Likely you're not eating things you should be eating or are eating too many carbohydrates. Give me a detailed list of what you eat and i'll tell you.

I only eat whole grains and I rarely eat bread, potatoes, corn. But a typical day for me is oatmeal in the morning. Apple sauce (natural - no sugar or additives) as a snack. Herbal teas. Lunch - fish, chicken, rarely meat and rice or vegetables. Dinner - the same as lunch.

My weaknesses: nuts, peanut butter, and avocados. (sometimes on special occasions i'll have ice cream). Could it be possible that foods I eat that contain splenda or nutrasweet (something I rarely did but do now because it's widely available) could be the cause?

Splenda is bad, yes, it could be a cause. You cannot eat potatoes, corn, ice crean or such foods, even if it is "rarely." rarely is all it takes with this condition. You must stay on your diet for a long time, and then experiment. Peanut butter isn't a good idea. Nuts are usually okay, except that they should only be raw and you should avoid peanuts and cashews at first. Be careful of roasted nuts, they're usually roasted with this starchy stuff on them and it can cause a quick crash. Apple sauce shouldn't be eating on an empty stomach. What whole grains are you eating and what is your typical, total carbohydrate intake for the day. Add it up, you might be surprised. Most hypoglycemics have to keep it at 100g per day at first.

Thanks for your reply, stan.

I was diagnosed when I was 17 and have always maintained a healthy, all natural diet. But now that I think of it. Since my brother was diagnosed with diabetes (and yes he displayed many hypoglycemic symptoms before being diagnosed), i've been eating many "sugar free" snacks, which is something I never did before. I'm going back to my strict diet and see if that helps.

Btw, stan, I read in another post you've experienced derealization. Me, too, and it's been joyous :|

Hhahah, yeah it's a trip. It's been awhile since I had it happen since my body is pretty damn healed now. Still a bit to go though. Yeah, try that, skip out on all artificial sweeteners, they're all bad for you.

Hi,

i can't tolerate artificial sweetners at all....They cause all kinds of problems for me! It's amazing how after a while you can taste the natural sweetness of foods and don't really need them.

I get panic attacks too but I think it's due to the adrenaline when my blood sugar gets too low. I get a rapid heartbeat, palpitations, dizziness, nervousness...Really bad. I make sure I eat a bit of protein and it subsides in 10-15 minutes. It's a terrible feeling and I try to avoid by eating the right foods and eating often but sometimes it happens anyway.

Dj

No potatoes?
caca I didnt realise this I eat them all the time. Should I stop?

Thanks to all. I really should know better than to eat products with artificial sweetners. I just read it depletes the body of its natural chromium. And I know it'll be a rough road, since i've been eating them for a while. I had a bad episode last night and i'm still "off" today. Oh, joys of detoxing :)

stan, I also looked at your diet version 4 and was surprised to see amaranth and quinoa on your list. I don't eat them often just adding variety. I'll go back to brown rice.

I'm so glad I found this board. I thought I was going crazy.

Yeah, like I said some of the things on that list are surprising. Amaranth and quinoa have a sick amount of carbohydrates. Amaranth has something like seriously 22g per tablespoon! I think quinoa is around 30. Thus, if you're going by a diet that says have 1-2 cups of whole grain a day, you would be getting around 30g for a cup of buckwheat and almost 130g for a cup of amaranth! That's too big of a difference and too much of a guessing game for your body. Throws your levels everywhere, that's why you should avoid those grains at first. Buckwheat is good though, and brown rice. Potatoes should be avoided at first unless you seem okay with them because they are very starchy. Most root-type vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets and such will spike your sugar very quickly. They may only have like 15g per a fair amount, but when you eat it that amount goes into your blood quicker than something like brown rice. Quick spikes in sugar, regardless of how high they go, can also excite the pancreas, so that's why you should add potatoes and similar vegetables back into the diet slowly, with very small amounts at first. If you seem okay with them though, go ahead.

I've decided to go back to square 1 and not eat anything on the list. I may have been ok with it before but I am sure I put my system out of whack with the artificial sweetners/packaged products.

So my trial run last night was:
1 piece of cod fish
1 cup of apple sauce
(it wasn't the best choice but it wasn't horrible).

What I noticed is that I was, incredibly hungry all night. In between napping (i certainly wasn't sleeping) and the derealization upon waking, I was eating sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

Today I am serious about the diet.
Breakfast was 2 egg on organic whole wheat bread.
Snack 1/2 cup of fruit.

Hi,

it would be better if you ate your snack of fruit with some protein. Maybe some nuts or something else with fiber to make sure the sugar in the fruit doesn't raise your blood sugar too quickly only to drop later on. I would recommend more vegetables with dinner also...The lower gi type, and some fat (olive oil etc) to keep you from getting hungry. I always eat a snack before bed and I sleep much better, something like a boiled egg.

Give it a try.

Dj

Diana, you're right. I'm still trying to adjust. I need to make a trip to the health food store and get some staples. Thanks for your support.

You know this experience has made me wonder ... Why are so many of these products approved by the american diabetes association?