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*]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia


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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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]

Re: hypoglycemia

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

[Randiman1]

Re: hypoglycemia

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

Hello Karen!

How do you currently take your insulin...pump or a long lasting and fast acting insulin? I personally don't like the pump. I was on it for a few years, but just found that injections are better for me. I have much better control with the injections then the pump. I also had problems losing weight on Atkins with the pump b/c it would be continuously giving me insulin, when the a major point of the diet is to decrease your insulin levels...

Sorry got off subject. To try and ensure that I don't go low I cut way back on my insulin. I NORMALLY take 1 unit of fast acting insulin (Humalog) for every 10 grams of carb. However now if I don't eat 10 grams of carb at once, then I simply won't take any insulin. It is kind of scary at first to not take your insulin, but I just check my BS and it is always in the correct range. If I am correct you said that you took 8units of insulin today (?) I don't know how long you have been doing the diet, or what your "sliding scale" is, but that seems like a lot of insulin for being on Atkins. As I said though you are probably correct, I just don't know how high you are on the rungs of Atkins, or what your insulin to carb ratio is. Everybody is different though. I know if I took 8units at once during any meal of the day I would definitely go low.

There are two ways that treat a low, and they depend on the situation, and how low I am. If I am borderline low, or I can tell that I dropping then I will simply eat some meat or cheese. However if I am extremely low....<70 then I will take 2 glucose tablets. I know they are not "atkins" friendly, but with this disease and diet they are the most reasonable way to bring me up. 2 tablets are 10 grams of carb, which is good for me b/c when I am low I just want to eat everything in the kitchen. I have picked through my kitchen so bad before that I would be ashamed for anybody to see me. But when you’re low you have to treat it. It can be very scary!

I tend to go low mostly at night..while sleeping! (man does it get old!) I realized that I was going low due to my insulin amounts (mostly my long lasting), so I decided to cut back on that as well and my lows have stopped. The long last and carb to insulin ratio for the fast acting all depend on your size and how subjective you are to the insulin, so this is something that changes for everyone. I have found that I lose weight I need to decrease my insulin amounts also.

*I don’t recommend decreasing your insulin levels on your own, unless you know-how to properly. I have taken several courses to learn more about the disease and have worked very closely with great doctors to be able to control myself. I would suggest seeing your doctor if you continue to have several lows, because your insulin levels most likely will need adjusting. If you don’t want to see your doctor, then play around with it yourself and see what levels your body is comfortable with.

I hope this helped , if not then please feel free to ask more questions!!!!

[karen77]

Re: hypoglycemia

Hi Randi

Thanks for replying.

Up until 5 days ago when i started this diet ,I was having around 7 injections a day 6 fast and i slow at night. The fast amount was 14 units each time and the slow 26. Over the last couple of days I have taken between 8 -10 units of fast in total and reduced my night time to 21 which i am ecstatic about.

This is my main reason for Atkins to be honest , I'm not massively overweight but soon will be if the insulin requirements keep going up which is what has happened steadily over the last 8 years of being diagnosed. I knew all along that reducing the carbs was the way to go but actually stopping myself eating all the things I love was just impossible I thought. I always wondered why didn't I crave chocs instead of carbs? At least that way I would know I'm not allowed them!

I came out of the hypo with about 3 nuts and 2 dried gogi berries, it was all I had that was almost suitable - apart from the glucose tablets! Which of course I will take next time instead of falling over almost! My hypo's sound exactly like yours, mainly early hours of the morning, trying to find chocolate or biscuits , mostly both! Once my tounge stops tingling I've probably consumed more calories than the rest of the day. Not good is it?

Actually I weighed myself this morning , and I haven't lost a single ounce even though I have been following the diet closely and haven't cheated once. I find this remarkable considering how 'good' i've been. How long were you doing this before you lost?

Karen

[Randiman1]

Re: hypoglycemia

I really think that our insulin injections have something to due with our slow weight loss. With non diabetics there bodies have the option to not release insulin when they don't need it, where as us, we inject it b/c we "know" we need it, and then most likely end up going low. So when most people's bodies are not releasing insulin all of the time, we are forcing our bodies to take insulin....I hope this makes sense. I have no proof to this theory of mine, but I have heard of a lot of type 1s having the issue of slow weight loss, and this is the only reason I can think of.

The first time I did atkins (back in 2003) I lost 50lbs in about 2 months....which was great, however I didn't necessarily do it the healthy way. For the most part I only took my long lasting insulin and didn't worry much about checking my BS or taking insulin when I didn't think I needed. THAT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO GO!!!!! At the time I had only been diagnosed for a barely a year and was still going through the denial phase of the disease, and I was really upset because I gained 50lbs once I start taking insulin! Now I take much better care of myself. I check my BS regularly and make a game out of how low I can get my A1C....last time it was 6.8, so I was really happy!

To honestly answer your question...while doing Atkins currently, and taking my meds correctly my weight loss has been very slow. Tomorrow will be the beginning of my week 4 and I have only lost about 7-8lbs. I do stay positive though, because this is a life change that will be better for my life. I gained my weight from the injections. I never had a problem until I start taking insulin. *Side note* I don't understand how a majority of type 1s are extremely skinny, but yet insulin has the opposite effect on me! That has always bothered me! *side note over*

I just strongly encourage you to stay with the diet even though it is slow for us. I would be sure to check everything that you are eating to ensure that there are no hidden sugars anywhere. Not all meats are without sugar. I also must say that even though the Scale isn't moving (oh yea, I was on my TOM for about 2 weeks of this, so that might have slowed me also), I am noticing inches gone and changes in my body. Trust me this works, and this is one of the best diets for Diabetics. Although Type 1s will never get off meds, this diet can greatly reduce the amount that we take!!!!! Which will save us TONS OF $$$$!!!!!

[karen77]

Re: hypoglycemia

Hi again

I'm the same as you, had no problem with weight ( i was always extremely slender maximum 115 pounds for years before diabetes) until I started injecting. Then the weight started going on, slowly but surely and this is when I realised that I would have to do something or I'm going to end up like a typical Type 2 diabetic i:e too big.

I think all the type 1 people who are still skinny are very lucky, either that or they are not injecting!! Lol..but seriously I know there are people who need far more or far less insulin than myself.

You are right about it being a lifestyle change, the continual high levels were driving me mad, constantly tired, no sex life, thinking about food too much, and just injecting to counteract the food which is sooooo wrong!!

I am going to be examining food labels etc for hidden sugars. Actually I had a protien shake for breakfast today as I didn't have time for bacon and eggs and the net carbs were 0.7 so was this ok?

[Randiman1]

Re: hypoglycemia

Hi again

I'm the same as you, had no problem with weight ( i was always extremely slender maximum 115 pounds for years before diabetes) until I started injecting. Then the weight started going on, slowly but surely and this is when I realised that I would have to do something or I'm going to end up like a typical Type 2 diabetic i:e too big.

I think all the type 1 people who are still skinny are very lucky, either that or they are not injecting!! Lol..but seriously I know there are people who need far more or far less insulin than myself.

You are right about it being a lifestyle change, the continual high levels were driving me mad, constantly tired, no sex life, thinking about food too much, and just injecting to counteract the food which is sooooo wrong!!

I am going to be examining food labels etc for hidden sugars. Actually I had a protien shake for breakfast today as I didn't have time for bacon and eggs and the net carbs were 0.7 so was this ok?

The carb level of your shake sounds ok, but I don't know what all was in it, or what rung of the diet you are (sorry if you have stated this before). Hummm...a shake does sound good though, so would you mind sharing what was in it and how to make it?!

Thanks!