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T2, must I eat at regular intervals hungry or not?

B

BarbaraSchultz

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After years of eating whatever, injecting insulin AM & PM and on 3 meds for T2 my 89yo mom started eating LCHF (low carb high fat) a month ago to get her BS levels within normal range, get her meds reduced or eliminated and lose weight. I was staying with her for that month while helping her recover from knee surgery; doing her cooking and talking to her about LCHF.

She is still doing GREAT but we now find her BS numbers are erratic. She still eats LCHF, has started walking 3x a week and still does PT. She is on 1000 mg ER Metformin after breakfast. She was down to 2u of insulin AM only when I returned home (along with the Metformin) and her BS was stable and in good range.

The day after I left she woke up to a raspy throat, no fever, and it lasted about 4 days. That's when her BS started being erratic and haven't been stable since. She called her MD who advised to start back on 5u of insulin a day which she splits btw AM&PM. Her level of activity is good most days.

Our questions are:
any ideas why such erratic BS levels and does she NEED to eat even if not hungry, because she is a T2.

Examples of her last week BS, @fasting, lunch, dinner, night.
145/104/94/116
139/151/109/129
155/131/123/126
147/139/140/171
172/161/169/137
145/149/108/117
Thanks for your input and assistance.
 
Hi and welcome!

Two things spring to mind.

The first is that if she has had, or is having a mild infection then that can play havoc with bg, and since it is often unpredictable it can be a real pain.

Secondly, whose idea is it that she go low carb? I ask because my father, aged 85 is T2 and while he has read up on low carbing and has always been interested in healthy eating, he has TOTALLY and UTTERLY failed to grasp that LC only works if you are consistent. He is of the 'just one won't hurt' mindset and it means that at certain very predictable times of day his bg is spiking. In his case, it is a couple of chunks of choc covered crystalised ginger after his evening meal. and sugar in his morning coffee. And an oatcake or 3 when he passes the pantry late afternoon...

Any chance that your mother may have re-introduced something into her diet since you left her that she simply doesn't realise is an issue?

Sorry, I can't address the insulin/eating when not hungry issue at all, because I don't take insulin.
 
sThere was time when I was instructed to inject x-amount of insulin and then eat certain amount of food...but recommendations for that kind of 'must eat' regime is not usually prescribed anymore over here as patients started to pile up excess weight. I've heard that usual trend now is to get patients into more individually tailored insulin treatment where one has to be able understand and calculate one's carbohydrate intake to adjust insulin needs.
If there is a issue of patient not able to understand or being able to calculate their own carbohydrate intake...then 'set quantity' injection are prefered..to 'skip meals' one has to either be testing one's blood sugars so they don't dip too low and/or have something to eat to prevent any hypos. 'Set quantities' are usually averaged into 'what one normally would eat' ..hence little bit 'questimate' injections....one never really get really good control with them.
So, in theory...one can skip meals when taking insulin..BUT..there is chance of getting hypos if not careful. If that is going to be on going issue, and carbohydrate counting to calibrate insulin needs as when needed is not possible...going back to the practice nurse/doctor is needed and getting new lower doze to cater those days when one doesn't need to quite so much insulin/food.
 
Brunneria said:
Hi and welcome!

Two things spring to mind.

The first is that if she has had, or is having a mild infection then that can play havoc with bg, and since it is often unpredictable it can be a real pain.

Secondly, whose idea is it that she go low carb? I ask because my father, aged 85 is T2 and while he has read up on low carbing and has always been interested in healthy eating, he has TOTALLY and UTTERLY failed to grasp that LC only works if you are consistent. He is of the 'just one won't hurt' mindset and it means that at certain very predictable times of day his bg is spiking. In his case, it is a couple of chunks of choc covered crystalised ginger after his evening meal. and sugar in his morning coffee. And an oatcake or 3 when he passes the pantry late afternoon...

Any chance that your mother may have re-introduced something into her diet since you left her that she simply doesn't realise is an issue?

Sorry, I can't address the insulin/eating when not hungry issue at all, because I don't take insulin.
Click to expand...

Hope this response is in the right place, I'm using my android...
Thanks for your feedback. While it IS possible she is eating 'other' carbs, I don't know. I'd hope she'd own up to it, it's not the end of the world, but who knows, right!? I know she wants to be successful in LCHF because she has already seen the good results. She wants stable blood sugars, and I know she talks to diabetic friends about how she is doing. Who's idea was it to eat LCHF... Hers. That is how I eat as I'm also T2. When I was there, cooking all the meals, she ate what I ate. Within days she saw her BS level off, no more hypo events which were a daily event, she lost weight. Her Dr was impressed and encouraged her to continue. I now talk to her 4x a day, she calls me after she does her blood. I'll see if I can get any additional information from her.
 
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