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High Readings even after low carb meal.

A

alembic1989

Member
Messages
24
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi,
5 weeks ago I decided to sort out my blood sugars after developing a taste for beer during lockdown.
I’ve also been exercising 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks, and have been careful with my carb intake.
Only started taking readings from Christmas Day onwards.
I’ve been finding that my blood sugars on waking are anywhere between 8-10..after fasting for 17 hrs ( intermittent fasting), as soon as I have my first meal the readings go up by 3-6 even after a high fat, blow carb, high fibre high protein meal.
During lockdown I drank excessively & was poor with my food choices.
My question is if I keep banging away doing all the right things ( as I am now) will my readings begin to come down?
I actually reversed my diabetes last year on this kind of regime...but like an idiot..I went mad....idiot.
Is it just a question of patience?
Would really appreciate some good advice.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hello and welcome,

Just a couple of things- I am assuming you were born in 1989- is that correct? if so it may be that you are a type 1 variant rather than a type 2. My knowledge is abysmal so just putting it out there. There are many here who understand the tests you may need to do to ensure you are a type 2.

Assuming you are a type 2 on no medication (other than metformin) yes I believe you will be able to bring your levels down.

In relation to the fasting levels- google 'dawn phenomena' as that will be part of the explanation. I personally find my levels increase after waking and then doing some exercise- if I eat something that can help otherwise it decreases in the afternoon non. I usually only have one meal a day but do sometimes have more. That is at least a lot to do with wanting to lose weight.

Second thing- have you started actually recording your carb intake. I keep very low carb- under 20 grams a day on a higher carb day- others go lower and other higher. I went low as I find that easier and wanted to reduce my insulin resistance. I love carbs- my body doesn't. The important thing to find out is the level of carbs your body can tolerate. Now blood sugar levels are effected by exercise, stress, illness and other things so it may take some time to work out the amount of carbs your body can tolerate. I would suggest going as low as possible for a while (google 'keto flu' though) and once your levels have dropped you can consider gradually increasing your carb level until you find where your body can't cope (or stay low that works too-lol)

Also read

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

Good luck and welcome.
 
Hi @alembic1989

You may well find it’s a question of patience. If I wander a bit off track - and by that I mean eating a lot more low carb food, rather than excessive carbs - it can take a while to get my blood sugars back to where I like to keep them.

If you’ve had a prolonged period of eating/drinking less than optimally it could take a while to get back in range. You’re doing the right thing by testing, so you’ll get some instant feedback and can keep track of whether things are slowly getting back in track or not.

As @VashtiB says it might not be a bad idea to track your carb intake for a while to make sure you really are low carb and also to understand what level of carbs your body can tolerate.

And keep us posted - lots of advice here and sure there are people that could help with tweaking what you’re doing as you go.
 
Thanks for your advice.
I’ve been keeping a close eye on my carbs..but readings are still too high.
I had my first meal today at 1:55 pm ( previous meal 8pm previous day...intermittent fasting).
Before the meal my reading was 5.2. Net carbs were 5.4 g ( meal consisted of monkey nuts, walnuts and a protein shake made with water)...high fat, low carb, high protein.
Reading 2 hours later was 9.8! ...this typical of what’s going on at the moment..my lowest reading in the last 5 weeks was 5.. and I’ve been taking readings about 6/8 times a day...first thing...first meal..2 hrs later etc, to try and build a picture of what’s happening.
My hunch is that all those months of excess drinking and bad eating habits means it is going to take longer than I thought to
‘ get back to normal’
I’m a bit worried.
 
alembic1989 said:
Before the meal my reading was 5.2. Net carbs were 5.4 g ( meal consisted of monkey nuts, walnuts and a protein shake made with water)...high fat, low carb, high protein.
Click to expand...
Your BG before the protein shake was good. The spike after would indicate that what ever was in it was too many carbs.
Better to eat some meat and low carb vegetables and then test.
 
Only 1.2 g carbs in protein shake.
Forgot to mention I also had hi lo bread toast with real peanut butter...the Hilo net carbs are about 3g.
I’ve had the same first meal with no low carb bread..( so negligible carbs)...and still got a high reading after.
I don’t know what’s going on.
Ps...I’m a vegetarian so meat/fish is out....eggs & cheese fine.
 
alembic1989 said:
Only 1.2 g carbs in protein shake.
Forgot to mention I also had hi lo bread toast with real peanut butter...the Hilo net carbs are about 3g.
I’ve had the same first meal with no low carb bread..( so negligible carbs)...and still got a high reading after.
I don’t know what’s going on.
Click to expand...
For me it makes a difference what the carbs are. Any grains and legumes spike my blood sugar. Same amount of carbs from above ground vegetables keep my blood sugar stable.
 
I take your point about different carb types.
However a meal with paneer ( Indian cubed cheese) and fresh spinach...has no net carbs, but still my readings climbed...
I watch my portion size too.
 
alembic1989 said:
Only 1.2 g carbs in protein shake.
Forgot to mention I also had hi lo bread toast with real peanut butter...the Hilo net carbs are about 3g.
I’ve had the same first meal with no low carb bread..( so negligible carbs)...and still got a high reading after.
I don’t know what’s going on.
Ps...I’m a vegetarian so meat/fish is out....eggs & cheese fine.
Click to expand...
Just to check, is that shake 1,2 total, as in, per portion rather than 100 grams or ml? Because that's pretty low for a shake. Just to make sure. (Do you have a brand name or something to check the info of?

Your carb-intake seems very low, yet your numbers are rising. Are you very stressed, ill, fighting an infection, was there a change in medication (for other conditions, like statins or steroids), or might you be dealing with the after-effects of covid? It might not just be food you should be looking at, if your meals are that low.

Good luck!
Jo
 
alembic1989 said:
Only 1.2 g carbs in protein shake.
Click to expand...
What are the ingredients? Any sweeteners/sugar alcohols in there? For some people (me included), some of those cause a big spike in blood sugars, while for others they don’t. Worth checking that out. Anything ingested in liquid form will hit the blood stream more quickly too, so if you can get the same nutrients, especially the protein, from natural, solid sources you may see a different result. Worth a try.

alembic1989 said:
My hunch is that all those months of excess drinking and bad eating habits means it is going to take longer than I thought to
‘ get back to normal’
Click to expand...
As I mentioned in my earlier post ‘up thread’, I’d agree. Many people find it takes longer to sort blood glucose out than it does to cause it to rise by going a little off piste. Do you have records of what you ate previously that kept blood glucose in check? Perhaps two or three weeks of sticking religiously to a menu that is known to ‘work’ would give you a clearer idea of whether there’s an underlying issue or it’s just time that’s needed to get back to where you want to be.
 
Hi Goonergal,
When I reversed my diabetes last year I kept meticulous records of my meals and their macro nutrients..to the gram including my readings...Also my workouts etc,
I’m on the same eating regimen now..slowly tweaking as necessary..but readings are not right.
I’ve never had problems with sugar alcohols.
 
Your liver may be taking a while to recover from the drinking.

I second the suggestion to double check the protein shake.
 
I could be wrong but hasn't beer got a lot of non-OH sugar?
 
Hi Lucylocket, thanks.
I’ve double checked my protein shake.
1.4g carbs in a scoop ( which is what I have)....and it’s mixed with water.
Hankjam...I don’t know what non-OH sugar means.
 
Hello again everyone,
I thought I’d just update you on recent developments.
I thought I’d try out a few things.
On Wednesday I had a 2 hr workout midday (previous meal 8pm day before...intermittent fasting), and decided to fast til 8pm, making it 24 hrs from previous meal. My bloods were 5 at this time. 2 hours after a 900 calorie meal with negligible carbs my reading was 6.8..... DELIGHTED.
Since then they have fallen further...today after doing the Wednesday routine, at 8pm bloods were 4.3 rising to 5.6 after a similar meal.
I am over the moon...I was worried it might never come down.
Thank you all for taking the time to give your soundest advice ( which I’ve taken on board)..and of course the support it gave.
Happy new year!
 
Some beers are quite high in carbs, I have in the past been told you don't need to count carbs in alcohol but that has never been my experience and find my bgs can spike after a couple of cans of lager .
 
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