Hi all!I have been having a tough time with my diabetes-I seem to be either feeling drowsy from hyperglycemia or feeling dizzy and incoherent from hpoglycemia.I also feel low in energy with normal blood sugars.I seem to feel better at a bg of 10-13 rather than 5-10.I started a low carb diet where i am limiting myself to two pieces of fruit a day rather than 6!(I knw this was alot!)I am lso eating smaller portions of carbohydrate such as porridge and I have replaced my wholemeal bread with rhyvitas!It has only been 2 days and I havnt had a hyper yet,I have hada few hypos but even at normal blood sugars I feel so weak hungry and low in energy!I feel the need to lie in bed!I cant find the energy to study-My concentration isnt great!Perhaps I am having withdrawls from sugar?Has any other diabetic experienced this and if so how long does it take to reside?
I really appreciate your input and opinion as ye undersatnd what this feels like!
Love Sinead!xx
Any real changes in diet will take a week at least depends on you as well but always reduce or increasy a little and wait 21 days to see what the changes really are for you.
How many carbs a day are you eating?
I’ve been a low carb for 2.5 years. If you’re not eating sufficient protein & fat, you’ll feel hungry. It took me a couple of weeks to adjust to more normal BG & for the carb cravings to go away.
I have a lot more energy since eating low carb & am never tired.
I think it is good to try out low carb, it can really help reduce the highs and lows. But you really need to go about this with some thought. You don’t just go low carb by reducing carbs, you do that by replacing the carbs in your diet with fat and protein. I would really recommend something like the Atkins diet, the new book “The New Atkins for You” is really helpful. It should be available at a library or from amazon. One of the things the book explains is that in the first week or two of a low carb diet you can have the symptoms of weakness and so forth that you describe. But understand, these things pass and most people feel full of energy after that.
About how many carbs a day? Wow 15 years? Thats awesome!! Keep up the excellent work I know it takes a lot of dedication.
Yes! I was very very weak and fatigued when I started lowering carbs and now that my blood sugars are going even higher I have just made another cut to 60-70 a day from 80-110 for about the past week and I am very weak and tired…It will pass, keep up the good work it is def the way to go!!!
I am T2 with no insulin so my experience does not apply directly. When I first got my blood sugar under control by dramatically reducing carbs, at times I just couldn’t think, I was in a fog. This was because my body just wasn’t used to my new sugar levels. As others have said it will pass and you will be better off for it.
I would highly recommend the book Dr. Bernstein s Diabetes Solution. He has been a T1 since the 40’s and developed his approach by trying different techniques on himself and noting his body’s response. A key concept for insulin users is the law of small numbers, which states that by eating small numbers of carbs it is easier to calculate the correct insulin dose thus avoiding highs and lows. The book is for T1’s and T2’s(both insulin dependent T2’s and non insulin using T2’s)
If you would like to talk to other T1’s using this approach you might look at the “Dr Bernsteins Diabetes Solution Group” on this forum.
Here is a link recently posted on this group of a talk by Dr. B. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VaNJO7KMgg&feature=related There are 6 videos just follow the links on the first videos page. If nothing else it is inspirational to see a man well into his 70’s with T1 who is so vigorous and has no complications.