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The result of a carb-heavy diet?

nannoo_bird

nannoo_bird

Well-Known Member
Messages
215
I started the Blood Sugar Diet a couple of weeks ago and failed miserably after a discussion with my doctor, who told me what I was doing was dangerous. Yes, I am in the process of changing doctors. So, I start again tomorrow, this time armed with a lot more information (and after an appointment with my much better informed diabetes nurse) and more importantly, with photographs of my bloated abdomen and face plastered above my desk. I also have two lists, one with the reasons why I have to change my eating habits, and the other a scary list of what may happen if I continue eating carbs.

I suffer from neuropathy and am in the process of having a raft of blood and urine tests done prior to going on the diet but I also suffer with the following: extreme tiredness - I fall asleep every afternoon; confusion and difficulty concentrating; dreadful memory; bloating; swollen feet; stiffness; and crumbing fingernails. Could any of these be related? Has anyone else suffered the same symptoms?
 
I am a little sad to read you are using what you consider to be negative images above your desk to motivate you. Do you have any positive images connected to your goals to spur you on?

I certainly had fatigue and brain fog when my bg was high, but I don't know about the rest of your symptoms.

All the best for if you go back on the BSD :)
 
I have my list of reasons for doing this to spur me on - better health, fitness, reduction in anxiety and low self esteem. It has been so long since I have been slim that I do not have any good images of myself to aspire to - the photos of myself as I no longer want to be are to spur me on.
 
nannoo_bird said:
I have my list of reasons for doing this to spur me on - better health, fitness, reduction in anxiety and low self esteem. It has been so long since I have been slim that I do not have any good images of myself to aspire to - the photos of myself as I no longer want to be are to spur me on.
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I guess I am more of a carrot person than a stick person. (Ironic as I can't really eat many carrots)

I was on around 800cals/low carb recently for 3 weeks and was pleasantly shocked at how effective it was for dropping bg and weight. The ketones made me feel amazing. The lack of both bg fluctuation and carb cravings made me feel calm. I would recommend it as a short term kick start. All the best.
 
Hi. I would advise being very careful with any diet advice from the NHS as it is often contrary to what many of us with diabetes on the forum know to work. My advice would be to keep the carbs down and have proteins and fats to keep you feeling full; you don't need to follow any 'named' diet although some may help. You don't say that you have diabetes but I would suggest a lower-carb diet for anyone without a specific medical condition. Your current blood and urine tests should highlight if you do a have a medical condition including diabetes. Neuropathy is one well-known symptom of long-term diabetes but other conditions can cause it.
 
I also feel a bit sad you are using negative images of yourself for motivation. If that were me it would make me unhappy and probably depressed staring at them all day, reminding me what I look like. My weight loss motivation was a chart showing my losses and my weight and waist size coming down, plus an image in my mind of my 40 odd year old daughter in her trendy size 10 outfits.

Certainly excessive carbs in a meal can and do make you feel bloated and tired. Christmas dinner is an example many people may recognise, when the tendency is to over eat and stuff carbs down the throat, then feel dreadful and fall asleep.

Whichever diet you follow, I wish you luck, but do remember, it's the carbs that cause the problems.
 
nannoo_bird said:
I have my list of reasons for doing this to spur me on - better health, fitness, reduction in anxiety and low self esteem. It has been so long since I have been slim that I do not have any good images of myself to aspire to - the photos of myself as I no longer want to be are to spur me on.
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You sound quite like me.. I started on this path after diagnosis to prove the HCPs wrong and to take control of my life and health. So far so good down from 23 stone to just over 17 1/2 and good blood sugar control. That took a long time but now with VLCHF and some fasting I tend to spend much more time in the 4,5 and 6's than before. Still a way to go weight wise but once you have started and see the benefits hopefully for you it will get easier to maintain as it has for me.
 
nannoo_bird said:
photographs of my bloated abdomen and face plastered above my desk. I also have two lists, one with the reasons why I have to change my eating habits, and the other a scary list of what may happen if I continue eating carbs.
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You need to get some posit notes and put some positive affirmations around your work area rather than using negative images.
There is a list here and some might be just what you are looking for.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-carmen-harra/affirmations_b_3527028.html

Never use negatives and expect positives.
I wish you well and please keep us updates with your progress.
 
catherinecherub said:
You need to get some posit notes and put some positive affirmations around your work area rather than using negative images.
There is a list here and some might be just what you are looking for.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-carmen-harra/affirmations_b_3527028.html

Never use negatives and expect positives.
I wish you well and please keep us updates with your progress.
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I'm sorry catherinecherub, but I really find positive affirmations don't work for me. I wish they did, but they just make me cringe. I guess it's horses for courses ... for me, just looking at that fat bird staring back at me from my desk should be enough for me to keep on track. And the thought that I might keep my legs, kidneys, sight ..... and yes to others who have responded, I am a Type 2 diabetic on insulin. Oh joy, to be able to get off that, not to have to stick needles in myself any more ...
 
Avocado Sevenfold said:
I guess I am more of a carrot person than a stick person. (Ironic as I can't really eat many carrots)

I was on around 800cals/low carb recently for 3 weeks and was pleasantly shocked at how effective it was for dropping bg and weight. The ketones made me feel amazing. The lack of both bg fluctuation and carb cravings made me feel calm. I would recommend it as a short term kick start. All the best.
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So long as you know what will help optimise your chances of success.

If you can stick with it and adapt, within a couple of weeks your are likely to feel that fog lift... I know it did for me.

Here's awaiting positive feedback expectantly:)


Diagnosed 13/4/16: T2, no meds, HbA1c 53, FBG 12.6, Trigs 3.6, HDL .75, LDL 4.0, BP 169/95, 13st 8lbs, waist 34" (2012 - 17st 7lbs, w 42").

6/6/16: FBG AV 4.6, Trigs 1.5, HDL 2.0, LDL 3.0, BP 112/68, BPM 66, 11st 11lbs, waist 30".

Regime: 20g LCHF, run 1 mile daily, weekly fasting.
 
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Bloating can be due to diabetes and neuropathy affecting the vagus nerve.

Are you having any different things happening with regards to stomach / bowel? Ie more gas/constipated/discomfort? If you are your bloating could well be distension.. Please google the definition for distension...it is a symptom of a dysfunctioning stomach.. It is not an illness but needs investigating to find out what is the cause of it...

It could well be certain foods that is causing bloating/distension and you need to carefully monitor every food and to keep to certain foods that help you.

Ie this is photo of me normallyImageUploadedByDCUK Forum1465773730.443511.jpg

This is photo when I am distended
ImageUploadedByDCUK Forum1465773780.225846.jpg

Yes one has clothes on but my distension on facebook the other day-someone thought I was pregnant!!

My distension is solely down to certain foods. I have to eat certain foods and have had to go a week at a time eating exactly the same food each day to see how my stomach acts...

I used to be low carb but now having to live on smoothies and soups and rice crispies or mashed veg or melon then I'm not low carb but I really struggle to keep my weight on. In photo (with clothes on) I weighed two stome heavier than now. My distended belly weighs in at 6-8lbs and (won't give details) this has been weighed.

I am an extreme with stomach problems but GPs and diabetic healthcare people tend to not consider the causes of a distented belly being due to vagus nerve damage..
 
donnellysdogs said:
Bloating can be due to diabetes and neuropathy affecting the vagus nerve.

Are you having any different things happening with regards to stomach / bowel? Ie more gas/constipated/discomfort? If you are your bloating could well be distension.. Please google the definition for distension...it is a symptom of a dysfunctioning stomach.. It is not an illness but needs investigating to find out what is the cause of it...

It could well be certain foods that is causing bloating/distension and you need to carefully monitor every food and to keep to certain foods that help you.

My distension is solely down to certain foods. I have to eat certain foods and have had to go a week at a time eating exactly the same food each day to see how my stomach acts...

.
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bloating1.jpg
This is my bloating - terrible photo. It is high up, starts just under my bust. Comes and goes.
 
nannoo_bird said:
Wow, KevinPotts, did you really feel that much better after two weeks???
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I really did.

I'd felt for quite some time that I was permanently living behind a mist and that completely disappeared and so far has not returned, as well as all my headaches completely disappearing:)


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum mobile app
 
Before I was diagnosed (T2) I spent several years being permanently exhausted and suffering from debilitating "brain fog". My GP just used to say it was my weight. And I thought it was possibly old age. After I started a low carb diet then most of the tiredness and all of the brain fog disappeared, so for me it was definitely too many carbs that were the cause of these two symptoms. And I'll still sometimes fall asleep after a slightly carb heavy low carb meal.

I also get badly swollen ankles, feet and legs, but for me this is generally caused by hot weather, and "keeping my feet up higher than my bum" as my GP so charmingly put it, can really help! I 've actually had this happening (though less seriously) on and off for many years before fdiabetes, and it seems to have got worse as I've got older, so not necessarily diabetes related!

Robbity
 
nannoo_bird said:
View attachment 19459
This is my bloating - terrible photo. It is high up, starts just under my bust. Comes and goes.
Click to expand...

I would recommend a low fodmap diet but if having problems with constipation too or chronic runs I would ask for further tests or to see a gastroenterologist..
There's a lot of probs that can be a symptom of something wrong in stomach.. Ie stomach not emptying can be nausea and vomitting etc.

What the GP will look at though is the proportion of bloating compared to the rest of the size of your body. If like me you're actually too skinny elsewhere they will take you more seriously. It also depends on what symptoms are...
 
donnellysdogs said:
I would recommend a low fodmap diet but if having problems with constipation too or chronic runs I would ask for further tests or to see a gastroenterologist..
There's a lot of probs that can be a symptom of something wrong in stomach.. Ie stomach not emptying can be nausea and vomitting etc.

What the GP will look at though is the proportion of bloating compared to the rest of the size of your body. If like me you're actually too skinny elsewhere they will take you more seriously. It also depends on what symptoms are...
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I'm a bit concerned by your mail, donnellysdogs ... my stomach is huge compared to the rest of me. I used to be quite a heavy social drinker, but hardly drink at all now. Last liver and kidney tests were fine. I mostly have normal bowel movements, never get nausea or vomiting. I have a normal appetite, but never have eaten large meals. Until recently my big vice was sugar - sweets, biscuits, cakes, even sweetness in savoury foods. I only properly gave all that up a week ago.
 
nannoo_bird said:
extreme tiredness - I fall asleep every afternoon; confusion and difficulty concentrating; dreadful memory; bloating; swollen feet; stiffness; and crumbing fingernails. Could any of these be related? Has anyone else suffered the same symptoms?
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Sounds a lot like hypothyroidism but some could be due to anaemia too. Have you had your thyroid hormones checked lately? Ferritin? Hb? Vitamin B12 and folate? Vitamin D?
 
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