Hypoglycemia?

Hey everyone,

I've been having a problem when I exercise. Whenever I go for my nightly brisk walk, I get extremely weak, tired, and hungry by the end of it. My legs feel very weak and clumsy and sometimes my hands shake. I think this is hypoglycemia. How do I stop this from happening or treat it once it happens? Would a piece of hard candy of glucose tablets help me?

An additional problem is that once this feeling sets in, it sometimes makes me overeat because it is like I can never get my energy back and I am ravenous.

You should have a glucose tolerance test.

I would definitely go see your doctor, and in the meantime, carry around some glucose tablets or hard candy to eat when you feel like that. I have Type 2 Diabetes, and when my blood glucose gets low, I feel the same way you described.

Have you been diagnosed as hypoglycemic? Yes, those symptoms can be an effect of hypoglycemia, but don't necessarily mean that's what it is. I have to eat/snack at least every 3-4 hours to maintain regular levels. Try eating something light <nuts, yogurt, cheese stick> before you start out, unless you've had a meal within 2 hours of starting out, and see if that helps. To combat symptoms after the fact, peanut butter or orange juice work best for me. Also, remember to breathe properly <weird as it sounds, I found I was going through periods of holding my breathe when I started running...made my dizzy, weak...not fun>.

And if you haven't been tested, and it's a concern, go to a doctor and set up the blood work <especially if you have a family history of diabetes/hypoglycemia>

It sound like it. I have reactive hypoglycemia so having something like hard candy or glucose tablets actually makes mine worse.

I try to eat a snack about 45 minutes before I exercise. And I make sure it's a snack with a lower glycemic index. I've been a fan of the low sugar Kind bars for this purpose. They contain mostly nuts with a little bit of honey or glucose syrup to bind them together.. Sometimes instead I'll have a small piece of fruit and some almonds or walnuts.

I find that I need to combine simple sugars with fats to slow the spike and subsequent crash in my blood sugar. Nuts also contain complex carbs so I find they keep my blood sugar more stable.

This also makes me less hungry after I exercise.

In my experience with (diagnosed) hypoglycemia eating sugar when you crash is the worst thing to do. You start the cycle of high blood sugar and intense drop all over again. I am always baffled when people suggest eating sugar to deal with a crash. Yes, it makes you feel better immediately, but it causes you to crash again a short time later. Stop the cycle by eating a complex carb and protein.

Same for me. Straight up sugars only make it worse.

It wouldn't hurt to eat an orange or apple before u go and see if that helps. I wouldn't do nothing and wait for the weakness to happen, then treat it. Fix the prob before it happens.