Anyone else hypoglycemic??

[gshoemate]

So I find out about a month ago that I am hypoglycemic. The doctor was not to concerned, even said I could still have desserts as long as it is with a meal to balance out. The problem is, I am so tired of eating. I have to eat 6 meals a day! And I am gaining weight.....rapidly. I see the doctor tomorrow so I can ask him about exercise but I am at the point that I am so tired of eating. Anyone else?

 

[RitaZ.]

I have not been diagnosed with hypoglycemia, but many times when I have blood tests, my glucose is low. I know it when my sugar level is low, I get shaky & lightheaded. Yuck! I know what you mean about feeling like you are eating all the time. Once you get used to eating on a regular basis, it won't feel that way. I eat fruit, granola bars & yogurt as snacks. Another thing I try to do is drink lots of water.

I had some lab work done about 3 weeks ago, and my glucose level was normal (106). I really expected it to be low, and I was fasting. Go figure...

 

[binny]

I am, I have lots of issues with it sometimes and sometimes I forget I have it.

I get really irratable when my sugar is low and VERY low tolerance for anything. DH has come to recognize the signs more than I do lol. He will quickly get me something with sugar in it and make me eat it.
I often hear " Honey your sugar is low isnt it?" he says it really nice in order to keep me happy lol.



You can eat things with protein that are still low in fat. a cup of low/no fat yogurt is all I need most of the time. Or a half of a peanut butter sandwich. I eat very small meals (ideally) and my sugar stays more balanced.

Also I avoid soda as much as I can. I splurge once in a while but for the most part its a big no no! Nothing sets my sugar off like soda!

If you are having problems with your sugar dropping while youre out and about I have found, if nothing else, grab an Orange Juice or a handful of nuts or a candy bar like a peanut roll. THe protein in them helps give you a boost without over sugaring you.

Good luck, it does even out!

 

[piratesmate]

I'm diabetic, but when I was pregnant with my kids I had to follow a hypoglycemic meal plan. I still had to watch my overall calories, though, so maybe this won't help you. I simply broke down my 3 meals into 6. I didn't eat more - just more often.

Foir example, I'd eat a piece of fruit & either an egg or cottage cheese at 8am. Then at 10am I'd have cereal with milk. At noon I'd have a salad with a piece of fruit. At 2pm I'd have a sandwich. All of that was on my normal meal plan for breakfast & lunch. I'd just spread it out more.

I'm sorry that you're having trouble with this change. Maybe the doctor would advise you on finding some help with nutrition education. Each food type is changed to sugar differently & you won't want to eat several things that are converted quickly at the same time.

 

[piratesmate]

Binny - Yes, real soda needs hardly any time to convert to sugar. When my sugar gets down to 20, I don't have time to wait for anything else & have to drink soda. It only takes about 20 - 30 seconds to start to bring me out of it. For a hypoglycemic, your body goes "wild" trying to get rid of the sugar & then you'll rebound. In the end you're actually worse off.

 

[DisneyRoys]

I have had hypoglycemia and anemia off and on my whole life. I must have not gone to very good Doctors b/c they have never mentioned changing my eating habits or anything else about it for that matter.

Maybe when I developed it as a child they told my mother what I needed to do and she never passed the info on to me. Then the doctor figured I knew what to do since I have always had it.

I always figured it wasn't that big of a deal b/c nobody told me to change anything. I will have to talk with my doctor the next time I go in.

 

[Harambe]

I was diagnosed with this when I was in college. I couldn't do the six-meals a day thing either - so I just ate normally, but had protein at each meal, and a protein snack morning and afternoon (mostly lunch meat or leftovers, or peanutbutter crackers). That worked for me.

I also always kept a hard candy (like Werthingtons) in my bag in case I was feeling faint and couldn't get to a coke.

To this day - if I eat stupidly, I'll get all shaky. One more trick I do is to run cold water over my wrists to avoid fainting.

Ain't life grand?!?!?!!?

 

[gshoemate]

Thanks guys...I was having a bad sugar day and my shorts wouldn't fit...go figure! It was hard finding time to eat 3 times a day now I have to remember to eat 6 times. I need to look on the bright side, I could be the opposite and have to take insuline shots (did this in my last pregnancy...not fun). I'm having a better day today.

 

[binny]

Glad youre feeling better.

One thing I didnt metion was I find that if I start with protein my sugar stays better all day.

For instance this morning I had 4 slices of Turkey Bacon and a scrambled egg. I dont get nearly as shakey when I do that.

 

[Micca]

Binny you sound like my DD. She is 20 now and pretty much has it under control. When she was younger, sometime she would just forget to eat(jeez why can't I have that problem ) and she would just fall to pieces over any little thing. She doesn't eat six times a day, but it is important for her not to go more than about 5-6 hours without eating or she gets all irritable.
DW and I were glad to have figured this out when she was little and would go into crying jags over anything.

 

[islandr]

I AM 26 YEARS OLD ,AND I FOUND OUT I HAVE HYPO G. ,,, I THOUGHT ALL MY LIFE THAT I WAS JUST GOING CRAZY OR, STRESSED OUT ,,,, NOW I WORRY MORE ,,BECAUSE I'M THINKING MORE ,ABOUT THE SIGHNS ,AND MOOD SWINGS,,,SOMETIMES I FEEL, LIKE I CAN NOT GET OUT OF BED..... I 'V HAD A COUPLE OF REALLY BAD SHAKY,ATTACKS ,,,,,AND FEEL LIKE I AM BEING PUNISHED,,,,, AS ANYONE FELT AS BAD AS I DO?

 

[chell]

Originally posted by binny
I get really irratable when my sugar is low and VERY low tolerance for anything. DH has come to recognize the signs more than I do lol. He will quickly get me something with sugar in it and make me eat it.
I often hear " Honey your sugar is low isnt it?" he says it really nice in order to keep me happy lol.

I also get very irratable when my sugar starts getting low. My husband will look at me and say "you need to eat something NOW".

islandr - You, along with the rest of us, are not being punished. It is just one of those things in life that some people have to go through. It is just how our bodies are made. If you can get on a good meal plan you will feel much, much better. I'm sorry that you have had such a rough time with it. (((HUGS)))

 

[islandr]

thank ,,chell is good to know their are other people out there ,,that feel like this as well,,, and not crazy ,or making the symptoms up,,, thanks again.

 

[HappyMommy2]

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia as a teenager. What has FINALLY worked for me (and I discovered this during pregnancy, when my sugars were nose-diving constantly) is increasing my protein intake, especially at breakfast. I used to eat just a bowl of oatmeal or other cereal for breakfast, but now I try to do an egg white omelet or a protein bar or turkey sausage or something like that and it has made a world of difference! I try to have a big scoop of cottage cheese sometime during the day and that helps too.

Hope you're feeling better!

 

[Aurora63]

Interesting thread!

I found a site, www.hypoglycemia.org ,which has a little "quiz" for you to assess yourself in terms of hypoglycemia. It's funny, I had no idea moodiness was a symptom.

I have always thought I might be hypoglycemic, now that I've seen all the symptoms and how many I have, I am more so convinced. I am always moody, shaky when hungry, tired a lot, craving sweets, especially between meals, etc. I even have the allergy thing they said was a symptom. I never thought it might all be linked to the same thing!

I did have some blood work at the drs, which I'm going to see about on Feb 4. I will have to ask what my blood sugar was like on it.

 

[KathyTX]

Hypoglycemia can be such a nuisance... the irritability, the lightheadedness and weakness...

Like several posters have suggested, the classic diet recommendation to manage the blood sugar swings is is high-protein/low-carb, and spacing your food into small meals or snacks.

Complex carbohydrates (like whole grains) are metabolized into sugars at a slower rate than carbs that are sugars to begin with, so carbs like pastas won't cause the swings the way desserts do.

Hypoglycemia is a pain, but it's not medically dangerous in the way diabetes is. Basically, it means that your pancreas produces insulin a little to enthusiastically. If your body detects a high level of sugar in your bloodstream (maybe you've eaten a candy bar and nothing else), it goes into commando mode to produce insulin to keep those sugar levels low. But it doesn't know when to STOP producing insulin, and WHAMMO! Your glucose levels nosedive and your muscles and organs are starved for the energy-producing glucose. You get weak, shaky, tired and grouchy.

Also as already noted, it's hard to get back in balance after you have a big blood sugar nosedive. Once you feel your glucose levels hit the basement (shaky, clammy, lightheaded), you can quickly boost the levels up to end those symptoms with a quick infusion of juice, soda, or a candy bar. But this will cause the glucose level to spike up (you'll feel better for a little while), then trigger another big round of insulin production that will swing your glucose levels back to the basement (another shaky, clammy, lightheaded incident.) It's hard to find the right balance after you feel the symptoms. I've found the best way to get back in balance is to eat a small protein based meal (like a sandwich) and take a nap while I wait for things to balance out- but I know that's not always practical.

If you avoid eating simple sugars on their own, it's much easier to keep a comfortable balance in your system. Frequent small meals, an emphasis on proteins and complex carbs, and limiting simple sugars (including sweets and sodas) will probably keep you feeling your best.

Best of luck! And remember- although hypoglycemia can sap your energy and annoy those who have to put up with your mood swings, it's not damaging to your body.

 

[islandr]

TO HAPPY MOMMY 2 ,,, SUNDAY,, I'M GOING TO START EATING, BETTER,,, THE ONLY THING IS ABOUT THIS IS I'M A BIG COFFEE, DRINKER,,, I 'M 5'5, AND 113 POUNDS ITS HARD FOR ME TO EAT,,, 6 MEALS A DAY,ALSO,,, AFTER, I EAT I GET VERY TIRED...WHAT WOULD YOU DO,, KEEP IN MIND ,I DO NOT EAT BEEF. HAM OR ALOT OF HIGH FAT MEALS.

 

[klmklm]

I find my symptoms are worse if I don't get enough sleep. Not sure why!

 

[Beauty]

I was just diagnosed with this a few months ago and still don't have it under control. I am awful about only eating a sandwich or so at lunch and then something at supper. I don't eat breakfast and I don't like much protein which is a BIG NO NO. The worst plunge I had was at Wal-Mart....I started shaking and getting dizzy, my heart was pounding...I knew it was my sugar...so I drove through Wendys and got a Chicken Sandwich and it took care of it.

I have learned to take Peppermint with me everywhere since then just in case. The sugar will help me until I can get some protein.

I really need to watch it more closely than I do and I need to eat more and drink less soda.

 

[KathyTX]

Originally posted by Beauty
I need to eat more and drink less soda.

Actually, unless you're underweight, you don't need to eat more.

You do need to be more careful about WHAT you choose to eat, and focus on healthier foods. And you need to distribute the appropriate quantity of food throughout the day, and be SURE you begin your day with a *healthy* breakfast.

No Krispy Kremes and coffee for breakfast!