Newbie with a couple of questions

[trinishar]

Hi there,

I've been browsing this site for awhile and have decided to introduce myself.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my last week of pregnancy and then 6 weeks later after GTT, diagnosed with type2.

I was never treated with insulin and for the past week and a half have been on metformin. As I believe that carbs raise my sugars I have been low carbing for the past 2 weeks.

I test after almost everthing I eat and have found the only things I can eat are meat, cheese and green vegetables. Everything else spikes my sugars.

So my days are all greens and meat or green beans, cauliflower and meat. I've been having only about 20g of carbs per day.

My bgs have gone down from 12s and 13s to 7-9s but no lower.

My questions are:

1. how long after started low carb do the figure drop to near to normal
2. how long before the metformin starts to work.

I'm getting frustrated as I don't mind eating like this if it will help, but it's frustrating not seeing the result.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to interacting with you all.

 

[sofaraway]

I'm not a type 2, but I believe that metformin can take a few weeks to really get going. it seems to have helped already for you, combined with the changes in diet, despite you saying that you can't see the result, dropping from 12-13 to 7-9 is good in my book

You will be able to get alot of good advice form other low carbers here, there are quite a few threads already so take a look at those.

 

[Dennis]

for the past week and a half have been on metformin. As I believe that carbs raise my sugars I have been low carbing for the past 2 weeks.

You are spot on there. In fact your low carb diet has probably had more to do with your reduced blood sugars than the metformin has.

I test after almost everthing I eat and have found the only things I can eat are meat, cheese and green vegetables. Everything else spikes my sugars. So my days are all greens and meat or green beans, cauliflower and meat.

Remember that your sugar levels are expected to go up after eating. This is normal. When you say you test after everything you eat, are you expecting that your sugar levels will remain in the low range?
There are plenty of other vegetables that you can eat - turnip, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes, onions, shallots, peppers, mange-tout peas (ordinary peas are quite high carb), broccoli and all the cabbage family. There's also nuts and seeds and some fruit, eggs, most fish, low-carb yoghurts. In fact the list of what you can eat on a low-carb diet is longer than what you can't eat.

I've been having only about 20g of carbs per day.

20g per day is a dangerously low level. The lowest low-carb diets (Atkins and Bernstein) recommend a minimum of 30g carb per day. You must eat more carbs - they don't just increase your blood sugar - they are essential for the functioning of your brain.

My bgs have gone down from 12s and 13s to 7-9s but no lower.

That's a very good drop in BG in such a short time. But getting down to and maintaining near normal BGs doesn't happen overnight. Its like dieting, where it can be easy to shed the first few pounds, but murder to get rid of the last few. Bringing your BGs down is not too hard at first, but becomes progressively harder as they get lower.

My questions are:
1. how long after started low carb do the figure drop to near to normal
2. how long before the metformin starts to work.

Unfortunately there is no simple answer to either question. Your diabetes could have many scenarios:
- your pancreas may not be producing sufficient to deal with even the low carb intake that you have, so might need some help like a sulphonylurea tablet added to your meds to generate more insulin
- your pancreas may be producing enough insulin but you may have a high level of insulin resistance, so might need a stronger dose of metformin or a glitazone med
- your pancreas may not be producing the insulin that is needed because its not getting the message from your digestive system to start producing, in which case you may need an incretin based med such as Januvia or Byetta.

The metformin will start to work immediately, but what it does is to help overcome insulin resistance so that what insulin you produce works better, and it also discourages unwanted glucose being produced by your liver. What dose of metformin are you on?

 

[hanadr]

Actually you don't need carbs in your diet. if you have protein, you will make sufficient carbs for your brain from that. It's probabaly best to drop to extremely low carb slowly, to let the metabolism adapt.

 

[trinishar]

Thank you for your replies. Very informative and helpful.

I'm on 500mg metformin 2x daily. I guess I'm just desperate to get my numbers down as I'm terrified of having to inject so I'm hoping to avoid it as long as possible.

I've been really down as well, just came through a difficult and painful pregnancy which culminated in a 12 day hospital stay and c-section. And now I'm come out on the other end with diabetes as well.

It's especially difficult dealing with this all when I have an infant as well to deal with and my body is still trying to recover.........alot on my plate........sometimes it feels like too much.

Thanks again.