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hoping you can tell me I'm on the right lines ...

Disneyfan

Well-Known Member
Messages
60
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
my fasting score which caused my diagnosis was 17, found that out a week ago today.

On Monday at 5pm (obviously not fasting!) my dad tested me on his monitor - 14.8

Today I bought my own, tested same time of day (5pm) 11.3

Haven't eaten any sweets/chocolate/cake etc since last week. Only found this site at weekend ...Really trying with the low carb these last couple of days but sure I'm getting it wrong!

How quickly should I be seeing my readings coming down? Faster than this?

One final question ... is a thumping headache a common thing in the first days of low carb or is this just a coincidence?
 
Hi! Teting at the same time of day isn't the key. Testing two hours after eating is the key. At that stage, it should be below 8.5,(NHS target) or ideally even lower (below 7.8). If it isn't, you need to cut out some of the carbs you had in that meal the next time. It's not just about sugar and cake; all sorts of things have carbs. Fruit, some veg, (particularly potatos and parsnips), rice pasta and so on. So look at the nutrition guides on the side of the packets, or if it's loose food google " carb content of" to look it up.
You'll get there, and well done on the progress so far.
 
thanks,

Testing two hours after eating is hard for me during the day as I'm a teacher ... I can't really halt the class and run out to test but I'll give that a go at the weekend. I only tested at the same time today as I wanted some kind of comparator from Monday. I'll try after my evening meal from tomorrow

I know I've a long way to go but feel slightly more in control if that makes any sense? All week I've just wondered if I was doing it right.
 
Welcome Disneyfan, When you start lowering carbs, you can get side effects like headache, nausea, weakness etc. because the diet causes more water and sodium etc. to be flushed out. So it is recommended by some to increase your salt intake for awhile. One way to do this is to use bouillon cubes taken as a "tea" in hot water. Two a day to start.
 
Thanks Etty,

I hoped the headache would be linked to the sugar withdrawal ... this afternoon I was trying to teach head pounding and hoped it might go soon!
 
re headaches - make sure you drink plenty of plain water over the day. I pour our a two-litre jug in a morning and try to empty the last of it into the glass I take to bed with me. You could take a litre of water to school with you in a bottle, and drink it over the day - timing it so 'comfort' breaks coincide with breaks between lessons :wink:

You can count tea and coffee towards some of the 2 litres, but remember both have a slight diuretic effect so not too much!

Quite often changing to lower carb actually improves your diet and the headaches can be a bit of a de-tox effect.

Hope they stop soon!


Viv 8)
 
thanks Viv, head MUCH better today

Don't drink tea or coffee (can't really stomach any hot drinks at all) but took large bottle of water with me today and managed that.

Don't reckon I've hit 2 litres yet but there is still time.

Blood sugar today was under 10 for the first time - 9.3 I realise thats not an acceptable number but at least its showing a steady decrease.
 
It's going in the right direction so well done. It takes a whole but you'll soon see the 8's then the 7's
 
you were right Grazer, managed 8.7 on Sunday, and today 7.7

I realise from looking at other people's posts they seem to have had much quicker more dramatic reductions, but I'm happy that things are moving in the right direction
 
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