When can u expect blood sugar normalize

newbies
(Terry Lawson) #1

Hello I’m new here, not new to low carb (but keto is a bit diff). I have been a type 2 diabetic for maybe 8 years diagnosed. And take metformin, glipizide, and januvia. My sugars stay high unless I’m low carbing it. Last a1c was 6.4 down from 7.4 3 months earlier.
So I know it works but mu question is why I still have a 160-200 fasting blood sugar in the am? I haven’t had over 10-15 gm of carbs for 4 days!
It’s just frustrating, my doctor tells me to not sweat it he just looks at the a1c!
But I know what it’s doing to my body while its high!

Sorry for such a long post!

(Barbara Greenwood) #2

Hi Bigdog, welcome.

Let me guess… if you test before lunch or dinner, your level is lower, yes? If so, you are experiencing Dawn Phenomenon, which is very common among T2’s. Due to loads of hormone stuff which is to do with getting ready to wake up and take on the day, your liver dumps glucose into your blood. Actually, this always happens, but in people with T2 it really goes overboard.

I have recently (3 days ago) started using the Freestyle Libre, which is a flash glucose monitoring system. I have a patch stuck on my arm, with a little filament sticking just under my skin. It measures glucose in interstitial fluid, which tracks blood glucose pretty well. It records it every 15 minutes, I scan it with a little reader device and then I can see exactly what has been going on.

I’ve discovered that my BG is at a normal level right through the night, starts creeping up about 5am and rises inexorably till about 10am, after which it decreases slightly. And when the meals I eat are low carb, it barely rises at all after eating. However, the rise in the morning is so steep that, depending what time I tested my blood, it would be either a good or a bad day.

So, your doctor has a point in that your A1C averages out what’s going on across the day as a whole. But it is still important to get those morning readings down, because they do contribute to damage at the levels you mentioned.

I would say give it more time - stick with the very low carb, and you will see your morning readings improve. But also - there are various things people suggest to blunt Dawn Phenomenon. Some swear by a protein snack before bed, or a fatty snack, or a small breakfast… but what works for one apparently doesn’t work for all.

I’ve just set out on a programme of quantifying my Dawn Phenomenon when I try different food/drink options, both in the evening and at bedtime. Over time, I’ll be able to track down what works for me - and the Libre will help a lot with that because I don’t have to guess when is the best time to test, I get a pretty good picture each day of how much my BG has risen over the morning.

#3

As @Barbara_Greenwood says, Dawn Phenomenon (DP) is probably why your fasting glucose is high.

As I mentioned in another thread, I’m a recovered T2DM that had it pretty bad initially until I realized that I had a disease of blood glucose that was too high and it made no sense whatsoever to eat foods that turn into blood glucose, ever.

The problem was that I struggled for years with the cognitive dissonance from what I had heard about carbs=good and fat=bad, but I remained aware that I have a disease of blood sugar regulation and if I ate something that raised it, it was bad.

Finally, I gave in to keto and as far as I’m concerned, carbs are poison unless they come from non-starchy vegetables.

(Cathy Schroder) #4

I found that eating a ketogenic diet really helped to lower and stabilise my glucose levels, cutting down on dairy helped lower them even more, intermittent fasting took things to a whole new level. It was only the fasting that brought low glucose readings first thing in the morning. Keep at it and keep experimenting with what works best for you - it is possible to lower morning readings.

#5

At 4 days, your body is calling all available resources to increase your glucose level. Once your body gets better at producing and utilizing ketones, the glucose will decrease.
I hope you are working closely with your doctor in monitoring the medications during this transition.

(Terri) #6

Like most folks with T2D, I have struggled with high BG numbers in the morning. Months of Ketogenic eating, intermittent fasting most days, and an extended fat monthly all seem to be helping (brought my HbA1c down from 6.0 last summer to 5.3 a month ago). I also tried eating some protein first thing in the morning.

My hope is that your doing Keto will help regulate your insulin and BG better and you will see these morning numbers decrease.

(Terry Lawson) #7

Thanks everyone,
I appriciate all the help! I do hope this is the permanent fix. I feel like a roller coaster! Even with doing low carb I still have high numbers! Until just recently I learned about the process that turns excess protein to carbohydrates in your system? I have been just cramming more and more protein in without the results I was after!
Now on to the fun time of convincing my wife that this is good for me! She knows why I do it but it goes against her long standing notion from nursing school!
Terry

(I want abs... olutely all the bacon) #8

[quote=“Terri, post:6, topic:7865”]
I also tried eating some protein first thing in the morning.
[/quote] I haven’t read this one @Terri, or I read it and forgot :blush::wink:. Do you have a link to the strategy of eating protein in the morning to manage BG. This is intriguing. What type/amount of protein did/do you eat?

(Terri) #9

It came from a suggestion from @erdoke. The science escapes me, but has to do with inhibiting lipolysis.

I added an egg to my BPC, then ate a protein breakfast (not early but earlier than what my eating window had been while doing IF).

(I want abs... olutely all the bacon) #10

This is sounding familiar, I may have saved the string in FB. If I’m recalling the correct one, it included discussion on whether the egg should be whole or just the yolk. I’ll try to find it.

(Luanne ) #11

The last time my blood glucose was measured I was at 162. I just tested it a couple of days ago and I am down to 117!
This is after 6 weeks of Keto :slight_smile: I am so happy and excited to see how much more it lowers as I continue with this Keto lifestyle.

I encourage you to be patient and keep going! Keep Calm and Keto On!

(Mark Ioffe) #12

Terri, what is your average fasting glucose level lately?