I'm a type 1 diabetic on LCHF diet bit my blood sugars are high

raedizy
raedizy Posts: 6 Member
edited December 2 in Health and Weight Loss
Help! I have been a type 1 diabetic for 16 years and I am 24 years old. Recently I have gone on a low carb high fat diet and I'm having a bit of trouble keeping my blood sugars down. This happens especially in the mornings. For example before breakfast my sugar is 5.2, I will eat 3 slices of ham and half an avocado, and 2 hours later my blood sugar will be around 14. It seems like no matter what I do I cannot get my blood sugars back down to their normal range. Does anyone have any insight as to why this may be happening and what I can do to prevent this?

I have done a LCHF diet before with great success, although I was much more uncontrolled as a diabetic then.

Replies

  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    Honestly, being type 1, I really think you should talk with your doctor or endocrinologist about your blood sugars.

    Beyond that, while avocados are low carb, they do have some carbs in them, and ham, depending on how it was cured, can have a bit of sugar too. Does your blood sugar react the same way to a couple eggs cooked in butter?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Did your doctor recommend lchf diet? You should ask him.
  • raedizy
    raedizy Posts: 6 Member
    Not overly. My nutritionist recommended not doing it about a year or so ago. But everyone has differing opinions. She also wants me to lose 10-15 lbs. Which is why I am doing LCHF, also in hoped it would lower my sugars....lol

    Unfortunately here in Calgary the endos are so back logged it takes forever to get in. But that's my next step.
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
    You really need to talk to your dietitian or nutritionist. Do you guys have a good relationship? It sounds like you two are on different pages, maybe find a different one.

    You are putting yourself at serious risk for severe hypoglycemia especially if you have not adjusted your insulin but are eating less carbohydrates.
  • emmanuelperla
    emmanuelperla Posts: 11 Member
    I'm a type 1 diabetic as well I've tried the low carb diet one thing that sucks about it is that when you eat high fats they tend to slow down your insulin response,try giving yourself insulin 10-15 min before and eating your carbs before your fats so the insulin can saturate in your body first and respond to your carbs rather then the fats because high quality of fats can absorb all your insulin especially people like me who are on the pump hope this was helpful
  • scoii
    scoii Posts: 160 Member
    Unfortunately for you the insulin that is provided is based on a normal diet.

    Until you see a doctor I would recommend you sticking to a balanced diet including carbs otherwise you could start damaging organs whilst you get your sugars under control.

    Why do you want that diet, do you find it hard to lose on a healthy balanced diet?
  • fuelednfit
    fuelednfit Posts: 177 Member
    Go in the low carber daily forum the LCD group. There you should find sunny bunny her daughter is diabetic type 1 on lchf. She would definitely be able to help. Very knowledgeable.
  • killdontmurder
    killdontmurder Posts: 142 Member
    raedizy wrote: »
    Help! I have been a type 1 diabetic for 16 years and I am 24 years old. Recently I have gone on a low carb high fat diet and I'm having a bit of trouble keeping my blood sugars down. This happens especially in the mornings. For example before breakfast my sugar is 5.2, I will eat 3 slices of ham and half an avocado, and 2 hours later my blood sugar will be around 14. It seems like no matter what I do I cannot get my blood sugars back down to their normal range. Does anyone have any insight as to why this may be happening and what I can do to prevent this?

    I have done a LCHF diet before with great success, although I was much more uncontrolled as a diabetic then.

    I know why it's happening. It's because you're sweet enough as it is already, you don't need anymore sugar, haha.
  • mabearof6
    mabearof6 Posts: 684 Member
    Are you MDI or do you wear a pump? I know for my type 1 daughter anything high in fat and protein we have to do an extended bolus when wearing her Omnipod to prevent the rise in her BS. When she is MDI we split the dose. We dose 15-20 min. before eating and then the other half an hour after eating. Does you Endo have a dietician in house? We truly had to slowly experiment to find the right dosing that worked for her. Everyone is so defferent.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    fuelednfit wrote: »
    Go in the low carber daily forum the LCD group. There you should find sunny bunny her daughter is diabetic type 1 on lchf. She would definitely be able to help. Very knowledgeable.

    This and TypeOneGrit might be of some help as well.
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    fuelednfit wrote: »
    Go in the low carber daily forum the LCD group. There you should find sunny bunny her daughter is diabetic type 1 on lchf. She would definitely be able to help. Very knowledgeable.

    Here's the link to the group:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    For our American readers, Canadians measure their blood sugar in mmol/l.

    http://www.type2diabetesguide.com/conversion-chart-for-blood-sugar-levels.shtml#.V3XYvLgrKUk

    My experience is with type 2 but I can think of three reasons.
    1. You are dipping too low overnight. Have a snack at bed-time.
    2. Your liver is pumping out sugar in response to the morning low, throwing off your numbers.
    3. Fat converts to sugar but much more slowly. Your high numbers may be coming from a high fat meal from the night before.

    http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/controlling-the-dawn-phenomenon/
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    fuelednfit wrote: »
    Go in the low carber daily forum the LCD group. There you should find sunny bunny her daughter is diabetic type 1 on lchf. She would definitely be able to help. Very knowledgeable.

    @Sunny_Bunny_ is a huge source of info when it comes to T1D and LCHF. Huge! Definitely check out the group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

    Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution might be a helpful LCHF resource for you too.
  • ryanmfkelso
    ryanmfkelso Posts: 3 Member
    Hey I'm a type 1 diabetic of 23 years. My bg usually hoes up if I lift as the muscles us up sll the insulin. And goes down with cardio. I take insulin (like 2-5 units) in the middle of a workout. I would suggest to just test and keep taking insulin to adjust it as needed. Talk to your endo as well. That shouldn't go that high with protein and fat.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    Sounds like you're not taking enough insulin.
    Are you wearing a pump? Either your overnight basal isn't enough or your slow acting overnight insulin isn't enough.
    If you're insulin resistant at all, it will take at least a few weeks before the low carb diet will help improve sensitivity. You will have to keep a close eye on blood sugars while adjusting to the new diet.
    My daughter, about your age, uses a pump and went from an HbA1c of greater than 14 to a 7 in about 9 weeks by going on a Keto diet and reversed her insulin resistance as well, which really went a long way to reducing her overall insulin needs.
    She also went from using about 130 units of insulin a day to about 35, with no more lows than she ever had before. Actually, she's much more stable than ever.
    The pump has been a huge help. She really prefers the constant basal insulin to the slow acting injected insulin.
    She also feels much more satisfied by food and doesn't feel the need to ever eat between meals unless a correction snack is needed. And she's able to eat things like nuts to correct for lows instead of sugar because they are never severe or very quickly falling.
  • raedizy
    raedizy Posts: 6 Member
    Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »
    Sounds like you're not taking enough insulin.
    Are you wearing a pump? Either your overnight basal isn't enough or your slow acting overnight insulin isn't enough.
    If you're insulin resistant at all, it will take at least a few weeks before the low carb diet will help improve sensitivity. You will have to keep a close eye on blood sugars while adjusting to the new diet.
    My daughter, about your age, uses a pump and went from an HbA1c of greater than 14 to a 7 in about 9 weeks by going on a Keto diet and reversed her insulin resistance as well, which really went a long way to reducing her overall insulin needs.
    She also went from using about 130 units of insulin a day to about 35, with no more lows than she ever had before. Actually, she's much more stable than ever.
    The pump has been a huge help. She really prefers the constant basal insulin to the slow acting injected insulin.
    She also feels much more satisfied by food and doesn't feel the need to ever eat between meals unless a correction snack is needed. And she's able to eat things like nuts to correct for lows instead of sugar because they are never severe or very quickly falling.

    Hi there, so I am currently not on a pump, but working towards it. Right now my hbA1C is sitting at 9.9

    When I eat carbohydrates my bloodsugar is perfect after injecting. But LCHF is the opposite. For example I will eat 3 small slices of ham and half an avocado for breakfast, inject 2 units ( because my ratio is 1:5 in the morning) not subtracting fiber and still be around 14 ( or about 250 American) two hours later. So I constantly find myself correcting even when I'm not eating. This only happens in the morning until late afternoon.

    I was thinking maybe I would need to increase my long acting insulin at night
  • raedizy
    raedizy Posts: 6 Member
    scoii wrote: »
    Unfortunately for you the insulin that is provided is based on a normal diet.

    Until you see a doctor I would recommend you sticking to a balanced diet including carbs otherwise you could start damaging organs whilst you get your sugars under control.

    Why do you want that diet, do you find it hard to lose on a healthy balanced diet?

    Yes I have a very hard time losing weight on a balanced diet. I think it may be my body's response to insulin and carb spiking. Not totally sure though.
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    I'm T1, for more years than I'd care to admit, lol. I say you do need to have dr's advice for dosing.

    I do know what once my sugars were in control, I wad able to lose weight. For years I was trying it backwards- trying to lose, hoping it would help bring my numbers down. I finally worked harder at keeping them in range, and was better able to lose weight.

    Losing 35 lbs, working out regularly, and eating lower carb reduced my dosage about 40%.
  • raedizy
    raedizy Posts: 6 Member
    ponycyndi wrote: »
    I'm T1, for more years than I'd care to admit, lol. I say you do need to have dr's advice for dosing.

    I do know what once my sugars were in control, I wad able to lose weight. For years I was trying it backwards- trying to lose, hoping it would help bring my numbers down. I finally worked harder at keeping them in range, and was better able to lose weight.

    Losing 35 lbs, working out regularly, and eating lower carb reduced my dosage about 40%.

    How many carbs do you generally eat per day?
  • ryanmfkelso
    ryanmfkelso Posts: 3 Member
    Maybe try carb cycling. You'll lose weight and not miss out on carbs all the time that your body needs for energy.
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