Chemist feels my blood sugar may be to low !

Status
Not open for further replies.
O

offspin

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi , I have been taking my Metformin for nearly two weeks. Initially not to many issues but yesterday I was rather unstable on my feet
but went to bed and all appeared well after a couple of hours.

This morning I went swimming as usual and but after a couple of hours felt unwell ( Little shaky but I find it hard to describe other issues - how do you describe taste ).

I went to my local chemist and explained the problem to him and he was most helpful. He suggest that my blood sugar level could be to low and asked me how much I eat during the day.( Not what I eat ). I described to him my eating pattern and though I may not be eating enough food. I told him my diabetic nurse suggested that I need to lose weight.Todate I have lost half a stone in 14 days.
I judge my food intake in that I don't feel hungry between meals.

19/10/21 food intake : breakfast small bowl of fruit , non sweeten oat milk and a small amount of Irish Jumbo oats : Lunch Cheese ploughman's lunch with cheese : Evening meal Chicken sandwich.

What he suggested that my high blood sugar levels have dropped and I may now have a low blood sugar level.I do find that hard to believe as I have only been using Metformin for 14 days.He is going to write to my GP with his thoughts.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
It is possible that you are not eating enough carbs to keep you body fuelled, especially for the exercise you have been doing and whilst loosing weight is a good thing, you muscles and brain still need carbs to function. I would suggest on days when you exercise increasing the carbs for the meal before, by how much is up to you. I was told in the beginning to eat a Mars bar before swimming. It might be worth keeping a bottle of lucozade with you for after exercise to raise your blood sugar level if you feel dizzy and shaky too, half a 380ml bottle is usually enough to rectify a hypo.

good luck and feel done on the weight loss. keep it going.
 
Are you checking your blood glucose level when you are feeling unwell. It may be low but it could well be that your body is having to get used to lower glucose levels having been high for some time.
It is often recommended that people reduce their carb intake gradually by cutting down from what they had before by one third for a few weeks, then another one third until they get to where they want to be. That allows the body to adjust.
It looks as if you may not be having enough food but for example your breakfast has very little protein but is highish carb,
you don't mention much in the way of vegetables.
 
Hi Piglet , thank you very much for your reply , much appreciated.I go swimming 5days a week and when the UK weather allows walk every day. When I go to Portugal I walk 10000 steps per day.It was suggested I go on a low car diet.
 
Piglet said:
It is possible that you are not eating enough carbs to keep you body fuelled, especially for the exercise you have been doing and whilst loosing weight is a good thing, you muscles and brain still need carbs to function. I would suggest on days when you exercise increasing the carbs for the meal before, by how much is up to you. I was told in the beginning to eat a Mars bar before swimming. It might be worth keeping a bottle of lucozade with you for after exercise to raise your blood sugar level if you feel dizzy and shaky too, half a 380ml bottle is usually enough to rectify a hypo.

good luck and feel done on the weight loss. keep it going.
Click to expand...
This is Type 1 advice for people injecting insulin.
Type 2 dietary (+medication) controlled diabetics probably should not be encouraged or suggested to eat high carb foods like a Mars Bar or drink Lucozade.
Our bodies are also perfectly capable of manufacturing glucose from protein and fat so they do not need carbs, not even the brain. Most Type 2 diabetics have plenty of glucose in their blood stream to supply their brain but they are resistant to using it for energy or storing it as fat. Putting less into the system, not more and encouraging the body to use the surplus it already has is the answer for them. It is different to us Type 1s who have basal insulin in our system which can drop our levels like a stone when or after we exercise and therefore need fast acting carbs for if that happens.
 
It's normal for levels to drop during exercise as muscles use glucose from the bloodstream (without requiring insulin). I've seen mine go down to 3.0 after a brisk walk. The liver will generate glucose when you exercise if it needs to or release it from stores.

I doubt you are suffering from low blood sugar with that diet, and it's highly unlikely that metformin will cause hypos. Do you have a glucose tester to see what your levels are?

When I started a low carb diet/metformin I occasionally felt a little strange and had to sit down for bit, but I believe that was what they call 'fake hypos' as my BG was lower than it had been. It soon passed.
 
Piglet said:
It is possible that you are not eating enough carbs to keep you body fuelled, especially for the exercise you have been doing and whilst loosing weight is a good thing, you muscles and brain still need carbs to function. I would suggest on days when you exercise increasing the carbs for the meal before, by how much is up to you. I was told in the beginning to eat a Mars bar before swimming. It might be worth keeping a bottle of lucozade with you for after exercise to raise your blood sugar level if you feel dizzy and shaky too, half a 380ml bottle is usually enough to rectify a hypo.

good luck and feel done on the weight loss. keep it going.
Click to expand...

No.
 
Leadinglights said:
Are you checking your blood glucose level when you are feeling unwell. It may be low but it could well be that your body is having to get used to lower glucose levels having been high for some time.
It is often recommended that people reduce their carb intake gradually by cutting down from what they had before by one third for a few weeks, then another one third until they get to where they want to be. That allows the body to adjust.
It looks as if you may not be having enough food but for example your breakfast has very little protein but is highish carb,
you don't mention much in the way of vegetables.
Click to expand...
Hi Leadinglights , that you for your reply. My diabetic nurse suggested my breakfast based on what I told her I eat.
I do eat my vegetables and and try to eat food that's good for and all things that are not good for me don't go near my mouth.I really am trying hard !!
 
harbottle said:
It's normal for levels to drop during exercise as muscles use glucose from the bloodstream (without requiring insulin). I've seen mine go down to 3.0 after a brisk walk. The liver will generate glucose when you exercise if it needs to or release it from stores.

I doubt you are suffering from low blood sugar with that diet, and it's highly unlikely that metformin will cause hypos. Do you have a glucose tester to see what your levels are?

When I started a low carb diet/metformin I occasionally felt a little strange and had to sit down for bit, but I believe that was what they call 'fake hypos' as my BG was lower than it had been. It soon passed.
Click to expand...
Hi hardbottle ,thank you for your reply. I purchased a machine from Boots today that I am taking back tomorrow.Blue tooth enabled but no app available and to makes thing worse it would not work with a Nokia phone if an app was available.
 
offspin said:
Hi Leadinglights , that you for your reply. My diabetic nurse suggested my breakfast based on what I told her I eat.
I do eat my vegetables and and try to eat food that's good for and all things that are not good for me don't go near my mouth.I really am trying hard !!
Click to expand...
The diabetic nurses are often following the standard NHS advice based on the Eatwell plate but sadly that doesn't work well for manyType 2 diabetics.
Breakfast could be full fat Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds or nuts with maybe a small portion of a low sugar granola or eggs in any form, with bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and a small slice toast if you can tolerate bread. Other meals based on meat, fish, eggs, cheese with vegetables or salad with only small portions of any high carb foods.
This link may give you some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Leadinglights said:
The diabetic nurses are often following the standard NHS advice based on the Eatwell plate but sadly that doesn't work well for manyType 2 diabetics.
Breakfast could be full fat Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds or nuts with maybe a small portion of a low sugar granola or eggs in any form, with bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and a small slice toast if you can tolerate bread. Other meals based on meat, fish, eggs, cheese with vegetables or salad with only small portions of any high carb foods.
This link may give you some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Click to expand...
Hi , much appreciated
 
Sorry you’re been having some wobbly moments @offspin

And what a nuisance having to return the meter you chose as it won’t work well with your phone.

The most affordable meters members here have found are a bit less fancy, but they have strips priced very reasonably at around £8 for 50 (some brands cost £25 or more for a pot!). They are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2

It might really help to be able to check your levels if you feel those symptoms again. As others have said, you could be having ‘false hypos’ where your glucose thermostat has become used to higher average levels, where you can get symptoms as your BG levels reduce, but aren’t clinically hypoglycaemic.

Taking a small amount of fast acting carbs can help, but you don’t want to bounce back up to high levels if you aren’t actually hypo at the time 🙂
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry you’re been having some wobbly moments @offspin

And what a nuisance having to return the meter you chose as it won’t work well with your phone.

The most affordable meters members here have found are a bit less fancy, but they have strips priced very reasonably at around £8 for 50 (some brands cost £25 or more for a pot!). They are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2

It might really help to be able to check your levels if you feel those symptoms again. As others have said, you could be having ‘false hypos’ where your glucose thermostat has become used to higher average levels, where you can get symptoms as your BG levels reduce, but aren’t clinically hypoglycaemic.

Taking a small amount of fast acting carbs can help, but you don’t want to bounce back up to high levels if you aren’t actually hypo at the time 🙂
Click to expand...
Hi , thank you very much for your reply. I will look up the meter you suggested and order one.( Ordered )

In all honesty the technology side of being a Type 2 diabetic goes right over my head. I don't really want to eat more food per portion because I am so determined to sort out my issues. My wife had a bacon sandwich this morning when I had my black coffee , it looked very nice but not for me anymore.

My determination goes back to 1977 when I woke up and said no more smoking. To this day I have no smoked.

I even stopped drinking alcohol for 6 months and made no difference to my blood sugar levels.

I have found so much help in such a short time on this web site.

Will let you know how I find the meter.
 
offspin said:
Hi , thank you very much for your reply. I will look up the meter you suggested and order one.( Ordered )

In all honesty the technology side of being a Type 2 diabetic goes right over my head. I don't really want to eat more food per portion because I am so determined to sort out my issues. My wife had a bacon sandwich this morning when I had my black coffee , it looked very nice but not for me anymore.

My determination goes back to 1977 when I woke up and said no more smoking. To this day I have no smoked.

I even stopped drinking alcohol for 6 months and made no difference to my blood sugar levels.

I have found so much help in such a short time on this web site.

Will let you know how I find the meter.
Click to expand...
I think you need to remember that managing diabetes still means you can eat well, it is making the right choices that is important.
 
The important thing is that you eat enough fuel for your body to keep it working effectively while also keeping a calorie deficit for you to lose weight.

If you base your food intake on carbs - and by eating porridge or oats at breakfast you are setting your body up to expect a carb based fuel input - and you are diabetic then you are setting yourself up to fail - because your body will flood high glucose levels into your blood quickly and then once they are used will seek more and find none and then you will feel the way you have been feeling.

If you eat a protein/fat based meal for breakfast you can get a lot of nutrients that will fuel your body and it will take a while for that fuel to drip feed into your system so you won't get that big peak and drop like you would with carbs.

You then keep on with a mainly protein and low carb meal for lunch - some chicken/beef/fish and a salad with some nuts if you can and an oil vinaigrette and some berries and greek yoghurt or a small amount of whipped cream with berries or a zero carb pot of jelly with some cream or a couple of squares of 100% cocoa dark chocolate.

Then in the evening - broth/soup, some other variation of protein and green leaves and a few nuts or chunks of cheese and maybe some more berries.

This sort of day will keep your carbs low and your nutrient levels high and you won't get the plunge in blood sugars because it keeps your glucose levels - level - with no peaks and troughs.

While you are doing that you can experiment with extending your food repertoire. Everything is available to you - just with different ingredients - once you have reached the weight you are aiming for you will be able to eat well on a low carb high protein high fat way of eating and you will maintain the weight instead of piling it back on.
The one problem with losing weight on severely calorie restricted and low fat low protein ways of eating is that as soon as you stop calorie restricting the weight creeps back on again unless you consistently exercise to use it up. That doesn't happen with keto style weight loss and maintenance because that way of eating satisfies you so you don't overeat while still getting the fuel and minerals and vitamins you require and which (with the fat intake) you can metabolise from your food.
 
Leadinglights said:
I think you need to remember that managing diabetes still means you can eat well, it is making the right choices that is important.
Click to expand...
Hi Leadinglights , I do appreciate you comments but as you say making the correct choice of food is very important.

My diabetic nurse suggested that weight reduction is the key to unlock the padlock so to speak with diabetes.

I though maybe that reduction of carbohydrates was key ( maybe incorrectly ) but as you said I do require proteins/ diet being adjusted as I scribe.

Again thank you for your help.
 
offspin said:
Hi Leadinglights , I do appreciate you comments but as you say making the correct choice of food is very important.

My diabetic nurse suggested that weight reduction is the key to unlock the padlock so to speak with diabetes.

I though maybe that reduction of carbohydrates was key ( maybe incorrectly ) but as you said I do require proteins/ diet being adjusted as I scribe.

Again thank you for your help.
Click to expand...
I reduced my carb intake to 70g per day (a bit too quickly as I had some issues with my eyes) but lost 15kg even though I was eating meals with plenty of protein and fats. So full fat Greek yoghurt, cheese, butter, cream, eggs, meat and fish, vegetables, salads fruit like berries. I do have some bread, I use edamame or blackbean pasta, the odd potato, no rice, and low sugar (Lizi's) or low carb (Keto Hana) granola.
I don't feel hungry and enjoy what I have so it really is my new way of eating.
 
Losing weight may reduce insulin resistance and this can help type 2s to go into remission, but the definition of remission of type 2 is not particularly well defined yet, as it's so recently that there has been research into it. Often remission is used to mean that HbA1c's have been within non-diabetic range for a period of time, but there are 2 possibilities for why that happens:
- very good diet control such that a Type 2 is not eating more carbohydrates than their body can at that point handle, but if they do try to eat a "standard" high carb meal their blood glucose spikes right up - to me this is not truly remission, although it seems like it should prevent any of the complications that can result from diabetes
- insulin resistance has reduced enough (likely by weight loss and loss of visceral fat around the liver) that someone could theoretically go back to eating a "standard" high carb diet and their blood glucose and HbA1c would still be within non-diabetic limits - to me this would be true remission. However even those who may have achieved this are likely to still need long term to not eat the standard high carb diet as the genetic factors that meant they previously ended up with insulin resistance would still exist, so eating high carb would still be likely to cause insulin resistance to develop again later on in the person's life.

I guess the TL : DR version is that yes, losing weight can often be a major factor in bringing BG levels under control for type 2 diabetics, but even with that not eating excessive carbohydrates is usually (possibly always) needed
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top