Hello. I’m new here, I’ve had problems
with hypoglycemia for a couple of years
now. Lately it has been getting worse. I
get so low I pass out and have had
seizures. I had a GTT done and hated it.
My results were:
The GTT had to be at around the 3 hour
mark as I had a seizure, lucky it was done
in a hospital.
Anyway, my question for a while I'd eat
lots to keep my blood sugar up to a more
normal level. I’ve been referred to an
endocrinologist. But I’ve been thinking
and wanted to ask, is the goal not to eat
to keep blood sugar levels up but to try
and make your body adapt and feel normal
with low levels? Say, my fasting is
usually 25-32 so I’d try to feel well
with those levels and make sure I eat
foods that wont make it go up? I hate it
at low levels, I seem to be so tired all
the time and sleep a lot.
If you're meant to make your body learn to
cope with low levels is protein okay? And
not eat things like fruit, some (or all)
vegetables, grains like rice and bread?
Basically ANYTHING that contains
carbohydrates, is that correct? Can anyone
give me a list of foods that are okay to
eat? I only know of eggs, nuts and meat,
but I don't like read meat only chicken.
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Stan
Moderator
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: ,
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Posted: 08-15-07 22:52pm
There are many things you can eat and I
feel for you, that's a nasty sugar drop
right there. 14? Wow. The best thing to
do is to avoid, obviously, all simple
sugars. No white bread, no white pasta or
rice, no sugar, no pop, no alcohol, no
coffee and so forth. What you need to do
is find an adequate carbohydrate level
that seems to keep you fairly stable in
terms of symptoms, though don't expect to
feel awesome, and stick with it so your
body adapts, and then within a few months
(sometimes up to a year or more, as in my
case) you can increase the carbohydrates
and add new foods. I'm only eating five
times a day now and have increased fruit
intake and such, but I'm still unable to
eat grains or bread products of any kind.
What are you eating now?
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sleepy23
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 08-16-07 06:58am
Yep, dropped to 14, I think that is
probably the lowest I've ever been. But I
have the the same thing happen before
where I get the seizure when I go into the
low 20's-high teens.
So you are allowed some carbohydrates. I
didn't know that - I was starting to
think of trying to keep any form of
carbohydrate out of my diet.
All this week I've started with scrabbled
eggs and half a piece of wholegrain bread
for breakfast and lunch which is roughly
30 grams of carbs and for the day approx
35-40 I think for the milk (see further
below). For dinner I'll just have chicken
or some fish. If I'm hungry between meals
I'll have some celery and walnuts. Are
walnuts okay? Or are they bad for
hypoglycemia too? I was drinking coffee
but now have tea of decaf coffee, is that
alright or do I need to eliminate tea and
even decaf coffee from my diet? I'm not
sure what else to eat other than what I'm
eating atm - eggs, chicken or fish, celery
and walnuts and the 1 piece of bread I
have for the day (1/2 a piece for
breakfast and lunch).
What kind of fruits do you eat? I was
worried about having fruit as fruit
contains fructose and wasn't sure if that
would be bad or not..
Thank you.
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Stan
Moderator
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: ,
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 08-16-07 09:41am
You have to have some carbohydrates,
otherwise you'll feel awful and get worse.
Dropping below 60g per day will do it
usually. Most of your carbohydrates
should be coming from vegetables, but only
stuff like peppers, green beans, broccoli,
brussels sprouts and so forth, avoid root
vegetables entirely. You can have most
forms of squash and a wide variety of
greens. I normally recommend eating
yogurt instead of milk because it's pretty
much a simple sugar, but if it seems okay
with you stick with it. Be certain your
bread is whole grain and check the label
to be sure. Never trust anything until
you read the label. It's best if you can
find a local bakery that makes bread from
raw grains or if you purchase sprouted
grain bread. Expensive, but only eating
half a piece per day will last you awhile.
Walnuts are great for you. Probably the
best nut there is (stay away from peanuts
and cashews, by the way, they're actually
beans and not nuts). Walnuts have high
levels of tryptophan and can help calm you
and keep your mentally stable.
Unfortunately, any tea or coffee that is
decaf still has caffeine. Many people
think it means no caffeine, but this isn't
true. You're going to have to drink
herbal teas because any caffeine will be
bad for you right now, though later you
may be able to handle it in small doses.
Don't forget turkey, shrimp and any other
variety of meat really. Organic/free
range is best for meats, but it's very
expensive so if you can't afford it just
make sure your meat doesn't have anything
crappy added to it. Do you have a Whole
Foods nearby? There are some great things
you can eat there like turkey sausages
they make on site that have no bad
additives. As for fruit, I currently eat
about one or one and a half apples per
day. That's all you really need, but now
I'm able to eat watermelon and such.
Totally avoid bananas, they're bad news.
I would start with berries or apples. You
need to have some fruit and should notice
a difference when you add it in. Apples
seem to work the best. When I first
started I was eating one slice for
breakfast and then half a slice every meal
thereafter, but you might find a half or
even a whole apple in the morning enough
for the whole day.
