Blood Glucose in the 130's

(Cale) #1

Hello, I have been doing keto for a while with great success. My female friend has decided she is going to try it to help with her overall health and to lose some weight.
Subject:
Female
32
Max 15-25lbs overweight
Non-diabetic
Standard American diet, some veggies, some dairy, some fried/fast food.

Okay, so she didn’t want to buy a Ketone blood meter because they are expensive. Which I don’t blame here. So I told her to get a blood glucose meter, because for me, my glucose and Ketone levels are very very closely correlated and it’s a good start to measure progress. So to start, her Blood glucose levels were normal, non diabetic fasting levels (90’s).

After about her 3rd day of starting Keto, her fasting blood sugar has sky rocketed into the 130’s. She is just over a week in now, and has not had a blood glucose reading less than 130 since about day 3.

I have been following her diet, and that is NOT the problem. She is not eating too many carbs, or protein.

SO, only thing I can come up with is:
Body is adjusting and it will hopefully eventually go down?
Does anyone have some science of what’s happening?

Is her body making less insulin now so her blood glucose is up from the protein and few carbs she is eating?
Body going into sugar withdrawals so it’s dumping glucose from liver and muscles into blood? But if that’s the case why hasn’t it gone back down after this long of accurate keto eating?

She is worried this giving her diabetes because she has never had readings this high, but I’ve assured her that is not the case, the complete opposite.

How long before here glucose drops back down?

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks

(bulkbiker) #2

Did she measure her blood sugars before starting keto?

Also I’m not convinced by your link between blood sugar and ketones… do you have parallel figures to compare?

(Cale) #3

She has at random several times a year, and always below 100 fasting glucose. And she did the first few days starting keto, the 1st 2-3 were below 100, then it went up to 130’s and has yet to come back down.

I just have my own personal readings I get when testing my glucose and ketones. For me if my glucose is above 90, my ketones are very low. And once I see my glucose start to drop below 90 and into the 70’s my ketones go way up. Not sure if that’s what everyone else sees, or just me.

(Bob M) #4

I can have high (for me, >1.0) or low ketones with blood sugar around 100 (mine is always near or over 100 in the mornings). I have over 1,400 samples, and if there is a relationship between blood sugar and ketones, it’s a difficult one to find, other than fasting multiple days will drive down blood sugar and drive up ketones.

I think her blood sugar will come down. When is she taking it? Only in the mornings?

(Bill Pletke) #5

I know this has been mentioned many times but BG may be very high due to “Dawn Phenomenon”. I get up at 5:00 AM and my BG is always high 115+. 2 hours later it drops to 100 or less. Just my personal experience YMMV.

(Marilyn) #6

Same here.

(Cale) #7

Okay, thanks. So obviously it varies person to person on their baseline blood glucose when in ketosis.
But yes, she has been taking it first thing in the morning, and again before she breaks her fast (approximately 3-4 hrs after she has woken up).
I’m trying to get her to take it an hour post meal, to see if there are any changes. But usually she is at work, and has yet to get a reading for that.

(Bob M) #8

Get her to take it at night. Here’s two weeks of my blood sugar:

Snapshot%201-11-17%20to%2019-11-17
Snapshot 1-11-17 to 19-11-17.JPG959×622 57.5 KB

This pattern where my blood sugar goes up from midnight until about noon and then goes down all day until about midnight is the same for me. So, my waking blood sugar will be at/over 100, and it will go UP from there until noon, then go down, and often my lowest readings are right before I eat dinner or before bed. (To get to US units, multiply by 18, so 4.8=86.4.) And it’s like this even if I’m fasting, but the whole line drops down (eg, waking blood sugar could hit 90 or 80 or even lower, depending on the number of days of fasting).

#9

First question. Are y’all using the same glucose meter and set of strips? If not, have you tested your blood on her meter with your’s and her’s strips?

I’d say you need to work this problem from the testing procedures first. Use same meter, same batch of strips, then switch her tests to your meter, etc. it could just be a faulty meter or strip batch.

Change up testing times. I test late morning and before bedtime which is at least 3 hours after last bite of food.

Also, grill that gal, she just might be cheating on you — food wise that is. Lol.

(Cale) #10

Yeah she has checked it at different times. It even was as high as 140 today, about 6 hrs postprandial, and after work… 7pm. I’ve been trying to get her to test on her boyfriend, as we are 2 hrs away from each other, to rule out faulty meter and or contaminated strips. Yet to do that, maybe he’s afraid of needles/finger stick. I’ll update as I get more readings and more data.

I really hope it starts to go down, because she is getting worried that it is high, because it has never been high on here before. Like I said, non diabetic, and is only 32, not really over weight, just could lose 15lbs to be “skinny/more fit”

Oh, and even if she was cheating on her meals, her fasting blood sugar, usually 9-12 hrs, should be low. That leads me to believe she isn’t cheating or it’d probably go down, as her body starts releasing more insulin.

#11

She’s afraid of needle sticks? How is she testing here blood glucose now?

(Cale) #12

No, I was just saying maybe her BF is afraid of needle sticks, because I’ve told her to test his blood to rule out faulty meter or contaminated strips. And she hasn’t.

#13

Well … and she is two hours away? And you know for sure what she eats? Just how close of a friend is she?

Sounds like y’all need to talk and perhaps start all over with keto and stricter testing regimen.

(Cale) #14

Yes, I know every meal she has. Cheating and what she is eating is not the issue, unless 20 carbs a day are too many for her. And even then, fasting glucose should not be 130. I don’t know how we can test any more strict. Two fasting test everyday. One in the morning, one immediately before she breaks her fast. Test postprandial would be beneficial though. SO, unless faulty meter. Diet and testing regiment is not the issue.

Which leads me to believe it’s her body adjusting. Just wanted some science of what was happening and when to expect to see it go back down. But all I seem to be getting from you is that you think she is cheating and not doing keto correctly. She would strait up tell me if she was cheating, and again that would not cause fasting glucose to suddenly go up to the 130’s.

I am also closely monitoring her protein intake, fat intake, and total calories. If it doesn’t go down soon I am going to mail her my Ketone meter to get info on if Ketones are going up.

(Omar) #15

I have three meters

the difference can go up to 20 units

If it is not the meter and she is not cheating I have not come across any science that associate increased BG with keto.

bg should come down almost as soon as you cut carbs.

(Cale) #16

Yeah, I really need to get her to test someone else’s blood with that meter to see if it’s off.

#17

Thank you. Finally established what I needed to hear. You trust her and trust what she tells you. And you are concerned.

It is hard enough for us to control our own personal habits and to monitor them accurately. Doing so with someone else is doubly hard.

Your options and paths are many. Keep researching this forum and you will find the clues, I’m sure.

Also, has she tried to return to her previous eating habits and continue to monitor her BG? If she still has high readings even with eating normally then she might have something else going on.

She really needs to somehow test her BG meter and strips with a known test subject.

Does she drink alcohol at all? Is she on prescription meds?

#18

Do a search for “glucose sparing” on this forum and you will find some related issues.

Other factors: Has she started an intense exercise regimen? Is she having sleep problems? Has stress accelerated since she began keto? Is she pregnant? (Sorry that is a factor for some women.)

One thing is for sure, there is an explanation out there somewhere. Your concern and curiosity will compel you to learn it.

(Cale) #19

I actually did come across glucose sparing in my research. But with such high readings, so soon into starting her keto diet I wasn’t sure if that was it. Unless as Omar said, the meter is high by 20 points.
However, stress is an issue with her job and schooling. I also considered that to as I read that cortisol can increase blood glucose, but most people only report minimal increases. She actually said she has been sleeping better since starting to eat this way. And it may be the combination of stress, glucose sparing, and who knows what else.
As busy as she is, little to no exercise. Another thing I have attempted to get her to do. I am curious if a quick exercise would burn up some of the glucose and lower her blood sugar if even temporarily.

#20

Have you read The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung?

If not. Get your hands on it and read it cover to cover. Great read. Informative as to how our body works and why eating low carb is smart. Amazon has it for about $15.