Hello everyone!

I've been following these forums for quite awhile, and the advice and support is phenominal. I have been following Atkins for about two months and lost about 50lbs. I never cheated during those first months, but I did have LC desserts. On occasion, I probably had an extra goodie or two than I should have (low carb, of course), but I never left ketosis.

This past holiday weekend, I decided to treat myself to some good southern cooking. The barbeque sauce definitely had sugar, and my mother's cole slaw contains sweet pickle. I also had two brownies and a piece of cake (which had icing that was basically nothing but sugar).

I checked my BG at various intervals after my meal. I never saw them go over 130. Previously, it was typical for them to go from 160-200 after meals. Just to make sure this wasn't a one time thing, I ate several meals with lots of carbohydrate and my BG has never been better. I also didn't feel down in the dumps after eating the sweets (that's what shocked me). Previously when I was on the "typical" diabetic diet, my BG would still be over 140 many hours after I had a meal. Now, it's back to normal usually in under an hour or two. Wow!

I started back on my LC lifestyle/habits today. Simply put, it is my preferred way to eat. For me, it is actually less expensive than the typical American diet. I never get bored with LC foods. It is just nice to know that my weight loss has reversed the diabetes. I'm sure part of it has to be because I'm young (20), and because I am getting the weight off. I also caught the diabetes earlier than most.

Hopefully this may be a little inspiration to anyone out there that's struggling with their health. I feel better now than when I was 10!

Wayne

Glad to hear your experience, funpist. My sugars are entirely normal and any kind of screening would not pick me up as a diabetic. I don't think I could get away with any high carb stuff, so I guess it hasn't really "reversed" in fact tonight I had my usual rib steak, no starches, but made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for the family - and just from tasting a bit for seasoning, I could see the dif. in bg - up about 20 instead of the usual 12-15. Bill

Wow, the sweet & sour chicken sounds really good!

I do miss Chinese food, but I've gone several months without having any. I miss the sesame chicken the most. The rice is pretty easy for me to pass up, but the others are harder to resist!

I'm glad to hear that your BG is normal. I originally thought that I was like you -- that my sugars were normal until I ate lots of "junk" carbs. I am thankful that I am becoming normal again. I suppose everybody is different in respect to reversing conditions. I think it's sad that people don't know the benefits of LC until their BG is up over 300. I have a younger cousin that was also diagnosed with Type 2 last year. He lost a great deal of weight and reversed his diabetes too.

Now that I've "seen the light" in respect of the LC lifestyle, there's no turning back. However, it is comforting to know that I can have the occasional treat without wreaking havoc on my body. I will never allow myself to go back to the casual American diet and gain all the weight back. Too many people lose the weight then go right back to their old habits, and I see their conditions come right back or worsen.

My only regret is not starting this lifestyle sooner...

Wayne

All the more reason to start low carbing earlier than most.

You're exactly right! I've encouraged others to start LC'ing and they are doing great. I also coach others at work. We have a whole support group type of thing.

There are others things that I like about LC other than just the health benefits. I find that meals are actually quicker to prepare in most cases, the grocery bill has dropped (we cut out the junk food and the breads, etc.) and we just keep watching the sales papers. I love being able to eat at any place I want.

I think one of the best things for me was having to go out the past weekend and buy lots of new clothes!

yes, my diabetes is reversed up to a point. if i stay with low carb, my blood tests wouldn,t pick up that i,m diabetic but as dr. atkins says-it never goes away, it,s only controlled with this WOE.however, thats good enough for me. i,m healthier than i,ve been in years.

I'm glad to hear that your BG levels are normal! I somewhat disagree with the notion that diabetes never goes away -- I think a lot of it depends on the individual. But you are correct... most people "reverse" their high BG by following the LC lifestyle. I can have a carb blowout and my BG levels are probably better than most normal people now. I suppose that I also have the age advantage on my side. The younger you are, the easier it is to reverse a condition. However, if I put the weight back on and start eating junk carbs, then I will be right back at the drawing board. I'm still trying to make my favorite desserts as LC as possible, but it's nice to know that I can have a "sugary" treat and my body can handle the load.

The LC WOE is by far the best way to maintain good health. I'll never go back to my old lifestyle. When I was eating all the carbs (rice, potatoes, bread, etc.) I was going back for seconds or thirds, and then I would be hungry an hour later. Ever since I started the LC lifestyle, I am generally full all the time, my mood/attitude is much better and I feel great! I just wish that more people would adapt this lifestyle. It truly is a blessing.

i often wonder i i,d started this WOE 9 years ago instead of following the standard diet if i could have reversed it comepletely.too late now due to a poor phase 1 insulin response.but i can live with that.it,s a pity most dr,s don,t give the option for l-c at diagnoses.

I believe Dr. Atkins uses the phrase 'latent diabetes' to describe folks who were diagnosed diabetic but 'reversed' it with this WOE.

Ever since I was diagnosed, I've wrestled with the question: "Just what is diabetes?" The only thing I can see common to both Types and all people who have it is: some impairment of the ability to produce insulin. Using this definition I'm not sure that funpist can be said to have had diabetes because he (she?-apologies if you are female) apparently had high blood sugar caused solely by insulin resistance. Therefore, there was really no "diabetes" to "reverse". If he had kept up the high carbing there certainly would have been sufficient damage to significantly impair insulin production, but he doesn't seem to have gotten there yet.

I don't think that diabetes can be reversed, because once beta cells are gone, they're gone. If you haven't destroyed enough of them to impair insulin production to the point where you don't make enough to cover your meals, you don't really have diabetes. Pre-diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, whatever. But diabetes, to whatever level you have sustained it, is irreversible. Pancreatic beta cells do not regenerate and that would be necessary for reversal. Symptoms reverse. Their underlying cause never does.

that is exactly my point.a poor functioning pancreas can be helped with l-c so to not overwork it but you can,t make it normal again.in insulin resistance the pancreas has to work extra hard in responce to carbs so surely after time beta cell burnout will occur to some degree.diabetes is a progressive condition,it can be controlled and reversed to a point where bg,s appear normal,but it will always be there.

I struggle with this too. I think the medical community tries to sweep many conditions up under the same umbrella and label it as diabetes.

I know my body produces enough insulin. So I suppose I've reversed the insulin resistance by losing all the weight. I was diagnosed as a diabetic by the usual clinical standards.

I think every individual should be thoroughly assessed before physicians just slap the "diabetic" label on them. Most people with insulin resistance can improve their condition just by losing the weight. And I also think that even if your fasting BG is over 126mg/dl then you can still become normal again if your pancreas still has healthy function. Some people cannot, but I think the majority of people can. Unfortunately (like I said before) most people are diagnosed too late to really turn things around (but they can still achieve normal BG as long as they LC). A year earlier my lab tests showed elevated BG levels but the physician never said a word. I think anything that's 110mg/dl or higher should be a red flag, or at least something worth looking into. Too often physicians downplay elevated readings. Either that or they sugar coat it so it doesn't sound urgent.

I receive information from my health insurer all the time about how to "manage" my diabetes. As usual, it preaches the low fat dogma that got me into this situation in the first place. Like many others, I also thought that rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. was healthy for me. Now that I've cut them out of my eating plan, I don't really miss them. I'll probably eat them on special occasions, but then I'm ready to go back to LC. I can't tell you how happy I am now that I'm doing LC. My insulin resistance is practically gone, my skin looks better and my whole attitude in general has improved. Now that I am losing the weight, my self confidence has skyrocketed. I still have more weight to lose, but it feels great when everyone at work calls me "slim." I work with the best people and we even have a small LC "support group."

Wayne

Hi,

I have a lot of diabetes type 2 that runs in my family so I have kept track of my sugar fairly closely for years, (once a month anyway). Have been to the Dr. once in a while to check but have no insurance so mostly use a Glucometer Elite. My sugar has always been fine. However, after 5 weeks on LC, the last few days have had symptoms of low blood sugar. I am out of test strips & hate to buy them since I only need to check every so often & have to buy at least 50. They usually get outdated before they get used & are expensive.
Anyway, I got feeling dizzy, lightheaded, weak, & vision seemed odd, in the afternoon after having around 7 to 10g of carbs, I ate some more LC things & feelings did not change. Then I decided to try some fruit. All symptoms went away.
Can eating too few carbs cause this to happen? Dr. Atkins says it can lower blood sugar for diabetics, so can it also lower it for people that are not? I am concerened that I may be creating a sugar problem by not eating enough, when I had no problem to start with. I will break down & get some test strips if this continues so I can check. Just seems odd that I would suddenly start having these symptoms. And yes I have been following everything very closely, (lots of water, vitamins, including plenty of potassium, have been staying in ketosis, & have had at least 20g of carbs a day). I am very overweight & I know that alone can cause blood sugar problems, but seems too quincidental that it started after LCing for 5 weeks.
I know I should have got the strips & checked before writing this & just assuming, but when eating the carbs seemed to fix it sure seems like the problem.
Any input would be appreciated! Thank you all for being there. This forum is great!

Bratina

Bratina..my symptoms exactly,lc and low bg , I will eat fruit to bring up bg.Thanks for your post, i thought only i was experiencing the dizziness/blurry vision alone. thanks and go girl. I lost 6 lbs since i retd to atkins 10 days ago....bye

As far as I know, the only way for a diabetic to go too low (lower that 4 mmol/L) is if they are taking oral medications that stimulate insulin production, or taking insulin directly.

Otherwise, what you may be experiencing is a drop in blood sugar, from a level too high to a lower one. It is very common for a diabetic who is getting healthier to feel awful. IOW, healthy blood sugars can feel quite bad after being at too high for too long.

I'd hate to see anyone eating to get their blood sugars up to an unhealthy number.