Hi everyone, I had a fasting BG of 201 on 10/1/16. My doctor ordered further test for A1c levels which resulted in 6.9.

About two days after this test, coincidentally, I had a gastric balloon inserted and began a VLCHP eating plan with TINY meals (because that's all I can fit).

On 11/19/16 my A1c was retested and it was 5.9.

Since then I also got a glucometer (extra one my dad had) and have been periodically checking my BS.

A friend from my balloon support group mentioned that she fasts on Sundays and had some reasons why and I thought what the heck, why not. So today I fasted... Now let me also mention that my BS has been really good, morning levels have been around 95. And I didn't eat anything I shouldn't have yesterday.

I checked my BS this morning around 10 and it was 114. Which was really weird I thought. Then I checked it again at 6:00 pm and it was 128!

How on earth could it be going UP when I am fasting?????

Help. (also, I'm not interested in a lecture about fasting... not sure I'll do it again anyway... just trying out different things).

When I started doing intermittent fasting (IF) my bg started coming down, but rather slowly. I now fast daily from mid-afternoon to about 8 a.m. I had to do some experimenting to find out what hours of fasting work best for me.

At first, my bg was going up because that is apparently what the body does. After a while, it gets used to the new schedule. Now, unless I screw up, my fbg is anywhere from the 70s to 90s. I have not figured out why there is so much variation, but I'm happy it's below 100.

Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable people will see this & give you a more scientific explanation.

MsWool, it is known as the “dawn phenomenon”, a surge of hormones that the body produces daily around 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. It affects everyone, diabetics more than others, and IFing will alter the timing of secretion of human growth hormone & insulin. The rise in glucose is mostly because your body is making less insulin and more glucagon than it needs. Glucagon signals the liver to break down glycogen into glucose.

Steps that may help:

- Eat dinner earlier in the evening
- Do something active after dinner (such as going for a walk)

But give it time, as Bonnie said, it takes your body time to adjust. Despite the morning high, your BG is probably lower during the rest of the day, and it is the area under the curve that matters.

yesterday it was as follows:

5 am - 121
5 pm - 116
8 pm - 104

now this morning 143?

And this is all while eating VLCHF.

I really don't want to go on to any kind of medication for this. I've lost 30 pounds since the 10/1... I'm doing everything I'm supposed to with the exception of exercise. But I can justify that in that I'm more active than I was before 10/1 and I do plan to work it in but my schedule has been insane lately.

As time goes by, will my body start figuring out not to do this glucagon liver business? Or have I totally screwed myself and I'm stuck for life stressing about my glucose levels.

Don't panic! You might want to play around with your mealtimes, or how much you eat at each meal. Are you eating moderate protein? If you're eating too much, that can make bg rise - not as much as carbs, but it still goes up. Find out how much you should be eating here: http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/keto-calculator/

Put in your goal weight, not your present weight. I was shocked when I found out how much less protein I'd have to eat, but it only took a couple of days to get used to it. And that - along with IF - got my numbers down.

We diabetics have the same disease, but we're all special snowflakes - we have different needs.

We're rooting for you, MsWool!

Exercise - knew I was forgetting something. That has been another major component of getting my bg down. In good weather I walk - briskly - a mile. In bad weather (which is every day now) I do one of Leslie Sansone's walking videos. I got 2 of them from the library & copied them onto my computer. One is the 1 mile evening walk & only takes about 20 minutes, the other is the 2 mile walk & takes about 30 minutes. Mostly I do the 1 mile because I'm not in the best of shape. I hope to be able to do the 2 mile in the morning & the 1 mile in the afternoon or evening, but so far I'm neither that disciplined or organized. I'm lucky to get the 1 mile in once.

It doesn't seem to matter when I exercise - any time seems to help my bg. But be aware - at first it might make your bg go up. I don't remember why, but I think Dr. B covers it in his book.

I've had a lot of days when the highest blood glucose reading I had was after doing a set of deadlifts.

Another thing Dr. Bernstein says to look out for is the effects of inflammation or some kind of infection. Infections can trigger insulin resistance.