Low blood sugar

KaysKidz

So after a month of eating lower carb, I woke up feeling shaky and woozy. When I got to work, I went to see our nurse to have a fasting blood draw to see how it is affecting me. My blood sugar was 23. Our nurse was amazed I was still standing. Does anyone else have issues with low blood sugar while following a low carb lifestyle and how do I stay at a healthy level while keeping my carbs low?

wabmester

Thyroid? See your doc yet? That's dangerously low. You were probably still standing because your brain was running on ketones.

Dragonwolf

That usually only happens if you're already diabetic. You might want to talk to your doctor about checking for Diabetes if you're not already diagnosed. You might be able to get your pancreatic function tested directly, but they'll likely want to do a glucose tolerance test, and you'll want to have your carb intake around 100g for at least 3 days leading up to it to ensure accurate results. And no, this didn't give you Diabetes. It's possible you were already Diabetic and just didn't know it.

Low carb is safe for Diabetics of both types, but you do need to enter it a little more carefully, to ensure you don't get dangerously low blood sugars. This is especially the case for those who are insulin dependent, since their insulin is dependent on an outside source and not nearly as accurate as the body is at matching insulin to blood sugar.

Your diary is locked, so it's hard to tell what you may have been doing to contribute to the situation (if anything), but in general, make sure you're eating enough food in general, and enough fat especially. Doing this will keep your body from trying to rely on glucose and will shift its fuel needs more toward fat. This helps keep your fuel needs from outrunning your carb intake plus any necessary internal glucose creation.

Get yourself a blood glucose meter and start measuring your blood sugar to get an idea of what your numbers usually are. Measure first thing in the morning, just before every meal, one our after every meal, and two hours after every meal. Do this for at least a week. This will help give you an idea of the effect what you're eating has on your blood sugar, and you can see if something prompts your body to crash.

baconslave

Sorry if you've already mentioned this elsewhere, but are you on diabetes meds? If not it could be thyroid, or because of another med you are taking. I honestly have never dipped that low. My blood sugar will go as low as 69.

Did you have breakfast? If you did what did you have? I agree that is dangerously low. Something else besides the low-carbs is going on there. IMO. I think a doc visit to investigate is in order.

KaysKidz

I am not diabetic, yet. Though it does run in my family on my dad's side, though not early onset. I am 45. Dad didn't become diabetic until his 70's, right before he passed away. I have been tested, within the last year. I will go unlock my diary. There is only 2 weeks worth of tracking, and none from this weekend as we were away. I still ate low carb, but did indulge in wine....it was a wedding. LOL This morning's blood sugar was fasting. Last time I ate was at 5pm yesterday. Since taking my blood sugar, I've had a chocolate atkins shake. Nothing else yet.

KaysKidz

I can be tested at work by our nursing staff. I work at a residential treatment center, not my doctors office. I will put a call into my doc though.

KaysKidz

Oh, thyroid tested normal too. And I'm not on any meds.

KaysKidz

Retested and it's 112 after drinking my Atkins shake. I will retest tomorrow morning to see if we get a repeat low reading.

Twibbly

KaysKidz wrote: »

Retested and it's 112 after drinking my Atkins shake. I will retest tomorrow morning to see if we get a repeat low reading.

You went from 23 to 112 with an Atkins shake? Somebody tell me how those aren't supposed to affect your blood sugar because it's sugar alcohols again...

Strange comment for a low carb forum, but keep juice or glucose tablets or fruit or something next to your bed, so if you have a repeat, you can raise your sugar NOW.

wabmester

What kind of nurse tested it at 23? I'm a little surprised she let you leave. Also surprised you were still standing. Could it have been a bad reading?

Dragonwolf

This might be of use for you, and provides a useful explanation for why this may have happened, outside of being Diabetic:
http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/reactive-hypoglycemia.html

Here's another old, but good post on hypoglycemia in the context of low carb:
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2007/04/is-hypoglycemia-hidden-low-carb-side.html

KaysKidz

Yes, all I had was an atkins shake. I don't know if it could have been a bad reading, I suppose anything is possible. I did have symptoms of low blood sugar, that is why I requested to be tested to begin with. So I'm sure it was low. Was it 23 low? I can only go by what the meter said both times. Readings taken approx 1 hour apart. I will retest tomorrow morning when I get to work. If I get another low reading, I will call my doc. Off to eat my eggs and sausage.

auntstephie321

I found when I first started eating lower carb because of insulin resistance, the first few days I went really low carb and my bg was low, based on my physical feeling. My suspicion was that my body was still faultily excreting excess insulin and because it had no carbs to work with it dropped my bg too low. Now that I've been low carb for a few weeks I no longer have that issue.

Definitely keep an eye on it and call your doctor if its severe. I had no clue I had insulin resistance until my doctor told me, so it's possible to have it and not know.

KaysKidz

Two hours after eating a real breakfast, it was 114. I bought a kit to use at home, so I will check it before getting out of bed tomorrow. If it's low, I will call my doc. Thanks all.