Definitely sounds like hypoglycemia. Carbohydrate withdrawal would not be that bad, what you're experiencing is simply the pancreas going back into the mode it was in previously. It's simply shooting out more insulin because you've been eating bad and it assumes the worst. Everything you mention points to it, unfortunately including the lack of support from doctors. You felt better at night because of the obvious, your system had more sugar in it after the day. And yes, fasting in the morning would effect you later because you weren't eating anything, not to mention that test requires you to drink straight sugar.

Stan,

thanks for your reply. I also read where you recommended not to eat less than 60 carbs and I think that this week I haven't been eating 60. I have such a severe reaction every time I eat that I am afraid to eat much of anything except meats and good fats. Maybe I should add some additional complex carbs in. I don't think I could feel worse.

Ever felt a headache in the top of your head and what feels like a weight pressing down on your head and shoulders?

Thanks again for your reply. I really appreciate it.

R

It's been awhile since I had headaches, but I don't recall them feeling like that. Don't worry though, everyone has their own symptoms, the headaches themselves are one, it depends on the person how they manifest. Mine were pretty much spot headaches where it would ache and feel awful in only one little area for all day. Add some leafy greens in and try to get a comfortable carb level. It will be a few days before your body calms down a bit.

I will add the leafy greens in and try to be patient. I'm looking forward to what my bloodwork shows -although if they said it was anything other than "normal" i'd be surprised.

It is puzzling though that there are so many of us and we still don't get more respect within the medical community.

Thanks stan. You're the best.

Be well,

r

Please keep in mind they may determine what you have is normal when it isn't. If they say this, come back with your results and i'll interpret them.

I will come back and let you know either way what they say. I'd love to hear your take on the results.

Hi renni,
i have had the headache! It is definitely a pressure in the top of my head and if I put pressure on the top of my head it helps offset the pressure in my head. There for a while it was so intense my husband would lay his heavy arm across my head to relieve the pain before the meds could kick in. I went through the same issues with my doctors. They kept thinking it was mental illness, but I continued to insist that it was related to what I was eating. Eventually I requested the glucose tolerance testing and the diagnosis ended up being reactive hypoglycemia. Then the nutritionist told me to eat wholewheat stuff and things like half a banana with breakfast. I already knew I could not handle that stuff and had wiped it out of my diet. I started the diet stan recommends about 5 weeks ago. My headaches are gone except for days that I try to eat the recommended fruit on the diet. Because i'm not getting the fruit, I try to eat a bit more of the vegetable of the day to keep the carbs up. I don't think i'm gettting 60 carbs a day. I, like you, am just too afraid at this point to try too many things other than the vegetables from the list, meat, eggs, olive oil, and the nuts. I know I feel better now than I have in a very, very long time. This diet has helped my drop some extra weight, but I still have about 20 pounds to go. I feel better and have increased my walking, but have not started lifting weights or doing strenous activity yet. I know that exercise helps as well. I hope you find something that works for you.

This site has been the best source of support and information I can find - including my endocrinologist and nutritionist!

Hi mendi,

thanks for your kind words and help. It's the strangest kind of pressure headache. I feel better this evening than I did earlier today and like stan said earlier i'm sure it's because I have the right levels of sugar in my blood stream late in the day.

This week I have been getting cold clammy sweats about an hour to an hour and a half after I eat anything. I remember having done this before when my system was so overloaded. It took a while before I didn't have some type of reaction to food - no matter what food I ate.


Hopefully things will calm down soon. Your post gives me hope!

Thanks again.

One thing guys, you don't have to avoid everything on that list, I just recommend it from experience. You're always free to try something on there if you really want to.

Stan

i posted my lab results yesterday but it along with half of this thread has disappeared. Maybe there is a glitch in this board?

Did you see the post?

What a lot of typing only for it to disappear!

R

Yeah, I noticed that there was some sort of glitch when it came up. Sorry man, repost! I tried various ways to see it because I knew that's what you posted. Maybe it was too big. All I need to see are the numbers for each hour. So I need to see fasting level, first hour (or half hour depending on the lab) and so forth.

Well.....They didn't do a glucose tolerance test. Only general bloodwork but my fasting glucose level was 83. I know that doesn't mean a lot. My Dr. Also said that she was doing some blood test that would give her my insulin levels for the past three months? I don't know which one of all those they did was that particular one, but nonetheless all of them (all 50 or so) were within normal range.

However i've done gt tests before and they were "normal" too but I know how I feel after I eat and what seems to make me feel better. I know my symptoms are all related to my blood sugar levels. My Dr. Did say that she would refer me to an endo if I wanted to check it out further and I have a follow up with her in a month so if the diet has not significantly improved my symptoms I will ask for the referral.

Three weeks ago, I could barely get out of bed with severe fatigue, dizzyness, aches in my legs and arms, sweats etc. I was scared it was something other than hypoglycemia. One thing that you said in an earlier post that stuck in my mind was that if it 'comes and goes' it's hypo. That is exactly what mine does, so i've relaxed and stopped obsessing about what else it might be and am concentrating on all the principles of low blood sugar. At times during the past week or so, I have felt really good. I almost didn't want to eat because I instinctively knew that when I did the symptoms would start up. One day, I delayed my meal because I felt so good. Guess what? Within a couple of hours of eating, I was shaky, in a sweat, and in the midst of what felt like a panic attack. Now if I measure the difference I feel now as opposed to three weeks ago it is obvious i'm better. The symptoms are not constant as they were then. I had a constant slighlty "off-balance" feeling that would progress into vertigo at times. Now that symptom comes and goes depending on my activity level, and the food that I eat. Even a "good" meal will make me have some (although it might be minor) symptoms within an hour of eating. I learned that I can't eat even the tiniest amount of whole grains yet, but I will tolerate a couple of berries later in the day. Breakfast is my most important meal and it has to be perfect or I set myself up for a day of misery.

I hope things will continue to calm down and in a month when I see the Dr. Again it will be quite obvious what is going on. My fatigue level is much better and I have been able (with a little difficulty but still...) to work and do normal things.

Your thoughts? Would it be advantageous of me to purchase a glucose monitor to check my levels or is that not a very accurate gauge for this type of condition?

Thanks for your concern,

r

Damn it, I just made a huge post that would have made you feel even better but something is wrong with this damn system. Seriously, what the hell? Pretty much I said it's evident hypoglycemia is likely the only problem, the fasting level means nothing it only shows you you don't have fasting hypoglycemia (where you could eat anything), and a glucose meter is pretty much superfluous because you can't learn anything from a meter that you can't learn from feeling like crap after you eat something bad.

Well damn it - repost it if it's gonna make me feel better! :)

see! I told you this board has a glitch. Something is seriously wrong because I had a lot more posts on this thread that have just disappeared.

Ok...Question. At first, did you still have some symptoms after eating even when you were eating the right things? I am still having a bit of fatigue and/or slight flushing, etc. An hour or two after I eat. Even when I eat exactly like i'm supposed to. It seems that breakfast is like that more than any other meal or snack. ?? Has it just not been long enough for things to calm down completely? I've been following the diet strictly for almost three weeks.

R

Okay, here goes!

1. Your fasting level means nothing. I know nothing of any other test but the gtt that will show hypoglycemia. Furthermore, it's never really the level of the drop but how fast, always remember that. You could have a fasting of 85, take the sugar, watch it rise to 105, and then drop to 65. This is normal, for diabetes. Not for hypoglycemia. Once that happens the body and brain cannot keep up with the speed of the drop and you get your symptoms.

2. If it was low when you had the fasting level, all it would show is you have fasting hypoglycemia, where you can eat anything. But you don't.

3. The good thing is you're seeing that eating directly effects how you feel and from what you said I pretty much gaurantee you have the saw-tooth curve. That's what it means if you're feeling a drop within 1-2 hours after eating. I used to get them within 1.

4. The unfortunate thing is the healing process takes a lot of time. Three weeks is nothing, it's like a decade in an eon. Well, not that extreme. The good thing is you see you can feel better on the diet, which pretty much verifies you have hypoglycemia so don't worry about anything. Remember, never worry about a symptom unless it persists almost every day for at least two weeks and it has nothing to do with your eating.

5. Another verification is that you said you can eat berries later in the day. That's because your body at that time has built up enough energy to counteract any possible drops. Classic hypoglycemia.

6. Not tolerating grains is another one, and many people can't eat them at first, regardless of what different diets say. We'll worry about this much later, whenever I figure how to add them back in myself!

7. Another marker of the hypoglycemia is that if breakfast is not right you have a bad day. Classic.

8. Remember, you're doing better. You may not be fully there yet, but you can tell there's a difference, always remember that. That will keep your mind at ease if you start to obsess. Your symptoms don't sound too extreme, so I think you'll be fine. One girl here once, who i'm pretty sure had hypoglycemia, was going crazy. As far as I know she tried the high-carb diet after not being able to deal with the low-carb and she disappeared a few months ago. I'm not sure what happened to her. Anyway, I bring her up because she went crazy about other diseases, obsessed about them nearly every day and got tested for everything under the sun.

9. I myself thought about the monitor, but it seems superfluous to me. I mean, you can tell when you eat something bad because you feel like crap, all the monitor will do is show you what the level is. Not going to help any because you can't do anything about it at that time, you can just say yep, uh huh, it be low, and then sit there. Considering that good ones cost upwards of 80 dollars, I don't think it's worth it or necessary.

10. The main problem now is that you can't really do anything about the drops. You should notice that you get a little physical sensation before anything else comes on, so you could always try having a few nuts or some fat or meat right before it gets worse. That can help, just don't make a big habit of it, remember we're trying to retrain the pancreas, not allow it to continue what it's doing. It's not like eating a bit more would do that, but you want your body to say okay, I have to cut it out because he's not giving me anything.

11. A further note, i've decided to add back in a multi-vitamin to my diet, but only in very, very small amounts, like 1/3 of a tablet. I found that in one day I noticed a change, most likely because my diet is low in b vitamins. You may want to look into one, and add it to the morning meal. Make sure you read the label if you do and check to see if there is anything at all in it. The best vitamins can only be bought at organic health food stores and will say stuff on the label like "contains no starch, sugar, grain..." that's what you want. I'm going to research into foods that carry enough b vitamins. That's the only problem with the diet, I researched and this seems to be the only way to get them without going all grain crazy. It might help out your vertigo and everything if you try it. Just make sure not to take what the label says, it's always unnecessary. You don't need 1,236% of vitamin b6 every day. I forget what mine says for a tablet, something like 600%, so 1/3 of that is plenty.

Oh yeah, and yes, I was still getting symptoms at first. They started to all go away within ummm I think about three months, I could notice a really big change by then. I still get an occasional drop. You'll see that, as you progress, you might have extreme sweeps in energy levels throughout the day. Then, suddenly, as if out of nowhere, you'll notice you have a good day, and then a bit of dropping the next. Then, again, you'll notice it happen every three days perhaps. Then once a week, then once every two weeks for maybe two days in a row, then once every four and then you'll realize it's just going away, though slowly. That's why keeping a little calendar with my plus/minus system on it can help with that. When I feel great I put a plus on that particular day. When I feel generally good most of the day with maybe just a little trouble, I put a circle with a plus in it. When I have an okay day, neither good nor bad really, I put a circle. When I have a generally bad day, I put a circle with a minus. When I have a terrible day I put a minus. I've never had a minus on this diet. Never. And currently i've been symptom free for several days. Always remember it may come back here and there as you get better, don't fret if it does, keep going.

Thanks for reposting your reply from before. I really appreciate it.

You're right and I know that the fasting level means nothing. And to be honest I think my internist is only as knowledgable about hypoglycemia as the general physician population (not very). She was kind and understanding and offered a referral to an endo so that's about all I could ask for I guess.

I think I have that saw tooth curve too. Just based on how i've heard it described.

As for the grains, I wonder why almost every single hypo diet has you eating whole grains from the very beginning? I can't do it. I wish I could, but I can't. I don't feel any better at all when I do.

I am doing better. I'm certainly still having a lot of issues and like the girl who used to post here that you referred to, I do some obsessing. I may sound like i've got it all together and everyone tells me that I look like i've got it all together, but believe me....On the inside - it's not all together! Since shortly after I really crashed with the hypo symptoms a few weeks ago i've begun having issues with chronic anxiety and panic attacks. A lot of the symptoms of hypo also mimic panic attack and I have found in the past few weeks that when I feel the symptoms for hypo beginning it will start a panic attack. Especially in crowds or where i'm somewhere that I feel I can't "freak out". I had issues with panic and anxiety in my early 20's. It's amazing how your body never forgets and can become sensitized to that so quickly even after not having one in years!

As for that sensation just before the big drop. I do get that. Right now, i've been rushing for something to eat (a few nuts or some cheese) because I don't want to have that bottomed out feeling again. I think my pancreas must not want to retrain - it must be stubborn but so am i.

As for the vitamins, I agree. Everything in moderation. I don't think you need 5000% of anything! You'll set yourself up for other problems usually. I do take a multi a day and recently read up on whole food vitamins as opposed to synthetic. Sounds logical to me.

I'll try keeping a calendar like you do and that way I can see how and if my symptoms are getting better. Unfortunately I think i've gotten back into the "panic/anxiety" cycle and it's hard to tell what is hypo and what is anxiety.

The positives are that I do have some times that I feel good. They may not be long times - usually just a few hours at a time, but it's something. After a good time, just like you said, I seem to have a worse than before time and it usually lasts longer than what the good time was.

thanks for sharing. I have hope - but I just have a long way to go and i'm not a patient person.

R

Hi renni,

you're right, we lost many of the posting on this forum and the other health forum that we post on! Very strange.

I can't believe how similar our symptoms are. You wrote:

even a "good" meal will make me have some (although it might be minor) symptoms within an hour of eating. I learned that I can't eat even the tiniest amount of whole grains yet, but I will tolerate a couple of berries later in the day. Breakfast is my most important meal and it has to be perfect or I set myself up for a day of misery.

That's exactly how I used to feel. I could never eat grains or fruit especially early in the day. It would set me up for a whole day of awful symptoms. I also had those "pressure headaches" you talk about. I also have the panic attacks too. It's just so difficult to tell whether it's from the hypoglycemia or menopause.

Keep sticking with the diet and i'm sure you'll see improvement. It took months before I was feeling better most of the time.

Dj

Dj:

isn't this board strange?

You're right - is it hypo, anxiety, meno or ?? Something else. My first symptoms were hypoglycemic though and since i've done this before since I was in my teens I think it came first ... And then the panic/anxiety in my 20's and now in my 40's who knows what's happening. I just know that I must follow a hypo diet or I simply can't 'go'. No energy, the fatigue is crushing, sweats, vivid nightmares, constant hunger, craving for sugar, weak limbs....And on and on.

The last time I did this (about 5 or 6 years ago), I followed a low carb plan and got relief in a while. I don't remember how long it took before I felt normal again. After a time, I began to feel really good but I was faithful to the diet for several years - got to the point where I allowed myself to eat occasional "forbiddens" like bread or (gasp) even a dessert once in a while and I did ok. Then I started a stressful, on the go career and my diet went out the window. It didn't take it's toll until now. I guess if I really analyze it, I was having symptoms and just ignoring them until the crash a few weeks ago. No way I could ignore it.

Anyway, I really appreciate you guys on this message board. We'll keep each other going.

R