[hapyduck1979]

For the last 6 weeks I have cut my carbs right down to my minimal requirements (I am pregnant so cutting them entirely is not an option). My readings have gone down about 16% to an average of around 118 most days.

I have had almost constant headaches since doing so. The last 2 days I have been sick, nauseous and basically needed a lot more carbs to keep from throwing up constantly. It is the first time in weeks I have not had a terrible headache. My numbers at the 1.5 hour mark were quite high, around 180! but by 3 hours were lower than some of my fasting numbers (when things are off I tend to test much mro frequently to keep an eye on exactly what is going on so I know these test lengths are strange but they were part of a larger package).

I am eating more healthily than I ever have in my life- tons of vegetables, no white flour/sugar/potatoes/etc. Very minimal anything with a high GI number, a decent amount of white chicken, some lean beef, eggs and a fair ammount of dairy.

Is it possible that I am not eating enough carbs and that is causing the headaches? I know it sounds strange, but between the headaches going away, and the numbers coming down so much lower than normal, I just wonder if there might be something to it!

[dano]

I personally think that a low carb diet is not healthy for me. I have heard of people limiting their carb intake to 30 carbs per day. I don't function well with that few carbs. My carb intake is more like 30 carbs per meal. I try to maintain the 40-30-30 Plan (40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat.). The protein is really hard for me to maintain, most of the time. Here is the website.

The headaches may be associated with having high blood sugars over a long period and then trying to maintain healthy lower blood sugars. Some call this a false low, since many of the symptoms are the same as a true low. The exception to this is the meter reading, which indicates a normal blood sugar reading. If this is the case, then once the body gets used to the normal blood sugars the symptoms of the false low should subside. Consulting your doctor, health care provider or endo is always a good idea. I hope the information is of some help and I wish you and your baby well.

[pjnoir]

your body is re-adjusting itself from years of abuse. No carbs is the way to control carbs and perhaps with very little use of meds. Of the three micronutrients, carbs is the least important one.

[Thalamos]

I'm looking into the low carb diet as well. I'm not 100% sold on it as of yet. I eat 75 carb meals and 30 carb snacks and my sugars average 115-135 2 hours after meals. I've had a few spikes here and there. But, I remain active by walking, road biking, mountain biking and light weight lifting. Did you talk to your doc b4 going on the low carb diet? There can be some very uncomfortable side effects during the initial phase if it.

[hapyduck1979]

So in the end I am quite low carb, but not no carb (I am pregnant so no carb is a BAD idea. I have between 15 and 30 grams of carb at meals and between 7-25 for snacks. I also now have some on me at all times in case I go low. I walk and what not, but the truth is currently I am losing over a kilo a week while pregnant so I am on restriction as to hwo much of anything I am allowed to do.

Before I saw the nutritionist I had cut my carbs even lower than they are now and my sugars were still rising- my morning fasting number was getting higher and higher. She told me I was not eating enough carbs for me/the baby and so my body was creating it's own glucose, and it is not good at regulating how much it creates so it was inflating my numbers. Sure enough, when I added at least one exchange back into every meal (for a minimum of 15 grams a meal obviously together with protein/fats/fiber) my numbers came right back down.

Because I am on restriction and need to eat a certain amount of carbs for a healthy pregnancy I have added 1/2 a pill twice a day (although it looks like I am going to go down to a quarter twice a day as my fasting now is often under 70 and my 1h pp is under 100) just to help regulate.