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What am I doing wrong

Grannie75

Well-Known Member
Messages
74
Location
Norfolk
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Am I being too extreme.
I am trying very hard to lose weight and avoid my pre diabetes getting worse. I am trying to keep my food as 65% fat, 25% protein and 10% carbs +/- however for the last couple of nights I have woken feeling really ill. I sleep until about midnight and then wake with a scary pounding heart, a blinding headache and giddiness so that if I get out of bed the floor comes up to meet me. In the morning my fasting reading is around high 6s to 7.2 and the headache and weakness lasts through most of the day. By evening pre meal is around low 5s and 2 hours after is low to mid 5s.
I don't feel that I am going without food as example yesterday - 11am 3 egg omelette with cheese and small tomato, mid afternoon coffee with cream and 6.30-7ish good portion chicken breast with a big mixed salad with peppers, toms etc and full fat mayo followed by a handful of blueberries and thick fresh cream. What am I doing wrong, should I continue and hopefully symptoms will go away or should I change the food I eat
Help please
 
What you are eating sounds fine .I would search "Carb Flu" inn the forum this often happens when you start. LCHF diet .
 
Yes, I agree with @connie104 - carb flu is very common when people start low carbing. I found one way through it was to make up a hot drink with half an Oxo cube or Bovril (red label one) as sometimes that little addition of some salt can really help. You could try that before going to bed to see if it helps at all.
 
Sounds like when I did Atkins a few years ago - you feel like absolute crud for the first week to 10 days - its like having the flu. Has to be endured (but not much fun to live with at the time!)
 
Many thanks, I have been on the lchf diet since 8th Jan but it's only this week that I have a dropped to 10g carbs so yes the shock symptoms make sense for the big drop in carbs. I will also try the oxo drink before bed as I have stopped all food after about 7ish after the evening meal in an attempt to lower my early morning readings, but I do miss the evening drink so this sounds like a good option. I have heard mention 'liver dump' is this something that could also cause the fasting levels to be high in the morning ( sorry I have only seen the words 'liver dump' and don't know much about it.)
 
liver dump is right - its the body's way of getting you prepared to wake up so you have energy. Something I didn't even know about before being diagnosed at the end of August last year.

(I was something of a crosspatch for that week - a bit difficult to live with!)
 
Are you drinking enough water/tea/coffee as well as getting enough salt?
I add a pinch of salt to tea and coffee as if you have stopped eating processed food your salt levels can drop quite significantly when on fresh low carb produce. Also make sure you are drinking enough water.. could be dehydration.
What you are eating sounds fine.
 
Many thanks everyone, I appreciate your advice. I must admit that it scared me a little and I wondered if the way I felt meant that I was doing myself more harm then good. You have put my mind at rest so I guess it is onward and upward to a healthier me ( eventually )
 
The heart beating does sound like you could use some salt. Have you lost weight this week? Vlc is a natural diuretic and many loose lots of water in the beginning. Hence the diuretic effect. When I'm low energy if I eat something salty I gain it back. Not all the time but most times.

Or it could be a food intolerance. Are you eating new foods?

Seems most likely low carb flu and the salt should help you get through that. Make sure to get enough fat too.
 
Liver dump or dawn phenomena happens to me all the time. Although it is lowering slowly. It used to be high 7's now it's low 6's. Don't worry too much about that.. I've heard that it's usually the last thing to get normalised .
It might help to have a snack or drink before bed? It helps me to have cocoa made with water and double cream.. low carb but quite sustaining.. I also add a spoonful of coconut oil.. yumm !
 
Just a thought .. Have you tested your BG when you wake like that?
I wake a few times a night with an odd feeling and I get really hot.. don't feel ill though.
I have a suspicion my BG drops and my liver jumps in and gives me a boost. I need to be able to afford a freestyle libre to prove that though.. saving up
 
10gm of carb? !!!!!
When I did Atkins I could only stay on 20 gm for three days - though I did lose half a stone I had exactly those symptoms and they did not stop until I reached about 45 or 50 gm of carb a day. I was a lot younger then and doing it to lose weight, but I got something similar for about a day and a half about 10 days after diagnosis. I think that you are being far too severe (now that is a first for this site) and should relax your regime considerably - I have been eating to my meter rather than to a particular number of carbs, and gone from diabetic to prediabetic numbers - and in under 3 months.
With the restriction on times you eat on top of a very low carb intake you are probably achieving your aim, but at some cost. I can only advise you to relax and enjoy your new way of eating, don't make it a way to punish your body for misbehaviour.
 
I would see a doctor or A&E, As has been said, it sounds an electrolyte imbalance. The symptoms you describe could be a heart failure risk. I would treat this as urgent if the symptoms are still there. If the heart palpitations have settled and the Doctor approves, To self treat the doctor may advise to take a teaspoonful (2g of sodium) of salt now, Then get a proper salt mix from the chemist, as the potassium and magnesium may also be out.
 

Maybe you are stressed out by rapid change , or maybe your electrolytes are out of wack . When one does a very radikal change in eating style one has to know about the whole packet of different needed nutrients. That are essential for the basal health . Besides vitamins and Minerals and essential fats and which amount of different kinds of proteins are essential How much magnesium and potassium and sodium one needs and the optimal ratio between Them

When Doing ketosis not every one addopts to that in the same speed
Try to find knowledge of typical pitfalls in going very low carbing there must be tons of information of other People's experience on the web

Maybe your foods are not varied enough
 
Hi, I had similar symptoms last April - always seem scarier in the middle of the night. GP blamed it on a virus . Went to A&E one night and was diagnosed over the next 24 hours with lactic acidosis due to years on Metformin. Follow up heart tests were thankfully all clear and BP good. No metformin for me now. I am on gliclazide and recently started on slow release insulin. So far so good.
 

I thought about doing a test last night but felt too giddy so changed my mind. What you have said actually makes sense, I will see how I feel over the next few days.
 
I drink loads of water but lack of salt is a possibility so will watch that. I don't feel a trip to A&E is necessary as my old ticker has always been reasonably strong so am not too worried about that, and if it's not, then I suppose I won't be around long enough to worry about diabetes!!!.
I find that I am not losing an ounce on the normal lchf diet so have opted to try the very low carb diet for a few weeks to try to kick start things.
I have spent many years on the LFAH diet ( low fat always hungry diet) and on changing to lchf had symptoms similar to now at the start of this diet but not as severe as now, and they passed within a week. No doubt they are more severe due to the massive drop in carbs, so I will stick it out and hope they too disappear in a week or so.
I'm known as a tough old bird so will persevere for the time being.
 
If you're wishing to lose weight I would lose the dairy and all grains if you eat them. They could be replaced with avocado.

I too spent many years on the low fat always hungry diet. Then I found Atkins and I just do a healthy version of the induction phase , 20 or less carbs.
 
Please read up on electrolytes and low carbing, upping salt, potassium and magnesium.

Suddenly dropping down to 10g carbs a day is tough for a young person (lots of posts to prove it here on the forum), doing it now we are mature is even harder.

Please take your night time symptoms as a serious warning that something is wrong. If it continues, seek medical attention, and make sure you are getting enough salt, magnesium and postassium. Our muscles need all of these to function properly, and our heart is the most important muscle we have!
 
To me your body is telling you something isnt right.
First off add in the extras people are talking about, such as salt..
Get a blood pressure machine though and do a test when you feel like this.
Please dont assume you have a strong heart.. many athletes, marathon runners do that-wrongly.....

Do just look at the foods you are eating for a day as they dont seem to be 100% for the vitamins and minerals.....ie cream will give you some but avocado included would be better...
look to optimise the vitamins and minerals.. they are hugely important..
ie you dont want to get anaemic from lack of iron... as I have very difficult eating when I discussed with my Gp she said I must eat Overcooked broccoli everyday.. i do and I've just edged my way out of being anaemic... iron supplements werent an option for me...

Theres a good website.. think its nutritiondata and if you typed in food and listed the minerals/vitamins for a few days I think you would be surprised to see where you may be lacking...

Please dont assume this is diet causation, worth while jyst taking blood pressure and heart rate at these times and recording them.. and tjis would enable further discussion with GP if necessary.
 
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