Treating Diabetes with a Low-Carb diet

[Geila]

I'm sad today. I had my fourth day of high glucose readings in a row - in the 140's with each day going higher, today was 148. This is with eating low carb and a low dose of metformin and glipizide. My bedtime readings are good, but my fasting won't go down. My headaches have been horrendous because my eyesight is still blurred and I can't get glasses because the blurriness changes. I had an exam last week and got some off-the shelf glasses that seemed to help for a bit and then the headaches came back with a vengeance. I went back yesterday and my eyesight was completely different from a week ago. So I picked up some new glasses but even with those I get very bad headaches.

I talked to the dr and she said that we might need to increase metformin, basically doubling the dose because that's what will take care of the early morning glucose. The problem is that since I have some signs of liver and kidney damage, that is a concern as metformin affects the liver. I'm really sad that I have not been able to bring my numbers down with diet alone. I feel like a failure. I know that's not the case, and I should not be so hard on myself, but it's hard.

I don't know what is more stressful, worrying about possible organ damage because of my high readings, or worrying about possible organ damage from increasing the meds. It sucks.

[rosarugosa]

I'm sorry Gelia. That does suck.

[Tybee]

I'm so sorry, Geila. What I tell myself with this kind of situation (which I get into with managing my asthma) is how much worse it might have been if I were NOT working on the diet or other lifestyle changes.

If you stave off the meds for a bit or can get by with lower for a bit, that is a win, and you are a success, not a failure.

[SteveinMN]

If you stave off the meds for a bit or can get by with lower for a bit, that is a win, and you are a success, not a failure.

This is key. Even if low-carb hasn't been enough to bring your blood glucose down to acceptable levels, it still is lowering the dosage you need and holding off on the severe complications of the illness. Keep fighting the good fight! It's tough now while you're figuring out what works and what doesn't, but you are winning.

Don't forget that the morning fasting number typically is the last one to come down. Has your research or your doctor talked at all about modifying what you eat before you sleep? It's possible that if you ate a little more (or more protein or more fat) before you slept, your blood glucose might not dip as far and then overcompensate (that's just one mechanism for what may be happening). Don't give up on diet having a substantial effect on managing your diabetes.

[Geila]

Thanks guys. And Steve - I've got to hand it to you for being able to stay low-carb for as long as you have. I've been having a hard time since my appetite came back. And of course the desire to stress eat has been strong as well. Add to that the hormonal fluctuations. Uggh. And it makes me mad that I can't eat so many of the usual low-carb snacks because of my food allergies. Woe is me. Oh, Steve - I have tried doing some snacks before bed and it has not made much difference in my morning numbers. I have to admit that right now I'm pretty tired of having to be so darned careful with everything I eat and not seeing much results for it.

We've decided to increase my metformin to 1000 mg per day (which I found out is still a low dose, I'm on 500 mg right now and that is a starting min dose) and drop the glipizide. This will hopefully get my numbers down to a normal range, my vision can decide where it's going to be, and I can get some glasses. The issues with my vision are the most stressful right now. I'm pretty much housebound. Dh has to take time off to take me to dr appointments and even then I come home with a screaming headache. I'm going through tylenol like it's candy (and that's not good for the liver either). Not sure how long it takes for metformin to kick in. Hopefully it's fast. We're going to monitor my liver and kidneys to make sure that the increase in metformin doesn't do some damage there.

[JaneV2.0]

Geila, are you taking any other medications (like statins) that may be toxic to your kidneys? Your liver should heal once your carb load goes down--fatty liver usually reverses on LCHF diets.

[Geila]

The only other med I'm taking is for high blood pressure. Lisinopril (Prinivil/Zestril) - 10 mg = once a day

My blood pressure was getting much better but on Weds it was high again, I suspect due to stress.

[SteveinMN]

Geila, metformin works pretty fast; you should start seeing results in less than a week.

As for being able to stay low-carb, I was kind of blessed with not having a sweet tooth from birth. I also had some years between being told I had a high A1c and actually taking the news seriously to start eating lower-carb on my own. If I was eating out with friends, I ordered a side salad with my pizza so I didn't eat so many slices, or I'd eat the burger and just pick at the fries (most of which aren't all that memorable). Kind of became a habit, I guess, so when I decided to go really low-carb, it was easier for me than it is for many. Ever see those systems they use on aircraft carriers to slow down landing planes? For some people, going low-carb is ... well, like that. It's not easy for them.

[Geila]

I know the stress is making low-carb even more difficult than it would normally be. And stress causes an increase in blood sugar. I really want to be on the other side of this but I know that won't happen for a few more weeks. Patience is not one of my virtues either. I have to find a middle ground to relieve some of my stress until things even out. It doesn't seem that the process is this difficult for most people. It could be because I was already highly stressed from treating my bacterial infection for the first two weeks of this (I started all the meds the same day - 7 of them). I just thought that things would be letting up by now and I feel just as stressed if not more.

p.s. I'm glad to hear that metformin works quickly. I don't know if I can keep my carbs low right now though. I'm kind of at the cracking point.

[JaneV2.0]

Adaptation is easier for some people than for others.

Your body is probably reeling from the infection, dietary changes, antibiotics, new meds, stress...

Unless you try to keep some kind of rein on your carb intake, the process will only take longer.

Make sure you are eating adequate amounts of naturally-occurring fat; that should help with your hunger.

And watch LCHF videos on YouTube. Dr. Stephen Phinney is good, but there are lots of others. I recommended The Magic Pill in another thread. It's available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.