Non-diabetic on LC/Keto & Hypos after meals

[MrsGG]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with my problem.

I'm a 42 yo female, non-diabetic on low carb / keto (ish) diet and experiencing cognitive problems, night sweats, weight gain, headaches, palpitations, lethargy.

This is my first week of using a FreeStyle Libre (using out of curiosity) and my blood glucose seems to be stable at around 4.5mmol before meals and rising to 5.2-5.5mmol afterwards with 1 reading of 6.5mmol which I'm happy with.

What has surprised me is that within 2 hours of eating, my blood glucose level drops to around 2.2mmol. I've also noticed that it's between 2.2-3.4mmol during the night. I'm confused as to why this is happening. I love the low carb way of eating. It's cured me of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue. obesity, chronic pain, hair loss, bad skin and my night vision has improved considerably.

I'll complete a week of eating as I usually do; I'll was thinking of trying a zero-carb approach for a few days and then add in more carb-rich roods to see how that impacts my readings and symptoms.

I wondered if this would relate to some of my symptoms and if anyone else has experience with this and any could give me some advice as to how to address the problem.

Thanks in advance

 

[bulkbiker]

Are you only seeing these readings on the Libre?
I wonder if you have checked with a more regular "finger prick" monitor to check your levels.

 

[xfieldok]

Libre is notoriously inaccurate under 4. I get lots of 3s and 2s. A finger prick nearly always gives me a reading in the 4s. Remember that it lags behind by around 10 to 20 minutes.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi . Good point about the finger pricks as the libre is known for not being highly accurate with lower readings.
Anyway your blood sugars seem to be in a good range. I'd go and see a doctor with those symptoms but they could be peri-menopausal and nothing to do with blood sugars. Unless you are taking insulin you are not going to go hypo unless doing extreme exercise for a long duration without food e.g. marines training.
Glad you are enjoying LCHF and there's no harm in trying nutrtional ketosis.
Hope you continue to feel better!

 

[Antje77]

Agree with the above and would like to add that it's not unusual or worrying for non diabetics to drop to 3.5. The hypo is below 4 rule is invented to have a safety buffer for diabetics on glucose lowering medication such as insulin and gliclazide.