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Why is my bg level coming down - assessment with nurse upd

C

charon

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
If you read my thread in the newly diagnosed forum I started off with a couple of readings around 13-14 several hours after meals. I expected this to be a fasting level and to struggle to get it down. Lowest it got to was 7.2 after no food for about 20 hours then bounced back to around 10
Since then the level seems to have been going down - and last reading was 5.4 before meal - 7.1 two hours after.
I seem to be able to keep it to under 6.5 before meals and 7.5 after for the last few days.

Is this sort of thing to be expected? I'm not eating anything radically different now from when I started but seems as though there has been a steady(ish) decline, as though glucose is being purged or my system is realigning to a lower level.

I'm following what I think is low carb.
Breakfast - bacon, eggs, mushrooms, onions (am going to try swapping fried eggs for poached as I think might be healthier)
Meat (beef,chicken,lamb,pork), onions, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, turnip, cabbage
salad - cold meat, various salad things - no tomatoes.

Had a couple of apples today and some blueberries and raspberries and that doesn't seem to have been too bad (not like the oranges a few days ago).
Even had a couple of glasses of red wine yesterday without problems (I only have anything to drink once every few weeks).

If this carries on I'm going to try weaning myself back on to some small portions of potatoes and maybe bread/weetabix to see how that goes. Worried about losing too much weight with this diet.

Happy that I seem to have the possibility of keeping things under 7.5.
Have the meeting with the diabetes nurse in 10 days - a friend has said she will try to give me drugs but if I can keep to this I should suggest I try monitoring for another month instead. Does that sound like a good idea as I don't want drugs if I can avoid them and have no problem sticking to this
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Hi. Your diet appears to be quite good and so are your levels. Have you been losing weight and is your current BMI quite good? Yes, I would try to stay of meds whilst you are getting quite good readings but discuss this with the nurse.
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Now I'm very confused.

This evening had lasagna with baked potato and trifle for desert - all home made (not by me).
First time I've had carbohydrates after starting this.

I expected very high readings - was hoping around 10 but was worried it might be around 15 (my highest reading 15.6 after sandwiches). I was assuming I would be able to wean on to carbs but in small portions - nothing like this meal.

Before the meal BG was 6.2
Had the meal then went for a half hour walk
2hrs 40mins after the meal the reading was 6.4

I wonder if it was the walk that kept the count down? Or maybe the liver leaving it to the food?
It is only one test and I will have to do lot more but I am surprised.

I think my BMI is now down into the normal range from being just in the overweight range so I wanted to start eating some carbs so I didn't lose too much weight.
I'm staying with friends for a few days and was going to keep to a strict diet but after this will try being a bit more relaxed and see what happens. The husband is also diabetic but on medication and just eating healthily not low carb.

How does the BG testing compare with the hba1c?
I'm also thinking it would be a good idea for everyone to test as it is so simple. Wondering how long I have had this condition.
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Whatever your doing seems to be working :D

Going for a walk seems to help some people, any activity helps.

Carbs....... hmm it seems to be very individual. I think the answer is to test and see what works for you.
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Yesterday morning - toast and marmalade - went up to 7.9
Lunch ham, eggs, sugar free baked beans - went up to 9.9.
For dinner had roast dinner - but with a couple of new potatoes and yorkshire pudding. Home made trifle
This morning it is 7.0

Looks like a couple of potatoes isn't too bad but the beans on toast is out.
I'll be back home in a couple of days and will go back to low carb diet - but looks like I can eat some carbs but will need to be careful, more testing.

I thought you weren't supposed to be able to tell your blood sugar was high? After the lunch I had the symptoms I was feeling before diagnosis - brain feeling fuzzy and tired. Also had tingling little fingers - don't know what that was about.
Could just have been coincidence or a reaction to food that I had been avoiding for a couple of weeks.

Meeting with diabetic nurse to assess progress next week - could be interesting and long as I've a lot of questions to ask. I know I can control the levels without medication and would much rather do that but we'll see what happens.
Odd that they said I shouldn't let this control my diet or life - seems to me to be the most important thing at the moment.
I feel a lot more lively and brain is working a lot better now, important as I am hopefully heading towards PhD study and was struggling to concentrate.
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Mmm, very, very, similar to my case. Probably the only difference is that I've not touched any form of carbohydrate for 6 months and either swim/gym pretty well everyday. I never was very overweight but lost 3 stone in double quick time. I have had a few BG readings in the 5s but most in the 6s and don't seem able to shift the average down. Still, a great improvement from the original diagnosis of 14 or so. As one of the contributors pointed out, it's hard to keep the exercise regime up and after a short period many patients drop out. When diagnosed my diabetic nurse gave me a carrier bag of goodies, metformin, glic and simvastatin, apparently I was too far gone for lifestyle changes. I decided to take one met in the morning and put the rest of the drugs in the drawer. To be fair to the nurse, at my last meeting she agreed to ditch the drugs apart from the metformin. I don't think that she was best pleased that I wasn't taking the statins. My view on this whole diabetes issue was kill or cure. It was no carbs and a daily hammering in the gym/pool and if I keeled over, too bad, I had nothing but contempt for my body. Similarly, I can live with my diet, bacon, eggs, salads, stir fries, meat, cheese but not enough fish. Might try the supplements next. I'm not sure why, but since embarking on this regime, my libido seems to have disappeared, maybe no bad thing and possibly linked to low esteem.
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

wizardo said:
<snip> I'm not sure why, but since embarking on this regime, my libido seems to have disappeared, maybe no bad thing and possibly linked to low esteem.
Click to expand...

Quite possibly a side effect of the diabetes.
Libido can disappear despite better fitness and BG control.
A known side effect of diabetes is erectile dysfunction although I understand that this is partly tied to age.
Since a lot of T2s are diagnosed in their 50s and 60s their libido may well be on the way out anyway.

If in doubt, one thing you can do is have your Testosterone levels checked by your GP.

Well done on the weight loss and increased fitness.

Cheers

LGC
 
Re: Why is my bg level coming down

Had the meeting with the diabetic nurse and she was happy. No medication just diet.

If I stick to a low carb diet (bacon, eggs and meat,greens) then my reading stays around 5.5 or below.
Had half a baked potato this evening with a chicken dinner and 2 hours later it was at 7.1. I'm happy with that if it was the peak and will need to stop losing weight soon as my BMI is into the normal range now.

Got a printout of my blood test results and everything was OK apart from the fasting glucose which was 20.9 - I thought I was feeling tired due to low sugar so was eating vast amounts of chocolate so surprised it was that low.Glad I found out about it now.
 
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