I have been LCing for 3 months and whereas my blood sugar was at 90, it is now at 182... any thoughts?

When did you test and what do you eat? How are you feeling? Do you have a cold, stressed anything like that?

If it jumped after a meal you might want to see what you ate, sometimes hidden sugars.

If you are sick or extremely stressed, that will raise your sugars.

Was this first thing in the morining? Do you test throughout the day?

If you can post a days or two of what you eat, when you eat and your blood sugar before a meal and then two hours after a meal that will help others to look at it and give you a better idea of what is going on.

Keep us posted.

Debi

Gloria, sorry to hear that your blood sugars are not looking good but I agree with Debi that we don't have nearly enough information to even begin to guess as to what's going on.
Debi listed a lot of possible factors, but the best person to determine exactly what is going on here is your doctor. While we can offer suggestions and share our experiences with you, the internet is no substitute for a visit to your doctor.
It's very rare for a person's blood sugars to increase while low carbing correctly although I can see it happening in an insulin dependent diabetic when carbs are cut very low and gluconeogenesis kicks in to compensate.
Post some daily menus and perhaps we can pinpoint a problem area or food that may be contributing to the problem.

Gloria,,,do remember that it is low-carb not no-carb on DrBs plan. From experience I know just how easy it is to drop the carbs altogether. Doing that sent my liver into a frenzy of partying.....and it took ages to smooth levels out again. I am IDDM T1, but I also believe T2s have to be careful too.....

Cheers.....Eve

Thanks everyone for your words...My blood sugar has always been normal as has the cholesterol...

My typical menu:

3-egg omelette with some cheese
coffee with 3 tsp coffeemate
2 sweetNlows


2 cups of lettuce
1/2 tomato
3 tbsp dressing
baked chicken (usually a thigh and a leg)
1 cup of jello (Jell-o light)

cheese
pork rinds

Sometimes I vary what I have for breakfast ( cold cuts, nopales (prickly pear), Mexican sausage (chorizo), or a low carb shake)

I had a bad Saturday... I don't know if that could make a difference in my readings.

I had 2 cupcakes, four small cookies, a small bag of cheetos and 2 tablespoons of Nutella (throughout the day)...Could that have anything to do with yesterday's reading?

Gloria, while all that stuff you ate on Saturday probably didn't do your blood sugar a whole lot of good, I doubt that it would cause a reading 4 days later to be elevated unless something else was going on.
Some other things to consider, though:

Where did you get the test done and who did the test?
Is it possible that the test strips were expired and gave a false high reading?
Was the test done fasting (no food or drink for at least 8 hours) or after you ate? If after you ate, how long after and what did you eat before the test?
Do you have a cold or any other infection going on?

I'd still like to encourage you to follow this up with your doctor. Further tests can show if this was simply an anomaly or if there really is a problem developing. I don't see anything wrong with your current menu, although I'd really encourage you to stay away from the cupcakes and such especially given the high reading you got.

It was one of those at-home tests... Accucheck something or other....My doctor has already ordered some bloodwork done to check for uric acid as well. Thanks everyone for your feedback... I'll keep you posted...

I'm curious why you think no carbs is a problem. I do eat some carbs, generally non-starchy vegetables or berries for nutritional diversification. However, I may go totally non carb for several days with no noticeable problems. Indeed there have been several experiments with zero carb dieting, I know of no problems developing. What was the liver problem you experienced?

Hi lazysailor...
I presumed Gloria was following Dr Bernsteins plan when I replied in this thread, and he recommends a 6-12-12 carb day. I don't know whether she is T1 or T2, but as a T1 myself, I know that if we do not eat some carbs, our liver will provide the 'fuel' required to energise our bodies..blinking, thinking, walking etc. Our brain especially doesn't like reconstituted glucagon at all.
Lack of carbs puts one into ketosis---if you are T2, that is not likely to be a problem, but can become dangerous if one is using insulin.
Were you in ketosis when going zero-carb..?? I imagine you would have been.
Also, in the absence of adequate carbohydrate for fuel, the body initially uses protein (muscle) and fat. the initial phase of muscle depletion is rapid, caused by the use of easily accessed muscle protein for direct metabolism or for conversion to glucose (gluconeogenesis) for fuel. Eating excess protein does not prevent this because there is a caloric deficit.

When insulin levels are chronically too low as they may be in very low carb diets, catabolism (breakdown) of muscle protein increases, and protein synthesis stops.


...all of the foregoing paragraph....liver was in constant state of gluconeogenesis....and as I need insulin to survive it became chaotic trying to
get any sort of balance to bGs. As I said, I am IDDM T1, but I also believe T2s have to be careful too.....

Cheers......Eve

Evee,

Dr. Bernstein is a type 1 diabetic who eats the 6-12-12 carb meals himself and has for 30+ years. He specifically details why you won't go into ketoacidosis on this eating plan. That is the dangerous situation that can happen to type 1 diabetics. Ketosis is not dangerous and is a natural state of fat-burning.

I think you might want to re-read those sections of Dr. Bernstein's book.

Funkycampe:
Just one question, are you diabetic and if yes, are you type 1? The fact that Dr.Bernstein has no problem following his own plan (or does he?), doesn't garantee that every type 1 won't get hypo episode and ketoacidosis on 6-12-12 plan. As for ketosis, it's dangerous for type 1, which make virtually no insulin on their own and have troubles utilizing injected insulin in many cases. Not that simple. Actually, I'm type 2 and have higher BGs on Dr.B's plan too, looks like some of us need to eat slightly more carbs than Dr.B recommends. I've been there for more than 2 years, tried and true, and learned that 6-12-12 plan doesn't work for everyone the same way. Not even mention type 1, which is far more complicated than type 2. While the low carb approach in general is good for controlling BG, getting too low on carbs can be a probelm for some of us.
D.

I am type 2 and have this problem. My bg goes up the longer I go without eating. That also happens when I am doing extreme low carb. When I get about 35-70 carbs a day I find my bgs are much better. I am also hypothyroid and just read that hypos should not go too low in carbs like in Atkins. I don't why. It works for me.

Hi,

Just being new at this, (4 weeks), I am finding the same is true for me too. I sometimes went to low or without, and found out it was a mistake, this really is a learning experience and I am finding that no two people are the same in what works for them. My husband also is a type 2 and even his needs in carbs is different than mine for his better readings.

I'm type 2. Bernstein, Atkins, etc. all write that ketosis is not the same as ketoacidosis and that ketosis is not dangerous for type 1s or type 2s. That's all I know about it when it comes to type 1s. I envy that you need to eat more carbs to keep your BGs in line. I find that anything above about 10-12 carbs per meal and even things like one low-carb tortilla to make a wrap with tend to make my BGs soar.

I think you might want to re-read those sections of Dr. Bernstein's book ...I appreciate the advice,funkycampe.
Sorry I haven't replied sooner.
If you were T1, I think you would find out pretty quickly that the difference between ketosis and ketoacidosis is minimal, whatever DrBs book may say.

Cheers.........Eve