No carbs but good BG

[slipper]

I get results such as pre meal 4.7, !hr 9.7, 2 hr 5.7. for evening dinner.

However, that will only include about 10 or 15 g of carbs, which seem that I just have to sniff carbs and I get a big jump.

My overall diet therefor is very low carb.

Are those figure good or do they indicate I may need medication so that I can tolerate carbs a bit better. Lost on this one, advice would be most welcome.🙂

 

[Northerner]

The one hour reading does suggest that what you ate beforehand had a bit of a spike, releasing its glucose fairly quickly, but I would say your other results are excellent. Sometimes it's a trade-off between staying off meds and having a very restrictive diet, or having a helping hand and a more flexible and varied diet. Do bear in mind that not everyone can control their levels by diet and exercise alone, even if they eliminate carbs altogether, so you shouldn't feel that medication would be a failure on your part.

 

[slipper]

Thanks Northerner, this is a new avenue for me to consider. My next meeting with DN will be to discuss overall progress, diet BP, BG and cholesterol etc, but medication has been mentioned and its been left to me.!!!!!!!!

I will mention spikes and lack of tolerance to carbs, but not sure they have the expertise to be honest, or they do and are feeding me a bit at a time. They just say eat a balanced diet.

 

[Robster65]

Hi slipper. How were you diagnosed ?

ie. was it on glucose tolerance test or HbA1c or something else ?

I only ask from personal interest 🙂

Rob

 

[slipper]

Hi Rob, sugar in water then 2 HbA1c tests 2 weeks apart.

Haven't got a theory have you?🙂

 

[Robster65]

No, sadly not

Had some conflicting feedback on what constitutes glucose intolerance and what is 'normal' for the general population.

Some people seem to think that 8 or 9+ mmol/l after a small carb meal is normal for a non-diabetic, even for a couple of hours, as long as it returns to non-D range afterwards.

But for obvious reasons, not many non-diabetics get their BG tested, so they can only say with certainty about high fasting BGs, which certainly isn't normal.

I was just curious from what you were saying, how they defined you as diabetic. But presumably your HbA1c was above the required figure?

Rob

 

[Northerner]

Hi Rob, sugar in water then 2 HbA1c tests 2 weeks apart.

Haven't got a theory have you?🙂

Are you sure they were HbA1c tests, or were they fasting fingerprick tests? I would have thought there wouldn't be a great deal of variation in a two week period for HbA1c tests.

 

[Natalie123]

I had to debate whether to write this or not because I don't want to rock the boat so to speak. Personally, I think that 10 - 15g carbs is very low carb and in my opinion wouldn't constitute a balanced diet. You need to get energy in from something and fat is probably not the best source of energy due to the cholesterol content which could increase the risk of heart problems. I do understand that people don't want to be on meds, and a low carb diet is ok for a while especially if you are trying to lose weight but after a while burning fat for energy can become problematic. Personally I would ask your GP or nurse, it might be worth you having some meds and going for a more medium - carb diet. Sorry to all the low carbers out there - I just thought I should say something from a different point of view. Please don't bite me 😱

 

[Mark T]

I would agree with you Natalie.

I take the point of view that I would rather have the extra medicine then go for an overly restrictive diet. My consultant did say that he would put me on a Sulfonylurea even if my hbA1c was in the well controlled range if my post-prandial was more then 3 mmol/l above the pre-prandial. Generally that isn't the case, so I'm not heading onto those any time soon I think

But it comes down to what the individual wants of course.

Apparently some muscles (the heart in particular) do prefer to burn triglyceride's for energy instead of carbs - not sure where I read that.

 

[slipper]

I tend to agree about the carbs Natalie hence my question about my figures.

It is only the last week or so I have managed to get BG readings under about 5.5 so its all down to a very low carb diet. I have been in double figures before I reduced the carbs.

With respect to my diagnosis, I think the two tests were Hb1Ac tests, I had one with blood taken by nurse and sent off , then lab asked for a second blood , which I understand is the criteria now, that both samples show above the non diabetic level, in my case the second one was 8.1%. I dont know they were actually Hb1Ac results, I have some other figure on my card, but cant make out what it says it is.

What do post and preprandial mean, not found that anywere


Edit Just checked my card and HbA1c was 8.1, but there is another figure written in for "fasting glucose 8.6." Does that make sense?

 

[Northerner]

What do post and preprandial mean, not found that anywere

Edit Just checked my card and HbA1c was 8.1, but there is another figure written in for "fasting glucose 8.6." Does that make sense?

Preprandial means before a meal and postprandial after the meal 🙂

fasting glucose, as far as I know, is a fingerprick-style test i.e. your reading at the point that the blood was taken as opposed to a calculation of glycation like the HbA1c. So, they are different indicators which probably give a more rounded indication of whether you truly have diabetes.

By the way, you shouldn't be fighting to get your levels below 5.5 - that's a perfectly reasonable level to have 🙂

 

[slipper]

Great, now I can start throwing those terms about pretending I know what I'm talking about.

Both my tests were bloods sent off, and were phials as opposed to finger pricks, but I will ask next time.

The lack of carbs was more to do about large 1 hour spikes than getting my overall readings down.

I will start introducing a bit more carb I think and see what happens, and if I still have a problem then perhaps I need meds.

Would Metformin lower my intolerence to carbs as this seems the most frequently prescribed?

 

[Mark T]

...Would Metformin lower my intolerence to carbs as this seems the most frequently prescribed?

No metformin reduces insulin resistance and my understanding is that it helps the uptake of insulin by the muscles and your fasting levels.

A medication that makes the pancreas produce insulin (such as a Sulfonylurea) helps more with intolerance to carbs.

 

[slipper]

Thanks Mike. Tried again tonight and had an increase of 5 for 30g of carb.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I think you are doing brilliantly Slipper. The spike at 1 hr might need a bit of looking at, and whether or not that level of carb intake is right for you is something only you can decide really. Can you get away with more at different times of day?

In terms of needing carbs 'for energy' my feeling is that this argument only really stands up if the body can absorb the glucose involved. It won't give your body any more energy at a cellular level to have excess glucose sloshing around in your bloodstream and then being stored as fat or flushed by the kidneys.

 

[slipper]

Cheers Mike, on a few occasions I have eaten more carbs I get a spike from say 5 to 11, and then a dramatic drop at 2 hours to perhaps 4+ . I did ask about that a while back, so have reduced the carbs more now.

A typical example is breaded fish fingers, say 3, with a dozen oven chips, took me from 4.8pre, to 10.5 at 1 hr and 5.4 at 2 hrs, not a good meal anyway, but thought the fish may offset things more.

I would like to eat more carbs though as I think my level is too low at probably 50g for a typical day.

However, I am really pleased to have got my fasting readings down to the low 5,s.


re the time of day, I can only tolerate 1 slice of Bergen with 1 egg in the morning. Lunch time onwards is slightly better.

 

[Mark T]

It's quite common to not be able to tolerate carbs in the morning - this is one of the reasons that my breakfast is often yoghurt and nuts (almonds or walnuts typically).

But once I get to lunchtime I can usually eat meals that are much higher in carbs.