Diabetic headaches

[LizzieG101]

Recently diagnosed with T2, my blood sugars are high (eg today, 11.2 fasting). I also have headaches. Among other problems. Has anyone any advice? I have reduced carbs as far as I can. Thank you

[moreless]

Hi LizzieG101,

You were diagnosed with T2D over a year ago and have a lot of other diagnoses and medications which may, or may not be affecting your blood sugars and the way you feel.

It would help us to help you, if you could give us an idea of what you're eating on a daily basis.

[MikePollard in reply to moreless]

Hi Lizzie, sorry to hear of your woes, but take heart, T2 can be reversed. Dr. David Unwin has had stellar results.

youtube.com/watch?v=RUH7epL...(Not working as expected?)

[LizzieG101 in reply to MikePollard]

Thank you for this, Mike, I'll look later.

[LizzieG101 in reply to moreless]

Is it so long? They did in fact say I was better in February this year and then it all kicked off again. Yes, I have a whole range of medications. They now want to put me on mychophenalate (an immunosuppressant) as well. I'm told my prednisolone is affecting my blood sugars. I have cut out all extra sugar (not that I had much) and fruit. I try to have protein at every meal. I am careful of carbs. I just wondered whether headaches were part of the diabetes or some other excitement. Feeling low because with lupus, diabetes, interstitial lung disease and the threat of Covid-19, I don't know where to go next.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to LizzieG101]

You don't mention fat in your diet? Protein generally takes care of itself, but if you're eating inadequate fat, you'll feel terrible.

Headaches specifically, I couldn't say, but my uninformed guess is that it's your medications. Most fashionable medicines make the patient feel dreadful without doing anything to fix the underlying condition. Apparently this proves that they're working.

[LizzieG101 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

You say some interesting things here. Firstly, I am a child of the 50s, don't have a sweet tooth and would never choose to eat fat. So that might be one cause. Secondly, I am on a mix of prednisolone, hydroxychloroquine, calcichew and diabetes drugs. I have asked if there is any conflict but have received the answer 'No!'. So who knows? Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I am wondering whether the Mediterranean Diet might suit me better than low-carb as I have this thing about fat.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to LizzieG101]

Your best bet is to try to get past your fear of fat. We've all had to do it to a certain extent (my reaction to crispy bacon or a fried chicken leg portion, 20 years ago, would have been "uuugh").

The bottom line is this: you are diabetic, and will remain diabetic as long as your are attempting to source the bulk of your energy needs from carbs, because your body has lost (or is losing) the ability to perform that particular trick. The only known method for reversing T2D is by eliminating carbs, and there are two ways that's done in a clinical setting:

1) Very-low-calorie diets, which reduce everything, including carbs.

2) A keto phase, which reduces only carbs (there is no need to reduce fat or protein because a diabetic's body is still handling those things just fine). The keto phase is followed by a LCHF phase, allowing carbs to rise to whatever point the patient's body can cope with.

Every day that slips past reduces your chances of an effective reversal, so now's the time to face up to your fear of fat. Honestly, it's not nearly as bad as you think. Do you like pavlova, or coffee with cream? Vegetables roasted in olive oil? A roast beef dinner? It's not all about eating chunks of lard - there are many ways to get fat into your diet that make things taste nice.

No doctor can confidently state that more than two or three drugs don't have unforeseen interactions. It's impossible to know. Not long ago no doctor would have permitted such a thing, but it's now common for people to be on all sorts of stuff simultaneously. My dad is taking six pills, mainly because older pills were never "unprescribed". He's a physical wreck.

[LizzieG101 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

My daughter assures me I have a very low carb diet. My problem, she says, is my addiction to fruit. I'll try to develop a taste for crispy bacon!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to LizzieG101]

Perhaps you do, but if you're not eating enough fat, you're just eating a low-calorie diet; and if you're avoiding fat, you're inevitably getting 800kCal+ per day from carbs. It can't really be any other way.

Your body has only two possible energy sources: carbs, or fat. In your case the carbs pathway is temporarily FUBAR. So crispy bacon it must be!

Browse around the internet for fat sources you might enjoy. The choice is wider than you think. Avocadoes? Anyway, your tastes can be retrained, and you'd be surprised how quickly it happens. Good luck

[Oldasthmaticfart]

Personally I started cutting out sugar this year because of getting headaches a half hour / hour after eating things like cake. Was it diabetes? Possible, but I've never been seen tested. I can say that avoiding sugar has stopped the headaches.

Is there a health unlocked forum for people with lupus? If so they will definitely have experience of the meds and what to expect. (I'm on my mobile, and no good at opening pages or copying links)

[Hidden]

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Prednisolone will increase your sugars. And sometimes people have illnesses that need medication. Hope you feel better soon, S

[LizzieG101 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. This is kind but I am worried that my blood sugars are n’t going down.

[LizzieG101]

200 cals of oats at breakfast + banana, 180 cals of cracker at lunchpate and cheese, cucumber and pear, date bar, almonds, pineapple juice (small), meat/fish, veg, potato (3/4 of a potato) fruit, dark choc. Water.

[Subtle_badger in reply to LizzieG101]

That's not a low carb diet. It is

30g in the oats.

20-30g for the banana

25g for crackers

20g for the pear etc etc.

That's over 100g before you finish lunch. There's still a date bar, juice(??), a potato and fruit. That's got to be over 200g a day.

This is not the sort of diet that shows remission of diabetes. It's the sort that belongs with the phrase "chronic and progressive"

[LizzieG101]

Thank you. I have concluded that I need some professional help. Things are not going well.

[BridgeGirl in reply to LizzieG101]

Wishing you well, LizzieG. I hope, by making this post, that you've got some useful information and you can see that your current way of eating is not the low carb plan you need in order to manage, and possibly reverse, your diabetes.

Your next step could be getting to grips with where carbohydrates are to be found in foods, so you can make the right choices. There are some good visual low carbs guides to different food groups about 1/3 of the way down this page dietdoctor.com/low-carb as well as a pic of foods to avoid