Hypoglycemic/blood sugar issues

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  • dylangrrrrl
    dylangrrrrl Posts: 64 Member
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    Hi gang, thanks again for all the info. Any recommendations on which glucometer to get?
  • dylangrrrrl
    dylangrrrrl Posts: 64 Member
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    Elphie754 and midwesterner85: You have an excellent point. I'm thinking my doctor's explanation made sense since it appears to be food related. ie if I eat what I want to, large lunch with meat/snacks it doesn't happen. Where as it seems if you have a brain tumor or other problem it would occur at various times/conditions. I'm no doctor however and appreciate your advice and will definitely purchase a glucometer as soon as possible, cut out afternoon snacks and then test.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    I'm not sure that you necessarily need to cut out afternoon snacks... just test when you have these symptoms. I realize everyone is different, but I did not have such extreme symptoms even at 20 mg/dl. Then again, there is evidence to suggest that people "adapt" to hypoglycemia if low often. I'm noticing myself that I am starting to develop hypoglycemic unawareness. But then that brings up the same point with you... if you are low that often, then you should be adapting anyway. So even if your symptoms are stronger than for most of us, they should be becoming weaker over time. That is, if the symptoms are caused by hypoglycemia.

    As for a glucometer, I really don't think it matters which one you get. Your doctor should be able to write a prescription in order to get insurance to pay for it, but they don't even require a prescription. Test strips are going to be the most costly, so you may as well just get a prescription for the whole thing: meter, test strips, lancets (meter will probably come with a lancet device and case, as well as a few test strips to start with). Just make sure it stores results so you can take it back to your doctor. It wouldn't hurt to make notes yet about what you did before, during, after to help identify patterns.

    And @aylajane has a good point, but it comes down to how low you are for treatment. If you are only slightly low, then I can understand protein for your situation. Basically her point is that, if you are hypoglycemic because your body is releasing too much insulin in response to rising glucose levels (reactive), then by treating with glucose tablets, you are raising those glucose levels too quickly and you are triggering too much insulin to be produced... which will cause a recurring hypoglycemic episode. If you are too low, you still should treat with glucose tablets to raise it quickly, but then I agree to follow that right away with protein and fat to give yourself an extended fuel/glucose to counter the increase in insulin that comes next. That is IF you have reactive hypoglycemia, which isn't clear at this point.

    Another suggestion: If this happens every week, try going gluten free for a week or two and see if it goes away during that time. I'm not saying don't eat carbs... just stay away from gluten and eat more fruits instead for your carbs. If that works, tell your doctor right away as they may want to run some additional tests.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    I'm not sure that you necessarily need to cut out afternoon snacks... just test when you have these symptoms. I realize everyone is different, but I did not have such extreme symptoms even at 20 mg/dl. Then again, there is evidence to suggest that people "adapt" to hypoglycemia if low often. I'm noticing myself that I am starting to develop hypoglycemic unawareness. But then that brings up the same point with you... if you are low that often, then you should be adapting anyway. So even if your symptoms are stronger than for most of us, they should be becoming weaker over time. That is, if the symptoms are caused by hypoglycemia.

    As for a glucometer, I really don't think it matters which one you get. Your doctor should be able to write a prescription in order to get insurance to pay for it, but they don't even require a prescription. Test strips are going to be the most costly, so you may as well just get a prescription for the whole thing: meter, test strips, lancets (meter will probably come with a lancet device and case, as well as a few test strips to start with). Just make sure it stores results so you can take it back to your doctor. It wouldn't hurt to make notes yet about what you did before, during, after to help identify patterns.

    And @aylajane has a good point, but it comes down to how low you are for treatment. If you are only slightly low, then I can understand protein for your situation. Basically her point is that, if you are hypoglycemic because your body is releasing too much insulin in response to rising glucose levels (reactive), then by treating with glucose tablets, you are raising those glucose levels too quickly and you are triggering too much insulin to be produced... which will cause a recurring hypoglycemic episode. If you are too low, you still should treat with glucose tablets to raise it quickly, but then I agree to follow that right away with protein and fat to give yourself an extended fuel/glucose to counter the increase in insulin that comes next. That is IF you have reactive hypoglycemia, which isn't clear at this point.

    Another suggestion: If this happens every week, try going gluten free for a week or two and see if it goes away during that time. I'm not saying don't eat carbs... just stay away from gluten and eat more fruits instead for your carbs. If that works, tell your doctor right away as they may want to run some additional tests.

    Excellent advice all around :)
  • dylangrrrrl
    dylangrrrrl Posts: 64 Member
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    Thanks again for all the advice guys! On a different note, my husband experiences caffeine crashes around 3 hours after coffee if he doesn't eat so I'm cutting back my caffeine and artificial sweetners for good measure. Truth is I drink too much diet dr pepper, especially in the mornings and have always been meaning to cut back but find it difficult to cut back on everything at one time. I'll post back on any affects of drinking less diet dr pepper.
  • Sharisunshine
    Sharisunshine Posts: 41 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    How did metformin help you with hypoglycemia? That seems counter-intuitive since metformin is intended to reduce insulin resistance.

    Do you use a glucometer? If yes, at what level do you begin to experience symptoms?

    As a type 1 diabetic, I've had trouble losing weight due to treating lows after exercise. I get it... you burn off a bunch of calories and then have to eat more back than what you burned in the first place. One day, I ate over 6,000 calories just to keep my blood sugar up and that was on a low activity day. My blood sugar was as low as 20 mg/dl during that time and only barely broke 100 once before crashing down yet again. I started to freak out because if I went to sleep, I would have to stop eating and would go low and die. So I stayed up eating cookies... after 2 boxes of cookies (1 of Oreos, another of Chips Ahoy), it rose high enough that I could confidently sleep without worrying about never waking. That was before I recognized that glucose tablets are a better option.

    The lowest calorie and fastest working option to raise blood sugar is glucose tablets, so using these as a go to will help reduce calories from treating lows.

  • Sharisunshine
    Sharisunshine Posts: 41 Member
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    I too am a Type 1 diabetic (have been for 23 years)and this has been my biggest struggle in weight loss. I eat healthy low calorie and exercise only to get low blood sugars and have to eat more. ..even if the "more" is not a bag of cookies. Lol. For me protein is not what brings my blood sugar up, it may make me feel full longer but small amounts of carbs is what I have to do.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    Sharisunshine wrote: »
    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    How did metformin help you with hypoglycemia? That seems counter-intuitive since metformin is intended to reduce insulin resistance.

    Do you use a glucometer? If yes, at what level do you begin to experience symptoms?

    As a type 1 diabetic, I've had trouble losing weight due to treating lows after exercise. I get it... you burn off a bunch of calories and then have to eat more back than what you burned in the first place. One day, I ate over 6,000 calories just to keep my blood sugar up and that was on a low activity day. My blood sugar was as low as 20 mg/dl during that time and only barely broke 100 once before crashing down yet again. I started to freak out because if I went to sleep, I would have to stop eating and would go low and die. So I stayed up eating cookies... after 2 boxes of cookies (1 of Oreos, another of Chips Ahoy), it rose high enough that I could confidently sleep without worrying about never waking. That was before I recognized that glucose tablets are a better option.

    The lowest calorie and fastest working option to raise blood sugar is glucose tablets, so using these as a go to will help reduce calories from treating lows.

    Yes, I realize that now. When this happened, though, it would have still taken over 150 glucose tablets to get me the same number of carbs it took to treat the seriously long-lasting low I described.
  • hopefuldove
    hopefuldove Posts: 1
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    Almonds are my fav you van even get some that are chocolate flavor and only have one gram of sugar from Emerald brand or just plain raw and apple or banana.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    I've had reactive hypoglycemia episodes. First time, in my 20s, when it was really bad, and then again recently towards the end of my weight loss phase.

    I second taking meticulous notes of what you eat and drink and how you feel, and what your blood sugars are at several points throughout the day (before meal - after meal etc.).

    I found that switching to decaf coffee (doesn't directly affect blood sugars, but can confuse what's going on and doesn't help) and focusing on more snacks with protein-carb balance resolved it for me. Oh, and avoiding oatmeal and cereals for breakfast. A bowl of oatmeal (the steel-cut kind, not instant) was guaranteed to trigger me about 2 hours later, even if I mixed it with protein. I always have a snack with me when I travel or workout. Specifically, a banana and 10g of almonds works for me, and I rely on mini babybels as well.

    Meanwhile, good luck. I have had to pull over en route to picking my daughter up from school because I felt funny. It was heartbreaking and scary.
  • carbos101
    carbos101 Posts: 48 Member
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    I'm hypoglycemic and it's severe if I don't eat enough food or not enough carbohydrates. Too much protein sends me into the abyss. I've tried everything -- would give anything if I could follow a high protein diet but need sugars. I try to eat healthy carbos but I really appreciate midwestern's info re/eating the fast acting carbos not just ones loaded with fiber and sugar alcohols.

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