Hypoglycemia

I would ask for a referral to a specialist. I don't want to scare you, but your story sounded familiar--I saw a medical diagnosis show on the Discovery channel a while back, and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_oxidation_disorder was the child's eventual diagnosis. It might be that what you are doing to fix your issues is accidentally making them worse!

I'm hypoglycemic. It took me a long time to get stabilized. I've had it since I was 14. Don't worry, you're not alone.

I have seen all sorts of doctors for it. I also have 200+ cholesterol and I'm under 25. So I have to be careful.

For me, the key to hypoglycemia was breakfast. If I do not do my morning's right, I'm all thrown off.

Two impt points:

1. If you want to exercise in the morning (I recommend you don't), do it after you eat breakfast. And not right after coffee.

2. High protein meals in the morning. Until you're stable, I'd eat ultra high protein all day. Keep to the calories, but protein's your friend.

Some breakfasts I found work well:
1. 16 oz coffee, 1/4 cup of milk, 2 sweeteners (not sugar!); Danon Light & Fit 80 cal yogurt, 1/4 cup FiberOne Cereal (80 cal one, high fiber, high protein), and 1 hard boiled egg, no yolk. 160 calories ; 28 carbs; 12 g protein

2. 3 egg whites scrambled with 1/4 cup part skim milk Mozzerella cheese, 1 cup spinach, 4 oz diced chicken breast. 340 calories; 10 carbs ; 9 grams of fat ; 47 g protein

3. 2 glass of fat free milk, 1 Danon Light & Fit Yogurt, 1 Apple, 1 Mini Baybel Light by Laughing Cow: 275 calories, 13 carbs, 3 grams fat, 19 g protein

Keep the breakfasts over 10 g protein and under 300 ish calories and you'll be good. If you're unstable and you've been feeling weak, stick to 15 g protein breakfasts, 17-22 ish g protein for lunch. The earlier in the day I eat the protein, the better I feel.

I would not worry about the carbs too much. If you do breakfast right, the rest I find falls into place. In the morning, I'd stay away from heavy bad carbs like: toast, pancakes, waffles, donuts, syrup, etc. Just save budget room for them at dinner!

The more you do you cardiovascular exercise, the more I am able to be stable. At least 3x/week for 30 min each time works best for me. Anyless I can get thrown off.

If you get stuck, 5 smaller meals instead of 3 big meals helps a lot too.

Good luck! I hope this helps! We have to stick together!

For non-diabetics, blood sugar is very stable. Normal fasted is 70-110mg/dL. I suspect improper hydration could be a culprit for giving you a false low blood sugar from exercise since testing equipment relies on blood concentration/volume. Undereating/starvation/anorexia can also result in low blood sugar.

mandalt27 -- I am quite impressed by a 5am workout! I get up early to go to work and I can hardly do that! If mornings are the only time you can work out, do it. If you have to drink coffee beforehand, do it. But with caution. Caffeine wakes you up but also dehydrates you. When you're hypoglycemic and you become dehydrated AND you have not had a high protein breakfaast, it can be a disaster. I cannot imagine doing a 5am workout without large cup of coffee.

So this is what I would do if I were you: I'd drink the coffee. But for how much coffee I drink (i.e. 16 fl oz), I'd drink that much water BEFORE I work out (16 fl oz). I'd also have a yogurt and the 1/4 cup of cereal before the workout. My hypoglycemia's too out of whack to workout before food and water. I've fainted on the elliptical at the gym before. Not a pretty sight!

After my workout, I'd drink another glass or two of water, then continue my day as usual. When I've done early workouts, this works okay for me. It's not great but it's doable. I like going before work but my body does not. Sometimes I just have to listen to my body. It's telling me something I don't know.

So if going early morning works for you with coffee, go for it. But don't be surprised if you run into some headwinds later in the day.

Yes, and it can be horrible. With help from my doc I was able to get it pretty much under control. I still have episodes when my day doesn't go according to plan.

The key for me is eating regularly. I snack every couple of hours all day long, and my meals are quite light (like 300 calories or less). I get into trouble when I get called into an unexpected meeting that takes 4 or 5 hours and I miss a couple of snacks. But as long as I take care of myself, I'm pretty much good.

If I've been eating regularly, I don't have trouble with my workouts. I also do a 5 a.m. workout before the workday starts, and I do it on an empty stomach. But my condition doesn't seem to be nearly as severe as yours.

I would definitely talk with your doc and see what they recommend.

As a diabetic, I was having problems with hypoglycemia during exercise. Even if I started a workout with a high blood sugar reading, it would drop too low within 20 minutes. My endocrynologist recommended drinking gatoraid instead of water during the workout. I either use a small bottle of the regular, or a large bottle of the low calorie version. Either way is around 45 calories, and 12 -15 carbs. It totally does the trick for me.

Definitely see a Doctor. Self diagnosis or a delay in treatment can lead to some pretty scary stuff.

I do not have any medical background so I can offer you little/no medical advice. We have been dealing with this for the past year with my 4 year old. She was ending up in the ER every other week with blood sugar levels usually between 20-40 that we could not reverse with any food or drink (would just cause her to throw up and further decrease her blood sugar levels). After tons and tons of testing, they determined that the cause was low growth hormone and she is now on daily hormone injections. However, the endocrinologist did say that this was a good prognosis as there are several other disorders that can cause hypoglycemia which are much more serious. I would highly encourage you to ask for a referral to see an endo asap! Blood sugar levels that low can cause cause long term effects. Even during testing in the hospital, they would never allow her blood sugar to get below 50 under direct supervision of a large team of doctors. They would immediately intervene and stop testing.