Yes! I always hated how low blood sugars felt too! And when you run high for so long, having a bg of 80-100 can make you feel those low symptoms. At least it did for me for a bit, until my body adjusted.
Cutting carbs can be soooo hard, I know, because they’re literally addictive. You’re in a tough spot where you’re already pregnant and need to keep those sugars in line. I usually tell people to start making small changes, a little at a time, but it will have to be up to you to see how much you can handle and want to attempt at once.
You may just have to nibble on saltines all day right now to keep the nausea at bay. Maybe try with a bit of cheese or plain (low sugar) peanut butter or almond butter to help slow the digestion, keep something in your stomach a bit longer, and minimize the bg spike. I got away with eating more carbs than usual in the first trimester because I was trending low, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Not looking forward to the third trimester insulin dosage increases though!
Keto is just low carb (and the definition of “low” is different for everyone - especially t1’s, so don’t believe all the hype), with moderate protein and high fat. The protein and fat keep you satisfied for longer periods of time, so the idea is you won’t be craving those higher carb meals. Then for those who are trying to lose weight, because there aren’t any/as much carbs to burn as fuel, your body turns to burning stored fat.
I’d advise you to look on pinterest. There are TONS of awesome recipes. As type 1’s though, the trick is to still calculate the way part of the protein you eat affects bg levels, your liver dumping glucose, etc. There’s a good brief article on the blog asweetlife.org that explains it. Just search for the word “ketogenic” and it should come up.
Becoming a mommy is the greatest motivation I have ever felt to take care of myself so it makes it easy for me. There’s nothing that frustrates me more than a high blood sugar that just. won’t. come. down! Coughlevemircough!
People -maybe even your doctor- will tell you that a growing baby needs carbs, but there’s plenty of evidence that that just isn’t true. Good quality protein and fat (not fat from fast food!) will do you wonders, I just know it! I THINK and I have not researched this, but I think that for me, eating keto first helped me get pregnant in the first place, and second had already turned on my fat-burning mechanisms so that baby can use the fat reserves in my body, and get plenty of good cholesterol to help brain development, etc. Now, I’m definitely not saying I eat perfect & my way is best. I still slack on a lot of veggies! And I haven’t lost a ton of weight but at this point I’m thankful to not be gaining. Almost all my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit and the ones I can wear now will most likely still fit by the end of this 9 months (I don’t wear tight clothes to begin with!). So definitely YDMV!
Is your cgm the one that’s integrated with the Medtronic pump? Or is it a Dexcom? I’m surprised they’re making you wait two weeks to go to a class. I would think your situation required immediate training! Maybe they could get you in to see a diabetes educator sooner? I’ve never used medtronic myself, so I’m no help there!
I had a fantastic visit with the endo on Tuesday. I had never seen him before, and had only seen the PA’s (in fact, I don’t have great luck with endo’s themselves). He was a bit brusque at first, but really spent a lot of time going over everything with me & getting my feedback. My a1c was still 5.4, which was a relief, as I thought with that stupid Levemir I would have gone up a bit. I’ve actually lost 3lbs, and I hadn’t gained any weight to begin with (lets thank my mostly keto eating habits for that). My bp was a smidge high when I got there (traffic!) so he gave me the benefit of the doubt and took it again (117/72). And because I’ve been doing so well, he bumped my visits to every 6 weeks instead of every 4. Sweet! Less time spent in Atlanta traffic - I am a-ok with that!
I hope you’re doing well, keep on doing the best you can!
thanks all!