Why is my blood sugar not going down?

C

Champlanet

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi all,

I’ve been tracking my blood sugar daily & have had the following results:

Monday: 9.5
Tuesday: 9.2
Wednesday: 8.9
Today: 9.1

My diet has been excellent, I have cut out all processed sugar & have done much more exercise than usual with yesterday doing almost 10k steps

The results are starting to get me down! ‍↕️

Why has my blood sugar not come down? Any help what I should do?
 
It's not just sugar, its all carbs. What do you eat in a day? Any medication?
 
What time of day did you take those results @Champlanet ? I see from your previous posts you were trying to lose weight - how’s that going? What was your last HbA1C?

As said above, it’s all carbs you need to watch, both sweet and savoury, ie bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.
 
I am failing miserably, please tell me what should I do to start getting things down?

I am taking 0.75mg of Saxenda
 
Champlanet said:
I am failing miserably, please tell me what should I do to start getting things down?

I am taking 0.75mg of Saxenda
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I too am overweight and struggle getting blood sugars down
Never had Saxenda but when weight is increased your liver works differently .
I am now told to come of Empagliflozin and have done so . My blood sugar readings are not changed. So what that was doing i have no idea.
I will be going on a low cal diet.
I shall see. Low carb works whilst you lose but i need to be able to eat even less to keep it down.
If you have not tried Low carb it is amazing to start.
 
Champlanet said:
I am failing miserably, please tell me what should I do to start getting things down?
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Please let us know what you are eating and drinking on a typical day.
That will let us help you make sure there is nothing in your diet that might cause a problem.
Nayshiftin said:
Low carb works whilst you lose but i need to be able to eat even less to keep it down.
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Not in my case. I am following the principles in this article to keep my weight down: What should we eat?.

The 'Weight Loss' section explains why time between meals is so important. It allows time to burn fat before it accumulates again.

I find intermittent fasting helps too, like the late Michael Mosley's 5:2 method.
 
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Hi @Champlanet
Sorry you are struggling with your diabetes.
It's great that you have started to make some changes to your diet and that you are monitoring your progress.

Unfortunately, different foods affect each of us differently so it is important to work out which foods are causing you most issues.
The problem with type 2 diabetes is that your body is not able to manage glucose. All foods containing carbohydrates including bread (whether white, brown, wholemeal, sourdough, rye, ..), rice, pasta, cereal will be broken down to glucose. This does not mean you need to cut out all of these; you need to find out what your body can tolerate.
The usual way this is done is by testing your BG before eating and 2 hours later. If your BG has risen more than 3mmol/l in that time, this indicates that your body is struggling with something you ate. If it has risen less, then the food is fine for you.
There are some things which affect many people which is why other members will ask what you are eating.

Diabetes has a huge learning curve so do not beat yourself up that your BG is not coming down yet. You have started the right way but, sadly, it is a marathon not a sprint.
 
Medication can only do so much so diet plays a big part in enabling your body to reduce blood glucose.
Some before and 2 hour post meal testing would help you identify and meals that are too high in carbohydrates for your body to tolerate if the increase is more than 2-3mmol/l. You can then look to cutting out the high carb component or reduce your portion.
I think that medication acts as an appetite suppressant but if you are eating less but they are still high carb foods then your blood glucose may remain higher than you want.
 
Champlanet said:
I am failing miserably, please tell me what should I do to start getting things down?
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Please don’t think that @Champlanet

Or even say it to yourself in jest. You have been working really hard, and making careful choices based on the information / understanding you currently have. You are also curious, investigatiing, measuring, and re-evaluating your approach based on the data collected. That is a guaranteed route to success.

Diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint. And it can also be painfully individualistic, fickle and contrary. So you’ll gradually build up expertise and experience of what your particular diabetes and metabolism needs.

As Arthur Ashe once said, “to achieve greatness - start where you are, use what you have, do what you can”

Keep going!
 
It's been a year but I now find low carb quite easy! Try not to think of it as a diet but a new and sustainable way of eating. There are so many alternatives out there, from celeriac mash/ chip( anything that used to be potato) to puddings that are safe. With low carb you need to select full fat alternatives as our bodies need something to work with, also low fat tends to be higher in sugar to hide the taste! A typical meal for me is cauliflower cheese, green veg and perhaps chicken dipped in a parmesan cheese and herb mix. It takes a little effort but works!
 
@Champlanet, this is spot on:
everydayupsanddowns said:
Please don’t think that @Champlanet

Or even say it to yourself in jest. You have been working really hard, and making careful choices based on the information / understanding you currently have. You are also curious, investigatiing, measuring, and re-evaluating your approach based on the data collected. That is a guaranteed route to success.

Diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint. And it can also be painfully individualistic, fickle and contrary. So you’ll gradually build up expertise and experience of what your particular diabetes and metabolism needs.

As Arthur Ashe once said, “to achieve greatness - start where you are, use what you have, do what you can”

Keep going!
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Have you tried the Newcastle Diet to get your blood sugar down? Soup and Shakes, or a real food equivalent, will bring your down to a normal in 7 days if you are a 'responder'.

I think you could phase in a real food diet, such as Harcombe or Freshwell (as above), Unwin or a variation your own excellent diet after 2-4 weeks.

Alternatively, ask your GP if you are eligible for the NHS Pathway to Remission programme (based on Newcastle).

Links:
- Newcastle Diet leaflet:
- Newcastle Study presentation: Roy Taylor, Achieving T2D remission (May 2023)
- Dr David Unwin diet sheet
- Zoe Harcombe: handy table and article What should we eat?.

How do the foods you eat compare with those in Zoe Harcombe's handy table?

Do let us know what you think !!!
 
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kathy s said:
It's been a year but I now find low carb quite easy! Try not to think of it as a diet but a new and sustainable way of eating. There are so many alternatives out there, from celeriac mash/ chip( anything that used to be potato) to puddings that are safe. With low carb you need to select full fat alternatives as our bodies need something to work with, also low fat tends to be higher in sugar to hide the taste! A typical meal for me is cauliflower cheese, green veg and perhaps chicken dipped in a parmesan cheese and herb mix. It takes a little effort but works!
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@kathy s, great comments and so potentially supportive for those coming in new to this D malarkey. For Paul, @Busdriver60 , low carb may have its challenges and seem daunting - but this post confirms it can be done and for you, Paul, might be preferable to MDI.
 
kathy s said:
It's been a year but I now find low carb quite easy! Try not to think of it as a diet but a new and sustainable way of eating. There are so many alternatives out there, from celeriac mash/ chip( anything that used to be potato) to puddings that are safe. With low carb you need to select full fat alternatives as our bodies need something to work with, also low fat tends to be higher in sugar to hide the taste! A typical meal for me is cauliflower cheese, green veg and perhaps chicken dipped in a parmesan cheese and herb mix. It takes a little effort but works!
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Hi kathy s,
That sounds delicious and I would definitely consider that too. I realise that I should venture out into other possibilities to keep myself as to eat healthily and now need to overcome my fear of needles when taking insulin injections before mealtimes. Im going to email my care nurse very soon, to inform her of my decision. I'm sure she would be very pleased!
Thank you so much for sharing this, I became a type 3c diabetic only 8 weeks ago and now realize how important to manage the condition properly. I'm still learning and learning the hard way from my mistakes.
 
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