You can't change from T2 to LADA. Many on here that are LADA were originally misdiagnosed as T2.