My diabetes water /low carb problem.
motown13
Posts: 688 Member
I have diabetes. Since I started LCHF about 3 weeks ago, my desire to drink water is WAY down. Now, I do 100% understand why. I get the correlation.
But the issue is I no longer want to drink water. Like 4 cups a day is a struggle, whereas 3 weeks ago I was drinking up to 200 ounces a day. And, I kind of liked drinking that much.
Now I look at water and I just don't want it.
But the issue is I no longer want to drink water. Like 4 cups a day is a struggle, whereas 3 weeks ago I was drinking up to 200 ounces a day. And, I kind of liked drinking that much.
Now I look at water and I just don't want it.
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It's not a huge deal unless you're showing signs of dehydration or electrolyte imbalance. Our thirst, like our hunger, waxes and wanes. We also get a lot of our water needs fulfilled by the food we eat, so it's not like we're not getting water if we don't specifically drink it.
That said, it might be the way your water is "prepared." For example, I'm "meh" about tepid water, and it doesn't really quench my thirst. Ice cold or bust for me. Try changing it up a bit and see if that makes a difference, but if not, you might just not need so much right now.0 -
How are your blood sugars now compared to before. Having high blood sugar creates thirst as your body wants to flush some of the excess glucose out through urine. It makes total sense that you remember feeling better after drinking water before because it helped to lower blood sugar to a degree and that you're not so thirsty now if blood sugars are ok. When you say you liked drinking so much water is it just a psychological reason because you were doing something you felt was good for you or was it simply because you physically felt better or maybe both? I would imagine if you're experiencing lower blood sugar now then you're feeling just as good if not better than before. So I wonder how much of the feeling of wanting to drink a lot of water comes from the idea that it's just good for you. Because if so, you can maybe focus on all the good for you things you're doing now with developing a new eating style.0
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Still way too high but down about 20 or 30. I am months from normal blood sugar if lucky. But only averaging about 25 carbs a day has to be helping.
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I know it sounds super silly but the brand of water I drink makes a big difference to me. I can't drink tap water (where I am in Florida it tastes like straight chlorine no matter how much I filter it.) I found a brand of water I like (no doubt tap water from somewhere else, lol) and now I have at least 6-7 cups a day and feel good, not like I'm going to drown in water. It also helps fill me up so I'm not consuming as many calories as before. I also notice that my taste has drastically changed since I started low carb.
As a note, my sugars were running in the 220-240 range before I started low carb (and that was on 1500mg of Metformin). Now I rarely run above 90, mostly in the high 70's to low 80's depending on what I've eaten the day before. So keep your chin up, you're doing great!
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Still way too high but down about 20 or 30. I am months from normal blood sugar if lucky. But only averaging about 25 carbs a day has to be helping.
More likely days from normal blood sugar, at that rate of carb consumption. Aside from the dawn phenomenon, my experience has been that my blood glucose is much more tightly tied to what I put in my mouth now - than it is to the consequences of what I previously ate.
My blood glucose was within normal most of the time within 3 days (possibly even earlier, but I didn't check). Since Oct 7, 3 days after diagnosis, I've been within normal (not diabetes normal) 97% of the time. I'm way below diabetes normal 100% of the time. I'm in prediabetes occasionally, on waking up, because of the dawn phenomenon
I eat fewer than 20 carbs in a 3 hour period/50 in a day.
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Interesting. I didn't notice it affecting my thirst. (I have some insulin issues, formerly prediabetic but not diabetic.) I am all about ice water too though. I have a harder time drinking it if it's room temp.0
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Agree with all comments.
Diabetic thirst was my first thought too, as @Sunny_Bunny_ says. I felt my thirst decrease when BG started going down but then, as I healed, I began to drink with real pleasure, a totally different feeling from the parched, dry thirst of diabetes. And, as @RobinK228 says, the brand makes a difference in how much I enjoy water, too. I go for the highest pH I can find.
I was diabetic, with severe insulin resistance, that's why I started LCHF. Within days I noticed a clear improvement in after meal values, within weeks I was at pre-diabetic to non-diabetic levels most of the time. The dawn phenomenon can be tricky and it took me almost a year to have non diabetic BFG but now it is typically around 90-95. And it will go down further, I believe, because I still have insulin and hormonal issues.
With that level of carbs, just trust your body. You'll know when to drink more, and it will feel good to drink. Until then, maybe a cup of clear hot broth now and then? If you're in Winter, it feels wonderful (at least to me, that is) and more like food (which it is) than water.
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KetoGirl83 wrote: »Agree with all comments.
Diabetic thirst was my first thought too, as @Sunny_Bunny_ says. I felt my thirst decrease when BG started going down but then, as I healed, I began to drink with real pleasure, a totally different feeling from the parched, dry thirst of diabetes. And, as @RobinK228 says, the brand makes a difference in how much I enjoy water, too. I go for the highest pH I can find.
I was diabetic, with severe insulin resistance, that's why I started LCHF. Within days I noticed a clear improvement in after meal values, within weeks I was at pre-diabetic to non-diabetic levels most of the time. The dawn phenomenon can be tricky and it took me almost a year to have non diabetic BFG but now it is typically around 90-95. And it will go down further, I believe, because I still have insulin and hormonal issues.
With that level of carbs, just trust your body. You'll know when to drink more, and it will feel good to drink. Until then, maybe a cup of clear hot broth now and then? If you're in Winter, it feels wonderful (at least to me, that is) and more like food (which it is) than water.
::flowerforyou::
The thing is, though, my sugars are not coming down accordi g to my meter. I'm rather frutrated at that. My net carbs over tje .ast 2 weeks average 20.22 a day. Just over 30 total carbs. So I have lost about 17 pounds or, so, cut my carbs, and have been exercising, and my sugars stay the same. I just don't get it.0 -
@motown13 I'm at 60 days and still have to take some medication, I'm on insulin. I keep my carbs under 20 net. I had a big drop in blood sugar over the first couple of weeks and then it was another 4 weeks before I had another drop and could reduce insulin again and another 2 weeks later the same. It's a progressive change, so hang in there and keep doing the great things you're doing.0
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The thing is, though, my sugars are not coming down accordi g to my meter. I'm rather frutrated at that. My net carbs over tje .ast 2 weeks average 20.22 a day. Just over 30 total carbs. So I have lost about 17 pounds or, so, cut my carbs, and have been exercising, and my sugars stay the same. I just don't get it.
@motown13 are you type 1 or 2 and for how long have you been diabetic? We are all different and sometimes it takes longer but it is really unusual to not have a drop in blood sugars with that low carbs. Could it be your meter not working properly? Or you're eating something with hidden carbs and not noticing?
I am a big fan of Dr Bernstein, if you do not have it already, consider getting his book amazon.co.uk/Dr-Bernsteins-Diabetes-Solution-Complete-Achieving/dp/0316182699. He practically invented the idea of eating to your meter and being a T1 that has now survived all the doctors that gave him a few years to live 40 years ago, he knows what he is talking about. His book explains all there is to know about the relation between diabetes and low carb.
Anyway, regardless of results, hang in there and don't give up, low carb is your best shot at controlling/reversing diabetes. If you're taking meds do not stop them. Make a simple table and register all that you eat and your BG before and after your meal, plus fasting, before bed and random. You need to know what's happening and that chart will help you identify the problem. And check your meter or get a new one. If you take your BG twice, at the same spot and with 30 seconds interval, and it gives you a different result, get a new meter.
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KetoGirl83 wrote: »And check your meter or get a new one. If you take your BG twice, at the same spot and with 30 seconds interval, and it gives you a different result, get a new meter.
Great point! Definitely test your meter. You can buy a glucose control solution to use to test your meter's accuracy. Also make sure your strips haven't expired, even if you just got them, you never know how long they've been sitting around in a warehouse.0 -
This is true! Any medical device (including b.s. strips) can be faulty at any time! Great suggestions@KetoGirl83, and @PaleoinScotland!0
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Thanks!
Type 2.... I have read that book and about 10 others, I would guess, but was 2 years ago. I never thought of the strips being expired.
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