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Confused about treatment

Lemonie

Well-Known Member
Messages
244
Location
Fylde Coast
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Have just been to see the consultant about my diabetes and to be honest I don't know why I bothered. It was a complete waste of time.

I am diagnosed as type 2 and was on a low dose of insulin (4 units) and Victoza 1.2mg. I have previously tried Metformin and Gliclazide with no success.

My problem is that my body does not tolerate carbs at all. I can keep my figures great if I eat 0-30g of carbs per day and spread out through the meals. If I eat more then my blood sugar spikes and then drops and I start with a hypo. After eating carbs the fatigue is terrible, I honestly struggle to put one foot in front of the other. If I were to have a small baked potato with a spoonful of beans I can 100% guarantee a hypo.

I know a lot of people will say that I should low carb then as it is for my health but I just can't keep it that low. I have never had a sweet tooth and my downfall is carbs. If you had told me I could never eat meat again, no problem, but I need to have some carbs in my life.

After mentioning the hypo's after carbs they have now stopped my insulin which I didn't think was the right thing to do as my base figures have now gone up. I was also told that Victoza was not licensed as a sole treatment for Diabetes and had to be used in conjunction with another drug?

I think that I may be type 1.5 but am so confused about what to do as am getting no help from the specialist. Is this normal and has anybody any advice on how to move forward :cry:
 
Lemonie, I think the reason no one has relied is because yours is a difficult post to answer.

I think you understand that eating to many carbs will affect your BGs adversely but that you feel unable to keep down to low carb intake.

I, for instance, would never eat a baked potato , with or without beans, if I do eat beans they are the low sugar sort and my potatoes are new, small and three at a time.

The fact that a low carb intake sorts out your BGs is a pointer to what you need to do, but if you are unable to keep to a low carb regime, (and it can be hard, we all know) then the only option is to find a suitable form of treatment that will keep your BGs stable.

To some extent the type of diabetes you have is not that important, what is important is that you find a treatment that will keep your BGs in a good place.

My suggestion is that you write every thing you eat down, including the weight and make a note of how it affects your BGs two hours on. Do it for a month and then go and see your doctor and ask what treatment they suggest.

H
 
Thanks for the reply

I still intend to eat a greatly reduced carb diet, around 100g/day but just can't keep as low as I need to keep my BG as low as I would like. I wouldn't eat a baked potato either it was just to show the hypo side of it.
 
Hi Lemonie. I don't understand why you say you hypo when having some carbs such as a baked potato? This is the converse of what should happen. A hypo is caused by excess insulin when the blood glucose is too low. Do you really mean hypo? What are the symptoms? What is your blood sugar level when you are having a hypo after a baked potato? I think it is even possible that you are going hyPER after having carbs due to a very high level of blood sugar. I think you must monitor your sugars very frequently 2 hours after eating to find out what your blood sugar is actually doing. There is a hint from what you are saying that you may be a late onset T1 in which case you will have very high sugars after eating carbs and should probably be on insulin etc. There are other types of diabetes such as MODY which have quite bizarre behaviours and for which you would need a specialist. Are you overweight? How old are you?
 
Daibell said:
Hi Lemonie. I don't understand why you say you hypo when having some carbs such as a baked potato? This is the converse of what should happen.

This is called reactive hypoglycaemia. The blood glucose spikes high then the body reacts by producing insulin... except in its panic about the bg being high it goes overboard, produces too much insulin, and you can go low (bg< 4). Its most likely to happen with carbs that are fast acting.... such as baked potato, baked beans.... Eating lower GI carbs, adding fat to carbs, or eating less carbs, or a combination of those can help.
 
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