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Some silly questions for you

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lucy123

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All

Really sorry I know I should know the answer to the following 2 questions but I honestly don't and they are now keeping me await at night, particularly the second one - so any answers/advice would be greatly appreciated.


1) Is it worse to eat sugar or carbs bs wise? I find I am able to get away with eating some sugary things bs wise more than carbs? (I know I should know the answer!)


2) I am having an ongoing battle with weight which I have been told is due to insulin floods by the consultant (at least I think that is what he said). I saw the consutant as I was having hypos (and shouldn't be but apparently I am special). I have been put on Metformin 2 x 500mg twice daily, 2 x acarbose 3 times daily and two frusemide daily. I have also been put on a low gi and 1300 calories a day diet.

I have stuck to the diet rigidly many times but then I seem to get the insulin flood where i am absolutely ravenous and cannot stop eating no matter how hard I try. It is a craving like no other! In space of a week I can put 7-14lbs on despite trying to be good.

e,g I recently lost 16lbs in 4 weeks and felt fabulous but now am totally down in the dumps as the flood happened again and within a week put nearly a stone on (which isn't natural I know!). So despite being really good and motivated I keep ending up back at square one.

I discussed this with the consultant last time who added acarbose to my metformin. He wants me on byetta but my hba1c result is too good and he can't get the pct to approve it.

Any ideas what is really going on (its nothing to do with getting bored and giving up after a few weeks) and any ideas what i can do to stop it? Any tips on what to do when I see the consultant next?

I am trying to be really positive but am really losing the will and find depression is starting to set in!

Sorry for the long post but i guess I am crying out for help in understanding this.:confused:
 
Hi Lucy, I'm afraid I don't have any answers as not sure how much is the same for T1 and 2, but wanted to wish you luck and say hang in there. Sometimes it all seems too much and you can't make sense of it all, but with people's replies, it will all become clear and you'll feel much more positive about it.

Sending diabetic hugs 🙂
 
For the first question I suppose it differs in everyone, but some carbs can be absorbed much quicker into the blood stream than the items you may class as sugary as they may be slowed by other ingredients like fats etc..........

so you may find that some items that most may think are worse are actually fine [less severe] with regards to the effect on blood glucose....
 
Not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree or not hear, sugars are divided into things like sucrose, dextrose fructose (fruit sugars). Sucrose is the stuff people put in tea and coffee and I am told it has the least effect on our systems, although I am not about to experiment and find out. The more refined something is the easier it is for our systems to absorb, so the quicker and higher the effect. Treacle for example is abosrbed more quickly than sugar.

Sorry I can't be of much more help
 
Hi Lucy,

I would suspect that you feel slightly depressed because despite your hard work you still feel a little out of control. I would guess that it would be a bit annoying if you work hard to do something and it is completely undone by something out of your control.

Does the consultant have any ideas about what causes the insulin flood? I would guess that you have to eat when you have a flood because otherwise you would hypo.

Oh (1) technically most ?sugar? is a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose stuck together. Since fructose is absorbed into glucose much slower this essentially gives sugar a lower GI then something that is entirely glucose (bread). So it depends what type of carbs you are comparing it with. I don?t know how lactose absorption compares.
 
Mark T said:
Does the consultant have any ideas about what causes the insulin flood? I would guess that you have to eat when you have a flood because otherwise you would hypo.
Click to expand...

All I know is on the insulin test it showed i was producing 10 to 15 times more insulin than I should be - and i think he said it was because of insulin resistance - does that make sense. He was hoping the tablets would help. They seem to have reduced the number of hypos I am having but the cravings I get when the flood happens are unbelievable - nothing seems to take the hunger away and my mood is unbearable!

Thank you to everyone for all your responses too - re 1) does this mean if I am naughty I am better off having chocolate rather than a slice of bread, or pasta?
 
if you are being naughty the carbs in the chocolate will absorb moe slowly because of the fat content, but we are all different and we are affected in different ways.
 
Producing lots of insulin is related to insulin resistance from what I have read. However, I think you are perhaps a bit more extreme then most. In the examples I?ve read most are kicking out of perhaps 2 or 3 times the normal amount of insulin. You have lost lots of weight as well and that is supposed to help reduce insulin resistance.

I?m not sure if I should suggest anything, because I would imagine that it would get quite dangerous if you hypo?d due to all that circulating insulin. So I?d hate to send you somewhere dangerous for you.

If it was me I?d be tempted to go do some exercise with a small high GI snack to give the insulin something to work against.
If you eat something carby, my understanding is that the insulin will grab the glucose and store it as fat if your muscles don?t need it (thus why you put on weight). But if you are exercising hopefully it should get redirected to the muscles instead.

But some people claim that eating something high protein can help stop the hunger feeling. I?m not sure if the insulin would have any thing to work against there.
 
That sort of makes sense Mark. I must admit when I have the flood the last thing I feel like doing is exercising which is very unusual for me, whereas it is perhaps the one thing I should be doing. The only problem is that previously this seemed to cause hypos. I wonder if I have a trade off going on - either hypo or put weight on - this diabetes really stinks!

I have sent an email to the consultant just so he is forearmed for my appt. He is normally very good and does respond so I will wait and see what he suggests.

Thanks again for the great advice.
 
Just to add to what you've said Lucy. The trade off is there for all us really. As a T1, I can get good control by overdosing my insulin and 'trickle feeding' carbs (eg. jelly babies) as soon as I feel hypo. It would keep me in the low 4s or 5s but I'd soon put on weight.

I used to overtreat hypos and had terrible trouble resisting eating when I was low, but with sarah's help I managed it and will now only have what's appropriate. It's just a matter of willpower but, as said, that's one you need to try and tackle yourself I'm afraid.

FOr you it's more complicated. Has the consultant said whether your hypos are actually dangerous to you ? If you're going down into the mid 3s, then I would suggest it's not going to physically do you harm as long as your liver is able to bring you back up to normal range if you sit still.

The cravings are something obviously only you can try to control. If you want to avoid putting weight on, you'll need to find something low calorie, unlike most sweet things, so your brain is satisfied and your body doesn't suffer so much long term.

Best of luck with the consultant. The more you know, the more you can control it.🙂

Rob
 
Sorry you are having so much trouble Lucy. I think that because your condition is so unusual, the only person who can really help is the consultant. Could you call his secretary and explain how you are special and have these problems and really need some help - and see if he can call and talk to you.

Has the consultant said what triggers these floods as it does not happen all the time, or advised how you can figure out if there is a trigger. When you see him see if he knows of anyone with a similar condition who you can swap notes with.

{{{{Lucy}}}}
 
Hi Lucy, sorry things have reversed a bit for you. :(

All I can add is that I'll lay odds that some of that stone you put on will come off pretty quickly once you're back on track for a bit.

Keep drawing a line under any gains you may have and just take it from where you are. Eventually you will get where you want (especially if your consultant can help with the insulin surges!).

Andy {hug} 🙂
 
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