getting over the fear of hypoglycemia page

[gofigerr]

I REALLY want to do this, I know that I need to cut out the bread and pasta. So far I've cut out caffiene and sweets but I have document hypoglycemia and my regular doc says I need to eat complex carbs like whole wheat bread. I've ended up in the ER in the middle of the night with hypoglycemia, my heart gets jammin and off beat, very scary! Last time I cut out the flour stuff altogether I went into Ketosis in a 2 days, my doc did a UTI and said "you're not eating!" and sent me to subway! Is it the fat or the protein that is going to correct this. I must say, as soon as I get even a little foggy headed and weak feeling I panic and grab a piece of ww bread. I feel like a nut!

[Stabby]

You are a nut! Woogedy boogedy rbrbrbrbrbrbvrrvrvrvrvrvr woop woop woop woop woopidty grrgrgrmr ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Your doctor is dumb. durrr uuhhh? duuurrr what? hmm? hrmf? I have "hypoglycaemia" according to doctors but my blood sugar is just low. My free fatty acids are high, I am running of fat and so were you. Get him to test that next time.

And if you do end up carbing it up again, what's wrong with sweet potatoes? You do not need grains, ever ever ever

Do look into fixing your insulin issues, though. Reducing inflammation, getting enough nutrients etc.

[invino77]

I dont have documented hypoglycemia, but I lived with its symptoms for years before starting primal. the fat is KEY - good fats - cocnut oil butter, olive oil
veggies and meats. fish. dairy if you are ok with it.

I remember being dizzy and shakey and sweaty before meals..terrible way to live. since going primal, all that is gone.

Start with abig omelette for breakfast with bacon and maybe spinach with lot sof butter....chicken salad with high fat yogurt dressing for lunch, nuts if you need a snack and then a nice dinner of protein, fat and veggies.

You will feel better, promise

[tooround]

Me too ... BS as low as 2.1 (38).
At the beginning I just couldn't go very long without food. Real or imagined ... So I nibbled and stayed far far away from "fast carbs". Several months in, I can easily go 12 or 15 hours without eating but not at first.

[Griff]

You must tough it out. The foggy-headed feeling is your body having an addictive response to not getting its fix! My husband used to be a hypoglycemic, and he had a couple of lows while he was in the carb-flu stage, but he has NEVER had one since and it's been over a year since we went Primal.

[gottaluvalab]

Is there some reason for being worried about carbs? Are you trying to lose weight?

If you're really worried about highs leading to more lows, you could eat a little protein and/or fat along with some quality carbs. You could eat a half of a banana and a little almond butter, or a little handful of raisins and some nuts, or a couple of dates and a glass of milk, or yogurt and blueberries, or some cheese and a bit of apple.

As someone who restricts carbs more often than not for other health reasons, the carb-restriction without compelling reason is quite mysterious to me.

If you're avoiding grains and processed sugars, unless you're chowing down dried fruit all day long, you're not going to get an unnatural or outrageous amount of carbohydrate in your diet, so why not eat what your body seems to need?

Why put a square peg in a round hole, just because there are a lot of round pegs on this board?

[Meadow]

If you are having trouble go in stages, nothing says you cannot walk down the side of the cliff rather then jump off

If you have removed sugars, great, keep going there. Make sure fruits are low as well, stick with berries if you must and eat them with healthy fats if you can (heavy cream, etc).

Next, drop the wheat/flour. If you still need some carbies, stick to potatoes, sweet potatoes, or more starchy veggies for a short period. Work those down to maybe once a day, like say with dinner as you get more comfortable. You can do this over a week or a couple weeks. I like to start with one meal, like breakfast, and eat super low carb at that meal for a whole week. Then add in lunch, then dinner. Helps me work on my variety and meal planning in stages.

Track your food intake for a short period if it will help to make sure you are getting enough calories and to see where your carbs are coming in. You don't want to go low sugar and low calories at the same time. Include butter, avocado, fatty meats, coconut oil, high calorie fats like that with every meal you can. If you are looking to skip meals or fast, DON'T right now. Wait until your body has adjusted to burning ketones instead of glucose for energy. Some people don't like to track their food, I only do it to get a baseline when I am changing diets. Carbs can sneak up on you when you are not paying attention...like too many nuts, yogurt, and starchy veggies and you are back to feeding the body through 'sugar' rather then protein and fat again.

Carry around snacks like nuts, hard boiled eggs, cheese slices, cut up raw veggies or maybe a healthy jerky with you at all times. If you feel your sugar crash you can grab one of these in emergency. Come up with quick snacks you really like so when you get the hypoglycemia 'crankiness' you don't grab something you will regret later. Almond butter and celery sticks, a homemade nut mix, things like that.

I easily flop over to hypoglycemia as well after years of gut imbalance. If I start eating over 100 grams of carbs a day for more then a few days, my symptoms start coming back. Shakes, grumpiness, sometimes upset stomach, weak. Now it only takes me a couple of days to be rid of all the symptoms as long as I stick to my guns and lower my carbs again. The more carb filled meals and snacks, the longer it takes. Sort of like a bandaid, have to decide how you want to handle it

Good luck!!

[elwyne]

The Primal Blueprint cured my low blood sugar problems. I am stable and steady all the time now, and if I go half a day without eating, I only get hungry - I don't get shaky and crazy any more. Whole grains are the CAUSE and not the CURE.

[shannon]

going primal is the ONLY way to keep my blood sugar stable. forget the grains, pleasssssse. soon enough you'll even be able to skip meals, i never thought i'd be able to do that! i could even go all day sometimes if i wanted but i like meat too much;-) relax, you can do this!!

[Lojasmo]

As soon as I quit eating grains, all the shakiness and diaphoresis that I used to experience a couple of hours after a moderate carb meal disappeared. I can now IF for 20-21 hours without experiencing any of the untoward effects I would experience when eating SAD.