Just a few random questions...

I haven't seen much effect of having tea or coffee before testing.
I use lactofree full fat as it seems to have the lowest carb content of cow's milk I can find. (2.7g per 100 ml I think)

I'm an ultra low carb advocate so I try for as few as possible.. only the above milk in tea, cream in coffee and that's about it.
Unfortunately we are all unique and the levels of carbs you can tolerate varies from person to person. In your shoes I would try and cut as many as possible to get the best immediate effect and then slowly introduce some carbs back into your diet slowly measuring all the time.

Nanny_B said:

So 4 days in and I have a few questions if that's ok?

Is it ok to do a bg test before eating if I've had a cup of tea or coffee ten mins before or will it affect results?
Should I be having full fat milk as at the moment I have semi skimmed or skimmed.

I'm trying to keep to a low carb diet but what levels should I be looking at as a total in a day? I mean as in terms of how many grams of carbs.

Thanks guys

Click to expand...

Following on from @bulkbiker post,
Start slowly reducing your carbs and sugars, then see how you do by reducing your plate size and if you can increase your exercise, even walking a little more.
If you can cut out all the really high GI foods, that will go a long way to reducing your blood glucose levels.
Yes, there should be very little chance of getting a wrong reading if you have a low carb drink of coffee or tea if you use full fat milk or cream.

Keep a food diary, that way you can see how well you're doing, and how your blood glucose levels change in the coming months to what you are eating.
This can be shown to your GP or dsn!

@Nanny_B Drinks of tea or coffee with milk will affect your blood glucose fairly quickly as milk contains sugars known as lactose. Bearing this in mind.. it is my understanding that fats would slow down the absorbtion of sugars.... I was advised by my nurse to use skimmed or semi skimmed where possible. My choice was to cut milk out altogether. Hopefully someone more experienced can shed more light on the subject.

In tea, i have a TSP of cream, in coffee a glug.

KezG said:

@Nanny_B Drinks of tea or coffee with milk will affect your blood glucose fairly quickly as milk contains sugars known as lactose. Bearing this in mind.. it is my understanding that fats would slow down the absorbtion of sugars.... I was advised by my nurse to use skimmed or semi skimmed where possible. My choice was to cut milk out altogether. Hopefully someone more experienced can shed more light on the subject.

Click to expand...

Strange advice from the nurse.. if fats slow the absorption of sugar surely full fat would be best.

If you have been eating a fairly high carb diet then the drop in blood glucose levels might give you the symptoms of a hypo, which I experienced for about a day and a half when I went back to what was very low carb eating after diagnosis. I could relieve them by eating a few grapes - and I do mean a few, and in minutes my symptoms stopped - only to return again in an hour or so. I persisted in letting my blood glucose fall as I was only taking Metformin, which is not supposed to give hypos, and eventually I went into ketosis and started losing weight. I trusted my metabolism to get itself sorted out once I was eating what I regard as a proper diet, which is low carb. Now I have stopped taking the Metformin as my BG levels are normal. After that my BG levels drifted downwards as long as I stuck to low carb, but just now I am having some odd readings as after two months I suspect - hope - that I have reached a point where some normality is returning. My weight loss has stopped and my BG has gone low - perhaps I am beginning to respond to insulin by storing away glucose in the normal way. I can but hope.

Try a cup of Bovril, it's got lots of goodness and salts that low carbing peeps need.

The Low Carb Programme is a good place to start, the link is on the welcome thread (sorry I'm a techno luddite so if I attach it I'll probably lead you somewhere else!!) The programme goes on for 10 weeks and gives you some very useful advice and steps to follow, and some science to explain what effects carbs are having on us. I completed the course and fund it useful, but not too daunting.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb . My best effort at a link....

The idea is to eat until you are satiated, as time goes on you may find yourself not even hungry. I'm on my 3rd week of extremely low carb. So today I had a slice of Fathead pizza - look it up it's amazing. I didn't eat until several hours later when I had chicken butter cream curry. I couldn't finish it. So despite all the fat I haven't eaten many calories. It's taken me about 2weeks to get to this stage. Stick at it.

Nanny_B said:

So 4 days in and I have a few questions if that's ok?

Is it ok to do a bg test before eating if I've had a cup of tea or coffee ten mins before or will it affect results?
Should I be having full fat milk as at the moment I have semi skimmed or skimmed.

I'm trying to keep to a low carb diet but what levels should I be looking at as a total in a day? I mean as in terms of how many grams of carbs.

Thanks guys

Click to expand...

Tea with skimmed milk will raise your levels slightly and may well influence your before meal level. Full fat milk is better, but to be honest, the amount we put in our tea is so small I can't see what difference it makes.

What levels? That is for you to decide. Some people start by going very low indeed then as things improve they add some carbs back. Others (me included) cut down gradually. I started at 120g and eventually, after cutting bit by bit, I arrived at 30g. You decide what you want to do, but do keep a food diary including portion sizes, test before and after, record your levels next to your food, and watch for patterns to emerge.

Nanny_B said:

Thanks guys, ok so today I've had a soft boiled egg for breakfast, half a protein roll from Lidl as recommended on this site with tuna and cucumber, and am shortly going to be having some roast lamb with butternut squash (roasted) with some salad. I'm feeling quite shaky at the moment and starting worry. Not sure what's going on inside at the mo!

Click to expand...

That is an excellent start and good choices. If you ever start to feel shaky - test! Lower than 4 and you can take action. More than that is probably quite normal and you were suffering from a false hypo. (body not yet adjusted to your low carb routine). If you are on Gliclazide or insulin, it may be different. Gliclazide forces the pancreas to produce more insulin so there is a danger of going too low if you also eat very few carbs.

Nanny_B said:

Thank you so much, feeling slightly better after eating but my eyes are very tired after a day working in front of the pc, I'm getting blurry vision which I know is a symptom and I'm booked in for further eye tests ( I wear glasses) so I'm hoping this is something that will improve too. Really appreciate all your advice. I'm really trying with the low carb high fat but can I ask are you supposed to keep to small portion sizes of meat, veg etc on this LCHF diet or is a standard sized meal ok?

Click to expand...

I eat exactly the same protein foods as I did before diagnosis. We need protein to repair our cells. You can eat as much low carb veg as you like.

Nanny_B said:

So 4 days in and I have a few questions if that's ok?

Is it ok to do a bg test before eating if I've had a cup of tea or coffee ten mins before or will it affect results?
Should I be having full fat milk as at the moment I have semi skimmed or skimmed.

I'm trying to keep to a low carb diet but what levels should I be looking at as a total in a day? I mean as in terms of how many grams of carbs.

Thanks guys

Click to expand...

My low sugar latte was affecting me so I changed to black coffee with a dash of cream. Tea I've taken black for donkey's years.
I went very low carb (20g or less) and felt a bit yukky around day 4 and 5. I found a cup of bouillion helped. I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillion - 1.5g carbs 12 calories. It passes.