I don’t understand

[Rachelpoppet]

Since finding out I have this disease I have watched everything I’ve eaten and drank. This last week I have felt so depressed I didn’t see the point in carrying on if this is what my life was going to be like. Eating foods I do t like and feeling like I’m constantly having to test my blood sugar levels. Since Thursday I have eaten chocolate, oven chips, chicken nuggets and drank lattes. I’ve not taken the metaformin tablet but I have tested my blood a couple of times. I normally have reading around 7 but the ones I have done over the weekend they have all been 4s and 5s. I’ve just got back from a walk which raised my heart level and it was 6.6. I don’t understand? I’ve been expecting the numbers to be over the 7,s I normally get. Is there a reason for the levels to be lower by eating ****?

 

[Fenn]

Not sure why your numbers are down, you need to do proper regular testing to draw any conclusions.

On the matter of feeling like life isn’t worth living like this, I go through times like those, for me the key is to think about me losing my toes and eyesight, ironically if this happens, I will be cared for by someone who isn’t allowed to feed me the things I decided were important, but now I can’t walk or see. The foods that are good for diabetics are the foods everyone should be eating anyway so it’s not really that unfair or at least no less fair than being coeliac or gluten and dairy intolerant etc etc. We just have to try and be philosophical.

This is today, tomorrow I’ll fall off the wagon again and tell myself to shut up.

I hope you find some happiness, I also hope you discover you have a rare form of diabetes that means salads and veg put your bg up while chocolate and chips cause hypos

 

[lucylocket61]

Since finding out I have this disease I have watched everything I’ve eaten and drank. This last week I have felt so depressed I didn’t see the point in carrying on if this is what my life was going to be like. Eating foods I do t like and feeling like I’m constantly having to test my blood sugar levels. Since Thursday I have eaten chocolate, oven chips, chicken nuggets and drank lattes. I’ve not taken the metaformin tablet but I have tested my blood a couple of times. I normally have reading around 7 but the ones I have done over the weekend they have all been 4s and 5s. I’ve just got back from a walk which raised my heart level and it was 6.6. I don’t understand? I’ve been expecting the numbers to be over the 7,s I normally get. Is there a reason for the levels to be lower by eating ****?

When did you test? Your profile doesn't say what type of diabetes you have. Are you on any diabetes medication? What were your figures when you were diagnosed and recently?

 

[MrsA2]

The frequent and regular testing only needs to happen while you are in learning phase. Once you know what foods spike and therefore what to avoid, you can relax testing.
I , for example, tested regularly for about 5-6 months as I am a varied eater and cook but now, overall year in I test less than once a day just to make sure I keep roughly in check. I do find it easy to avoid the bad foods because I now see them as poison to me.
No one is going to make you do anything, but I do hope you find the motivation to look after yourself. This condition is manageable and liveable with for life, but only if you feel you are worth looking after.

 

[Rachelpoppet]

I am testing regularly and how every one has suggested apart from this last week where I’ve just not been able to face it. I’m type 2, and as I said my levels are normally around 7 but the couple of times I’ve checked over the last few days the have been much much lower which does not make sense because what I have eaten is chips, chocolate and lattes. Normally I have chicken broccoli and other leafy greens.

 

[lucylocket61]

I am testing regularly and how every one has suggested apart from this last week where I’ve just not been able to face it. I’m type 2, and as I said my levels are normally around 7 but the couple of times I’ve checked over the last few days the have been much much lower which does not make sense because what I have eaten is chips, chocolate and lattes. Normally I have chicken broccoli and other leafy greens.

There is often a lag before the higher carbs catch up with you. Our bodies change and adapt over several days. Unlike machine, changing parameters takes a while to register. That's why our initial response to low carbing can take days or weeks to reduce our response to carbs.

 

[ianf0ster]

Since finding out I have this disease I have watched everything I’ve eaten and drank. This last week I have felt so depressed I didn’t see the point in carrying on if this is what my life was going to be like. Eating foods I do t like and feeling like I’m constantly having to test my blood sugar levels. ..........?

Why are you eating things that you don't like? Do you only like high carb food i.e sweet or starchy?

I would get fed up of chicken and broccoli (and other leafy greens) if I ate them too often. But don't you like any other meat or fish? Can't you eat any spices or sauces to ring the changes? Don't you like eggs, cheese, cream, nuts, courgette, celeriac, cauliflower, avocado etc.?

 

[ziggy_w]

Since finding out I have this disease I have watched everything I’ve eaten and drank. This last week I have felt so depressed I didn’t see the point in carrying on if this is what my life was going to be like. Eating foods I do t like and feeling like I’m constantly having to test my blood sugar levels. Since Thursday I have eaten chocolate, oven chips, chicken nuggets and drank lattes. I’ve not taken the metaformin tablet but I have tested my blood a couple of times. I normally have reading around 7 but the ones I have done over the weekend they have all been 4s and 5s. I’ve just got back from a walk which raised my heart level and it was 6.6. I don’t understand? I’ve been expecting the numbers to be over the 7,s I normally get. Is there a reason for the levels to be lower by eating ****?

Hi @Rachelpoppet,

I agree with all the comments above.

It's really difficult to tell what is happening without more data to go on. It might be informative to test every half hour for three or four hours in total after a high-carb meal. Alternatively, you could trial a Freestyle Libre for a two-week period to get a better impression of what your blood sugars do after this type of meal. Ideally, however, they could give you an extended Oral Glucose Tolerance Text (OGTT) with insulin (to my understanding, this can only be ordered by an endocrinologist or diabetes specialist) -- not that there would be much hope of this happening.

If I had to guess, my suspicion would be that after giving your pancreas a bit of a rest, it is now producing enough insulin (or maybe even overproducing insulin as in many T2s) and this insulin drives your levels down (possibly even into hypo territory).

Though normal levels after high carb meals may sound great, it carries the risk of producing too much insulin (as many of us T2s are overproducing insulin because we are insulin resistant) and thus increasing insulin resistance over time, which again may lead to an increased need for insulin production -- thus setting into a motion a cycle which brought you here in the first place.

Low carb is actually not only a way to decrease glucose levels, but also and probably more importantly a way to decrease the need for your body to produce and release excessive insulin. It thus will lower insulin resistance with time and, in this way, actually interrupt this viscious cycle.

Of course, I am just guessing here -- as I don't have enough data to go on.

If you are considering going back on low carb, but hesitate because you "hate the food" -- why don't you post some of your favorite foods/meals and maybe we can make some suggestions for tweaks how to make them lower carb but still enjoyable.