What is going on

[Margaretearle2]

I was diagnosed type 2 about 3 years ago, no medication. I have been following a no sugar, low carb ever since and have lost about 3 stone, but, to be honest, don't feel all that great. I have just been on a cruise, where I decided to relax - I ate anything and everything, including puddings, albeit small portions, although I avoided the heavily sugar loaded ones. I did very little exercise. I felt great - full of energy, up early, bed late, no symptoms or problems at all. I got home last week, and back on the treadmill. Within a week of no sugar, low carbs, I am lethargic, light headed, constipated, suffering night cramps and quite frankly feel awful. Due to an incompetent doctors surgery and a broken personal meter, I haven't tested my blood sugar for a few months. I thought I was supposed to feel great by cutting back on sugar. Any thoughts?

 

[Brunneria]

Hi and welcome!

As I read your post, I thought firstly 'is she testing?' because it may be that having lost 3 stone your body can cope with more carbs than it used to.

But my second thought was 'how low carb is low carb?', because if your low carbing makes you feel lethargic, light headed, constipated and with night cramps, then it isn't currently an optimal diet for you.

The low carb may be great for your blood glucose, but you may have to look at things like fibre, amount of water (for the constipation), and minerals (salt, potassium and magnesium) for the lethargy and the cramps.

Of course, your symptoms may be connected to the amount of carbs. None of us can make any definitive statements, because we don't know what you are eating, or how your body is reacting to those foods. But there is a term that I read bandied about which is that we need 'a well formulated low carb diet'. Voleck and Phinney use the phrase a lot, and they have been studying low carbing for 20 years, and have an excellent book on the subject. Salt, supplements, exercise, energy levels. You may find it fascinating. I mean, designing a way of eating that actually gives excellent and optimum nutrition isn't easy at the best of times, and I know that there have been times when I have stopped concentrating on my low carb nutrition, and things have drifted away from 'well formulated' surprisingly easily.

You may find this current thread interesting
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/low-carb-diet-and-night-cramps-help-please-11.124575/

And this link too.
https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2016/01/11/how-to-low-carb-15-common-weight-loss-mistakes
(I know it focuses on weight loss, but the rest of the article talks a lot of sense, even if weight loss is no longer your goal)

 

[therower]

Hi @Margaretearle2 . As a T1 I'm in a different position to yourself regarding medication and possibly even diet.
I have tried in the past to follow a LCHF diet plan and one thing that I found was the loss of energy and feeling of being able to jump up and do things. Lethargy was definitely a side effect for me, so you're not alone on that one.
Hope you find a happy balance.

 

[SockFiddler]

I was diagnosed type 2 about 3 years ago, no medication. I have been following a no sugar, low carb ever since and have lost about 3 stone, but, to be honest, don't feel all that great. I have just been on a cruise, where I decided to relax - I ate anything and everything, including puddings, albeit small portions, although I avoided the heavily sugar loaded ones. I did very little exercise. I felt great - full of energy, up early, bed late, no symptoms or problems at all. I got home last week, and back on the treadmill. Within a week of no sugar, low carbs, I am lethargic, light headed, constipated, suffering night cramps and quite frankly feel awful. Due to an incompetent doctors surgery and a broken personal meter, I haven't tested my blood sugar for a few months. I thought I was supposed to feel great by cutting back on sugar. Any thoughts?

Heya!

@Brunneria knows far, far more about this than me, but I had a sort of idea about what might be happening. Your body is throwing a sugar tantrum.

1. Diet controlled for 3 years. Low carb, effective. Weight melted away, huzzah!

2. "Ate everything and anything" for a week? 2 weeks? Body doesn't care if it's low sugar or now. Carbs will also turn into sugar. And our bodies LOVE sugar. The dopamine starts flowing, we grow rapidly addicted to this fast, easy energy source. It tastes amazing (especially after 3 years of no-sugar), it pumps energy into our bodies and our metabolisms have to work less hard to access it. Party time! You spent your entire cruise on a sugar high - that's why you felt so great!

3. Home again, party's over. Now you've got the carb hangover. You've got to persuade your body to get over the sugars (again), but unlike the first time you went low-carb, you're probably not doing it as gradually as you did the first time, gently reducing your target intake week on week - you're forcing it right back into the low, low total you were on before your holiday. That's a hammer cracking a nut, right there.

4. Body likes sugar. Body wants sugar. Body will throw a tantrum and call up its buddy Dopamine if you don't listen to it. The 'Dope doesn't play well with others, and he'll put you through the wringer, which is why you're feeling so awful.

Get a working meter as fast as possible. Drink lots of water and surround yourself with foods you can eat freely (and paracetamol) to get you through the carb flu. It really doesn't last long - if you're this low now, you've only got a few days left. And try reassessing your carb intake targets - reduce down more gradually to make it easier for your body to adjust and avoid going cold turkey.

Be nice to yourself! <3

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi,

If your meter is broken, have you considered getting a replacement? Without one you really are working blind and have no idea what your sugar levels are doing.

Just how low carb are you? I ask because it can be a mistake in some people when low carbing to eat insufficient fats. The one balances out the other for energy requirements. The fewer carbs you eat, the less energy you have, so this needs to be replaced with a different source of energy, which is fats. I am not at all suggesting you stuff yourself with every bit of fat there is, just look at what you do eat and see if it increased a bit when you went low carb. One way of doing this is simple. Just replace any low fat products you have with the real thing. Use olive oil and eat plenty of oily fish (salmon is good).

Keep an eye on your fibre intake for the constipation. Adding flaxseed to foods is a good method of increasing it, and of course vegetables. Plenty of water, too. I found that adding salt stopped my legs cramping at night.

Testing and keeping a food diary will help enormously.