First a little background:
In mid june I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes/metobolic syndrome. My fasting bg level was 365 and although my cholesterol was moderately high at 221, my triglycerides were 508 (my good cholesterol was very low). Before I was diagnosed, I had been losing some weight (went from 322 to 285 in about 6 months) by doing some basic pushups/situps and cutting down on carbs a little. It turns out that I was most likely losing weight because I was sick from the diabetes but the small amount of exercise has helped me a little as I'm now able to do 20 pushups without much hassle. When I started I couldn't even do 1 real one.

I got my suger under control by testing 5+ times a day and eating a somewhat low carb diet. I try not to eat more than 15 to 20 grams per meal which seems to help keep my sugar fairly consistant. I'm averaging, by my meter aroung 130, and my first a1c after being diagnosed was 6.7 (is this good?). The only medication is an aspirine a day and one advandia in the morning.

Now for my problem:
After my recent checkup my triglyerides went down to 115 and my sugar was averaging 130 or so, both of which made my doctor very surprised as he didn't think I could get it under control so fast. I lost about another 10 pounds, but unfortunately my bad cholesterol went up about 16 points bringing me to a total of 237. My doctor wanted to put me on cholesterol lowering drugs, but I convinced him to give me a few more months as I wanted to start a real exercise program and perhaps really tweek my diet to both lose weight and reduce the bad cholesterol. I really don't want to take anymore medication if I can manage a change with my lifestyle.

My questions are: Will atkins induction be ok for someone that is diabetic, and is a 16 or so rise in cholesterol a big deal for someone just starting on a low carb diet? I've heard that many people's cholesterol numbers go down when they lose the weight, but I'm 6'1" and 272lb right now, and really should be around 180lb to 220lb (I'll know better when I get closer to my goal). Realistically, I would like to lose another 10 - 25 pounds before mid Jan. when I have my next appointment.

I'm very serious about making whatever lifestyle change I need to get my health in order. I'm 35 years old and my father is a diabetic who had a heart attack in his mid 40's. Both my great grandfather and grandfather died of heart attacks at fairly young ages. I have a two year old son and a two month old daughter, so I feel like I'm battling the age clock to get healthy. I also don't want to pass on my unhealthy lifestyle to them since they are inheriting my somewhat crappy genes. Any advice would be appreciated and sorry this post turned out to be a novel. Thanks.

Hi SeaDog and welcome to the forum!

You've got lots of questions, I see. I'll try to address as many of them as I can and I'm sure other members will share their experiences with you as well.



Atkins Induction should be okay for a type 2 diabetic such as yourself, but you may want to check out some other plans and do some research to decide what the best course of action and plan for you will be. Picking a plan that is both effective and something that you can live with long-term is important. Some suggestions:
-The Schwarzbein Principle (both 1 and 2) which seems close to what you're already doing.
-Dr. Atkins newest book on low carb for diabetics
-Protein Power
-Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution (also low carb for diabetics)

Regarding the rise in cholesterol, that sometimes happens when weight loss is fairly rapid but it then settles down when weight loss slows. You mentioned that your triglycerides went way down but your LDL went up, what happened with the HDL? If that also went up, your reading is actually much improved, not worse. Something else to consider is that elevated cholesterol readings seem to go hand in hand with diabetes. For now, I would suggest focusing on your blood sugars and see what the next check shows and make a decision from there.



That's an awesome improvement in such a short time , but you're not quite "there" yet. Ideally, your A1c should be at 6 or lower (closer to 5 is great) and your average blood sugar readings should be lower as well. Fastings should be <100 and post meal readings should be <120.

Check out some of the references I listed and feel free to ask all the questions you want. If you like, you can read some of Dr. Bernstein's book online at www.diabetes-normalsugars.com

Do give serious consideration to Lisa's recommendation, SeaDog. I'm a type 2 diabetic who has been following Dr. Bernstein's book Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution for 2 1/2 years with incredibly good results. My blood sugars are normal and extremely stable, and my last A1C was 5.0. My blood pressure normalized, the neuropathy in my feet has nearly disappeared, and my cholesterol, etc., results are all better than normal. I've never felt better in my whole 61 years!

Karen D.

Thanks for the info, I'm going out to get the bernstein book tomorrow to check it out. When I was first diagnosed I did pick up the Schwarzbein book and I also have a copy of the regular aitkens book. My bad cholesterol stayed exactly the same by the way.

You guys are confirming my suspicion that my doctor is probably not too skilled with diabetic conditions. When I mentioned to him that I didn't think I could reach my goal sugar level of under 110 average by diet alone, he told me that I most likely wouldn't be able to lower it any lower than my current average. He said that 130-140 average for a diabetic is better than most. He also didn't like the idea that I was limiting my carbs with aitkens or the schwarzbein book, and referred me to some hospital run class based on the ada type diet.

I also have been having almost daily pain in my feet, sometime a burning, ache almost cold feeling, and other times sharp pain like I stepped on a nail or something. My doctor said that my feet look fine. My diabetic father told me that this is neuropathy and he takes medication for it. Is it common for this to go away if I get my diet/lifestye in order is this type of thing usually permanant?
I'm sorry for all the questions, but I've been getting most of my information from books and the web. My father doesn't control his diabetes very well and doesn't seem to care, so he's not much help in the advice department (he's starting to take my diet advice since his a1c showed he averaged over 300 for the last few months and is close to hospitalization). Since I have a young family to take care of I feel compelled to get my act together so I can be around for awhile. I also feel kinda stupid for letting my heath go since I was aware of my genetic risks and I probably could have prevented this from the start. Thanks again for the advice.

SeaDog, I think you've got the right idea with educating yourself as much as possible about your disease. Doctors are there to work with us as our partners, but when it comes down to the daily management of your blood sugars, you are the one who has to put the plan into action and do the difficult work and you are the one who will have to live with the results.
IMHO, the ADA diet is a prescription for lifetime dependence on drugs and worsening blood sugars and should be avoided at all costs. Been there, done that, wound up with out of control blood sugars.



Your doctor is telling you the truth in that your blood sugar readings are better than most, but that's only because most are following the ADA diet and you are not. Please don't let them tell you that diabetics need high levels of carbs...it's utter BS. I've been living on an average of 30 grams of carb per day for over 3 years and my doctor continues to be impressed with my readings every time I come in.
As far as you've come, I believe that you will be able to achieve your target ranges. You may need medication to achieve that, you may not. Time will tell. Something to consider in helping you achieve that is a daily exercise regimen if you aren't doing so already. Excercise helps tremendously in lowering blood sugars and is good for you in a lot of other respects as well. Walking and weight resistance training are both good choices.



The pain in your feet is likely diabetic neuropathy which isn't too surprising given how high your fasting blood sugars were when you were diagnosed. It may get better as you achieve and maintain normal blood sugars and in fact many have reported that it does. I think a lot will depend on how far it has progressed, but you can hope for the best. Bringing your blood sugars into normal range and keeping them there can only help.

I have experimented for the past three years with low carb diets (experiment is my preferred term, others less charitable call it cheating). There is no doubt that for me, low carbohydrate diets work for my blood sugar control. Any return to high carbohydrate meals sees a weight gain and foot pain.

Your goal for blood sugar levels should be to as close to those of non-diabetics as possible. Generally, that means in a perfect world, you'd like to be under 100. Most will probably not get that low all of the time, but the closer you are to that level, the better.

Three and a half years ago, I had fasting blood sugars as high as 300, I tried several drugs to lower them, glucovance worked for me, but I worried about the long term effect of the drug. Diet and exercise with weight loss allowed me to discontinue the medicine, and my blood sugar levels have been maintained well since.

Here is how I decided to wean myself from blood glucose lowering drugs:
Each morning I took my fasting blood sugar, if it was above 126, I took my regular dosage. If it was below, I'd skip it. In the beginning I was taking medication every other day, then it began to be just once every three or four days, and so on.

When taking glucovance, I did experience several episodes of hypoglycemia, have never experienced an episode in the last 3 years when I haven't used any medications.

Good luck. Don't let the low carb bashers dampen your confidence. Read Bernstein's book if you haven't already. You are on the right course.