Worried And Lost !!

[Erry_Addy]

hi folks
Its my first post in this forum. Recently my A1c came as 60 which gave me a huge shock. I was having gastational diabetes and my baby is 6 month old now. Since her birth they kept checking me and my levels were coming high. Recently i met GP she said we will check once again to confirm diagnosis. I am wondering how can i develop this so fast ? I never had any issues before pregnancy.
I am waiting for my results but i could not get over the thought of being diabetic for whole life so i started searching all the remedies straight away. Luckily this site hit my attention and i read a lot of posts before posting this.
I have few questions if you guys can help me understand better.
1- What is dawn phenomenon ? As my fasting readings are always high around 7.5 to 8.0 every morning. Though i have limited my carbs and after dinner i just get a spike of 2 points .All day my readings are okay except fasting ones? Which made me think might be i have fasting impaired glucose problem ? how can i reverse my fasting readings to a good accaptable level?
2- Low carb diet being a south asian is a big big struggle. As we are curries ppl needing something to dip in either chapati (flat bread) or rice. Thats the main meal of the day. If i dine out or being invited by someone thats what i would be offered everywhere. We do try other cusines like chinese italian english but that would be like once in 2 weeks time. I don’t want to feel isolated on my family table. Can i go for low carb bread or tortillas everyday and still can maintain my BS ?
3- LCHF diet can result in high cholestrol ? I am afraid of that as my GP mentioned i have to go low fat now. How ill lose fat in my body when i will keep taking more fats ?
Thanks for reading all and sorry if i could not put it in a more comprehend manner as at the moment my thoughts are scattered and i am too

 

[Deleted Account]

Welcome to the forum.
I will tag @daisy who has a great welcome pack for you and will respond soon.

As I am type 1, I cannot answer all your questions but we too experience dawn phenomenon.
Throughout the day, glucose is dripped from our liver into our bloodstream. This completely normal.
There are times when our liver drips more glucose. This is completely normal.
These times are when our body thinks we need more energy such as when we exercise and when we wake up.
Dawn phenomenon is the extra glucose drip from our livers when we wake. It happens to most people.
Those with healthy pancreas release the right amount of insulin which converts that glucose into energy and the "jump" out of bed.
Those of us with unhealthy pancreas (diabetes) struggle to release the needed insulin so our BG goes up at the start of the day.

Because of this, I understand, for type 2 the morning (fasting) BG is the last one to come down.

No doubt you will hear from others who can answer your other questions too.

 

[Boo1979]

Welcome to the forum
Dawn phenomenon is something that happens to everyone but diabetics cant manage it very well.
Basically the body releases various hormones ( growth hormone, cortisol and others) as a prelude to waking up and getting active for the day. these hormones cause the liver to release stored glucose for energy, which raises blood sugars. The body then usually releases enough insulin to mop up any extras but this mechanism doesnt work well in diabetics
Low carb flatbfeads / pittas etc would be fine to eat daily - if you look on the diet doctor website theres a recipe for low carb naan which some people rate (havnt tried it myself) I buy these which I find good for eating with curry As an alternative to roti / chapati
https://www.musclefood.com/low-carb...Q_xEXE7OVi5snFU_x255qDF83pUkhqDxoC6zEQAvD_BwE
https://www.musclefood.com/whole-wheat-pita-bread.html
An acceptable alternative to rice can be made using cauliflower or there is alao ‘Rice’ made from konjac which is very bland in itself but can fried with spices etc to get more flavour. You can also get ‘noodles’and ‘pasta’ made from konjac

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Erry_Addy Welcome to the forum

I also found myself diagnosed with diabetes when I was 23 weeks pregnant and it came as a massive shock, i'd always been well, no previous symptoms, and start straight onto insulin, after my daughter was born my bg levels returned to normal, however about 3 years later after one week skiing I became really ill and lost alot of weight and upon returning home saw a GP straight away and was diagnosed type 1 and back onto insulin.

I know how worrying this is and asking lots of questions is normal as you try to understand why/how etc etc.

Keeping good control is vital, not sure if you're on insulin now or medication ?

Best rice alternative is cauliflower rice, it's easy to make a bit messy but that's ok, it's perfect for helping keep your glucose levels stable as it's low carb or if you can buy konjac rice that too is an ideal replacement although a bit pricey. I don't know any chapati/bread alternatives so would recommend avoiding them.

Have a good look round the site, you will learn alot from others here who live with this, also tagging @daisy1 for our new members info

 

[Rachox]

Hi Erry and welcome to the Forum!
Looks like your first two questions are answered but regarding cholesterol on a diet with more fat than your used to.
A lot of us find that initially on a LCHF diet our cholesterol numbers might deteriorate especially if you lose weight quickly at the start. You will find that as time goes on they will improve again. Having said that there is a lot of talk now about what levels are actually healthy, so please do some reading around the subject before having Statins forced on you.

 

[Boo1979]

These might be useful sites too
https://www.tarladalal.com/recipes-for-Low-Carb-Low-Carb-Food-Veg-Low-Carb-Indian-Dishes-757
http://indianlchf.com/

 

[daisy1]

@Erry_Addy Welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

 

[zand]

3- LCHF diet can result in high cholestrol ? I am afraid of that as my GP mentioned i have to go low fat now. How ill lose fat in my body when i will keep taking more fats ?
Thanks for reading all and sorry if i could not put it in a more comprehend manner as at the moment my thoughts are scattered and i am too

My cholesterol went down when I followed LCHF, as did my weight. My naturopath told me to eat goat's dairy instead of cow's as I had a mild cow's dairy intolerance. My cholesterol went down further. I don't believe it was the fats in cow's dairy that was the problem, I think my body simply produces more cholesterol to protect my cells from inflammation when I have the cow's dairy products. It didn't need to do this in the case of goat's dairy because I have no intolerance to it at all. Our bodies are very clever things and I personally think it's wrong to mess with cholesterol as it's there to protect every cell in the body.

We diabetics are carb intolerant. It's the carbs that make us fat, not the dietary fat. I once did an experiment to see how far I could push the LCHF diet. I am not recommending it to you as it is extreme, but it does seem to prove the point that fat doesn't make you fat. Have a look at this thread. Don't fear fat, we need it in our diets. We can't live without it, we can live without carbs though.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/my-5-day-dairy-fat-fast.81433/

Edit: sometimes our cholesterol levels can go up if we have recently lost weight, but that s usually temporary.

 

[Erry_Addy]

Welcome to the forum.
I will tag @daisy who has a great welcome pack for you and will respond soon.

As I am type 1, I cannot answer all your questions but we too experience dawn phenomenon.
Throughout the day, glucose is dripped from our liver into our bloodstream. This completely normal.
There are times when our liver drips more glucose. This is completely normal.
These times are when our body thinks we need more energy such as when we exercise and when we wake up.
Dawn phenomenon is the extra glucose drip from our livers when we wake. It happens to most people.
Those with healthy pancreas release the right amount of insulin which converts that glucose into energy and the "jump" out of bed.
Those of us with unhealthy pancreas (diabetes) struggle to release the needed insulin so our BG goes up at the start of the day.

Because of this, I understand, for type 2 the morning (fasting) BG is the last one to come down.

No doubt you will hear from others who can answer your other questions too.

@helensaramay thanks a lot for explaining