[carbo]

Earlier this year my doctor did a random blood test and found my fasting levels were a bit high. I'm so glad he is a great Doc. or I probably would still not know. Well long story short after a 3 hr test he determined that I was Pre Diabetic.

Needless to say I was devistated. I went on a "fear diet" after that. I read everything on the net I could find. I quit the carbs, quit soda and candy, quit rice and pretty much anything white. Pretty much ate tuna,salad's, whole grain bread, eggs,and peanut butter and whole wheat crackers, etc,etc. For a while I was random testing and keeping a diary of what happens when I eat certain foods, testing before and 1 hr after and 2 hrs after.

After eating most of the time I was in the 130's to 160's an hr after eating usualy leveling out to around 90 to 120 after 2 hrs. I ate two big slices of pizza once during this time and tested at 199. That was scary. Aside from that my "fear diet" helped me drop 30 pounds and my A1c was in the 5% range.I currently weigh 165. I was starting to get the hang of it, so I thought. (I did find out later I was actually doing an Atkins diet with out even realizing it)

The last few weeks everything has seemed to change. I'm eating the same things and even cheating every now and then and to my surprise my sugar level has not went above 120. even after eating a huge bowl of chicken and white dumplings it was only 96!!

I random tested the other night 2 hrs after a big meal of cubed steak and two spoon fulls of rice and it was 66!!! I was stunned..

I drank a bear last night and again i tested an hr later and it was 67.
I'm seeing readings of around 80-90 now after eating the same things that would put me over 140+.

I thought I was crashing at first because I did that once in the beginning. (ate irresponsibly and went to 160 and crashed an hour later to 70) . But this does not seem to be the case now. I feel like Ive reversed from hyper to hypo some how..

Whats going on and what could I be doing wrong? When I hit 67 last night I ate two Twizzlers drank a Capri Sun and ate a chocolate chip cookie to bring my sugar back up and 45 -20 min after all of that I was only 96??

I'm am thoroughly confused now. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Adjitater]

It is called reactive hypoglycimia. Try eating samaller meals and more often it will help eliminate them.

 

[carbo]

Thanks for the reply.I cant help but think this is some kind of transitional point for me and maybe a sign that im going to go full blown diabetic soon.

Its depressing after thinking I had a handle on the concept of eating low carbs and battling high numbers and now having to shift gears and keep my numbers from going low. Does this mean im doing everything right or is it a sign of progression of diabetes?

 

[jwags]

Pre diabetes is a strange term. Being pre D is part of being D. If everything was working normal your bgs would rarely spike. Many of us in the beginning suffer from reactive hypos. Many times when you have been carb overloading for a long time, any change in diet will lower bgs for awhile. I have been at this for 4+ years. I have had to change diet many times. I do low carb, but find I do best when I totally eliminate wheat and anything made from wheat including cereal, bread, pasta, wheat crackers, etc. My goal is to keep my bgs normal 90% of the day. Mornings are the hardest for me.

 

[carbo]

Yeah my Doc trys to tell me to remember that I'm not Diabetic yet.. My response is so what!! I still have to live by the meter for life now so I might as well be.

I might not be spiking to 230 or bottoming out at 30 yet and I may not be using insulin but the fact remains that I cant just go to my local pizza joint and eat pie and drink beer.

Has anyone ever been diagnosed with Pre Diabetes and their symptoms just went away like it never happened? My Doc. says that I only have a 30% chance of becoming Pre D in 5 years. Well Ive come to the reality that I have a 100% chance of becoming diabetic its just a question of how long I can hold the nasty symptoms at bay.

Long live the beta cell!

Thanks for your reply..

 

[Wink]

I hesitate to even say this because I'm not 100% sure I believe it but...

I'm basically Pre-diabetic although I rejected that title in favor of considering myself diabetic and not making light of it. My doctor is very good about diabetes stuff and seems to always know what he's talking about - he told me to go Atkins from the start and when I bring up any study on diabetes, he knows all about it. He told me that at my stage it is likely that I don't have pancreas damage yet and that if I lose 50-60 pounds (I've lost 13) before any damage occurs that it's possible for my body to go into a sort of remission of diabetes. Apparently, my pancreas has to work harder because of my weight and if the weight comes off my pancreas will be able to handle the reduced workload and keep my sugars "normal". NOT A CURE, but I could have non-diabetic reactions to foods. I asked him if that meant I could eat a candy bar without spiking at all and he said "yes, that's possible" - not that I would do such a thing - even if I get to the remission, I would continue to eat low carb and protect my pancreas. I know that diabetes would always be lurking in the background.

 

[Shanny]

Yeah my Doc trys to tell me to remember that I'm not Diabetic yet.. My response is so what!! I still have to live by the meter for life now so I might as well be.

I might not be spiking to 230 or bottoming out at 30 yet and I may not be using insulin but the fact remains that I cant just go to my local pizza joint and eat pie and drink beer.

I think for all his good qualities, your doc is leading you down a primrose path with regard to diabetes. Whatever he wants to call it, you obviously are not processing carbs normally or you wouldn't be spiking to 199 on some foods. This new thing of going low is part of the same chronic condition. You might want to consider seeing an endocrinologist for more specific and knowledgeable guidance. You have a good A1c, but that isn't the whole picture. You need better advice than you're getting from your doc. I am of the opinion that pre-diabetic is akin to being a little bit pregnant . . . not possible. You either are, or you aren't.

 

[carbo]

Thanks Shanny and Wink...

There are only 4 indo's in my area. The appointments are like 6 months out. I'm trying to get in as soon as I can though.

The night I saw 199 I knew it was real. I was in New York for a business trip. Drank a few pitcher's of beer with a friend and ate two massive slices of pizza from Lombardi's. Ive heard if you register two readings of 200 or more you are automatically considered diabetic.

Ive already lost the weight. The Doc also says there is nothing I can do about it if I'm going to be diabetic. He says I can eat right but if its in my genes its going to happen no matter what. He says saving beta cells (keeping my sugar under 140) is the best I can do to avoid complications in the future.

What test should I ask for to test my pancreas damage? I'm sure I had this long before it was detected.

 

[carbo]

Morning Hypo

I'm still learning so any advice would be welcomed.

I woke up this morning after sleeping in a bit and tested at 9am and my BS was 60!!

I'm not really sure what happened. I was at 97 around 9pm before I went to bed. Does this mean my Pre D is progressing or that I should not have slept in so late?

I'm still confused about this. My numbers were always high and after losing weight and cutting carbs I seem to be fighting to keep from going too low now. I am eating more often (spreading out little meals) so what else can I do?

Ive only read about people hypo'ing that take insulin. Am I worrying for nothing? I dont want to die in my sleep.

 

[Shanny]

Your low this morning was about as low as you need to ever go without treating it . . . I'm surprised you didn't get a liver dump. Did you have any other symptoms like shaking/sweating/weakness? Did you retest to be sure it was really 60?

Have you actually spoken with your doc about this new "going low" trend? As I implied before, I think your doc is something less than fully knowledgeable in regard to diabetes, but if you need him for a referral to an endocrinologist, you about have to let him know.

 

[carbo]

If by treating it you mean eat something fast that is just what I did. I drank some OJ and ate a breakfast sandwich quick like. BG leveled out pretty quick after eating drinking. Like a dummy I did not retest right away.

I kinda freaked out and ran to the kitchen to eat ASAP. Later I did test with both my meters and they were only off by 15 points. There is no way of knowing if it was a false low now unfortunately but I'm going to be on the safe side and assume it was reading correctly.

No I was not symptomatic when I woke up. That is what is weird. I'm kinda freaked out now after waking up like that.

Yes I did see the doc last week and he advised me to spread my meals out and snack often. He also said to start adding more protein to my diet. I had not had a morning low like this when I saw him so it was nolt a topic for discussion. We only talked about the two daytime lows I had.

I'm still a bit confused as to exactly a liver dump is.

What do you think a morning low like that means? Should I be going back to the doctor on Monday with this new development?

 

[Patdart]

Is sweating suddenly while waking up a symptom, Shanny? I've noticed that I first awake needing to go to the bathroom and I'm cold, but then when getting in bed for a few minutes, or even an hour of dreams, I'm hot enough to throw off the covers, then cold again and pull them up again, then when I next wake I'm hot, hot, hot and toss them off again and just give up and get up to face the day...my endo did survey and my cortisol is very high in the mornings, and we both thought a couple of meds were making it happen, so I'm off those for a few months and it's better, but not gone. Do you think it's the cortisol or diabetes? My morning's FBG are better, but could this be the cause instead? They have recently been going under 100 and some times as low as 80 on a good day.