missionseeker Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hello PHAM!!!!! My goodness, I have missed you all. I have been a little remiss in my duties as a phamily member. (I have been hanging out here, but not posting as much. I was wondering if maybe someone out there could help me. I've known that I'm hypoglycemic for the past two and a half or so years. But recently, I've had more problems with it than before. As in vision problems so bad that I had to go the eye doc's 2 times in 7 months (and am in bifocals at 18). Today, he had me go to the physician's to have my blood sugar evaluated, it was barely normal (72, normal is 70-100) I've never had this much problems keeping my sugar regulated. Doesn any one out there (maybe a fellow hypoglycemic) have any suggestions, hints, or ideas? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritas Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 [quote name='missionseeker' post='1335314' date='Jul 19 2007, 10:41 PM']Hello PHAM!!!!! My goodness, I have missed you all. I have been a little remiss in my duties as a phamily member. (I have been hanging out here, but not posting as much. I was wondering if maybe someone out there could help me. I've known that I'm hypoglycemic for the past two and a half or so years. But recently, I've had more problems with it than before. As in vision problems so bad that I had to go the eye doc's 2 times in 7 months (and am in bifocals at 18). Today, he had me go to the physician's to have my blood sugar evaluated, it was barely normal (72, normal is 70-100) I've never had this much problems keeping my sugar regulated. Doesn any one out there (maybe a fellow hypoglycemic) have any suggestions, hints, or ideas? Thanks![/quote] + You probably know this, but stay away from refined and simple sugars like white sugar -don't drink pop. Don't ingest high fructose corn syrup, saccharine, or nutra sweet. Fruits are okay, but follow it up with a carb like a granola bar. Make sure you do this 2-3 hours after each meal. I always carry an apple, banana, granola bar, nuts, small juice box (some combination) with me to get me through to the next meal. Make sure at each meal you have a combination of sugar/carb/and protein. My understanding is that while your body is able to utilize the sugars in fruit e.g. within minutes, it takes approx. 2 hours for the body to convert carbs into sugar, and 4 hours approx. for the body to turn protein into sugar. So, having all three at meals will help your sugar levels to stay normal. My doctor told me: eat eggs, bacon, potatos and toast at breakfast so you don't crash later! Being a vegetarian who doesn't eat eggs, I don't do this. What I do do is have raisin bran with soy milk and walnuts and almonds every morning for breakfast and that works well. EAT BREAKFAST! Although, the other day I had half a carmel pecan roll and a tofu veggie scrambler with potatos and I didn't have to eat for like 5 hours. It was great. Otherwise, I'll start to feel kind of disoriented and light headed when my sugar gets low, until I eat. Hope all goes well. Looking forward to tips from others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totus Tuus Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 (edited) Breakfast is super important. Any tips for sudden dizziness? Usually, eating a protein doesn't help at all once I'm really dizzy. I just have to lay down for a few minutes, but am wondering if there's a way to prevent it. My doctor told me to eat small snacks with a combination of protein and carb (like whole wheat crackers with peanut butter... I like the natural peanut butter). I plan ahead if I'm going somewhere, and pack a couple small snacks in zip-lock bags. Unfortunately I can't help you with the vision problem. My vision has become more blurry but I can still see without glasses. Edited July 20, 2007 by Totus Tuus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone _ Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Watch you diet. That's the key. Lots of protein. Look up the GI of foods to plan your meals. (A combo of fast and slow carbs is a good idea--find out what works for you.) As for the dizziness, in the diabetic section of drugstores, they have glucose tabs. I carry a tube with me most of the time. Chew one or two, and your symptoms will go away until you can get some protein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone _ Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Oh, and stay away from potatoes--they're almost as bad as pure sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totus Tuus Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Great tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I don't have a problem with blood sugar but I just may have to adopt the cave man diet permanently as I have a food intolerance/allergy to dairy and starchy things like wheats and potatoes. Basically a lot of stuff I love to eat, I'm not really supposed to eat so much. But I'm sure I'll lose weight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionseeker Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 Thanks guys. That is helpful. My doc didn't say anything yesterday about what I should do. (He told me last time, but I think that cafeteria food kinda messed up my system). The optometrist seemed a little more concerned. Apparently, my retina isn't getting enough glucose and it's causing me to "see spots and black fuzzy things" and not be able to focus. Everything I find is different. Somethings say high protein/ low carbs other high carbs/low protien (although, I'm pretty positive that THAT would not be good for me- I need my protein). Others say don't eat fats from meat and dairy. Others say eat bacon and sausage every day and crackers and coagulated milk are the best snacks. *sigh. I'm going to get a meter and monitor and experiment with foods and the reactions both symptom wise and vision wise. Thanks! I knew I could count on my pham! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkaands Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='missionseeker' post='1335860' date='Jul 20 2007, 06:43 PM']Thanks guys. That is helpful. My doc didn't say anything yesterday about what I should do. (He told me last time, but I think that cafeteria food kinda messed up my system). The optometrist seemed a little more concerned. Apparently, my retina isn't getting enough glucose and it's causing me to "see spots and black fuzzy things" and not be able to focus. Everything I find is different. Somethings say high protein/ low carbs other high carbs/low protien (although, I'm pretty positive that THAT would not be good for me- I need my protein). Others say don't eat fats from meat and dairy. Others say eat bacon and sausage every day and crackers and coagulated milk are the best snacks. *sigh. I'm going to get a meter and monitor and experiment with foods and the reactions both symptom wise and vision wise. Thanks! I knew I could count on my pham![/quote] You might get a full checkup with an MD, before you launch into a lot of diet alteration and make a diagnosis of hypoglycemia. You may end up getting a glucose tolerance test. This is a pain in the butt but is the best way to see how your body reacts to a sugar load. You drink a premeasured amount of sugary stuff and they take blood sugars over a two hour period, I think thru a finger stick, but I had the venous blood samples the two times I did it, long ago. As I said, it's a pain, but it's worth it. When your blood sugar was 72, were you fasting for 8-10 hours? Having a low normal blood sugar while you're fasting doesn't mean anything. Was it on the rebound? BS of 72 isn't enough for a diagnosis of hypoglycemia. If you had a series of blood sugars after a meal that went: 100, 150, 120, 100, , 40, 72, that might be significant. For your eyes, you might go to an ophthalmologist, a real eye doctor, and have a full exam, with an eye dilatation and everything. I think that getting a meter is a good idea. I was worried that mebbe I was 'pre-diabetic", fasting blood sugar of 125-150. I was recently hospitalized and had a number of blood sugars drawn which were all elevated. I got home, godt a blood meter kit, settled down to a normal diet, and took a fasting blood sugar one morning: 91. No "pre-diabetes"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totus Tuus Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='missionseeker' post='1335860' date='Jul 20 2007, 07:43 PM']Thanks guys. That is helpful. My doc didn't say anything yesterday about what I should do. (He told me last time, but I think that cafeteria food kinda messed up my system). The optometrist seemed a little more concerned. Apparently, my retina isn't getting enough glucose and it's causing me to "see spots and black fuzzy things" and not be able to focus. Everything I find is different. Somethings say high protein/ low carbs other high carbs/low protien (although, I'm pretty positive that THAT would not be good for me- I need my protein). Others say don't eat fats from meat and dairy. Others say eat bacon and sausage every day and crackers and coagulated milk are the best snacks. *sigh. I'm going to get a meter and monitor and experiment with foods and the reactions both symptom wise and vision wise. Thanks! I knew I could count on my pham![/quote] My doctor told me complex carbs (not refined) WITH a protein. That is what I do, several times a day, and it works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionseeker Posted July 21, 2007 Author Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='jkaands' post='1335896' date='Jul 20 2007, 08:23 PM']You might get a full checkup with an MD, before you launch into a lot of diet alteration and make a diagnosis of hypoglycemia. You may end up getting a glucose tolerance test. This is a pain in the butt but is the best way to see how your body reacts to a sugar load. You drink a premeasured amount of sugary stuff and they take blood sugars over a two hour period, I think thru a finger stick, but I had the venous blood samples the two times I did it, long ago. As I said, it's a pain, but it's worth it. When your blood sugar was 72, were you fasting for 8-10 hours? Having a low normal blood sugar while you're fasting doesn't mean anything. Was it on the rebound? BS of 72 isn't enough for a diagnosis of hypoglycemia. If you had a series of blood sugars after a meal that went: 100, 150, 120, 100, , 40, 72, that might be significant. For your eyes, you might go to an ophthalmologist, a real eye doctor, and have a full exam, with an eye dilatation and everything. I think that getting a meter is a good idea. I was worried that mebbe I was 'pre-diabetic", fasting blood sugar of 125-150. I was recently hospitalized and had a number of blood sugars drawn which were all elevated. I got home, godt a blood meter kit, settled down to a normal diet, and took a fasting blood sugar one morning: 91. No "pre-diabetes"![/quote] I had all the testing and stuff a couple of years ago (and I spewed all over the office, that's how my body reacted. LOL) I wasn't fasting, I had eaten about three hours prior. The eye doc sent me to the MD to make sure I didn't have diabetes, that it was still just hypoglycemia. (I can't think of anyone on my dad's side who doesn't have diabetes; one of my uncles is blind from it, so... ) So I've already been diagnosed with hypoglycemia by an MD, I just need to do a better job of keeping my blood sugar at higer level (because even at 72, I was starting to get all shakey and dizzy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateri05 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='Ash Wednesday' post='1335769' date='Jul 20 2007, 01:15 PM']the cave man diet[/quote] what is that? just plain meat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone _ Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='kateri05' post='1336103' date='Jul 20 2007, 09:38 PM']what is that? just plain meat?[/quote] Dinosaur and mammoth, I'd think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkaands Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1335987' date='Jul 20 2007, 09:08 PM']My doctor told me complex carbs (not refined) WITH a protein. That is what I do, several times a day, and it works well for me.[/quote] This is true for me, too. If I eat a sugary cold cereal for breakfast, in two hours I'll be so hungry that I'm shaking. Guaranteed. I had a piece of chicken for lunch today and wasn't hungry until late afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone _ Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 [quote name='jkaands' post='1336294' date='Jul 21 2007, 01:50 AM']This is true for me, too. If I eat a sugary cold cereal for breakfast, in two hours I'll be so hungry that I'm shaking. Guaranteed. I had a piece of chicken for lunch today and wasn't hungry until late afternoon.[/quote] Sometimes I think I'm better off not eating than eating sugary stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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