Blood Sugar Instability after 1 month in ketosis?

#1

I’m 35/f, 5’10’’, 142. I did strict keto for 1 month to lose a few pounds. I didn’t have a history of blood sugar issues and my normal fasting blood sugar, before keto, was around 85.
While in ketosis, I checked my blood sugar a couple of times. It was always fine. 2 days ago was my last day on keto so I ate a reasonable, but non keto dinner. An hour or so after dinner, I checked my blood sugar out of curiosity and it was 72 which is lower than I’ve ever seen it keto, fasting, or otherwise, and definitely not after a meal. I continued to test it yesterday, starting with a fasting blood sugar of 100. It was higher than usual all day, but behaving correctly (rising a little after meals, then leveling out, but never as low as my normal levels.)

Today I woke up and checked my fasting BS and it’s 105, which technically puts me in the prediabetes range. Is this just because I am transitioning back to carbs and it’ll normalize soon or should I be worried? Has this happened to anyone else? I can’t really find anything about it when googleing.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #2

It sounds like your body is trying to adjust again to a carb diet. If you really want to keep eating carbs then do it, but for many people keto isn’t just something to do for a month or two. Many switch to it for life, and some do up the carbs a bit, but don’t go back to full carb SAD.

If you are worried or concerned in anyway consult your doctor. Otherwise, take a week or so to monitor your blood levels and see what they do. It might be useful to have the data anyway when you talk to your doctor.

(Susan) #3

Why are you doing this? You will gain back all your weight and lose all the amazing benefits of Keto… carbs are EVIL!

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

Can you clarify…did you get this number in a lab result from the doctor or were you regularly checking fasting BG at home before, during and after eating a keto diet for a month?

#5

That’s not true and this isn’t a cult, stop.

#6

I was checking at home periodically. It looks like I found the answer. It’s physiological insulin resistance that come people on keto develop. It should clear up in about a week. My fasting was down to 97 this morning, so that’s a good sign!

#7

I never meant to do keto permanently. I don’t have any issues with moderate carbs and I work out/lift a lot and my workouts suffer on keto. It was great to cut for a month, though.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #8

Thanks for the info. Glad they’re getting back to a good place.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Had you persisted until your muscles had reached full fat-adaptation, you would have found your performance returning to, or even exceeding, its previous levels. But fat-adaptation takes six to eight weeks (even longer, for some people), and I can understand not wanting to wait. After all, enhanced performance in the long term is a nebulous concept when one is confronted with any loss of performance in the moment, however temporary.

In any case, it is endurance athletes who most benefit from keto, because a well-formulated ketogenic diet makes them bonk-proof. Explosive performance requires glucose, and an athlete must be keto-adapted for some time before his or her glycogen stores return to pre-keto levels. They will eventually do so, of course, but most athletes are unwilling to wait that long, no matter how great the eventual benefits.

(Bob M) #10

And you likely would have had even higher morning blood glucose. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for athletes on super low carb diets.