High bloods, low carb diet, still no control

[Crystal Lady]

Hi Everyone - I'm having trouble getting my BG levels down below 20mmol never mind below 10mmol. I eat a very sensible diet keeping away from carbs as much as possible - usually less than 30 carbs per meal, I dont eat bread, rice, pasta or vegetables from under the ground, I do eat seeds, nuts, salads and fish. I swim at least twice a week, walk everyday and cycle at least 3 times a week. I test all the time both before and 2 hours after eating to check that the foods that I eat are ok -but they are not. I have just gone back on Metformin 2 x 500g daily after a break of 5 months to try and reverse the diabeteswithout success, but the metformin seems to be keeping me at higher levels and certainly not going down. I also have neuropathy in my feet and hands and have severe psoriasis and I am taking no other medication. My DN has said that maybe she will put me on Byetta but I am scared of my skin flaring up as I haven't anywhere to inject that is clear of psoriasis. Can anyone help? Please?

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi and welcome. I'm sorry you are having these problems when you seem to be doing everything right.
What were your levels like previously, before the 5 months off Metformin?

 

[gfmoore]

What is your actual food intake. You say you eat nuts and salads, but how much and what types?

It is high. I'm not surprised you have neuropathy, You need to do something about this!! There may be some other condition acting to push up bloods, insulin you produce is not enough or cells not responding to what insulin you produce.

How often do you test? You might want to give some thought to testing every hour or so, to see what is happening over a day.

Metf can take a few weeks to build up.

Has doctor suggested Gliclazide to get the insulin production up? Metf is basically to try and get the liver from dumping extra glucose into blood.

I am not a doctor, I suggest you make an appointment to see him/her as soon as.

let us know how you get on - and don't worry, the fact you have decided this is not right is a great first step, you now need to keep taking the next few steps. You will get control, honest.

 

[jack412]

see the dr for more blood tests, it may not be insulin resistance, you may not have enough insulin
google atkins induction diet. If that doesn't do it for you, you will need different drugs

 

[Crystal Lady]

Thanks for everybody's replies so far. I used metformin before with sitagliptin and gliclazide none of which worked for me with bg higher than ever and higher than no pills at all. Insulin is the last step I'm afraid. My diet is a very low gi with pecan, almonds and cashews in small amounts with raw foods as much as possible. As I said earlier I count carbs religiously with a maximum of 30 per meal and I keep portion control tight also. I am also a holistic therapist with nutrition qualifications. I have tried the atkins diet at the beginning when i was first diagnosed but it just put weight on. Weight is another problem I have lost 4.7 stones before I was diagnosed since then I cant seem to loose weight at all. Open to more suggestions.

 

[sunspots]

What have your DN and Dr said about everything getting worse with each treatment right down to weight gain on Atkins (could that have been muscle build up from exercise though? Usually they advise measurements of body or of body fat percentages I think).

Any way it seems to me to point to something unusual going on. The drugs work in different ways so maybe your team can work things out from your results. From what I have read there are several different mechanisms which can produce the symptoms of diabetes T2; perhaps yours is an unusual one.

Regardless of the causes insulin should work if it comes to it so there is always going to be a way to treat it somehow. Do you know what your current 'own-body-produced' insulin levels are? Maybe that will help with diagnosing what is happening for you.

Like others I would advise talking to your team and even maybe being a bit pushy (not very British I know!).

Have you had your B12 levels checked? If low thatcan cause/contribute to neuropathy.

Good luck.

 

[gfmoore]

My diet is a very low gi with pecan, almonds and cashews in small amounts with raw foods as much as possible.. I count carbs religiously with a maximum of 30 per meal and I keep portion control tight also. .

I'm sure you know this, nuts though a good food do contain varying amounts of carbs. cashews for example are so high in carbs I choose not to touch them, even though delicious. I don't know about pecans. brazils are quite low.

Mind they are so expensive one can only afford a few!

No something is definitely going on - off to the docs Please do let us know what transpires

edit: wild thought, are you having an allergic reaction to something? Since your intake is small, perhaps the effect is not noticeable as such

 

[Lenny3]

Have you asked the doctor to do more tests? It could be that your not type 2 but 1.5 or lada. I believe there are test they can do for this.

 

[Totto]

You could try to restrict carbs further and have 30 grams total in a day instead of with every meal.

And I agree with Lenny3, get tested for antibodies and ask if you can have C-peptide tested.

 

[Crystal Lady]

Hi and welcome. I'm sorry you are having these problems when you seem to be doing everything right.
What were your levels like previously, before the 5 months off Metformin?

My sugar levels have been all over the place and nothing seems to keep them under control so I took the 5 months off metformin to try and reverse it but not successful. The metformin before the time off was high levels - up to 30 plus and down to 14 as lowest , then when off the metformin my highs were as high but my lows got down to 9.9. Confusion to say the least perhaps something else going on but nurse or gp not able to take it further.

 

[Crystal Lady]

What have your DN and Dr said about everything getting worse with each treatment right down to weight gain on Atkins (could that have been muscle build up from exercise though? Usually they advise measurements of body or of body fat percentages I think).

Any way it seems to me to point to something unusual going on. The drugs work in different ways so maybe your team can work things out from your results. From what I have read there are several different mechanisms which can produce the symptoms of diabetes T2; perhaps yours is an unusual one.

Regardless of the causes insulin should work if it comes to it so there is always going to be a way to treat it somehow. Do you know what your current 'own-body-produced' insulin levels are? Maybe that will help with diagnosing what is happening for you.

Like others I would advise talking to your team and even maybe being a bit pushy (not very British I know!).

Have you had your B12 levels checked? If low thatcan cause/contribute to neuropathy.

Good luck.

Thanks yes I have had my B12 levels checked and they seem to be ok. Neuropathy arrived with hospital treatment for my psoriasis long before I was diagnosed diabetic. I feel there is something else going on but cant get to the bottom of it. Not seeing Consultant until January 2015.

 

[Crystal Lady]

I'm sure you know this, nuts though a good food do contain varying amounts of carbs. cashews for example are so high in carbs I choose not to touch them, even though delicious. I don't know about pecans. brazils are quite low.

Mind they are so expensive one can only afford a few!

No something is definitely going on - off to the docs Please do let us know what transpires

edit: wild thought, are you having an allergic reaction to something? Since your intake is small, perhaps the effect is not noticeable as such

I see your point and yes I am allergic to all sorts of things like anti histamine, penicillin, antibiotics, soap and possibly more. The nuts I eat when I'm hungry and too far from food and choose mainly pecans as they are known to lower sugar and yes cashews are higher in carbs and I treat them as a treat. Getting to see a Dr is hard in our practice and being diabetic it is always the nurse I see who is great and knowledgeable.

 

[Crystal Lady]

Have you asked the doctor to do more tests? It could be that your not type 2 but 1.5 or lada. I believe there are test they can do for this.

Doctors are not prepared to do more test until i have seen the consultant in January 2015 but I would like better control than I have at the moment. I have heard of the 1.5 but not lada can you explain a little for me.

 

[Crystal Lady]

You could try to restrict carbs further and have 30 grams total in a day instead of with every meal.

And I agree with Lenny3, get tested for antibodies and ask if you can have C-peptide tested.

C-peptide tests I will explore more and see if my nurse is prepare to do it along with antibodies, thanks

 

[Crystal Lady]

You could try to restrict carbs further and have 30 grams total in a day instead of with every meal.

And I agree with Lenny3, get tested for antibodies and ask if you can have C-peptide tested.

I have tried restricting my carbs to almost nil but that seems to make my sugar levels go even worse does this suggest something else to you.

 

[jack412]

Thanks for everybody's replies so far. I used metformin before with sitagliptin and gliclazide none of which worked for me with bg higher than ever and higher than no pills at all. Insulin is the last step I'm afraid. My diet is a very low gi with pecan, almonds and cashews in small amounts with raw foods as much as possible. As I said earlier I count carbs religiously with a maximum of 30 per meal and I keep portion control tight also. I am also a holistic therapist with nutrition qualifications. I have tried the atkins diet at the beginning when i was first diagnosed but it just put weight on. Weight is another problem I have lost 4.7 stones before I was diagnosed since then I cant seem to loose weight at all. Open to more suggestions.

Nope, I think it's time for insulin, you could try a couple of the new drugs, like the kidney one that passes sugar in your urine, but personally I like a drug to be on the market for 10 years before I touch it.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I definitely think it's time you saw your doctor. Insist on an appointment and ask for further tests to sort out a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. You can't go on with these high levels. You may not be type 2.

 

[Derek21]

Poor old you. I found after many years that all diabetes scenarios are different - in my case I was advised about carbs, but found eventually that a completely fat free diet reversed my diabetes in 3 weeks, BG down from 25 to 6. I am not familiar with your eating patterns, but it worked for me. i wish you well in your search for your answer.

 

[Crystal Lady]

What is your actual food intake. You say you eat nuts and salads, but how much and what types?

It is high. I'm not surprised you have neuropathy, You need to do something about this!! There may be some other condition acting to push up bloods, insulin you produce is not enough or cells not responding to what insulin you produce.

How often do you test? You might want to give some thought to testing every hour or so, to see what is happening over a day.

Metf can take a few weeks to build up.

Has doctor suggested Gliclazide to get the insulin production up? Metf is basically to try and get the liver from dumping extra glucose into blood.

I am not a doctor, I suggest you make an appointment to see him/her as soon as.

let us know how you get on - and don't worry, the fact you have decided this is not right is a great first step, you now need to keep taking the next few steps. You will get control, honest.

I have noticed this morning when I stepped onto the scales that since taking the metf since last thursday i have not put on 7 lbs in weight and this is not good, but I cant do anymore exercise as I haven't the time in between work (self employed). Food is a problem that i used to enjoy now it is a means of getting sugar lower and the drugs seem to make me spacy and out of it. and I cant see the nurse until the end of the month. I hope the visit next time clears somethings up like having more tests.

 

[Crystal Lady]

You could try to restrict carbs further and have 30 grams total in a day instead of with every meal.

And I agree with Lenny3, get tested for antibodies and ask if you can have C-peptide tested.

I have tried less than 30 and this made my sugars go wild. but thanks anyway.