Why is my strategy not working as well?

Hi @Rosie9876 snap! I was having a similar conversation only yesterday with my daughter. 2 years ago I lost a stone relatively easily on keto and brought my hba1c down too, but trying the same now I’ve lost and gained 1 pound over the last 3 weeks! I’m so disheartened.

Rosie9876 said:

Over some months, I'd improved long-standing type 2 diabetes with a low carb diet and mostly 16/8 intermittent fasting, accepting some lapses. I found I could tolerate small amounts of carbs and even reduced my medication a little.

But recently I've had some extreme spikes which I don't understand. For example, today after a dinner of cauliflower cheese and tomato, my glucose went well over 13 on my Libre 2+, so likely higher.

I'm about to be tested for A1c. I expect it to be worse than my last reading of 52, and for my doctor to ask me to return to my full medication. She'd even at one stage suggested I go onto insulin. But I want to persevere with reducing medication.

Why is my strategy not working as well? Of course stress or poor sleep can also spike glucose, but that doesn't explain the change. Any thoughts? TIA

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I wish I knew. For me, I'm currently doing everything right. Yet I can't shed weight and my HbA1c is a struggle. My CGM keeps telling me it's not the food I eat, after the food-spike it drops off to nicer 5-ish numbers for a few hours straight... It's my nights that are high (6 to 7) and dawn phenomenon sees me creeping up in the morning up to 10 or thereabouts, while fasting. My thyroid meds have been upped, which made no difference so far, I am menopausal and have PCOS, so that's the hormones all over the place... I eat like I'm supposed to, but I'm still 93,5 kilo's. I think I should've dropped at least 10 by now, having gone back, mainly, to dirty carnivore since the start of the year. Nothing. Still running a low grade fever for over half a year now, I think, which is currently being blamed on my plethora of kidney stones.... You'd assume that'd burn off calories as well, but nope.

I keep thinking, some stuff changed, since Covid... And I keep hearing other people floating that theory as well. That it's been harder to manage bloods and weight, while low carbing, IF and such, worked previously, and worked well. Still, I have my first appointment with a nurse in over 9 years this Monday, and she'll probably tell me to stop binge-eating and quit the candy. (What bingeing? What candy?) Probably push bread on me, too. I don't know. I'm actually quite scared to go now. At least the CGM someone here kindly -brilliantly- gifted me for my birthday can prove my numbers are up at night and in the morning, when I don't actually eat. I don't know. I'll probably get told off for using a CGM in the first place.

I don't know, all in all. I wish I did. But I do hope the above makes clear you're not alone in this. I do fear, however, that answers will be long in the coming.
Hugs,
Jo

Rosie9876 said:

Over some months, I'd improved long-standing type 2 diabetes with a low carb diet and mostly 16/8 intermittent fasting, accepting some lapses. I found I could tolerate small amounts of carbs and even reduced my medication a little.

But recently I've had some extreme spikes which I don't understand. For example, today after a dinner of cauliflower cheese and tomato, my glucose went well over 13 on my Libre 2+, so likely higher.

I'm about to be tested for A1c. I expect it to be worse than my last reading of 52, and for my doctor to ask me to return to my full medication. She'd even at one stage suggested I go onto insulin. But I want to persevere with reducing medication.

Why is my strategy not working as well? Of course stress or poor sleep can also spike glucose, but that doesn't explain the change. Any thoughts? TIA

Click to expand...

I don't know, I'm in the same boat
But several years of reading this forum and lots of external research leads me to belive low carb is a major piece of the puzzle, but not the only answer.

Imho I think short sharp knocks are needed such as extended fasts, ultra low carb, increased activity, very low calorie diet. I think a t2 body gets used to one regime and starts to revert. No idea scientifically if this is right but I'm more and more convinced that low carb is only one part of an ever changing strategy