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High fasting blood sugar and low carb
stacicali
Posts: 137 Member
Recently fell down this rabbit hole and thought I'd ask for advice as well as share a few things I've learned. Though I am not diabetic, I am on the max amount of Metformin (for PCOS) and have started monitoring my blood sugar periodically with a glucose meter. Started back on low carb a week ago (approx 100 g of carbs per day), and last week my Fasting Glucose shot up higher than it's ever been: 111. <gulp>
https://chriskresser.com/when-your-“normal”-blood-sugar-isn’t-normal-part-2/
Kresser seems to indicate that it's ok while you're low carbing to have a higher fasting blood glucose as long as your post meal readings are normal. Mine are.
My concern is that my dr may slap me with a prediabetic label. Is anyone else dealing with this? Advice?
One potential hack that I've uncovered is digestive enzymes. They really seem to make a difference in lowering my fasting levels when I take them at night.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/digestive-enzymes-an-unexpected-diabetes-game-changer.101605/
https://chriskresser.com/when-your-“normal”-blood-sugar-isn’t-normal-part-2/
Kresser seems to indicate that it's ok while you're low carbing to have a higher fasting blood glucose as long as your post meal readings are normal. Mine are.
My concern is that my dr may slap me with a prediabetic label. Is anyone else dealing with this? Advice?
One potential hack that I've uncovered is digestive enzymes. They really seem to make a difference in lowering my fasting levels when I take them at night.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/digestive-enzymes-an-unexpected-diabetes-game-changer.101605/
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I was in the prediabetic range and just one test away from being diagnosed with diabetes (fbs was 147 and A1c was 6.5). I asked for 6 months to work on it first. So I do have the prediabetic label but avoided the diabetic one when I went keto. After 6 months, my fbs was 111 and my A1c was 5.3. Another 6 months and my fbs was in the 90s and my A1c was 5.2.
There is dawn phenomenon (you can google that). Basically, our body gets us ready for our day by putting out various hormones, etc. This includes cortisol and insulin. Especially if we are insulin resistant, our fbs is elevated since it takes more insulin to get our fbs into the "normal" range.
If you want to increase your insulin sensitivity, you can use intermittent fasting (IF). I practice 24 hour IF which is eating normal one day but eating nothing from suppertime until the next day's suppertime. This gives me 24 hours of not eating. Over time, this increases insulin sensitivity. My morning fbs has been slowly dropping. I check mine daily. I also check one and two hour postprandial readings about every other day or so (just to save on the cost) to make sure I am in the normal ranges for keto WOE or if I eat things I normally don't to see how they affect my blood sugar levels.
If I eat more than about 20 g of carb, my fbs increases. One day I had around 75 g and my fbs was back over 130. Do you plan on lowering your carb intake over time?
A book I found helpful was Dr. Jason Fung's "The Obesity Code". He has some great chapters about insulin, cortisol, prediabetes, diabetes and IF. He also has some YouTube videos on these topics. I don't know if this is helpful for you or not but I'm sure many others with blood sugar issues will chime in, too.6 -
@stacicali I had a lot of weird stuff happen when I first went LCHF for pain management. I found after several months things started to stabilize. Good arthritis pain management started by day 30.
I just try to keep my carbs under 50 grams daily and protein under 100 grams daily and let the rest run wild. Cravings dropped like a rock after about week two so now I stop eating when I get full which lowers my CI of CICO.
Best of success.2 -
what is city of cico?
yes eating no sugar and low carb 14 days eliminated cravings, hunger and up peeing during the night.1 -
caroldavison332 wrote: »what is city of cico?
yes eating no sugar and low carb 14 days eliminated cravings, hunger and up peeing during the night.
calories in - calories out, i believe1 -
CI is the "calories in" part of CICO which is "calories in calories out". It is somewhat the basis of MFP in that one eats less (CI) than they burn (CO) in order to lose weight.
It may not work for all. It worked for me in weight loss and maintenance. My body is pretty average and without metabolic issues to complicate things so "averages" were a guide and I lost/maintain without significant tweaking. Regardless of how I vary my macros I still eat and average "XXX" calories. WHAT I eat effects my satiation do I keep carbs low and fat/protein higher but still eat the same number of calories I would if I ate all carbs.caroldavison332 wrote: »what is city of cico?
yes eating no sugar and low carb 14 days eliminated cravings, hunger and up peeing during the night.
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Bumping this and adding a link that dealt with this in another thread community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10432331/lcd-chat#latest
on pg 50 there are links1 -
These?
https://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16/
https://chriskresser.com/when-your-“normal”-blood-sugar-isn’t-normal-part-2/
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OK here's my weirdness .... first time using a glucose meter just for info sake.
Fasting BG was 6.3 or 113
One hour post-prandial was 5.3 or 95
Two hour post-prandial was 4.9 or 87
Three hour post-prandial was 4.8 or 86
What does this mean? Even my fasting is too high for Dawn Phenomenon, isn't it?
The other numbers look pretty good I think.
Dinner was Tuna & Pesto over my usual shirataki noodles with green olives, cauliflower, browned onion, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms. I have to eat gluten free and rarely use grains or starches of any sort (unless I go off the rails with tortilla chips).1 -
It seems perfectly normal to me.
You always wake up higher than any other time of day. I think my highest tested was about 105, but that's not far off 113 and who knows how much variance the meter may have.
Honestly, nothing about the numbers seems concerning to me.1 -
My FBG is lately over 5.6 on most days. Yesterday was 6.3. When I went to eat breakfast about 6 hours later, it was a 5.5.
Mine falls throughout the day. I like that. But the high FBG drives me nuts. I know damage may be occurring at levels that high, and it takes me half the day for the levels to finally fall.
But without medication there is nothing else I can do, besides fasting every other day.2 -
@canadjineh, a fasting BG of 113 isn't really normal, but, yeah, it does seem like a good idea to retest with the same meter right away if you get values that seem unusually high. (Ratings of BG meters show wide differences in accuracy and consistency. The cheap Bayer Contour Next is very accurate and consistent, while the crappy, cheap, lookalike Bayer Contour is not in the same league.)
Anyhow, if those 1- and 2-hour readings are typical, I would say you're in pretty good shape.
In fact, I would gladly buy them numbers off you! ??1 -
I am 5 months into LCHF and six months after a diagnosis of T2 diabetes. I take metformin. I have had dramatic decreases in the glucose readings that I attribute to the WOE. I currently have a soft limit of 20 net carb grams a day and a hard limit of 30. I probably stay under 20 net carb grams 5 or 6 days a week.
The morning fasting reading is often my highest reading of the day right now. It might be 115 or 120. Post prandial might be 105 at one hour and 110 at two hours. I realize all these readings are close and could really be the same reading, but there is a pattern.
I want my fasting levels to be lower, and they are slowly improving with time. My 14 day average for all my readings is 111, and my 30 day average is 114.
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caroldavison332 wrote: »what is city of cico?
yes eating no sugar and low carb 14 days eliminated cravings, hunger and up peeing during the night.
I've been on LC, no sugar, for 400+ days. No cravings, no hunger pangs, but that last one? Hmmm.
What I can say is that I am (often) awake in time to relocate for that particular activity.0 -
Hey, I am always up to pee at 2 am, lol, but that is because it's almost near the end of my work shift and I drank 3 cups of green tea...
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Everclear and rubber bands are the only two I know. But they're not endorsed by the FDA (yet) or College of Pediatricians.1 -
Remember that getting up to pee around 2 am is considered stroke prevention. Most people dehydrate while sleeping, and that can be a prime factor in triggering strokes at that time. So I'll take the 2 am pee event nightly over increased stroke risks, thanks!
It is recommended to drink as much as you can of a glass of water when you're up to pee, too.1 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Remember that getting up to pee around 2 am is considered stroke prevention. Most people dehydrate while sleeping, and that can be a prime factor in triggering strokes at that time. So I'll take the 2 am pee event nightly over increased stroke risks, thanks!
It is recommended to drink as much as you can of a glass of water when you're up to pee, too.
I will take the pee at 2 AM over the trip to the ER any day. I drink at least a gallon of fluids every day, so it seems unlikely that dehydration is an issue. Maybe I should start drinking a glass of water before going to bed too.1 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Remember that getting up to pee around 2 am is considered stroke prevention. Most people dehydrate while sleeping, and that can be a prime factor in triggering strokes at that time. So I'll take the 2 am pee event nightly over increased stroke risks, thanks!
It is recommended to drink as much as you can of a glass of water when you're up to pee, too.
I will take the pee at 2 AM over the trip to the ER any day. I drink at least a gallon of fluids every day, so it seems unlikely that dehydration is an issue. Maybe I should start drinking a glass of water before going to bed too.
Drowning would seem to be the larger-looming risk.2 -
No, not at all. Only in comparison to what I drink.
But I'm on weight maintenance now - when I was losing, I drank about .75 gallon per day in order to give the crap being paroled from my fat cells an easy exit. But even then I was sometimes dehydrated, judging from the occasional dark color of the peestix.0 -
No, not at all. Only in comparison to what I drink.
I am just figuring this out as I go, and I was working on the idea I was flushing stuff out and being fairly intentional about the fluid intake. I did not want to be creating a problem though.
I don't really drink much besides a cup of coffee or two between about 7 AM and 4 PM on Sundays. There is not much opportunity to get hydrated or to hit the "closet of requirement." I know I am parched when I get home...
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Cruising around the Internet and looking for glucose test strips and Ketone test strips that fit my meter and I come across an online company called Betty Mills that sells all kinds of things to commercial businesses, Cleaning & Sanitary, Medical, Industrial Safety, etc. Looking at their test strips and they have a bonus deal. If you are new to them, you get $15 in Snack Rewards when you sign up and more rewards depending on how much stuff you order.
*sound of crickets*
Right.... send me $15 worth of M & M's or Skittles when I buy a box of BLOOD GLUCOSE TEST STRIPS from you. bettymills.com/shop/product/find/q-Glucose/a-Exam-And-Diagnostic-179378/a-Testing-Kits-And-Supplies-180086/a-Glucose-Test-Strips-199720/search.htm
Something is wrong with this picture.5 -
canadjineh wrote: »Cruising around the Internet and looking for glucose test strips and Ketone test strips that fit my meter and I come across an online company called Betty Mills that sells all kinds of things to commercial businesses, Cleaning & Sanitary, Medical, Industrial Safety, etc. Looking at their test strips and they have a bonus deal. If you are new to them, you get $15 in Snack Rewards when you sign up and more rewards depending on how much stuff you order.
*sound of crickets*
Right.... send me $15 worth of M & M's or Skittles when I buy a box of BLOOD GLUCOSE TEST STRIPS from you. bettymills.com/shop/product/find/q-Glucose/a-Exam-And-Diagnostic-179378/a-Testing-Kits-And-Supplies-180086/a-Glucose-Test-Strips-199720/search.htm
Something is wrong with this picture. 3 -
Just sound like business minded folks :-)3
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Aha! I was worried that the marketing bots that came up with this ostensibly-idiotic offer had been heinously malprogrammed...
But then I realized that the purpose may be educational - they want you to chew the skittles then spit 'em on their test strips, so as to assure yourself that this non-food is no *kitten* you want in your bloodstream.2
This discussion has been closed.