Help Me Stay Keto Please

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi Jo, thank you. I was convinced when my blood glucose deteriorated a couple of years ago - inexplicably a few months after a good HbA1c followed 2 weeks later by a doubling of the statins dose (20mg=>40mg, gratuitously, I thought, and for nothing to do with all this). I stopped statins completely for 6 months, but it made no difference to my BG, and I agreed to go back to my original dose as a compromise. Maybe it just was coincidence - medical science is all so much more complex than the chemistry I used to do in the 60s.
I should have said I also take prednisalone every year or two or three, when I have a particularly bed chest infection. So there may be a cumulative effect from the regular inhalers and/or those. However, stopping the inhalers and their emergency support is not an option, as you can appreciate.

Of course. Just wanted to say, a lot of people wouldn't get your results when steroids (which are often unavoidable), are in the mix. So you really are doing well. But yeah, get a full blood panel done, all vits, mins and whatnot... Something's off. For me, extreme fatigue still is a thing when my vit d gets really, really low (I'm deficient as it is, to the point of the adult form of rickets; osteomalacia). Do you happen to experience bone pain by any chance? Can't ask you whether wearing a bra hurts your ribs of course, haha. But for instance, when the cat decides to jump on the bed and walks across my chins, as adorable as it is, it is absolute agony. Just wondering if you experience something similar. I eat massive amounts of fish to keep things up to par, but if it is an issue, supplements should work for you. (I get migraines when I take those, so not an option for me). Anyway.... As you've probably figured out by now, there's a gazillion reasons why you're feeling what you're feeling. Better get all of them ruled out until you find what it is, because this is not working for you. Still... I have a feeling it's not keto related. I can't explain why. Just a gut feeling. Do keep us posted when you get your lab work back!
Jo

 

[Resurgam]

It took me about 18 months to begin to get over taking Atorvastatin for just over a month.
I do advise drinking water, not a chemical solution - you might see a big change in your body and how it works - plus I found that I got really spaced out after drinking anything with aspartame.

 

[johnb46]

Fluids: Consumption has not obviously changed. For many years I have been a very frequent visitor of the toilet to pee. I don't seem to go any more now than before with one very noticeable difference: For at least 10 years, I have woken up every 90 minutes or so at night and needed to go. But the volume was tiny, despite the intensity of feeling. This didn't change after diagnosis, despite better BG levels. I now wake up the same as before (after weeks of even worse sleep than I normally get) and each time pee a fair amount. I drink maybe as much as a litre of diet lemonade overnight, probably somewhat more than pre-keto, and 2 litres+ of coffee (mainly decaff) and lemonade during the day. If I exercise, the diet lemonade increases substantially during the day. I could be over-hydrated, I suppose, but not dehydrated, surely. Overnight, dehydration (caused by omitting to rehydrate enough after exercise) gives me a headache and I haven't had any headaches.

Slightly off topic, but as a gentleman of a certain age have you had your PSA (prostate) levels tested? this could be cause your pee difficulties.

Lesley, Thank you for referring to me as a gentleman - nobody else does! The 'of a certain age' is spot on, of course.
Good point re prostate. My brother (3 years younger) had to have chemotherapy for prostate and nagged me to get inspected and PSA tested. All clear in my case (and keto has banished the problem for now).
John

 

[johnb46]

It took me about 18 months to begin to get over taking Atorvastatin for just over a month.
I do advise drinking water, not a chemical solution - you might see a big change in your body and how it works - plus I found that I got really spaced out after drinking anything with aspartame.

Resurgam, I took the 20mg Atorvastatin tablet for 3 years without noticeable ill effects before the dose was doubled and it satisfied my GP. Of course, maybe 20mg is enough simply to preserve any damage by 40mg, but I chose to accept that the 20mg is just doing a reasonable job. If keto starts working for me as originally hoped (even with HbA1c down to 'only' 42) I shall be conflicted if I can't convince my doc that the cholesterol level is OK.
I've been using aspartame diet drinks for 40 years. When I try to drink water overnight, I find I don't drink enough and often get headaches. I shall try to get back to black decaf
We'll see,
John

 

[Antje77]

Why did I go keto? To reinstate myself firmly into the low prediabetes HbA1c range, preferably better, and to be a credible, live example, to my son and D-in-Law who have a T1D teenage daughter, that BG can be controlled (maybe not till she's out of the headstrong teenager stage and definitely at the cost implied by recognising she can't eat just what she likes and maintain stability with (mis-)calculated gobs of insulin).

I can probably keep down to a mid-40s HbA1c by (guess) a 130g carbs/ 200g protein diet. (But what about my grandchild?).

Do you mean you think your grandchild should (eventually) go very low carb/keto? Why? She doesn't have T2 or insulin resistance, if she manages to dose according to what she eats it's perfectly healthy.

I agree it's easier for many T1's to correctly dose whith lower carb meals but many of us can manage just fine with moderate carbs. To use myself as an example, I think I usually consume somewhere betwee 70 and 180 grams of carbs a day (sometimes more, special occasions and such), and I understand you think T1's shouldn't have that many carbs. But my hba1c's have been 35 and 36 in the past two years, so why would those carbs be detrimental to my health?
(To be clear, those are NOT hba1c's your grandchild should strive for unless she wants to and can do it without going hypo all the time! A healthy hba1c for a T1 is highly individual, and something between the diabetic and their consultant.)

She has a completely different condition than you have, and hers isn't typically managed with a very restrictive diet like keto. Sending her the message she should restrict her diet isn't likely to make her happier. There is also the risk of eating disorders, which are relatively common in teenage girls, and T1's have a much bigger risk of developing an eating disorder than the general population on top of that.

I think it would be a better course if you do your diabetes and she does hers (with her consultants and parents).

Wish the both of you all the best!

 

[MrsA2]

Diet lemonade, or anything with bubbles in, greatly increases my peeing. I'd suggest cutting back drastically anything except tea, coffee, water and see how that goes

 

[johnb46]

Diet lemonade, or anything with bubbles in, greatly increases my peeing. I'd suggest cutting back drastically anything except tea, coffee, water and see how that goes

Interesting. Thanks, MrsA2,
Sounds like that's worth a try. Congrats on your progress, this year.
J

 

[HSSS]

40 yrs of drinking it or not, you may be reacting to the sweetener in the lemonade. It’s all a bit hit and miss so I’d agree ditch it for a few weeks and see what effect it has. Feeling rubbish without it suggests withdrawal to me meaning it is doing something potentially unwelcome. Do you really need to drink all through the night? So long as you have a decent amount of fluids during the day most of us find a sip here and there enough at night.

 

[johnb46]

40 yrs of drinking it or not, you may be reacting to the sweetener in the lemonade. It’s all a bit hit and miss so I’d agree ditch it for a few weeks and see what effect it has. Feeling rubbish without it suggests withdrawal to me meaning it is doing something potentially unwelcome. Do you really need to drink all through the night? So long as you have a decent amount of fluids during the day most of us find a sip here and there enough at night.

Hi HSSS and Resurgam and ..., You threw me off a bit with the '40 years of drinking'. Maybe I have a guilty conscience.
Never let it be said that I don't yield to peer pressure and good advice: I shall take note and have another go, more determined than before, at giving up lemonade and similar drinks. Thank you.

 

[johnb46]

Hi @johnb46,

Just a couple of thoughts regarding the points you mentioned ...

Ziggy, thank you. Watched the Bikman video and glad to see he's a protein fan, although I didn't understand (hoped not to have understood?) his suggestion at the end about increasing protein as glycaemic control improves - because he seemed to be implying that should occur only when your BG is better than prediabetic. What he was suggesting at that point was a compromise with people who are 'afraid' of protein, so not so much based on science as on 'cutting a deal' with doubters, perhaps.
Dave Felman's stuff? They look good intro's, but I still find them quite complex. Medical science is immensely complex from my perspective. And, so often, it's contested as well.
Still, good stuff, thank you.