# I am having hypoglycemia symptoms (and why I am happy about it)



## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I don't test. (I know, I'm a bad diabetic). Dr. has me on Glucophage and Metformin 2xd. I am only taking it once a day because I fast 16 hours. I started low carb (Ketogenic diet) about a year ago. I really wasn't low enough to start. and have been tweaking the diet all along. in July at my last appointment my A1c was down to 6.2 from a high of over 12. For about the last week I have been getting squirrely about an hour after taking my meds. Pretty certain my blood sugar is too low. I have an appointment on the 26th and hopefully my doctor will take me off the drugs completely.


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## wdcutrsdaughter (Dec 9, 2012)

good luck, I hope your doctor takes you off the meds too - have you considered seeing a naturopath or herbalist?
They can help you learn to support your health (Which it sounds like you are already doing by adjusting your diet)


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## Nsoitgoes (Jan 31, 2016)

tinknal said:


> I don't test. (I know, I'm a bad diabetic). Dr. has me on Glucophage and Metformin 2xd. I am only taking it once a day because I fast 16 hours. I started low carb (Ketogenic diet) about a year ago. I really wasn't low enough to start. and have been tweaking the diet all along. in July at my last appointment my A1c was down to 6.2 from a high of over 12. For about the last week I have been getting squirrely about an hour after taking my meds. Pretty certain my blood sugar is too low. I have an appointment on the 26th and hopefully my doctor will take me off the drugs completely.



Dr. Jason Fung usually reduces his patient's meds by 50% when they start a ketogenic lifestyle. That may be a good place to start when talking to your doctor. I have managed to get off my metformin by doing the keto diet. Good luck...


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Testing is one of most useful tools a T2 can have. Think of it as more for your use than the doc. You can see how various foods or medications affect you. If cost is big deal, do like me, I looked on Amazon for cheapest strips and got the $12 talking meter that can use them. Mine are around 10cents a strip if I buy 300 at a time. Cheaper doing it this way than copay from insurance for expensive tester/strips doc prescribed. 

The cheaper strips can be more touchy to contamination on your skin and some spices/foods. Wash your hands thoroughly before testing and dont get super upset if you get an unusual reading once in a while.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

It is amazing what the ketogenic diet can do for those with diabetes.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Metformin would work for me for like three months, then seemingly stop working. If I stopped taking it for a month then it would work again. ??? I found for me personally I had much better luck taking chromium polynicotinate which is over the counter. It did what the metformin did only it didnt stop working after three month. Used to take around 1800mcg, now take 400. I tried going off it completely but my fasting blood sugar started going up. And its safe, you would have be taking over 10000mcg per day for side effects and that would just be stupid as there are no positive effects for anything more than 2000mcg.

Chromium works better for some diabetics than others. But I am proof metformin works better for some than others too. Oh doesnt help to take both metformin and chromium, least for me. I tried that.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

painterswife said:


> It is amazing what the ketogenic diet can do for those with diabetes.


Not that amazing. Low carb diet was only way doctor had of treating T2 before injectable insulin. The problem is getting people to follow any diet long term without "cheating". Once insulin came around doc would just tell patient to cut out sweets (knowing they probably wouldnt), but otherwise eat normal diet and inject, inject, inject.... It was lot easier than trying to explain a rigorous diet plan and convince patient to follow it. Remember this was back before people had their own blood glucose tester. Truly guess and by golly unless you did a steady low carb diet with no cheating.

The glucose tester is truly a marvel of an invention and lets the diabetic determine what he can and cant eat. If they only will use it and think it through.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> Not that amazing. Low carb diet was only way doctor had of treating T2 before injectable insulin. The problem is getting people to follow any diet long term without "cheating". Once insulin came around doc would just tell patient to cut out sweets (knowing they probably wouldnt), but otherwise eat normal diet and inject, inject, inject.... It was lot easier than trying to explain a rigorous diet plan and convince patient to follow it. Remember this was back before people had their own blood glucose tester. Truly guess and by golly unless you did a steady low carb diet with no cheating.
> 
> The glucose tester is truly a marvel of an invention and lets the diabetic determine what he can and cant eat. If they only will use it and think it through.


I have been on the diet for a year now and so far so good. I originally did the Paleo diet but there were still too many carbs and I never got over the carb addiction and backslid. Once you beat the carb addiction it is pretty easy. I believe it helped greatly in quitting alcohol and tobacco also.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I had choice of expensive insulin or low carb diet. So there really wasnt an option to cheat. It was one way or the other. Or go blind and have parts of my body progressively cut off. But yea carbs are addictive, no kidding. Thats why they put sugar/starches in nearly every processed product whether its needed or not. The low fat nonsense was great boon to food industry cause they just added more addictive HFCS/sugar.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> I had choice of expensive insulin or low carb diet. So there really wasnt an option to cheat. It was one way or the other. Or go blind and have parts of my body progressively cut off. But yea carbs are addictive, no kidding. Thats why they put sugar/starches in nearly every processed product whether its needed or not. The low fat nonsense was great boon to food industry cause they just added more addictive HFCS/sugar.


My insurance has good coverage for the meds, I just didn't want to be a slave to the pharmaceutical companies. I had a dietician ask me if I wasn't concerned about the effect that all the protein I am eating would be hard on my kidneys. I asked her what effect 30 years of meds would have on my kidneys. That shut her up pretty quick.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

tinknal said:


> My insurance has good coverage for the meds, I just didn't want to be a slave to the pharmaceutical companies. I had a dietician ask me if I wasn't concerned about the effect that all the protein I am eating would be hard on my kidneys. I asked her what effect 30 years of meds would have on my kidneys. That shut her up pretty quick.


You dont have to eat huge amounts protein to be low carb. There are even low carb vegans. Usual suggestion is lot non-starchy produce, as fresh as possible, lot healthy fat including oily seeds and nuts, and moderate amount protein. One of those little gotchas is that if you overeat on protein your body can convert it to glucose. Not as efficiently as it converts carbs, but it can do it.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Also the insulin road can be a dead end. Insulin tends to make you put on more weight. More weight requires more insulin..... And yes some have done fine with 30 years of insulin, lived into their 90s this way. No thanks, not my preference.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> You dont have to eat huge amounts protein to be low carb. There are even low carb vegans. Usual suggestion is lot non-starchy produce, as fresh as possible, lot healthy fat including oily seeds and nuts, and moderate amount protein. One of those little gotchas is that if you overeat on protein your body can convert it to glucose. Not as efficiently as it converts carbs, but it can do it.


I don't eat as much protein as I did before I started the diet. I fast 16:8 now and totally skip breakfast which always included at least 4 eggs and breakfast meat.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Went to once a day eating and lost 10 pounds in a week. Dr. appointment yesterday and my A1c was 5.3! Dr. dropped me to one metforman a day. At one time I was taking 2 metformin, 2 glipizide, and a Junuvia a day.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Good job. Maybe soon no drugs at all.


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## Nsoitgoes (Jan 31, 2016)

That's great news. I bet you will be medication free by summer.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Is there such a thing as a TOO LOW A1C ?


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Well, since you can DIE if your blood sugar gets too low...they don't do A1C on dead people.

Mon


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Frogmammy, thanks for that bit of information...


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## Nsoitgoes (Jan 31, 2016)

It is highly unlikely that you would achieve an extremely low A1c, because that would mean you had been very hypoglycemic for approximately 3 months, something which you would almost certainly have had checked out and corrected.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Just had a checkup. A1c is 5.3 and doc dropped one med (down to one dose of metformin a day and considering dropping that) Lipid panel was fantastic. Don't believe anyone who tells you that a ketogenic diet will raise cholesterol!


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