I have a good friend with type I diabetes who used to be type II. I've been recommending a low carb diet but he's worried it will not help him since he now has type I and is not overweight and he exercises regularly. However, he has problems controlling his blood sugar at night (or when he gets up in the morning).

I was hoping (after reading DANDR) that by low carbing he'd eventually be able to reduce his insulin shots and other medications but I don't know enough about diabetes to be any kind of authority. Can anyone confirm that low carbing is a good choice for him? I would love to send him this link too if he'd find it helpful. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm a thin diabetic (type 1.5 I think). I'm not on insulin (yet). I exercise regularly and have been LCing for the last 9 months. My Hba1c went from 7+ to the mid 5s. My main problem is that I am an efficient metabolic machine and I am having difficulty keeping any weight on. However, all my numbers are very good so I have accepted "skinny" as a price I pay to keep this diseasde at bay.

cheers, Fred

I was diagnosed as Type 2 also, and struggled with that prognosis for about 4 years.

I am now fully dependant upon insulin, and what a relief to have full control over my glood sugars!

The absolute best and final word on this subject is Dr. Bernstein.

You can read a few chapters at his site, or order the book from there or at amazon.com.

This is an absolute must-read for ALL diabetics and their families.

http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/

Thank you both for your help. I'll advise him to check out Dr. Bernstein's book. It looks really helpful since he himself is a diabetic.

Low carbing does enable one to reduce insulin shots...lots of care, lots of tests...take it slowly..get out-of-place lows sometimes so use caution. Eve

I highly recommend your friend switch to a LC diet. I've been a type1 for 25+ years (diagnosed at age 6) and have never come close to this type of control before. I went from taking 15 units of humulin L each morning, to ZERO insulin shots. Even though I am not type2, I talked my Dr into giving me glucophage XR. I already had good control without the "dope" but taking it makes things even more livable. With lowcarb, excersise and glucophage, my blood sugar never goes above 100. Fasting is in the 80's and post meal is in the 90's. And I can honestly say I owe it to Dr. B. Everything you need is in the book. LC foods, lots of weight trainning (makes a huge difference), etc. Order the Berstein book NOW and add years and quality to your friends life. I always order a few, one to keep on hand and others to give away.

Thank you for the very helpful info. I felt that he could benefit greatly from low carbing but was afraid if I convinced him to try it, he'd get worse! I think I'll just make a gift of Dr. Bernstein's book. then he'll feel obliged to read it. Plus I'll send him the link to this forum because I'm sure he'll have lots of questions.

Dear Type 1: That is amazing! How did a Type 1 go off insulin? As far as I understand it, the body has non-food insulin needs- so even if I fast all day, I need my basal???!! So, how do you live without a basal- don't you get a glycogen dump?

WoW!!!!

I'm one of those type 1's that still produces some, just not enough, insulin. My last fasting c-peptide was 1.4. For most type 1's that number is 0.

GREYTSCOT, I've been a type I diabetic for 31 years now. I'm giving you unsolicited advice for your friend, but if it helps, so what right?
I was on Regular (short acting insulin) and NPH (long acting insulin) for a long time.
There are much quicker acting insulins out there.
Instead of Regular (which takes 45 mins to work), find out if your friend is on Humalog a.k.a. Lispro-it acts in about 10-15 minutes, which is closer to what a normal pancreas would.
Also, you mentioned his/her sugar is high in the mornings.
NPH is very unpredictable, so he could ask his Dr. about Lantus, which is a more constant 24 hour insulin.
The Lantus has made me feel like a new person!
One more thing, whenever a non-diabetic eats, the pancreas releases the EXACT amount of insulin the body needs.
I thought, well, I eat 3 times a day, so I will take a shot of Humalog before each meal, and one long acting shot before bed. This is to match what a normal pancreas does. So, I actually told the Dr. I wanted to go from 3 to 4 injections per day!
The more injections, the more control.
Well, if this helps your friend or you at all, please let me know.

Type 1 I have some questions for you. I have been diabetic for 24 years ( since age 7 close to you) I have been trying to find some people close to my situation and you are the closest. Does your blood sugar ever get really low and you have to eat things that are not lc? What do you eat and how low does you blood get? I really need encouragement. Oh and are you losing weight at a good rate? I am not.

Kyla772,

When I was still on insulin, I had a tendancy towards low readings. But since I've gone LC and stopped taking insulin, I've not had any low readings.

The lowest reading I've had on LC and Glucophage XR is 69. It's interesting, there is definaltely a window you need to hit to gain good control over your blood sugar. Limiting carbs to nothing is not enough, too few and your body makes too much glucose, too much and... well we all know what happens there.

Yes, I did loose weight when I switched to LC. But that was also due to the fact that I was injecting less (and eventually no) insulin. Like I mentioned above, I'm a type1 that still produces some, but still not enough insulin.