hypoglycemia and daily food intake...help :)

laceylovespink
laceylovespink Posts: 138
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
long story short, I'm just about positive I have hypoglycemia. The shakes and headaches started about 4 weeks ago. Was working out hard for 6 days a week (2 of those an hour with my trainer). Went to the doctor and told her i was shaking and she wanted to give me a blood pressure pill to offset the shaking! So I told her hell to the no in a nice way. She decreased my wellbutrin (at my request) to see if it was a side effect. Anyway, after several weeks I'm finding out that if I am shaky and eat sugar, I stop shaking after about 45 minutes. Right now hubby is in-between jobs so we have no insurance for another 2 months. My doctor told me if the shaking didn't stop and I came back in she was doing a CT of the head which costs thousands. So...I'm trying to find someone who is trying to lose weight and see what the daily diet is like for them. I've searched online but don't find much. I've gained 10 lbs in the last two weeks from trying to figure all of this out. When I have absolutely no fruit in the house I have to put 4 TBS of sugar in grapefruit juice. this works but I need to find out how to eat all day, lose weight, and keep my sugar in check.
thank you for reading this and for any help. I'm a nurse, but not a nutritionist...I don't really know what to do at this point :)

Replies

  • shagybear33
    shagybear33 Posts: 272
    hi!

    i have hypoglycemia as well. i have to be very careful which foods i eat.

    i find if i stay away from fruit, white stuff (wholegrain is ok) and make sure every meal has some sort of protein and good amount of fibre, then I'm ok. before i started eating this way, i found even eating fruit to bring my blood sugar back up would work, briefly, then make me crash again. it was an all day jitter/shaky/feeling like i'm gonna vomit fest!!

    feel free to PM me if you want more info :D
  • Jnoreen44
    Jnoreen44 Posts: 1
    I'm hypoglycemic too but I found out that this affects me more often during the days I din't have a balanced, healthy breakfast within an hour after I'm awake and also if I go past 3 hours without a meal/snack. I ty eating 6 small meals per day and sometimes my workdays are 19 hours long.
  • PJmetts
    PJmetts Posts: 210 Member
    I'm a nurse also and a DIetician taught me to always have carb/fat/protien with every meal and snack to keep sugar steady (basic glycemic index stuff-VERY basic). Disclaimer, intended-please try a free clinic or sliding fee scale clinic most states have if you don't get better soon!
    Best wishes to you,
    Peggy
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,223 Member
    Same here, my snacks have to have a healthy balance of carb/protein/fat, as an example if I have just cantelope for my snack i start getting the shakes before supper. If I have my greek yogurt and a bit of cantelope or cheese & apple slices, I'm perfectly fine. It's all about balance. When I have anything too sugary, I feel better, but I will crash and feel even worse to begin with.

    Maybe you're not eating enough?

    I agree with trying to find a low-cost/free clinic. Those were always life savers for me when I was struggling.

    Good luck!
  • laceylovespink
    laceylovespink Posts: 138
    thank you everyone for your replies! Can someone post a basic list of everything you eat in a day? i do hate eating all the time, I'm so busy.
  • xalligator
    xalligator Posts: 33 Member
    No matter what you eat, it's always good idea to eat in proper intervals. Try not to go for too long without eating something.

    I'm hypoglycemic and the only way I was able to stave off the shakes, fainting, blue lips, and headaches was to minimize eating anything that my body could could metabolize into glucose. Since then I've have absolutely no problems. Mostly I eat meat, nuts, full-fat dairy, and veggies.

    The bad part for me is that if I cheat even a little bit, I get a nice pounding headache a few hours after. More incentive to be good...
  • MMMonicaC
    MMMonicaC Posts: 5
    I've not been officially diagnosed, but my doctor agreed with my hypothesis that I am hypoglycemic as well.... as I've suspected for a few years. It does make weight loss tough when you're not even hungry but you feel like you'll pass out if you don't eat RIGHT NOW.

    I've found that adequate complex carbs, protein, & yes, some fat, with every meal, & protein-rich snacks is essential. I always have either a homemade granola bar (#1 ingredient is peanut butter, #2 is rolled oats), or yogurt & high protein dry cereal for breakfast (7:30am... if I had time & didn't have to walk the dog, I'd have eggs & whole wheat toast w/ a little butter every morning, as this is a good combination to ward off the shakes) and usually need another snack by 10:30. I keep a can of almonds on my desk for this purpose. I'm usually fine between lunch & the end of my shift (12:30 -4) if lunch had enough protein (lunch is catered)... otherwise I need more almonds by 2:30-3. For dinner (5-6) my husband & I vary things a lot, but if we don't make meat or fish, we need to include eggs and/or whole grains. For some reason, I usually do fine in the evening, even when I don't have an ideal dinner, but mid-morning through mid-afternoon is the hardest for me to keep my blood sugar in check.

    Sometimes, if I'm desperate (you know... shaky, light-headed, very anxious), I will eat or drink something really sugary to boost my blood sugar quickly, but if I don't follow it up shortly with something high-protein, I'll crash again within an hour or two.

    It might take a little experimentation to find what works for you, but if you include complex carbs, protein, and a little fat in every meal/snack and eat smaller portions, more frequently, that should help.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories