Mornings

[ianRugzo]

Hello all,

I was diagnosed pre diabetic about 1 month ago and i have started taking glucobay 3 times 50mg.

My problem is with the mornings and I would really owe you guys one if you can help with sharing your experiences.

When i get up in the morning i need to eat something within 10 minutes else i start getting lightheaded. I get up around 7 eat something and a coffe then around 9 I again need to eat something and again around 10.30 and 12.00.

I tired different things to find out which one works and nothing
eating fruit, drinking soya, drinking coffe with sugar, drinking coffe only, having a sandwich(jamon), eggs

If I dont eat eith ups and downs of glucose i pass the rest of the day woth a great brain fog and really tired. I can only recover being in the bed 1-2 hours.

My leves are around 78(4.3) low and 185(10.3) high

How do you deal with this?

Will i be able to live a food normal day?

 

[LittleGreyCat]

@Brunneria does this sound like reactive hypoglycaemia?

Eating sugars seems to make things worse.
Try coffee with cream and butter first thing?

 

[ianRugzo]

@Brunneria does this sound like reactive hypoglycaemia?

Eating sugars seems to make things worse.
Try coffee with cream and butter first thing?

I did not working. I can be tired all of a sudden if i dont eat (especially something with sugar).

I am not overweight and i do excerise a couple of times a week.

The only time i feel ok is after the workouts. This gives me probably a couple of hours without getting tired again.

Any experiences with this?

 

[Resurgam]

I am eating low carb to negate full blown diabetes, and found that I was experiencing slumps mid afternoon as my BG levels dropped - just as I did in my teens and twenties. I suspect that I had reactive hypoglycaemia way back then.
After a few experiments I find that eating a small amount of carbs 4 to 6 grams seems to work, along with protein and fat as a first meal. I have lots of omelettes and salads, even smaller versions of dinner for breakfast. It took a while to sort it, but once I was on the right lines there was a noticeable reduction in the afternoon slump.
It needs to be carbs from foods with a low percentage of carbs, nothing sugary, for it to be most effective.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi and welcome.

Here is some information about Glucobay (Acarbose) that you may find helpful.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-medication/glucobay-acarbose.html
It is supposed to slow down the digestion of food to prevent high and low blood glucose.

Your 4.3 blood glucose readings are not low enough to be called hypoglycaemia, but if you are not used to them, you may still find they make you feel ill. When are you taking the readings? It is best to take them first thing in the morning, and then before and 2 hours after food, and keep a food diary, and record the readings. Then you can see if your symptoms are caused by particular foods.

 

[ianRugzo]

Hello they are not but i still have the same effects. I have been keeping a food diary along with glucose tests. More than going down too low or too high my glucose levels are changing too fast which makes me shaky, cause brain fog, no concentration, hungry and very very tired. I am taking the measurements before and 2 hours after the meal.

 

[ianRugzo]

It is not food that is causing this. I have tried cutting out everything one by one(lactose,diary,gluten,seeds,greens). Nothing makes any difference apart from eating / drinkkng sugar.

 

[Resurgam]

It is not food that is causing this. I have tried cutting out everything one by one(lactose,diary,gluten,seeds,greens). Nothing makes any difference apart from eating / drinkkng sugar.

Why would anything but the carbs you consume have any effect?
Sorry if that sounds snappy - although I have removed the major effects between about 3.30 to 4.30 I am at a low ebb - but it is a reaction to what I ate up to 6 hours ago. Although something sugary would raise my blood glucose, the reaction to it would go on for many hours, and would still be affecting me tomorrow.
Months ago I could see how a dense carb food would cause a very long elevation - now my insulin resistance has fallen (I assume) I have the same rise, and then the overproduction of insulin causes a crash. The only way to control the rollercoaster effect is to give things a smaller push to start it off, a small amount early in the day is what does that for me. There should be a way for you to control it too - but I doubt that eating something sugary is the solution to minimise the problem long term.

 

[ianRugzo]

Why would anything but the carbs you consume have any effect?
Sorry if that sounds snappy - although I have removed the major effects between about 3.30 to 4.30 I am at a low ebb - but it is a reaction to what I ate up to 6 hours ago. Although something sugary would raise my blood glucose, the reaction to it would go on for many hours, and would still be affecting me tomorrow.
Months ago I could see how a dense carb food would cause a very long elevation - now my insulin resistance has fallen (I assume) I have the same rise, and then the overproduction of insulin causes a crash. The only way to control the rollercoaster effect is to give things a smaller push to start it off, a small amount early in the day is what does that for me. There should be a way for you to control it too - but I doubt that eating something sugary is the solution to minimise the problem long term.

I agree. The thing is this is very new to me so i have no idea how to control it neither have been able to find any pattern apart from working out 2 times a day in this 7 years that i have been having symptoms.

How do you do the change? How can you eat many times with little carb especially at work?

How do you recover after crashing? I assume there is no magic syrup that will make you get up. I can only be in bed for a couple of hours which will then get better.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Resurgam]

working out? As in going to a gym? Twice a day? Working hard?
I think that you are treating your metabolism like a punch bag, so it moves about wildly and erratically under the impacts from sugary food or drink and then workouts.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Just checking.

You aren't on statins or other medication are you?

 

[Glink]

I don't know if this is your experience, but when I get "high" (which is worse in mornings for me, as the rest I can control with low carb diet), I get hungry! If it gets bad, I get the "hangry" feelings people describe with hypos sometimes, but when I test it's high not low sugars causing it. If I eat, I feel better, but it doesn't break the cycle. In order to break the cycle I have to take a nap or just skip meals miserably until my sugars fall.

If this sounds like your experience, my advice to you would be to try to eat very low carb to even things out as much as possible. And when you get the hangry highs, have just a small low carb mid-morning snack like an egg or some nuts--something with protein to fuel you but not many carbs (no fruit, bread, sugar). Try it for a week or two and see if it helps break the high-hangry-high cycle for you.

Hope that is helpful--and moreover I hope you find something that will work for you. Diabetes is no fun, but it does get easier as you figure out things that work for you.