Hi, I recently had some blood tests for an unrelated issue and the surgery nurse said there was signs of pre-diabetes. After a second test, the results - both being the same 52 if that makes sense- confirmed type 2. There is a history of diabetes in the family, and I've been carrying a little too much timber around my waste for a few years, so no real shock, but I’m quite annoyed with myself nevertheless! Needless to say after the first bloods came back I decided to jump on the Keto diet, start exercising and generally making some positive lifestyle changes. When I returned to the surgery following confirmation of my second blood test, I told the nurse of my diet which made her pretty annoyed stating its not a well evidenced diet and I am better placed turning to a Mediterranean diet and low cards. I took her advice and after 3weeks on the Keto diet I’ve now been on the Med diet for 2 weeks. The last few days I’ve started to get a very mild tingling over parts of my body that comes and goes, its been less noticeable the past day or so, I’m just wondering if my body has been shocked a little with the diets and I need to diet a little less aggressively. Any help or advise would be really be appreciated. I’ve also ordered a blood sugar testing kit which I hope will give me a better insight to whats going on. Thank you.
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Hi, newly diagnosed Type 2 - advice welcome
- Thread starter S.D.J
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rebrascora
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Hi and welcome.
Your HbA1c result of 52 is only just over the diagnostic threshold of 48 for diabetes so I would be surprised if even the Keto diet would make enough of a difference to cause the neuropathy if that's what you are concerned the tingling might be. Coming down from 80+ in that short space of time would pose more of a risk.
You don't mention if you are on any medication? Metformin perhaps? or are you purely diet and exercise at the moment.... just wondering if the tingle might be a Vitamin B deficiency as Metformin can cause that...
I think the BG meter may well shine a light on what is happening and certainly enable you to tailor your diet to your own body's intolerance of carbs and your taste buds of course. It really is an invaluable tool for diabetes management and it is such a shame that the NHS don't fully recognise that.
Unfortunately the NHS guidance is still "low fat" so the mention of a Keto diet sends most health care professionals into a tailspin. A growing number of scientists are starting to challenge the low fat advice we have been bombarded with most of our lives and the research on which it was founded, which supposedly showed that fat causes Cardio Vascular Disease, is believed to be flawed and perhaps the data even cherry picked to fit the study's remit. It is even possible that the low fat advice we have been following for the past 50+ years may be responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemic we are currently part of, because fat slows the digestion and keeps you feeling full for longer. Strip back the natural fat from dairy and meat etc means things lack flavour so the food industry add extra cheap carbs like sugar and starch to improve the texture and flavour.... so not only do we not get the benefit of fat in our diet keeping us from feeling hungry but we also get more carbs. Carbohydrate breaks down very quickly in the digestive system to release glucose into the blood stream. The body produces insulin in response to remove it and store it... leading to a spike an hour or so after eating and then a drop in BG levels. The body detects that drop and signals that we need to eat again, so 2 hours after a meal we feel hungry and want more food and so our pancreas gets put under increasing pressure to produce more insulin as we snack between meals as well as eating increasing amounts of carbs with our meals and the surplus glucose gets stored as fat.... and yet we still feel hungry, even though we are eating far more than we need. It's just a vicious circle and I feel so much better for jumping off and eating more fat and a lot less carbs.
Personally Keto is just a bit too restrictive for me but a more general low carb higher fat way of eating works great. It is really important to incorporate more fibre into the diet when you cut the carbs and eat more fat and I currently find that having a glass of fibre in water (I have a mixture of chia and psyllium) on a morning with a dash of ACV or Balsamic to give it acidity and flavour really works well for me.
Anyway, I have rambled on quite enough... Hopefully your BG meter may give us an insight into what is happening with your BG levels particularly when you get the tingle. If it is related to your diabetes, it may be temporary and stop when you get your BG levels more controlled in the normal range or of course it may be unrelated.
Where do you get the tingles? I find the backs of my knees when I hunker down for prolonged periods is one of the key places I notice it.
Your HbA1c result of 52 is only just over the diagnostic threshold of 48 for diabetes so I would be surprised if even the Keto diet would make enough of a difference to cause the neuropathy if that's what you are concerned the tingling might be. Coming down from 80+ in that short space of time would pose more of a risk.
You don't mention if you are on any medication? Metformin perhaps? or are you purely diet and exercise at the moment.... just wondering if the tingle might be a Vitamin B deficiency as Metformin can cause that...
I think the BG meter may well shine a light on what is happening and certainly enable you to tailor your diet to your own body's intolerance of carbs and your taste buds of course. It really is an invaluable tool for diabetes management and it is such a shame that the NHS don't fully recognise that.
Unfortunately the NHS guidance is still "low fat" so the mention of a Keto diet sends most health care professionals into a tailspin. A growing number of scientists are starting to challenge the low fat advice we have been bombarded with most of our lives and the research on which it was founded, which supposedly showed that fat causes Cardio Vascular Disease, is believed to be flawed and perhaps the data even cherry picked to fit the study's remit. It is even possible that the low fat advice we have been following for the past 50+ years may be responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemic we are currently part of, because fat slows the digestion and keeps you feeling full for longer. Strip back the natural fat from dairy and meat etc means things lack flavour so the food industry add extra cheap carbs like sugar and starch to improve the texture and flavour.... so not only do we not get the benefit of fat in our diet keeping us from feeling hungry but we also get more carbs. Carbohydrate breaks down very quickly in the digestive system to release glucose into the blood stream. The body produces insulin in response to remove it and store it... leading to a spike an hour or so after eating and then a drop in BG levels. The body detects that drop and signals that we need to eat again, so 2 hours after a meal we feel hungry and want more food and so our pancreas gets put under increasing pressure to produce more insulin as we snack between meals as well as eating increasing amounts of carbs with our meals and the surplus glucose gets stored as fat.... and yet we still feel hungry, even though we are eating far more than we need. It's just a vicious circle and I feel so much better for jumping off and eating more fat and a lot less carbs.
Personally Keto is just a bit too restrictive for me but a more general low carb higher fat way of eating works great. It is really important to incorporate more fibre into the diet when you cut the carbs and eat more fat and I currently find that having a glass of fibre in water (I have a mixture of chia and psyllium) on a morning with a dash of ACV or Balsamic to give it acidity and flavour really works well for me.
Anyway, I have rambled on quite enough... Hopefully your BG meter may give us an insight into what is happening with your BG levels particularly when you get the tingle. If it is related to your diabetes, it may be temporary and stop when you get your BG levels more controlled in the normal range or of course it may be unrelated.
Where do you get the tingles? I find the backs of my knees when I hunker down for prolonged periods is one of the key places I notice it.
Many thanks for your comprehensive response Barbara. The medication Ive been prescribed is Januvia/Sitagliptin 25mg once a day. I’m led to believe this is a low dose. I’ve only started to take it the past few days, as I’ve been feeling lethargic and not quite myself the past few weeks, so I thought taking it would get me back to normal quicker along with diet and exercise. The nurse wasn’t particularly helpful, and when I asked if I could take the medication for a period of time and give it a real good effort to loose weight and get fitter, could I then come off it given my bloods were hopefully back within the correct ranges, she never really gave me a solid answer.
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Welcome to the forum @S.D.J
Hope your BG meter throws some light on your food, and how your body is reacting, and allows you to experiment and discover a long-term sustainable eating plan for you.
We have several members who have been able to reduce or discontinue their medication over the years, but that isn’t possible for everyone, and you shouldn’t feel there is any stigma attached to including meds as part of your diabetes toolkit. It’s never an option to be ‘med free‘ for T1s so I think T2s can sometimes feel a bit of
pressure or that they ‘should’ be able to manage without. And sometimes HCPs are less than helpful in this regard, imbuing any potential increase or change in meds with a sense of threat 🙄
Hope your BG meter throws some light on your food, and how your body is reacting, and allows you to experiment and discover a long-term sustainable eating plan for you.
We have several members who have been able to reduce or discontinue their medication over the years, but that isn’t possible for everyone, and you shouldn’t feel there is any stigma attached to including meds as part of your diabetes toolkit. It’s never an option to be ‘med free‘ for T1s so I think T2s can sometimes feel a bit of
pressure or that they ‘should’ be able to manage without. And sometimes HCPs are less than helpful in this regard, imbuing any potential increase or change in meds with a sense of threat 🙄
Hi @S.D.J and welcome to the forum.
It's unlikely that Keto or Low Carb as such is causing your 'tingling' symptoms, though it is possible that in going Keto you may have inadvertently cut out some nutrients. As @rebrascora says, a lack of B vitamins could cause the symptoms you report. But they could also be caused by many other things.
I'm puzzled that you were put on medication so soon since your HbA1C was only just over the pre-diabetic range and could (for most) be easily controlled with lifestyle (Low Carb way of eating and some reasonable exercise) alone.
So to answer you question about T2 remission without medication - yes lots of people have done it including me!
It's unlikely that Keto or Low Carb as such is causing your 'tingling' symptoms, though it is possible that in going Keto you may have inadvertently cut out some nutrients. As @rebrascora says, a lack of B vitamins could cause the symptoms you report. But they could also be caused by many other things.
I'm puzzled that you were put on medication so soon since your HbA1C was only just over the pre-diabetic range and could (for most) be easily controlled with lifestyle (Low Carb way of eating and some reasonable exercise) alone.
So to answer you question about T2 remission without medication - yes lots of people have done it including me!
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