Hi, I am new here I hope this is the right place to post this.
My OH was diagnosed with T2 about 10 years ago and never really took it seriously.
This summer, he was told that his levels were consistently too high and at the next check she was going to put him on insulin.
So, following my years of nagging he finally discarded much of the NHS standard advice as it was then, and stopped eating starchy carbs to the degree that he was.
He has now lost nearly 2 stone, his levels dropped within days of starting his new regime. When we went back the diabetic nurse was amazed and said that obviously he would no longer need the insulin but she didnt change any of the other meds.
He now eats porridge with milk, then large salad for lunch (he was having protein with this but has since stopped) then for dinner protein and veg. So in a nutshell he has no potatoes, wheat, pasta, rice or bread, (apart from the porridge).
He started this on 1st May. However within a few weeks he started feeling really tired and weak and this has not improved since then.
Physically, he should be much healthier but seems to feel very lethargic. This weekend in particular he had 2 hypos. I have put this down to drinking okra juice. I am desperate for him to go back to the GP for the next review and hopefully they can take him off some of his meds. He is on so many Im not sure exactly what they are but they are metformin, glicazide, sitaliptin and various others (Ive probably spelled some of that wrong)
Has anyone else done a 'lower' carb diet and lost weight and improved their BS levels but felt pretty tired and weak at the same time?
Welcome nooboots, from me too and well done other half on getting control. I hope you'll forgive me but I've not read all the messages in this thread, I've been away and these threads grow quickly, but I thought my personal experience might be useful anecdotal info.
I was on metformin, gliclazide, Januvia and Atorvastatin. I followed the eatwell plate, loads of carb thing for years, until last year. I was at the point where the doctor was suggesting insulin which I wasn't against but I always thought I should reduce my carbs as a dear old aunt of mine was type I and always counting carbs, as you would, so why not type IIs? Doctor and dietician had always told me to increase carbs although I never did. So last year I cut out pasta/rice/bread/potato, toast with poached egg being a treat. I told my GP what I was doing (not the same one who said eat more carb, a new doctor) My BG dropped quickly and I was having what I'd call hypos, BG down to 3 something. So I told my GP who said drop 1/2 of the gliclazide. Eventually I dropped all the gliclazide, the januvia and the statin. Result! Still on metformin, I had a c-peptide test done at my expense and it showed normal amounts of insulin being produced by the pancreas which was good news. My last two HbA1cs have my BG down to 6.3 which they seem quite pleased with. I also lost 3 stones but that seems to have plateaued even though I have a calorie deficit of 900, I usually have 1,000 cals a day, maybe a bit more at weekends.
So, if it's already been suggested that it's probably being over medicated, at least I can verify that because I was. The lethargy and tiredness seems to be part of weight loss as well, in my experience, as I've been at this weight loss thing for ages. The lower carb is what's worked more than anything although I didn't automatically increase fat, mainly because my stomach can't take it after following low fat regimes for so long.
All the best
Graham