hypoglycemia

[akwebb3]

Hi all,
I just got a call from my Doctor about some lab results I had done. He says that I am hypoglycemic. Of course I am reading everything on the internet I can about it now. Some of it says this diet is great for it while others say it is not. I also remember reading about hypoglycemia in the Atkins book so I got that out and read it again. I was wondering if anyone else has any experience with this and if Atkins is working for you? I have lost 5 pounds this week and have noticed that I don't have that uncontrolable urge to eat all the time even just after finishing a meal so I think I am doing well. Anyways like I said just wanted to know if anyone else has anything to add to the things I have read.
Thanks,
Anne

[*Emma*]

I dont have anything to add bout it no, but someone will be along soon i'm sure!!

I just wanted you to know that you can click on User CP at the top, edit signature on the left, and paste your pic and ticker in there instead of adding them at the end of every post!

[Randiman1]

Hello!!! I am not hypoglycemic (sorry), but I am a type 1 diabetic, so I know a little about hypoglycemia, well no I don't. I know everything about it if you’re a diabetic and taking insulin, but if your body just does it on its own then I have no clue.

For me to keep from going low I just cut my insulin injections in half, and run a little higher then normal, but if you aren't on any meds to keep you from going high then I have no clue. I am very interested though in hearing what to do. There are so many things that you will need to take into account in order for you to keep from going low…how many carbs did I eat? When do I plan on exercising? What is my BS before/after exercising…excising sucks for me and my BS!

In my person opinion I would think that Atkins would be difficult for a hypoglycemic to do due to the low number of carbs in your body. In order to keep from going low you need carbs. I also feel that whatever meds the Doc puts you on will most likely have kind of glucose in it, so...yea...I really can't be of any help here either! I am so sorry, but somebody will know!!!

[Jace]

I am hypoglycemic and tend to get shaky in the mid-morning and experience mild to severe attacks of vertigo and "pins and needles" feelings in my fingers as well as a constant feeling of being cold throughout the day.

My experience with Atkins is that my hypoglycemia conditions improved dramatically during the weight loss phases of Atkins. So much so that all physical symptoms except the vertigo vanished. However, once I reached the lifetime maintenance phase, my diet became slightly more rounded as is natural for those who are maintaining and some of the symptoms returned. They are not as bad as they were though and I'm able to control them by having an apple or other sweet piece of fruit when the shakiness and weak feelings start happening. Because I can control the problem so easily, my doctor is no longer worried about my condition. I was not able to control my hypoglycemia at all pre-Atkins.

Low carbing has definitely been a benefit to me. My last blood test shows that I'm only 2 points lower than the lowest recommended plasma glucose levels (68 mg/dl) and I haven't had a single instance of losing my balance and crashing to the floor since I entered the maintenance phase, but I still get mild attacks of dizziness.

This way of life has definitely helped in that regard. As for the vertigo, the reason that it still remains is because I also suffer from hypotension, which runs in my mothers family. Low blood pressure AND low blood sugar combined is one **** of an annoying combo when it comes to keeping your balance when moving from a sitting to standing position. If not for the hypotension, though, I'm sure the dizziness associated with hypoglycemia would have vanished as well.

Best of luck!

~Far la bella figura!

[akwebb3]

Hi all thanks for the posts. I am doing some self testing today. I have put my Atkins on hold for a few more days. I took my Blood Sugar this morning and it was 68. Then after a low carb breakfast it started to go up to 82. So I decided to start doing some self testing things. I ate some ice cream and checked my Blood sugar after that. It got high up to 141. But now that it is dropping rapidly I don't even feel like I need to check it. I know it is bad. I am shaky and very irritable with my kids. I am freezing cold even though I am wearing a long flannel night gown (Hubby calls it my circus tent lol!!). Anyway I guess the problem is how fast it drops and how far it drops. I am a little disappointed about not following the diet today but I figure if I want to do self test stuff like this now is the time since I have to go back to the doctors on Friday to have another glucose tolerance test. For that the Doctor will give lots of sugar and then watch me and my symptoms for several hours. Hopefully that will be the end of the testing for a while. I am wanting to try to control this with out any medication and just use diet. My Grandmother is Diabetic and she no longer takes any meds and just uses her diet to control it completely. I just hope I can do the same.
Thanks again,
Anne

[karen77]

Hi Randiman1

Nice to see a fellow Type 1

My levels have been fantastic since I started this a few days ago, I was always high as a kite before (not good!)

Having a hypo at the moment though, and I would normally have lucozde but i don;t know what to have now i'm on atkins, any ideas what would be least damaging?

Thankyou in advance

[kate58]

I am not diabetic, but my partner is, although he is now off all drugs since being on Atkins. He had some hypo issues at the begining, which we read a lot about at the time, and while I don't know if it's relevant to you, the following is what we figured out.

Because hypoglycemia occurs as a response to insulin, this is more to do with getting control over insulin than it is anything else. Anyone on who is hypersensitive to insulin and starts Atkins, will for a time still have insulin, whether produced naturally in the body or as a result of medication, but not much for it to work on. It takes time for this to settle.

Another issue is that it's very difficult to predict when you are on drugs what drugs exactly you still need. It's hard for a diabetic to start skipping drugs, but if you don't and are not eating much carbs, the drugs are just pushing you into hypo states. I think that almost all the issues he had were related to taking too much medication at the begining - he genuinely was afraid about cutting doses. He did so very gradually and that worked out in the end.

Another thing that helped a lot was eating frequently - he never went more than 3 hours without at a least a small snack. Actually that pretty much sorted things out once he started that.

Dealing with the hypoglycemia was another thing. He was used to reaching for a banana if he had a problem. However he found quite quickly that something that was a good mix of protein and fat was a great help - in his case a olives in oil or some cheese, maybe with mayo, did the trick.

One last thing was interesting. If he ate anything with artificial sweetener in it - even splenda - his glucose dipped significantly. It seemed like they made his body expect sugar and act accordingly, producing insulin. That does not happen any more, but it was amazing at the start. I think his body needed retraining, which it has had now.

[karen77]

Hi kate58

I went into a hypo because my levels were elevated at lunch, i had 8 units of insulin (which has come down from 14 over the last 5 days!) to get me through at work. I didn't want to ruin my induction so i managed to get home and have a peperami and a chunk of cheese. I'm still low now but not too low.

Is your husband type 1 or 2?

I'm feeling much better when i look at my glucose meter and for the first time since diagnosis 8 years ago i am in range!

[kate58]

He's type 2. I don't really know much about type 1 at all, so I'm not sure how useful his experience would be for you.

It's fantastic that your glucose is in range though, great to hear that!!

[karen77]

Thankyou kate58 , I'm trying my hardest at the moment. Fingers crossed.