Having high blood sugars on a low carb diet?

[DiabeticDiva1]

I was wondering has anyone experienced high blood sugars on a low carb diet? I have been trying to low carb diet for the last week and my blood sugars have been high? I was wondering is this normal? Does my body have to get use to this way of eating? I have raised my basal rates but still runnig high. Does anyone have any advice?

[Keezheekoni]

How much fat and protein are in the foods you are eating? I know of two people here who have to bolus for the carb equivalent of proteins they eat. Also fat in the foods will cause the carbs to not hit as quickly, so if you're checking after two hours, you may still be on the high side of coming down.

In the latter case, with the fat content, try checking your bg after 4 hours instead of 2.

[Emm]

Ditto above. If you're not eating carbs you're probably eating more protein and fat... right? And they do convert to glucose, just slower and with less oomph. Do you cover them with your insulin at all? I always have to - just at a much lower rate.

You're not getting in some 'hidden' carb are you? Stuff you aren't aware has carb values?

Also, any time you eat - even if it's 'no' carb, just the fact that you're eating requires insulin. That's my experience anyway... especially if you eat to the point of feeling quite full.

[DiabeticDiva1]

Yes I do bolus for my food even if they are vegatables but my blood sugar are still running in the 200 range. I am eating more protein but I did up my Basal rate. I will check it 2 hours later after a meal its might be normal. Check 2 hours after that its back at lower 200s.

[lisa821]

Hi Diva,
I've recently begun carefully watching how much protein I eat because I haven't been getting enough; I now make sure I eat a ratio of 30 g ch to 14 g protein per meal. I don't eat meat except for fish occasionally, so I get protein from eggs, cheese, soy, and nuts. What seems to be working for me is to take 25% of the protein grams and add them with the carbohydrate amounts--so I figure roughly 3 to 3 1/2 grams of protein added to the carb amount of 30 grams= 33 1/2 total grams of carb total per meal.

I then do an extended bolus over 2 hours at 70:30 (70% of the bolus immediately, and 30% spread out over 2 hours). This helps with how the protein slows down the carb absorbtion and seems to keep my blood sugars from spiking.

If you're eating much more protein and less carbs than that, you'll probably need to figure a higher percentage than 25% of your protein grams. Just experiment.

This is thanks to Cyborg's excellent advice on how to factor in protein with your mealtime bolus. If you're trying to figure out what works for you, here's a link he posted that was useful to me:
Protein, Fat, and Blood Sugar (http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/pfandbs.html)

~Lisa