Keto - how to check if blood sugar is dipping to low ?

[fendertele]

Can this be checked with your Blood glucose monitor ? I have one I use to test after 2 hours to check how my BS has been affected by meals.. is it also capable of testing if my blood sugar is going too low and if so when is it best to test ?.

I've been low carb for months but the last few days i've went almost no carb and today been sweating a lot and feeling a bit dizzy/shaky.

Thanks.

 

[Fenn]

Hi, test anytime you feel like it, you can’t test too often, unless you don’t like feeling like a pin cushion.

If you can afford it (£50 for two weeks in Uk) you could try the freestyle libre, it’s enlightening, even if just to try it once.

look up “false hypo” it could be that too if you don’t take meds that force lower bg.

 

[Antje77]

Can this be checked with your Blood glucose monitor ? I have one I use to test after 2 hours to check how my BS has been affected by meals.. is it also capable of testing if my blood sugar is going too low and if so when is it best to test ?.

You test when you feel off to see if it's because of low blood glucose.
Are you on medication which can cause low BG?

 

[fendertele]

Hi, test anytime you feel like it, you can’t test too often, unless you don’t like feeling like a pin cushion.

If you can afford it (£50 for two weeks in Uk) you could try the freestyle libre, it’s enlightening, even if just to try it once.

look up “false hypo” it could be that too if you don’t take meds that force lower bg.

Was more the timing of when to test if the blood sugar is dipping too low, is it likely to dip after a meal more so or hours later.. or test in the morning when fasted for a more accurate result.

I've been feeling the sweats and dizziness not long after eating meals since switching to almost zero carb if that helps.

 

[fendertele]

You test when you feel off to see if it's because of low blood glucose.
Are you on medication which can cause low BG?

Yeah this makes most sense as I thought it might just be body reacting to the food, as I feel off very shortly after eating my meals and expect there to be a spike if anything.

Thanks

 

[fendertele]

Looks all good 30 mins ago I had my dinner and have been sweating a ton and feeling a bit off but my result there was 5.3 mmol so appears to be all well.

Will test again in an hour to see if it's remaining good.

Also forgot to reply, no meds at all.

 

[Antje77]

Also forgot to reply, no meds at all.

This means that you're not at risk of hypos, regardless of your diet. (There are conditions which can cause hypos but plain type 2 is not one of them.)
Dropping into the 3's is not unusual for non diabetics, although they can feel peckish or irritable, or a bit light headed when they do. It's not dangerous.

If your body is used to higher numbers you can get hypo symptoms at lower levels, the 'false hypo' @Fenn was talking about.
If that's the case, your body will get used to lower numbers again.

I've been low carb for months but the last few days i've went almost no carb and today been sweating a lot and feeling a bit dizzy/shaky.

There is a thing called keto flu, where you don't feel well at first after starting keto.
I don't know much about it but you could do a search for it or start a thread about it, many of our member have experience with this.

 

[Resurgam]

In hot weather I need to add salt to my drink or food a couple of times a week or I get cramps. I don't eat anything with salt in it, don't use it in cooking so I need to add salt - and I don't feel right when I need to start adding it. It is easy to get into a need of salt if you don't consume processed foods. If you have been adhering to advice on low salt, that could be the problem.

 

[Wendy18480]

In hot weather I need to add salt to my drink or food a couple of times a week or I get cramps. I don't eat anything with salt in it, don't use it in cooking so I need to add salt - and I don't feel right when I need to start adding it. It is easy to get into a need of salt if you don't consume processed foods. If you have been adhering to advice on low salt, that could be the problem.

I've always been a cramp sufferer and don't have salt but find now when I try to do keto I do get it worse but instead of having a coffee at lunchtime I have a mug of oxo, just half an oxo cube because I do find them too salty, and that seems to keep the cramp at bay, and it's tastes reasonably nice.

 

[Deleted member 543160]

@fendertele
I'd agree with @Fenn's suggestion to use a Libre sensor to check what's going on in general, otherwise definitely finger prick at the time lows etc are happening or when you feel something's not right.

If you've been used to eating a high(er) carb diet your body will preferentially use carbs to convert to quick access fuel in the form of glucose for energy, and when you get hungry/low it's a signal to top up with more carbs. However, when you eat a very low carb/ketogenic type diet, you're balancing this carby shortfall by using dietary fat and/or stored body fat instead. The fat gets converted to an alternative long term fuel in the form of fatty acids/ketones requiring a more complex conversion process.

If your body's not been used to using this dual fuel option there's generally a short transition period while it (re)leans how to do this, which can result in a temporary mini fuel shortage crisis, often causing short term but unpleasant "keto/low carb flu" side effects. So I imagine you've maybe been going low and feeling off because you've run low on available glucose and not yet got used to switching over to the alternative fatty ketones when this happens. And thinking about it, the symptoms are probably very similar to false hypos as they both happen when you run short of available fuel.

 

[lovinglife]

There’s a thing called gustatory sweating that occurs whilst eating or right after food or even when just thinking about food. It may not be this but it’s worth having a look - link below explains about it

https://www.cmijournal.org/article....19;issue=2;spage=119;epage=121;aulast=Sheetal

 

[fendertele]

@fendertele
I'd agree with @Fenn's suggestion to use a Libre sensor to check what's going on in general, otherwise definitely finger prick at the time lows etc are happening or when you feel something's not right.

If you've been used to eating a high(er) carb diet your body will preferentially use carbs to convert to quick access fuel in the form of glucose for energy, and when you get hungry/low it's a signal to top up with more carbs. However, when you eat a very low carb/ketogenic type diet, you're balancing this carby shortfall by using dietary fat and/or stored body fat instead. The fat gets converted to an alternative long term fuel in the form of fatty acids/ketones requiring a more complex conversion process.

If your body's not been used to using this dual fuel option there's generally a short transition period while it (re)leans how to do this, which can result in a temporary mini fuel shortage crisis, often causing short term but unpleasant "keto/low carb flu" side effects. So I imagine you've maybe been going low and feeling off because you've run low on available glucose and not yet got used to switching over to the alternative fatty ketones when this happens. And thinking about it, the symptoms are probably very similar to false hypos as they both happen when you run short of available fuel.

Yeah this sounds about right, I was low carb for the last few months but just recently went much lower and I think it might be the adjustment phase all my mmol looks good when i'm feeling worst so looks okay on that side.

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 543160]

I've always been a cramp sufferer and don't have salt but find now when I try to do keto I do get it worse but instead of having a coffee at lunchtime I have a mug of oxo, just half an oxo cube because I do find them too salty, and that seems to keep the cramp at bay, and it's tastes reasonably nice.

If you're concerned about salt, it's probably worth investigating some alternative & keto friendly options: just "Ask Google"! Initially with low carb/keto diets, you may wee out a lot of extra fluid and with it lose sodium/salt, potassium and magnesium, the lack of which can cause serious muscle cramps.

Long before I was diagnosed with T2, i was prescribed diuretics which caused very bad cramps in my leg muscles. My solution then was a banana a day for its high potassium content, and this worked well for me. But now high carb bananas are a very big NO so I resorted to Google searches to find alternative high potassium and suitably low carb foods, and I actually found that some of them (particularly green veggies like broccoli or spinach !) that I currently eat are much more suitable options.

 

[ajbod]

When i first did keto pre-diabetes, i had a very scary night where as i fell asleep i stopped breathing. Thankfully i woke up with a start, but it was frightening. On googling the symptoms i found on a keto site the explanation. due to electrolytes being lost through urination, the electrical signals for involuntary actions, ie breathing were interrupted. Their recommendation was to make a drink up with 1/2 tsp salt (sodium), 1/2 tsp Lo-salt (potassium) and 2 tsp food grade Epsom salts (magnesium). I used only 1 tsp of Epsom salts as that is where the phrase going through you like a dose of salts comes from, and i can confirm that is correct.This also stopped cramps which i used to get in my feet very unpleasant..
Nowadays i take a magnesium supplement and salt and potassium seem fine naturally.
A cup of bouillabaisse a day as a soup will replenish things also.

 

[fendertele]

When i first did keto pre-diabetes, i had a very scary night where as i fell asleep i stopped breathing. Thankfully i woke up with a start, but it was frightening. On googling the symptoms i found on a keto site the explanation. due to electrolytes being lost through urination, the electrical signals for involuntary actions, ie breathing were interrupted. Their recommendation was to make a drink up with 1/2 tsp salt (sodium), 1/2 tsp Lo-salt (potassium) and 2 tsp food grade Epsom salts (magnesium). I used only 1 tsp of Epsom salts as that is where the phrase going through you like a dose of salts comes from, and i can confirm that is correct.This also stopped cramps which i used to get in my feet very unpleasant..
Nowadays i take a magnesium supplement and salt and potassium seem fine naturally.
A cup of bouillabaisse a day as a soup will replenish things also.

This sounds about right felt much better since taking an electrolyte tablet with my dinner once a day.