New here, and some questions

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

1) My body temperature is all over the map. In the AM if I haven't
eaten it can be as low as 96, sometimes after I eat it goes up 2 or 3
degrees!
In the PM by the time I come home from work, hungry, it's often down to
the low 97's.

I was always a straight 98.6 girl before this so I don't know what's
going on.

Is this connected to my thyroid (pronounced to be ok by the doc on the
tests)? Am I not eating enough food and that's why the temp drops?
Does anyone else here experience the wildly fluctuating body temps?

Hi, again. :-) Yeah, my temp ranges from 96 to 97.5 these days. Could
be thyroid problem, or could be down regulation by diet. Did you have
free T3 tested yet? That TSH isn't telling you as much as you need to know.

Quoted message said:

2) Am I losing weight too fast? I started this 5 weeks ago at 260 lbs
(I'm 5'10", tall for a woman, and built like an ox even when I'm not
fat) and I'm down to 238 as of this AM.
That's 22 lbs in 5 weeks.

Since it's only been 5 weeks, no. A lot of the loss the first weeks is
water. And you've got a substantial amount to lose; expect the loss to
slow down over time, particularly as you get within, say, 20 lbs of goal.

Quoted message said:

I'm not super hungry, and I'm afraid of eating too much at any one time
as it will send the blood sugar up even if it's all protein.
I'm drinking a ton of water too.

LQ, have you actually seen a bg rise from protein? I'd be shocked if it
caused bg to rise in anyone but a type 1 diabetic; studies say it just
doesn't happen, it's too slow and inefficient in converting to glucose.
You can eat more protein and more fats without getting RH lows.

Quoted message said:

3) Am I exercising too much? I'm doing 40 minutes of either walking,
step aerobics, or stationary cycling 7 days a week, while lifting
weights M/W/F in the evenings. Even when I started I had good
endurance as I have a lot of muscle under the blubber (probably from
carrying myself around :lol: ) and could do the whole step tape right
from the start as long as I took the arms down or out.

You're not exercising too much, but if you haven't given up the teensy
girly weights, you may be wasting your time and boring your muscles to
death, as Roger pointed out on the other ng.

Quoted message said:

4) I've read places that going low-carb for a long time changes your
body permanently so that you lose what carbohydrate tolerance you have
left because of the diet. Is this true?

No, though there can be an adjustment at first.

Quoted message said:

5) Will my insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia go away when I lose
more weight? I don't have PCOS.

It should, if you continue to eat the right way and to build/maintain
muscle, given your not so bad bg. But you'll always be disposed to
developing it again with the wrong habits.

Quoted message said:

I'll never go back to my previous habits, but would like to have a
small portion of a carby treat (forkful of birthday cake) sometime in
the future without it sending my body haywire. The concept of "never
again" is too depressing to keep on with.

LC restored my ability to tolerate those things without RH symptoms, and
I was further along the path to diabetes than you are. Much further.

Quoted message said:

Thanks, this group has been great to browse. RH seems to be something a
lot of people here have or had, it's unusual to see so many of us in
one spot.

An awful lot of the same folks are here from the other group you'd been
posting to recently.

Susan

Hi Susan :waving:: :lol: . Didn't realize that a lot of you guys are
over here too!

No, no T3 test yet. Hopefully when I go back in 2 months they'll do it,
I'm going to ask.
The TSH was fine, actually a little on the low side.
Because the temp isn't just sitting at 96 or 97 it makes me think it's
the diet, since it goes up if I eat and down if I don't.

I haven't tried pure protein alone for a bg rise test, but I did get a
small spike and drop from steak and a vegetable (I think it was
asparagus) the other night (128). Not a spike in the true sense of
most at ASD but one that I could feel when it went to 100 10 minutes
later. It could have been the asparagus but that stuff isn't that
carby, I didn't think.

I haven't given up the "girly weights" completely, but have added in
time on a real weight machine 3x a week to hit more groups and do more
weight. My arms do get tired (not just bored!) with the girly weights
given enough reps so I figure if they're burning the exercise is doing
*something* and if I'm watching TV I might as well do that rather than
just sitting there. I'll soon need to get a heavier set.

And I need to add ankle weights too for the leg stuff I do on the floor
in front of the TV. Right now I wear DH's heavy motorcycle boots since
I don't have anything else around to add weight around my feet :lol: .

I've still got the shakes, worst in the AM and in the middle of the
night. But the daytime ones aren't as bad, probably because I can
control it with diet while I'm awake. I've been trying to get the
night ones to stop with a handful of nuts at bedtime but it's not
working.

Thanks for the info and for all the help in the other group,
LQ
260/238/target 180

Forgot to add, I've pretty much stopped testing for now, unless I eat
something new or feel really strange. I figure I'm doing absolutely
everything I can to not get T2, and watching the bg go up and down
isn't going to make it not happen if it's going to. As long as I keep
doing what I'm doing it's completely out of my hands and is up to the
Fates/God/whoever.

It was to the point where I was getting so stressed just pulling the
meter out of the case that I couldn't be sure if it was a significant
reading or not.

I still test in the AM when I'm too half asleep to get worried about
what comes up :lol:

LQ

x-no-archive: Yes

Quoted message said:

Hi Susan :waving:: :lol: . Didn't realize that a lot of you guys are
over here too!

<*waves back*> Thought you could escape, eh? ;-)

Quoted message said:

No, no T3 test yet. Hopefully when I go back in 2 months they'll do it,
I'm going to ask.
The TSH was fine, actually a little on the low side.
Because the temp isn't just sitting at 96 or 97 it makes me think it's
the diet, since it goes up if I eat and down if I don't.

It probably isn't significant, though I'd still ask for free T3 next time.

Quoted message said:

I haven't tried pure protein alone for a bg rise test, but I did get a
small spike and drop from steak and a vegetable (I think it was
asparagus) the other night (128). Not a spike in the true sense of
most at ASD but one that I could feel when it went to 100 10 minutes
later. It could have been the asparagus but that stuff isn't that
carby, I didn't think.

No, asparagus is high fiber and pretty LC. Your body may still be
responding to "incoming" as a signal to spurt out insulin, but more
important, how did you feel? Was it as bad as before, or becoming
milder as time elapses? Remember, fat will slow the digestion.

Quoted message said:

I haven't given up the "girly weights" completely, but have added in
time on a real weight machine 3x a week to hit more groups and do more
weight. My arms do get tired (not just bored!) with the girly weights
given enough reps so I figure if they're burning the exercise is doing
*something* and if I'm watching TV I might as well do that rather than
just sitting there. I'll soon need to get a heavier set.

They may be doing something, but nothing you need. If you want to use
glucose and insulin more effectively, you need to build more muscle, not
just tire out the ones you already have.

Quoted message said:

And I need to add ankle weights too for the leg stuff I do on the floor
in front of the TV. Right now I wear DH's heavy motorcycle boots since
I don't have anything else around to add weight around my feet :lol: .

I used to have boots I stopped wearing because I got so fatigued wearing
them!

Quoted message said:

I've still got the shakes, worst in the AM and in the middle of the
night.

Could still be peri.

But the daytime ones aren't as bad, probably because I can

Quoted message said:

control it with diet while I'm awake. I've been trying to get the
night ones to stop with a handful of nuts at bedtime but it's not
working.

Maybe an ounce or two of protein before bed? I get my best numbers if I
eat a bite of meat before bed, though I find it unappetizing to do so.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the info and for all the help in the other group,
LQ
260/238/target 180

Sure thing! Way to go with the weight loss, too!

Susan

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

Forgot to add, I've pretty much stopped testing for now, unless I eat
something new or feel really strange. I figure I'm doing absolutely
everything I can to not get T2, and watching the bg go up and down
isn't going to make it not happen if it's going to. As long as I keep
doing what I'm doing it's completely out of my hands and is up to the
Fates/God/whoever.

Good for you! That's a good sign that you're starting to stress less
about the right now while you work toward making sure the future is better.

Susan

Quoted message said:

Was it as bad as before, or becoming milder as time elapses?

The "crashes" still feel pretty much the same when they happen, and the
severity of them has always correlated to the size of the drop (i.e.
160 -->100 is way worse than 130 --> 100).

But I do seem to be getting fewer of them - whether that's bodily
acclimation or just better diet management I'm not sure.
At least the "around the clock" thing and the "non-eating-triggered
shakes" have mostly stopped.
Mornings are tough as I often have the shakes. I'll sometimes test in
the night if I wake up and be 75 but be 104 after going back to sleep
and getting up again (complete with the adrenalin shakes). It's like I
run out of gas in the middle of the night and my liver dumps to correct
it, prompted by the epinephrine surge. Sometimes I'll get 3 or 4 of
those a night. Sleeping still isn't good.
Kind of worries me about my next FBG - I need to get to the lab early
(and eat the right thing before bed the night before :lol🙂.

Quoted message said:

Could still be peri.

Could be, it's a pain I've got that going on too as it just confuses
things.

Quoted message said:

Maybe an ounce or two of protein before bed?

That might be the trick. God knows it's kind of disgusting (meat before
bed is about as appealing to me as it is to you :lol: ) but if it
works, it works.
I may try a protein powder drink at some point, too, something
non-meaty that still has it in there.

LQ

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Was it as bad as before, or becoming milder as time elapses?

The "crashes" still feel pretty much the same when they happen, and the
severity of them has always correlated to the size of the drop (i.e.
160 -->100 is way worse than 130 --> 100).

But I do seem to be getting fewer of them - whether that's bodily
acclimation or just better diet management I'm not sure.

I'm guessing that at this point it's diet management, since you're still
getting some.

Quoted message said:

At least the "around the clock" thing and the "non-eating-triggered
shakes" have mostly stopped.

BIG improvement!

Quoted message said:

Mornings are tough as I often have the shakes. I'll sometimes test in
the night if I wake up and be 75 but be 104 after going back to sleep
and getting up again (complete with the adrenalin shakes). It's like I
run out of gas in the middle of the night and my liver dumps to correct
it, prompted by the epinephrine surge. Sometimes I'll get 3 or 4 of
those a night. Sleeping still isn't good.
Kind of worries me about my next FBG - I need to get to the lab early
(and eat the right thing before bed the night before :lol🙂.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Could still be peri.

Could be, it's a pain I've got that going on too as it just confuses
things.

Yeah, it's a [censored], and just when you get used to things, they change
some more.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe an ounce or two of protein before bed?

That might be the trick. God knows it's kind of disgusting (meat before
bed is about as appealing to me as it is to you :lol: ) but if it
works, it works.
I may try a protein powder drink at some point, too, something
non-meaty that still has it in there.

There's actually a protein powder for drink shakes that says it's time
released, GlycerLean or something like that. Might work. Maybe a hard
boiled egg before bed? Or hard boiled egg white, anyhoo? Less gross
than meat as a bedtime snack. Should lower the fbg by providing slow,
steady glucose during the night.

Susan

I think that stuff is called "Glucerna" - my dentist (who says his doc
says he's a "borderline diabetic" with an A1C of 6.9 and a fasting
usually in the 130s ::sigh:🙂 drinks them and offered me one when I was
in there, shaking, 2 days after this started.
I declined since I didn't know what it would do to me. If it's got even
a little bit of carbs in it my body is likely to be able to pick them
out of the mix and react to it ::sigh::. Like you and the creamed
spinach.

The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too. My personal theory
is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::.

I'm thinking of inventing, when I feel better, some sort of balanced,
tasty portable snack that works for me that I can have on hand as a
convenience. I'll call them "Gluco-Pucks" :lol: .

LQ

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

I think that stuff is called "Glucerna" - my dentist (who says his doc
says he's a "borderline diabetic" with an A1C of 6.9 and a fasting
usually in the 130s ::sigh:🙂 drinks them and offered me one when I was
in there, shaking, 2 days after this started.
I declined since I didn't know what it would do to me. If it's got even
a little bit of carbs in it my body is likely to be able to pick them
out of the mix and react to it ::sigh::. Like you and the creamed
spinach.

I can't emphasize enough how small the taste was, and how instant and
severe the reaction. Then it happened with low fat kielbasa; it had
modified food starch added. So I cleaned out my cabinets and fridge and
started over.

Glucerna would put you over the top; it's a fast sugar bomb.

Quoted message said:

The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too.

I wasn't recommending a flavored shake mix; the Atkins one tasted okay,
but I had a weird coughing reaction to it that others have commented on,
too. I mean unflavored, unsweetened whey peptide protein powder that
you blend with some frozen strawberries or yogurt and milk, or however
you like your shakes.

My personal theory

Quoted message said:

is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::.

It does happen that way in some people.

Quoted message said:

I'm thinking of inventing, when I feel better, some sort of balanced,
tasty portable snack that works for me that I can have on hand as a
convenience. I'll call them "Gluco-Pucks" :lol: .

Nah. Call them almonds. Seriously. Always have them in my car.
They're about 40/30/30.

Susan

Susan wrote:
:: Nah. Call them almonds. Seriously. Always have them in my car.
:: They're about 40/30/30.

Almonds?

Quoted message said:

Susan wrote:
:: Nah. Call them almonds. Seriously. Always have them in my car.
:: They're about 40/30/30.

Almonds?

I think what she meant was that the OP said she would invent something and
Susan was saying that almonds already fit the bill: no need to invent
something.

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too. My personal theory
is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::.

I think you're wrong about the insulin reacting "even to stuff that just
tastes sweet", though. After all, we are talking about chemicals and
chemical reactions, not just "feelings" when it comes to insulin. My
insulin doesn't react to the Splenda at all. The Atkins shakes have much
less sweetener than the Glucerna stuff, IIRC.

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too. My personal theory
is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::.

You can get bulk protein powder that is *just* protein powder, no
sweeteners, flavors, fillers, etc. - or exactly the ones you specify.
Basically, you don't have to buy some store's notion of what should be
in a protein powder, but can design your own. This site has milk,
whey, soy or egg protein powders... and you can add sweeteners or
flavors or buy them plain: http://proteinfactory.com/store/

I don't have a problem with sweeteners, but find plain milk protein
powder more versatile... I can flavor it with a sugarless DaVinci
syrup, a lower-carb fruit (berries), cocoa, vanilla or almond extract,
or with a few TB of sugar-free pudding mix - and if it needs
sweetneing, I can add stevia, aspartame or splenda, as I desire.. Or I
can leave it unflavored and unsweetened and use it to make "pancakes"
or such or in other savoury type recipes. This is what I get:
http://proteinfactory.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=22_28&products_id=50

They're located in NJ, I'm in PA and usually get my order the day after
I place it.

x-no-archive: yes

Pat in TX said:

I think you're wrong about the insulin reacting "even to stuff that just
tastes sweet", though. After all, we are talking about chemicals and
chemical reactions, not just "feelings" when it comes to insulin. My
insulin doesn't react to the Splenda at all. The Atkins shakes have much
less sweetener than the Glucerna stuff, IIRC.

But some folks do respond to AS with an insulin response, I stumbled
across one such study yesterday. I think it was 20% of this particular
small group tested, and they ate more later due to increased appetite, too.

Susan

Could you state, in 50 words or less, what it is that you want?

Jim

Quoted message said:

Due to recently discovering I'm reactive hypoglycemic, and on my way to
diabetes if I don't straighten up and fly right, I've now cut my carbs
way down. I'm not "doing" any one particular diet, but if there's one
that would be the closest it would be South Beach - high veg, mod
protein, mod good fat, lower bad fat, nothing white.

Breakfast is typically an egg or two, maybe Canadian bacon, with a big
pile of spinach or other veg
Lunch is usually salad with 3 or 4 oz of meat or fish or burger mixed
with leftover vegs
Dinner is usually some sort of protein (meat or fish), not huge
portions.
Snacks are nuts or almond/peanut butter on celery

Sometimes I'll throw in a few (1/4 cup or less) of beans into a meal
such as chickpeas or kidney beans since my workouts seem better with
them and my blood sugar stays pretty level with them (though not with
any other starchy carb). I treat them as "carbohydrate pills" .

I'm currently off dairy on the advice of a naturopath who may or may
not be a crackpot, the jury is still out on that one.

But I've got some questions:

1) My body temperature is all over the map. In the AM if I haven't
eaten it can be as low as 96, sometimes after I eat it goes up 2 or 3
degrees!
In the PM by the time I come home from work, hungry, it's often down to
the low 97's.

I was always a straight 98.6 girl before this so I don't know what's
going on.

Is this connected to my thyroid (pronounced to be ok by the doc on the
tests)? Am I not eating enough food and that's why the temp drops?
Does anyone else here experience the wildly fluctuating body temps?

2) Am I losing weight too fast? I started this 5 weeks ago at 260 lbs
(I'm 5'10", tall for a woman, and built like an ox even when I'm not
fat) and I'm down to 238 as of this AM.
That's 22 lbs in 5 weeks.

I'm not super hungry, and I'm afraid of eating too much at any one time
as it will send the blood sugar up even if it's all protein.
I'm drinking a ton of water too.

3) Am I exercising too much? I'm doing 40 minutes of either walking,
step aerobics, or stationary cycling 7 days a week, while lifting
weights M/W/F in the evenings. Even when I started I had good
endurance as I have a lot of muscle under the blubber (probably from
carrying myself around :lol: ) and could do the whole step tape right
from the start as long as I took the arms down or out.

4) I've read places that going low-carb for a long time changes your
body permanently so that you lose what carbohydrate tolerance you have
left because of the diet. Is this true?

5) Will my insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia go away when I lose
more weight? I don't have PCOS.
I'll never go back to my previous habits, but would like to have a
small portion of a carby treat (forkful of birthday cake) sometime in
the future without it sending my body haywire. The concept of "never
again" is too depressing to keep on with.

Thanks, this group has been great to browse. RH seems to be something a
lot of people here have or had, it's unusual to see so many of us in
one spot.

LQ

--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplemental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

Quoted message said:

Pat in TX said:

I think you're wrong about the insulin reacting "even to stuff that just
tastes sweet", though. After all, we are talking about chemicals and
chemical reactions, not just "feelings" when it comes to insulin. My
insulin doesn't react to the Splenda at all. The Atkins shakes have much
less sweetener than the Glucerna stuff, IIRC.

But some folks do respond to AS with an insulin response, I stumbled
across one such study yesterday. I think it was 20% of this particular
small group tested, and they ate more later due to increased appetite,
too.

Susan

That's not what she said, however.

"The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too. My personal theory
is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::."

The topic was "fake sweeteners" and her personal theory. An Atkins Advantage
shake has milk and soy in it and those have naturally occurring sugars.

Pat in TX

x-no-archive: yes

Pat in TX said:

That's not what she said, however.

"The Atkins shakes look promising as a possible bedtime snack but right
now I'm trying to stay off the fake sweeteners too. My personal theory
is that insulin will react even to stuff that just tastes sweet, even
if it doesn't have carbs, and I don't need that right now. Chewing gum
makes me hungry, so does diet soda. So I've cut them all out ::sigh::."

The topic was "fake sweeteners" and her personal theory. An Atkins Advantage
shake has milk and soy in it and those have naturally occurring sugars.

I see what you're saying. She's reacting strongly to all carbs these
days, and those are heavily sweetened, in addition to the naturally
occurring carbs.

Susan

Ok, for those without the patience or interest to read the whole thing,
this is the abridged version:

1) My body temperature swings wildly and seems to correlate with eating
(up when eating, down when not eating). Is this other peoples
experience?

2) I've lost 22 lbs in 5 weeks. Is that too fast?

3) I exercise 40 min/day 7 days a week, with 3x a week weight lifting.
Is that too much? Should I be taking a day off to let my body repair
itself?

4) Will low-carbing permanently alter my metabolism so that I will
never be able to modestly up the carbs in the future?

5) Will my insulin resistance go away in the future once I lose the
weight?

Is that short enough?

LQ

[email hidden] wrote:
:: Ok, for those without the patience or interest to read the whole
:: thing, this is the abridged version:
::
:: 1) My body temperature swings wildly and seems to correlate with
:: eating (up when eating, down when not eating). Is this other peoples
:: experience?

Who knows. I don't take my body temp while eating. How many people do?

::
:: 2) I've lost 22 lbs in 5 weeks. Is that too fast?

If you're LCing, then some of that is water weight. Otherwise, unless you
are really heavy, that couldn be a too much for optimal weight loss. You
might be dropping too much muscle at such a rate. Of course, it all
depends, too. It is doubtful that you can continue such a rate, so things
may simply normalize. What is your daily calorie consumption and what is
your weight and height?

::
:: 3) I exercise 40 min/day 7 days a week, with 3x a week weight
:: lifting. Is that too much? Should I be taking a day off to let my
:: body repair itself?

If you're getting overly fatigued, yes. If not, you don't need to. If you
just want to, there's nothing wrong with doing so. This is a YMMV kind of
thing. Just because you work out doesn't necessarily imply that you need
time off. It all depends on how hard you push, etc. We can't possibly know
that from the info you've give (or from what you may give). You really have
to pay attention to what your body is saying. A day off now and then can be
a good thing, because it can prevent boredom and allow you to do some other
things. Just like working a job, really.

:: d
:: 4) Will low-carbing permanently alter my metabolism so that I will
:: never be able to modestly up the carbs in the future?

?? That's an odd question. You're still eating food, so unless you
restrict calories too greatly, your metabolism won't be adversely affected.
Also, not over consuming carbs with protect your beta cells, enabling them
to work for you in the future.

::
:: 5) Will my insulin resistance go away in the future once I lose the
:: weight?

It can be improved if you lose weight and exercise. But it can also return
if you stop, regain weight, and become sedentary.

::
:: Is that short enough?
::

It helped.

:: LQ