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Dawn phenomenon nausea when fasting

Glink

Well-Known Member
Messages
252
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I'm experimenting with fasting, but having trouble with nausea as I get into mid-morning and haven't eaten. I do struggle with dawn phenomenon. The nausea seems worse after I exercise in the am (I normally bike to work weekdays). I have checked and this is definitely high sugar nausea not hypos. Any advice from those with more fasting experience? If I tough it out, will this likely go away, or should I modify my fast plans? Thanks!
 
My advice is to listen to your body. If you force yourself to do things beyond comfort, then the stress caused may compound the effect on BG.
 
How high is your sugar going?
 
7-ish? I get symptoms lower than many, I know. But today I ate a very lowcarb breakfast (coffee & meat) and after my ride it was a nice 5.1. I need to do more reading on fasting--suspecting it may be amount of food more than periods of no food that help in my case.
 
If that works for you then go for it.. as we say everyone has different experiences and different reactions to things.. I just note what seems to have worked well for me so others can give it a go. Looks like for you something to eat first thing helps.
 
It is possibly the combination of fasting and cycling on an empty stomach. On your cycling days it may be better to eat a no carb breakfast, as you did with the coffee and meat. Leave fasting for non-cycling days, or skip a different meal.
 

I fast regularly all the time, when I feel hungry and a bit sickly I have a cup of tea or someimes a glass of water.
Your body will take time to adjust to a new regime so don't give up.
 
I used to fast and would get nauseous. I still get nauseous if my stomach is empty too long or I get hot. I don't need a lot of food to make it go away. A slice of avocado or a couple nurs. A piece of raw veggies. It seems it likes to chomp on something and usually some fat. So now I graze instead of meals.
And I'm always nauseous if I exercise on an empty stomach. Especially in the morning. I do better eating some avocado bf and then I can easily skip lunch and have a small dinner if I wanted to.
 
Do read Dr Jason Fung's "The Obesity Code" and perhaps also his "the Complete Guide to Fasting". Fasting is something that your body learns and becomes capable of through practice. The nausea should diminish over time. Just work on extending your fast 1-2 hours at a time. Fasting becomes much easier after you have adopted a LCHF eating style, so perhaps that is the first step (a small low carb breakfast like coffee and an egg).
I am prediabetic and I have used the Jason Fung strategy (LCHF combined with Intermittent Fasting) for the past 14 months, and it has done me a world of good. I also bike to work (20-25 mins with some uphill that makes me puff) on nothing but a cup of coffee (either black or with a little cream). However I would have struggled to do this 14 months ago. I have brought my dawn blood glucose down from in the 7s to in the 5s. My body is getting better at burning fat instead of glucose, this has given me better biking stamina/endurance.
So basically my suggestion is to use the LCHF + IF strategy, read Jason Fung because he gives you an excellent mental model of insulin resistance and what it is you are trying to achieve (which is really motivating), and don't expect instantaneous results. Slow and steady wins the race. To keep motivated, track your progress each month. In a year's time you should see a real difference.
You are on the right track. Practice makes perfect. Push your body just a little bit at a time.
 
I agree with indy51 - listen to your body. May not b right for you. I'm just embarking on lchf diet and int-fast (16/8) and it's wrkg well. I also run / exercise on empty stomach. That took while to get used to but now I'm fine. Think was more of mental block for me tho - always had a good breakfast. May be change your fasting length / days around yr exercise. Good luck
 
As always I would recommend checking out Virgin Coconut Oil or MCT Oil to keep the brain happy when glucose level drops and ketones haven't quite ramp up.
 
If the fasting itself is working for you and its just thd nausea you struggle with, try offering your tummy sips of warm ( not cold) water. I drink a "hot drink" cos it helps to calm my tum! Hope it helps
 
I have been LCHF for almost 2 years now. Coffee + 2 eggs or sausage is my normal breakfast. I'm not obese or trying to lose any weight, and to be honest I'm not really sure if I'm insulin resistant or not. I am just trying to figure out how to improve my FBG. I thought fasting might be worth a shot, but now I'm not sure I understand what fasting is anymore, because there seem to be so many interpretations of what it means!
 
Fasting as per Islamic rule same as Christianity and Judaism actual fasting from sunrise to sunset without eating any food or drinks will reset the whole body physical cycles not just blood glucose.. Actual fasting to reset the psychologic aspects is also in fasting from hearing music, watching sex or practicing unlawful acts.. Believe me, your life will change by fasting... For further queries, write me at m.yoosof@live.com. Thank you.
 
True everyone does it in their own way. I recently tried to do a 3 day water fast (water, black tea and black coffee only) but cracked after 36 hours and had some cream in my coffee.
What would your reasons be for fasting? Have you had a recent HbA1c so you can see progress on your blood sugar control?
For your FBG you may want to try not eating dinner rather than skipping breakfast. What are your morning levels usually?
 
I am just looking for something that will help, especially with my FBG. No matter what I do I can't get that normal anymore, although with metformin and low carb I can mostly keep it in the "pre" range (low 6's). I had 3 days of travel during which I didn't eat much and I had the best sugars I've had in ages at the end (like low 5's, not 4's like I used to when I first got diagnosed and went LCHF, but much better), which got me wondering about fasting. My HbA1C...I'm due for a new quarterly draw later this month so we'll see if the trend holds, but it's been "good" (high 30's, I think) yet steadily rising over the past year. As I've been exploring this I realise I already skip dinner about 3x/wk, just because I'm tired and not hungry. I guess that's a de facto "fast" then, if I don't eat from 3 or 4pm (I usually have a few nuts or similar before biking home) until 7 the next morning.
 
I am fasting from 8pm to 12 MD next day 16 hours.I found bone broth has helped me initially and plenty of water,tea and black coffee with a bit oof cream sometimes.Now after a fortnight of fasting +LCHF diet my body does not want breakfast.My blood sugar's have dropped fro 8-9 to 4.6 most of the time.I came of meds to do this.I believe it would be difficult to fast taking meds.Then you would need health monitoring.
 

Well done sounds like you are doing a great job! Many congratulations.
 
Bovril has been great for the fasting nausea. I dont know why, but a cup of hot Bovril stops the nausea and shakes. I am eating only twice a day now.
 
Well, I seem to have no problem skipping supper, but it doesn't do much of anything for my FBG!

I don't really understand the reason drinking beverages that have a few carbs and calories is still fasting for diabetes fasting diets, but eating solids with similar carb counts isn't. Or maybe I'm misinformed on that point. Can anyone clarify this for me?
(I'm fine to "fast" until lunch if I have an egg or some meat before my bike ride. But that's just how I normally do things!)
 
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