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sdgray22

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I am sure this has been discussed but as I am fairly new please can we go over it again.
I am low carbing not extreme but between 70 to 90 carbs day. I started at diagnosis in January with fasting reading of 12 and spikes of 18 after eating. 8 weeks on I am getting fasting readings of low 7s to high 8s and after eating spikes of up to high 10s and before bed sometimes I get as low as low 6s. I have refined what I eat so that my spikes are 2 or 3 points. Now I can see that if your base fasting readings are lower the spike readings will be lower ie if your base readings are 5s and you have a spike of 3 that takes you up to 8s. Do you all think that my task is now to reduce my fasting readings or refine further what I am eating to reduce the spikes. I do not think I am the sort who could reduce the carbs a lot more maybe a bit. I could reduce on a few days a week I suppose. I exercise on an exercise bike for 10mins each day. I am also slightly worried about the metformin I take it is 500mg SR once daily. I do find when I do eat that I now get wind does the metformin require you to eat carbs for it to work on and not upset your digestive system too much. I am also getting all sorts of aches and pains which presumably is the sugar going from my body and the circulation/nerves reacting, I am getting them pretty much everywhere not just my feet although this could be stress from this **** disease!! Any advice gladly received. Please do not think I am moaning I am not I am sure it will all settle down and like my high blood pressure which i have had for years - bothered me for the first three years and now it is a fact of life I accept. I take the tablets and it is stable and low. That is how I want this diabetes thing to get and I know there is a long way to go yet, but a lot of you have managed it so it is possible.
 
You seem to have got to roughly where I did after a similar time. My readings were slightly lower but probably because I was averaging 60 to 75 a day. I concluded that attacking my fasting levels was the best bet as like you say you can then afford to spike a bit more without going outside the magic 7.8. It was probably easier for me as I had no really bad reactions to Metformin in fact I have quite happily upped mine to 1500mg / day not that I think the 3rd pill does much but the second one certainly helped. I also found that any kind of Met problems became progressively less the fewer carbs I ate which kind of makes sense.

At week 8 at a similar crossroads I made the choice and cut back on carbs even more. It was quite accidental really as I found I could eat 150g of fresh fruit salad each day with my main meal (around 15g of carbs) without it touching my BG's. I then cut 15g out of most of my main meals i.e simply gave up the minuscule amounts of rice and pasta I was eating except for small amounts in weekend Indian takeaways etc. So although I appeared to eat the same g / day as previously in reality I went to around 40 to 50g / day with 15 "free" g's added on top. The result was fasting levels in the mid to high 5's.

Now at week 14 and my fasting levels are now mostly averaging in the high 4's which I put down to the combination of weight loss and the other stuff like the Bitter Melon and Cinnamon caps I'm taking but appreciate that may not be everyone's ideal way! All of it combined is now making even spiking into the 6's a very rare occurrence, in fact if I see a 6 nowadays I get quite irritated.

What nothing has done is attack my DP issues. I still always wake up averaging mid 5's and even get low 6's on some days. Its been like that since around week 8. My type 1 son has the same DP issues so maybe its genetic.
 
I found that when I reduced the postprandial 2 hour reading my fasting readings also dropped as did my weight.

When you say 'spike' are you talking about a 2 hour reading or the peak of your blood glucose at 1 hour or whatever as whilst a 3 point peak may be OK I personally wouldnt feel happy about a 3 point higher postprandial reading. I rarely get more than a 1.5 mmol/L higher postprandial reading and usually lower than that.

An example; I dont often test any longer apart from odd tests here and there but today I have tested both breakfast and lunch, here are my results which I am happy with. Please bear in mind that these are my readings and wont be relevant to you if you eat the same food, or may not be as we all have different insulin resistance and pancreatic function.

Fasting 5.9 mmol/L
Breakfast, 17g of cornflakes and a dash of semi skimmed milk
Postprandial 5.8 mmol/L (At 1 hr 45 mins)

Pre Lunch 5.2 mmol/L
Lunch Burgen sandwich chicken with cranberry sauce (smear) and a small green apple.
Postprandial 5.7 mmol/L (At 2 hours)

I consider both these readings excellent and actually a little lower than normal, but I rarely record higher than a 6.5 nowadays postprandial with the odd 7 here and there. My lunch time readings are often my highest and I put that down to the bread as I only eat small amounts of potato or basmati rice with my evening meal plus a few carbs in vegges.

I would suggest you try to reduce your postprandial levels to a less than 2 point rise over your pre meal level if at all possible, but remember that these things can take time and you are unlikely to get tight control overnight so chip it away bit by bit if you can :D

I now find that I can eat more carbs than I used to be able to and I suspect that that is because I have lost weight and I assume some visceral fat along with it, which means I now have lower insulin resistance than I did at diagnosis.
 
Yes it is a 2 hour reading. To be honest I was getting spikes of 4 to 6 when I started, I thought 2 and 3 wasn't bad.oh well!. Very difficult as I have a 6ft hungry husband who is doing his best to eat with me and not demand more starch but I do not want him to feel he has to eat less and get hungry and he hates salad, if he has rice I have a bit, if he has chips I have half a dozen but it looks like its time to try and see if I can get the readings down again. Like you say later I may be able to add things into my diet I cant eat now. Thanks for the advice I will take it on board.
 
sdgray22 said:
Yes it is a 2 hour reading. To be honest I was getting spikes of 4 to 6 when I started, I thought 2 and 3 wasn't bad.oh well!.
Click to expand...

2 and 3 is a brilliant improvement on 4 to 6 :clap: You should be really pleased, like I said little by little bit by bit, it does take time and you are doing great, just stay with it :thumbup:
 
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