why is my blood sugar not dropping?

[Luca2016]

Hi, I need advice please as I am freaking out.
My blood sugar level does not want to drop below about 6.2. I am eating low carb so it doesn't rise too much when I eat, maybe to about 7.0 but it doesn't want to drop down below around 6. This has been going on for about 5 weeks. My fasting b.s. has also increased to about 6.1 and I now have dawn phenomenon which I have never had before. My b.s. will rise to about 7.0 four hours after waking and then drop back to about 6.2.
This is all new and is seriously stressing me out. I had lunch today and 2 hours later my blood sugar was 5.5 and then two hours after that it was up to 6.3.

 

[Mrsass]

Are you type 1 or type 2? What medication are you on?

And what are you eating?

 

[Helss]

Hi, I'm pre diabetic too. I don't feel I have the expertise to give you advice about your levels, except to say:
- stress can push your blood sugars up. I was stressing about testing so did a deal with myself I only test when I felt like it. This seems to work and I trust my results more.
- It's taken me 8 weeks to start to see a slight decrease in blood sugars from a borderline pre-diabetes / Type 2 diagnosis to ones that I know are definitely pre-diabetic.

Maybe you could try what I've been doing which is to eat low carb when you can, test when you feel like it and not beat yourself up if you have a dietary slip.

It's so hard isn't it getting this diagnosis, as it seems neither here nor there.

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi, I need advice please as I am freaking out.
My blood sugar level does not want to drop below about 6.2. I am eating low carb so it doesn't rise too much when I eat, maybe to about 7.0 but it doesn't want to drop down below around 6. This has been going on for about 5 weeks. My fasting b.s. has also increased to about 6.1 and I now have dawn phenomenon which I have never had before. My b.s. will rise to about 7.0 four hours after waking and then drop back to about 6.2.
This is all new and is seriously stressing me out. I had lunch today and 2 hours later my blood sugar was 5.5 and then two hours after that it was up to 6.3.

The initial stages of LC diet are often chaotic. You reduce carb intake, the bgl drops, then the liver responds by dumping from stored sources to take bgl back to the level it used to be. This will continue for a while as your cell stores become depleted, which should also be reflected by weight loss. After a while this see saw should stabilise, and your body will re-adjust to running with lower bgl, and suddenly your bgl should drop to a new average. You will also find that you do not go into keto mode much while the liver dumps are happening, This is my experience.

 

[chri5]

Hi, I need advice please as I am freaking out.
My blood sugar level does not want to drop below about 6.2. I am eating low carb so it doesn't rise too much when I eat, maybe to about 7.0 but it doesn't want to drop down below around 6. This has been going on for about 5 weeks. My fasting b.s. has also increased to about 6.1 and I now have dawn phenomenon which I have never had before. My b.s. will rise to about 7.0 four hours after waking and then drop back to about 6.2.
This is all new and is seriously stressing me out. I had lunch today and 2 hours later my blood sugar was 5.5 and then two hours after that it was up to 6.3.

Hi @Luca2016, if you are in ketosis you could be experiencing physiological insulin resistance. It is my (limited) understanding that it will smooth out the bg levels so that you won`t have such large fluctuations.

 

[catapillar]

I'm type 1, not pre diabetic, and I don't low carb, just reduced carb. So that bit of caveat could explain why I'm confused - we could just have completely different perspectives & completely different goals. But I don't understand why you would be freaking out / stressing out about having blood sugars at a level of 6-7, that's a level well within a normal non diabetic range

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
Normal non diabetic blood sugar 4-5.9 fasting and under 7.8 90 minutes after eating.

If you allow for possible 10% accuracy issues with your metre, it sounds like you are doing really well with your readings!

 

[Luca2016]

Are you type 1 or type 2? What medication are you on?

And what are you eating?

Hi, thanks for your reply. I haven't been diagnosed with either form yet. My last hba1c was 33 or.5.2 a couple of weeks ago but if things go on the way they are I think the next one will definitely be in the prediabetic range

 

[Luca2016]

Are you type 1 or type 2? What medication are you on?

And what are you eating?

I take 2 or 3 500mg of metformin a day and have been eating around 40 gems of carbs a day

 

[Luca2016]

Hi, I'm pre diabetic too. I don't feel I have the expertise to give you advice about your levels, except to say:
- stress can push your blood sugars up. I was stressing about testing so did a deal with myself I only test when I felt like it. This seems to work and I trust my results more.
- It's taken me 8 weeks to start to see a slight decrease in blood sugars from a borderline pre-diabetes / Type 2 diagnosis to ones that I know are definitely pre-diabetic.

Maybe you could try what I've been doing which is to eat low carb when you can, test when you feel like it and not beat yourself up if you have a dietary slip.

It's so hard isn't it getting this diagnosis, as it seems neither here nor there.

Thanks for your reply. I expected to.see a decrease in levels when going lower carb but have seen an increase instead. I Used to have readings around 100 - 110 after eating but now even though my levels don't fluctuate much they hardly ever go below about 5.8 at the lowest.

 

[Luca2016]

The initial stages of LC diet are often chaotic. You reduce carb intake, the bgl drops, then the liver responds by dumping from stored sources to take bgl back to the level it used to be. This will continue for a while as your cell stores become depleted, which should also be reflected by weight loss. After a while this see saw should stabilise, and your body will re-adjust to running with lower bgl, and suddenly your bgl should drop to a new average. You will also find that you do not go into keto mode much while the liver dumps are happening, This is my experience.

Thanks for your reply. I really hope you're right about re-adjusting to a lower bsl. I've been wondering if I am run in out of insulin or something. I have an endo appointment in a week and am hoping to get some answers about what kind of diabetes I have. I have lost about 3 kg while doing vlc and really don't want to lose anymore. I ate more carbs today than I have for a while with the hopes that that would spike my insulin a little bit and lower my levels between meals but it didn't help

 

[Luca2016]

Hi @Luca2016, if you are in ketosis you could be experiencing physiological insulin resistance. It is my (limited) understanding that it will smooth out the bg levels so that you won`t have such large fluctuations.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I was hoping physiological insulin resistance was explaining my higher baseline levels but I ate more carbs yesterday than I have been - around 70g to try and bring the base line level down but it didn't work. I am worried that my diabetes has progressed and that this is the new state of things

 

[Luca2016]

I'm type 1, not pre diabetic, and I don't low carb, just reduced carb. So that bit of caveat could explain why I'm confused - we could just have completely different perspectives & completely different goals. But I don't understand why you would be freaking out / stressing out about having blood sugars at a level of 6-7, that's a level well within a normal non diabetic range

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
Normal non diabetic blood sugar 4-5.9 fasting and under 7.8 90 minutes after eating.

If you allow for possible 10% accuracy issues with your metre, it sounds like you are doing really well with your readings!

Thanks for your reply. I guess I just expected lower levels as I have reduced carbs from about 120g a day to about 40g but my average bsl would be worse now because they don't drop as low as they used to after eating - around 5.5 and I have dawn phenomenon since going lower carb which I never used to have.

 

[Oldvatr]

Thanks for your reply. I guess I just expected lower levels as I have reduced carbs from about 120g a day to about 40g but my average bsl would be worse now because they don't drop as low as they used to after eating - around 5.5 and I have dawn phenomenon since going lower carb which I never used to have.

I did not have any evidence of Dawn pheno whatzit while my bgl was high generally, but as my levels dropped, I statretd to see it jumping in. Then, as my glucose stores depleted and my weight loss started to stabilize, then I saw my average bgl drop across the board and my fbgl steadied at a lower value. The liver dumps and DP seem to be par for the course and should be a transitory effect.
The level of 40 gms of carb may be too high. Some here aim at <20g per day to guarantee ketosis mode. Also at 40g then protein synthesis to glucose that replaces the carb route can kick you up out of ketosis again and keep the bgl high. This latter mechanism occurs later than the normal carb spike, and can be mistaken for DP as reported above. Dropping protein intake may help especially at nightime meal or snack.

PS I found that I had a better effect if I took my Metformin about 20 mins before my meal since it needs to dissolve before the meal hits the gut.

 

[AloeSvea]

I take 2 or 3 500mg of metformin a day and have been eating around 40 gems of carbs a day

You have an HBA1c of 33 (as in healthy) and you are on metformin? This I don't understand! Have you tried stopping the metformin, or discussing this with your doctor at least, continuing not to eat excess carbs, and then a few months later - check your HBA1c? (I say a few months because then your blood cells are all new ones.) That will give you the best indication of how your body is adjusting to your new way of eating (and maybe exercise? I don't know...).

My understanding is, if you are on metformin you won't really know how your liver is operating, as metformin, although safe and wonderful, is involved in liver function changes. They don't permanently change how the liver functions - you have to be on the medication for it to work.

May I ask what your HBA1c was on diagnosis? What your health goal is?

 

[Luca2016]

You have an HBA1c of 33 (as in healthy) and you are on metformin? This I don't understand! Have you tried stopping the metformin, or discussing this with your doctor at least, continuing not to eat excess carbs, and then a few months later - check your HBA1c? (I say a few months because then your blood cells are all new ones.) That will give you the best indication of how your body is adjusting to your new way of eating (and maybe exercise? I don't know...).

My understanding is, if you are on metformin you won't really know how your liver is operating, as metformin, although safe and wonderful, is involved in liver function changes. They don't permanently change how the liver functions - you have to be on the medication for it to work.

May I ask what your HBA1c was on diagnosis? What your health goal is?

Hi I had gestational diabetes two years ago which didn't really go away after I had my daughter. my levels were easily managed though and my highest hba1c has been 5.4 so I haven't officially been diagnosed. my son was born 5 months ago and 2 months ago my bsl got considerably harder to manage. this was after a 4th bout of mastitis, not sure if that was related. my goal is an hba1c of less than 5.7 preferably more like 5.0 - 5.3. The way things are at the moment though I dontvknow if my next hba1c will be ler

 

[Luca2016]

Hi I had gestational diabetes two years ago which didn't really go away after I had my daughter. my levels were easily managed though and my highest hba1c has been 5.4 so I haven't officially been diagnosed. my son was born 5 months ago and 2 months ago my bsl got considerably harder to manage. this was after a 4th bout of mastitis, not sure if that was related. my goal is an hba1c of less than 5.7 preferably more like 5.0 - 5.3. The way things are at the moment though I dontvknow if my next hba1c will be ler

less than 5.6

 

[AloeSvea]

@Luca2016 - you haven't been officially diagnosed because you are not prediabetic! You are someone who had gestational diabetes, and are watching your BG levels closely. Is this right?

Rather than using the HBA1c-% system - your highest HBA1c was 36, but you would like to keep it in the range of 30-34.

Luca - I'm sure you are a lovely pre-prediabetic, but if we met at a party, and you shared with me your concern with your BG levels, I would pat you on the shoulder and walk away, before I got a bit strident. I now do the forum-equivalent of walking away.... I wish you well! Absolutely .

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

4th bout of mastitis, not sure if that was related

It affects BG, Google will turn up several scholarly articles

my goal is an hba1c of less than 5.7

Non-diabetic 'normal' range being 4-6%, I think most non diabetics would be happy with less than 6%, but then you're taking metformin, the target HbA1c for diabetics is 6.5%.

It's understandable to worry about blood glucose levels but from what you're saying the levels look good. The goal isn't to get as low as possible without having a hypo. www.diabetes.co.uk and www.diabetes.org.uk are both worth having a look at, they have excellent information about what BG readings we should expect before and after meals and also HbA1c. It might put your mind at rest to have a read.
.

 

[Luca2016]

ok tha

@Luca2016 - you haven't been officially diagnosed because you are not prediabetic! You are someone who had gestational diabetes, and are watching your BG levels closely. Is this right?

Rather than using the HBA1c-% system - your highest HBA1c was 36, but you would like to keep it in the range of 30-34.

Luca - I'm sure you are a lovely pre-prediabetic, but if we met at a party, and you shared with me your concern with your BG levels, I would pat you on the shoulder and walk away, before I got a bit strident. I now do the forum-equivalent of walking away.... I wish you well! Absolutely .

so someone without diabetes would have bsl of 12.6 after about 80g of carbs? I work really hard with my bsl, just because my latest hba1c was 33 doesn't mean I don't have prediabetes or diabetes and like i said my levels have go

It affects BG, Google will turn up several scholarly articles



Non-diabetic 'normal' range being 4-6%, I think most non diabetics would be happy with less than 6%, but then you're taking metformin, the target HbA1c for diabetics is 6.5%.

It's understandable to worry about blood glucose levels but from what your saying the levels look good. The goal isn't to get as low as possible without having a hypo. www.diabetes.co.uk and www.diabetes.org.uk are both worth having a look at, they have excellent information about what BG readings we should expect before and after meals and also HbA1c. It might put your mind at rest to have a read.
.

 

[Luca2016]

It affects BG, Google will turn up several scholarly articles



Non-diabetic 'normal' range being 4-6%, I think most non diabetics would be happy with less than 6%, but then you're taking metformin, the target HbA1c for diabetics is 6.5%.

It's understandable to worry about blood glucose levels but from what your saying the levels look good. The goal isn't to get as low as possible without having a hypo. www.diabetes.co.uk and www.diabetes.org.uk are both worth having a look at, they have excellent information about what BG readings we should expect before and after meals and also HbA1c. It might put your mind at rest to have a read.
.

Thank you for your advice