Low-Carb Diets and Cycling

[Dianyla]

I also suggest that you arrive at you doctors appt. fasted and ask to have your fasting glucose measured in a lab, since a lab test will be most reliable. A real glucose tolerance test may also be indicated because of the problem described losing weight when you eat carbs. Again, a lab test removes the meter error. Knowledge is power.

I do plan to show up fasted (thank goodness it's an 8am appt) and ready to be tested. In addition to regular glucose I'm also going to request the A1C test to see the longterm trend as opposed to "what's going on right now".

I think you are getting confused because you are trying to put disease labels on things.

Um, guilty as charged. Additionally, I always want to dig down until I find the root cause that is the source of all badness. And yet I know it just doesn't work that way - all of these things are more of an interconnected circular web rather than a tidy linear cause/effect structure.

You mentioned taking cytomel, but do you also take synthroid? If so, what are your dosages? What is your TSH now that you are on thyroid meds? If this is all too personal send a PM. Whether you do or don't have impaired glucose tolerance, you need to get your thyroid meds optimized.

I'm taking cytomel only right now, at a low dosage of 4 mcg (compounded). My last TSH was 2.59, getting up there. My Free T4 was .9 which my doc felt was fine, but Free T3 was 3.1, which he felt was somewhat low. Based on this his current theory is that I have enough T4 but I'm not converting T4 -> T3 adequately. This is why he did not prescribe me any Synthroid for now, what's the point in just throwing more T4 at my body that won't get converted to T3? No antibodies suggesting Hashimoto's or Graves' were found.

I've only been on the cytomel for the last 4 weeks, next week is the first followup appointment with lab retesting to see how my body is responding to this first dose. My initial feeling is that it's helping, but I think I may need a higher dose. As for body temp I don't chart all month long, I just usually grab a handful of basal body temp readings on the days between menses and ovulation to avoid hormonal fluctuations.

I know right now probably fear is the biggest emotion going through your body. However, I think you need to turn this around, and think KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Yes, there were times I was scared to realize I am a diabetic, but that is because that fear conjured up images of the sad outcomes of UNCONTROLLED diabetics. For me, now knowing what has been wrong with me all of these years, has brought more joy and relief.

Yeah, there's definitely a little fear in there. There's a lot of surprise, too, since diabetes has simply never been on my list of things I worry about. Things like cancer scare the crap out of me, and I just never even focused on diabetes as something I'd be at risk for. I think the biggest emotion I'm feeling is incredible frustration. I want to know the answers NOW *stamps feet* so that I can be focusing my energy in the right direction, instead of trying one thing after another with only marginal improvements. I'm tired of feeling crappy and being lame and fat and slow. But, I also know I'm on the path and that I have to walk down it to get to those answers eventually. Patience, grasshoppa.