Low-Carb Diets and Cycling

[onimity]

I think that you are right that there are a lot of people out there with undiagnosed diabetes and misdignosed diabetes and that the best possible outcome of this thread is that people may be able to recognize symptoms of a problem which will cause them to investigate further. Specifically that adult-onset diabetes is not necessarily type 2, which a lot of people (including Drs) assume.

"So, I still think its fine for folks to self monitor, but of course the intention is to share the results with their doctor."

I agree, 100%.

Sara's A1Cs have consistently been in the 6% range since she was diagnosed (minus that test at diagnosis) she's been in the low 7s a few times, but that's rare for her. Now that she has been able to tighten her nighttime basal rates and increase her # of BG readings with the CGMS I expect that she will be in the 5% range on her next visit. She has also never had a severe hypoglycemic reaction or been hospitalized. She sees her endo every three months and goes through the full gamut of tests for general health and complications; after 14 years she has no evidence of complications whatsoever and her doctors estimate that she has a less than 5% chance of developing complications in her lifetime if she continues her current level of control.

Your diagnosis must be particularly terrifying to you because of your Dad and I can't imagine what that must feel like for you; all I can say is that things have changed *so much* even since Sara was diagnosed; the insulins that are available are so much better/more predicatble, insulin pumps are a huge help, and the means of testing and ensuring good control are light years from where they were even 10 or 20 years ago.

I got a kick out of your story of riding your bike in to have your glucose tested.

And no, I don't think your tone was (overly) defensive; and I truly didn't/don't mean to come off as telling you what to do. This has been a really interesting thread and I think that by sharing what we all know, we've probably all learned something. You and I both have a lot of personal history from this disease; you react with the knowledge of what diabetes did to your father and how your body is reacting to its circumstances. To me, your diet/response looked a lot like Sara's instinctual reaction in the year leading up to her diagnosis: avoiding sugars/carbs because she felt bad when she ate them, losing weight, etc. So I think it's natural to compare concerns and experience and I hope that I haven't offended you with all of my questions/comments.

Please keep us updated on your antibody tests and progress. I hope that you continue to do well and feel good.

A few random links that you might find interesting:

http://www.insulinfactor.com/graphic..._exercisel.pdf
http://tudiabetes.com/forum (<- there is a forum specific to type 1.5 and an interesting low-carb v. insulin discussion there as well)

Anne

[Dianyla]

Well, I got my hbA1C results back today - 5.4%. So I think I'm in the clear for now, thankfully. I am, however, going to continue with the paleo style diet (modified for athletes) since I have been feeling better and seeing better fasting values. When I'm going paleo, my morning glucose is ~85 as opposed to the 95-105 that I had been seeing.

[Triskeliongirl]

Hi Dianyla- I was wondering about you. Glad you got a good report from your doc. I was very impressed reading the paleo diet for athletes, and think that it is a good choice for you given everything you have told us. I wish I could follow it, its just still a little to carb rich for my body to tolerate, but as I said before, I am really impressed with the qualifications of both co-authors. -eileen

[dinabean]

I know this thread is three years old, but someone directed me to it when I asked a question recently about fueling long rides while on a low glycemic diet. I've been fascinated by everything I've read here -- I was recently diagnosed with Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, my fasting sugars were regularly around 110 and my doctor recommended a gluten-free, low glycemic diet for me, which I have been following for about three months now. I bought a blood sugar monitor (the one from Target, it's house brand, is cheap and the test strips are cheap!) and the food seems to be helping, as my fasting sugar is now more around 90-ish most days.

In any event, are the OPs still around? If so, how are you doing with your diet and exercise? Curious for an update if you're still around.

[Triskeliongirl]

I noticed this thread pop up again. I am doing really well thanks. At this point I have been diagnosed as a mild type I diabetic. Mild because while most type I diabetics make virtually no insulin, I make just enough to maintain glucose homeostatsis without a carb challenge (but still much less than I should, especially when challenged with carbs). Part of why I can maintain glucose homeostasis without much insulin is that tests by a colleague in a research lab revealed that I also have unusually good insulin sensitivity (this is the OPPOSITE of a type II who makes a lot of insulin but doesn't respond well to it). But I am really rather unusual, which is why they don't know how to classify me (and why they call me a mild type I for lack of a better descriptor, since it communicates best that what I have is an insulin defeciency rather than a problem with insulin sensistivity, even though I can manage it without taking insulin).

I still manage it with a low carb/high protein diet and exercise (and lots of glucose monitoring). On the bike, I drink muscle milk lite in my bottles, plus almonds as needed if its a longer or more intense ride. On very long rides (like metric centuries and longer) I've used pretzels.

Recently I started to have problems with the Dawn phenomena, that is slightly higher than normal fasting blood sugars (~110). This correlated with a change from bike commuting (where I was riding 2X a day, am and pm) to morning gym workouts. I found by doing evening (a few hours after dinner) spinervals/trainer workouts instead of a morning gym workout, I am back to low normal blood sugars (~85) in both the post workout evening hours and morning hours. I also noticed that whenever my blood sugars are off even a little my weight also goes up a little (in part because I get hungrier and eat more), but now that I switched my exercise from morning to evening my weight came back down (normalized I call it, that is how I describe how I feel when my hunger/satiety cues are in sync with what my body needs to maintain a healthy body weight).

I also feel best with reduced meal frequency (and find its a painless way to control calories when I need to lose weight), so I use a regimine called intermittent fasting (leangains.com) where I eat a big dinner, but then don't eat anything again until lunch the next day. Basically 2 good meals a day (lunch are leftovers from dinner). The only exception is if I am biking in the morning, then I'll have a high protein pre-ride meal (like 2 chicken sausages), and then my protein shakes and almonds on the bike. I'll also relax it a bit on the weekends, especially with things like alcohol and Lindt 85% dark chocolate (something that's been termed 'flexible dieting').

I also found out recently that I had a vit D defeciency, so now I take a supplemental multi-vitamin, calcium, and vitD every evening with dinner. In the am, I still take my synthroid/cytomel combo for my hypothyroidism (Hashimotos) (150ug synthroid, 5 ug cytomel) and my thyroid numbers look great and I have good energy.

[limewave]

So interesting to read about what works for other people. I have tried many different combination of meals/snack times. I've found that I do best when I eat a large breakfast. I love breakfast. Dinner, meh. I kind of do the opposite of what you do: Big breakfast, Big lunch and then my dinners are more like a snack.

[dinabean]

Thanks for the updates, ladies. Interesting re skipping breakfast -- I find myself much more even since i started eating breakfast regularly. But I am so glad you have found a system that keeps you controlled. My boss is diabetic and he's out of control and scaring the heck out of me (as in, sugars in the 400-500 range lately). I am very worried for him.