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HELP!!! - Where am I going wrong ?

N

Nancy6

Member
Messages
11
Location
lincolnshire
Hello all
I have been low carbing for almost two weeks now and I have been getting mixed results - I must be going wrong somewhere !
On the positive side my Blood Glucose has come down significantly during the day.. in fact I got down into the 4s at times but I felt lousy, Before I started Low carbing I was, Im embarrassed to admit, In the mid teens most of the time and I think the drop was to fast and perhaps my body needed time to adjust so I upped the carbs from approx 50 to 80. I'm still feeling lousy ( headache and lack of focus) when my BG gets below about 7.5 to be honest. the lower the worse!

My second issue is that my Bgs are sky high in the Morning - anywhere between 9 - 14 - then they come down during the day - I am familiar with the dawn syndrome but i have checked my bloods in the night ( between 3 and 5am) but they are never low so im confused as to why my body is releasing so much glucose during the night to produce morning highs.

the last issue is that I have lost NO weight what so ever!
So where am i going wrong?

I will give you an Idea of a typical days diet -
Breakfast
Fried egg
Fried bacon
fresh tomatoes ( 10 g)
half mozzarella ball (1.5g)
dressing ( 2g)

lunch
3 Ryvita type crackers (16g)
cheese spread (10g)
Ham

Dinner
salad
Peach (11g)
Cheese
Dressing (2g)
Meat or fish
half Avocado (2g)
Snacks ( for example)
Apple 15g
corned beef
slice fritata.
Drinks are Broth, water or herbal teas
and lets add on 10 for carbs in the cheese and salad etc. Total - 79.50

I have not had ANY Naughties, no bread, No pasta, No potatoes, No cakes,No alcohol, No sweeties ! - NOTHING

So why am I getting these high readings in the morning, Why am I feeing so lousy below 7.5 and why am I not loosing any weight !

i would be most grateful of any advice please
Many thanks
Nancy
 
Well I am only pre diabetic but an avid low carber so I will try and help. Very well done on the changes you have made so far.

Firstly if you are used to having high readings then I have read on this site that normal bg readings can make you feel ill. I used to get high morning readings but find that not eating after about 8 helps, plus making sure what I do eat is very low carb. My mum who is type 2 used to feel ill with normal reading but not now, plus by not eating less late at night and cutting her carbs has also reduced her morning readings.

With regard to your diet, what is in your salad dressing? Also I thought avos were about 8 gms carb per half.

For breakfast I would eat less, just the egg and bacon grilled or the half mozzarella ball and tomatoes.
I personally would not have the crackers, I would rather up my carbs with an enormous salad, which I have every lunchtime, with either fish or nuts or cold chicken breast. I personally would not have the peach until my bg's were under control, particularly at dinner which could impact oin your morning readings. I would go for lower carb snacks like nuts, 2 bits 90% chocolate or celery. This should all help your weight loss. Plus I would test carefully after your fruit I started with berries as they are supposed to be lower carbs.

Hope this helps, good luck Jo
 
Hi, I tried low carbing for a good few weeks, found myself very tired and headachy, I also had high bg readings and like you were very high in the mornings. I subsequently did a DAFNE course, and found that I am happier with med-low carbs, not totally low, and I have upped my ratio's during the day and lowered my bi a few units, I am happy to say my HBa1C is now lower and I am not so tired and no more headaches. I suppose it's what's good for you and what works with your own body chemistry.
 
Hi Nancy! If you've regularly been in the teens during the day before now, you will feel odd now you're starting to get down to normal levels. Your body is used to high BGs and is asking for more - you will get past this. A couple of weeks isn't long to get your body used to a new eating regime. Morning readings are always the last to come under control, so don't worry about them for now. When you've had your BGs after eating under control for a while, the fasting BGs will start to slowly come down. Just one thing - I see you're on Gliclazide and sitaglyptin, so you need to be careful about changing your carb intake massively without reducing your medication if your BGs continue to get lower. You could get into hypo land. I hope you are liaising with your medical team (doctor or nurse) about this, and monitoring carefully on a frequent basis? If you were just on diet or metformin this wouldn't be an issue, but on the meds you are taking you need to be a bit careful.
Good luck, and give it time!
 
Hi Nancy. I agree with grazer, a couple further pointers that may be of help. A drop from 14 to 4 in the space of a few hours will more than likely give you a false hypo, all the symptoms but not the very low readings.
Something else that can happen if you have high bm's, is that you get a very strong second stage insulin response to lower ypur blood sugars. and can get go into hypo for a short period before your body shuts down the insulin production, this is one of the dangers of gliclizide. I've also seen this happen with my partner who is diet only control, seems to happen about 3 1/4 to 3 3/4 hrs after the spike, might be worth testing to check.
With regards to the morning effect, its as much to do with hormone release to wake you up, cortisol is released to stimulate the body out of sleep and triggers a glucose release, hence the spike. It might be worth talking to your GPwith a view to loading your evening metformin ( needs to be SR ) I loaded my metformin to start with until my morning readings come down and then re adjusted, at one setage I was taking all 2000mg at 10pm. I say it needs to be SR because standard metformin will have lost its effect many hours before you get up.
Finally with regards to your wgt loss, It might be worth checking your calorie intake of your diet, just to see if its a bit high to get the pound coming off. Wgt loss can be difficult and seems to go in fits and starts, seems like you've hit a wall on occasions, but stick with it , it will work eventually. Best of luck, you've had some great results so far keep them coming
 
Hi Nancy, I have been low carbing since July and its only now that my morning readings are really starting to change. I also seem to have only just started losing significant weight, I think it takes a while for your body to get used to the new regime. It worth sticking with it!
 
Hello
Thank you all so much for your valuable advice and encouragement.
The diet I listed is pretty much how its been since i upped my carbs from 50 to 80g in an attempt to feel better as I thought perhaps I had gone to low to soon. but perhaps the calories are to high - I will look into that - thank you. I eat the peach or apple when the blood sugar readings are particularly low and I am feeling especially ill but to be honest both upping the carbs and the fruit is now not making any difference to the way i am feeling !
Jo - the Dressing is a Caesar sauce from Aldi - according to the label its 1g per 30g serving and I only have a splash so perhaps my 2g estimate is actually on the generous side - so its nice a good product - tasty too !

one of the things that concerns me is whether my body is actually metabolising enough glucose - certainly the blood glucose reading is considerably lower but is this just because my intake of carbs and sugar has been drastically reduced ? is my body actually processing any better (or worse)? Is my body getting what it needs and if not could this be contributing to how i am feeling.

Last night I gave and ate some chocolate for the first time in two weeks- I know this was probably the worst thing to do, I didn't want it and wasn't craving but I simply couldn't stand feeling so ill - this morning i feel better than i have for days and my Bg test is the about the same as it always is - 14.
I know that Low carbing is the way forward for me as i have seen it in my BG results so today I am persevering and for one day, as an experiment, i am ditching the Gliclicide and sitiglipin and just taking the metformin- ( i have only recently been put on these so I figure dropping back to metformin only will not hurt to much) I really cant bear another day of feeling so horrible - tomorrow i see the nurse and I will discuss the medication with her.

thanks again to you all for taking the time to reply
 
Hello...
Just a few lines to report that i didnt take the sitigliptin or gliclicide this morning as planned and I feel great! I feel much better than i have felt for about two weeks. No headache, No dizzyness and my blood glucose reading was 7.2 just before lunch. I wonder what my nurse will have to say about this when i see her tomorrow!!!
 
Hello again Nancy, I took Glicazide for a week in July and I felt AWFUL. I begged the doctor to stop it and in exchange I would low carb and reduce my weight, he agreed. I have never looked back and feel fantastic, having lost 18lbs since then, and have got my BG down a significant amount.

If it doesnt agree with you don't take it! Its your body!!!
 
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