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Plenty of late insulin!

lindisfel

Expert
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5,853
Those of us who have RH have a late peak in insulin causing hypos. My blood glucose peaks at an hour after eating carbs. Theory: would say 5 grams of carbohydrate one hour before eating, peak blood glucose and insulin so that we have enough insulin to cover more carbs in a meal? regards Derek
 
Sorry @lindisfel but i don't understand your question. My goal is to avoid producing the excess insulin in the first place, because of insulin resistance and unstable blood glucose, both of which make me feel rough.

My experiences of RH are that if (say) i started with a pre-meal reading of 5.5, and ate carbs, i would spike rapidly, then drop rapidly to significantly less than 5.5.

Lots of variables (as always!) speed and height of spike depending on g of carbs, fat content and fibre content of meal, etc. So predicting the peak of blood glucose and the timing of the insulin response would be an arcane art form.

The drop severity is usually proportional to size of carb portion. So keeping to very low carb prevents a hypo.
But if I do eat carbs, and know a hypo is likely, I can 'head it off at the pass' by eating something (preferably low carb, high fat with a few carbs in it) as I feel the blood glucose dropping out of the comfort zone.

Now I have the Freestyle Libre I can see this on the graph as a spike and steep drop which turns abruptly into a horizontal line as the snack blocks the hypo. Things are complicated by the fact that RHers often have a 'double hump' to their blood glucose curve, making it very difficult to know when insulin is at max output.

Without the snack, the drop would just keep plunging downwards to the 2s and 3s (mmol) until the stress hormones kicked off a liver dump.
 

I think you are saying pre meal, to have 5gms of carbs before you eat?

If so, I don't think it would make much difference, it depends on what you have carb wise in that meal, when you have it, and type of carb, as you would be already seeing a rise with the 5gms! Don't forget that the initial insulin response is not so good as it should be, but compensates with the secondary response.

I'm with Brun on this, we don't need extra insulin, the idea is to offset the trigger to produce insulin, rather than make it before we eat!

You can but try it Derek!
 
Hi Lam and Brun,
My problem is I have large bones and a bmi of 21.8! I keep getting hassled about losing too much weight by the three women in my life! I lost four pounds the other week when I doubled the dose of my potassium sparing diuretic! I was wondering if there was a way to produce enough insulin by early (before meal) carbs that would help one deal with more carbs (like a small 3oz pot.) during meal and still avoid an hypo. Taking this to it logical conclusion, if one had 5grams of carb every hour for 12 hours plus normal very low carb meals could one gain weight without putting up hba1c? regards Derek
 
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Aha! See what you are getting at now.

People who post about trying to gain on lchf often say that their weight gain foods are things like nuts, pate, cheese and wine.
Oh the hardship!

I am guessing those foods combine fat, protein and carbs in a way that maintains good bg (no spikes) while stimulating insulin enough to lay down some fat deposits...

Could be fun finding out if it will work for you...
 
Afraid it won't work for me. Meds conflict with alcohol, already maxed out on nuts and patty and cheese difficult on low sodium diet for Conn's! I just have 30 grams Emmental/day and occasionally 40 grams mature cheddar as a treat! Will have to eat more steak! By the way how has one got insulin resistance when we hypo through too much insulin? We are not like T2D's!

 
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I'm taking this as pure coincidence, as my endocrinologist has suggested to me that I eat every hour, a very small plate size, for a week to see how that effects the insulin response and how I feel etc.
I'm planning it to start in a week or so!
I'm trying to plan how I'm going to do it!

Yes, you are right, insulin resistance is why, I put on so much weight, over the years, because of the excess insulin that caused the hypos during my hypo hell!
Use the search button on insulin resistance, that gives you the science!
I am steady at twelve stone now, a little bit more to go, but I'm skin and bone except my waist, it won't go!

ATB
 
Hi Lam, that will be an interesting experience but a real chore to have tiny meals throughout the day. What sort of nutrient ratio has you endo recommended? A microwave would be a necessity! best wishes Derek
 
lindisfel said:
Hi Lam, that will be an interesting experience but a real chore to have tiny meals throughout the day. What sort of nutrient ratio has you endo recommended? A microwave would be a necessity! best wishes Derek
Click to expand...

Hi Derek,
His idea of a small meal is a slice of fresh meat and a piece of lettuce, with a small (small) tomato!
So not a lot!
I'm still trying to find a way to box it up while I'm in work
Because I've been fasting, I'm going to get fed up rather quickly, (sorry about the pun) but you have to try these things!
I just don't feel hungry and haven't for a while, how do I keep eating with no hunger?
Would be so different if I wasn't low carbing as the symptoms of hunger were always there!
I'll let you know how I do!
 
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