Confused.. reactive hypoglycemia

John222

Member
Messages
7
Hi.. im very confused .
Before breakfast 4.7
Breakfast 1 egg . 50g turkey . 6 olives
One hour later blood sugar 4.0
No carbs eaten.

Ive been told by my GP i have reactive hypoglycemia. Which fits because normal pattern with some carbs is before 4.7 up to 5ish back down to low 4 within 2 hours

Today is first day i tried no carb breakfast. Any advise would be great thanks.
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Sounds like that breakfast really suited you! fab numbers :D

My default setting to avoid RH episodes, is to avoid the carbs which prevents the spike, which then prevents the dip after. Nice steady numbers in the normal zone all day.

But the most important think is how did you feel? If you are used to the ups and downs, then the switch to steady numbers can feel a bit wonky for a while, but it is only a temporary feeling. After a while you start feeling great - or at least I did. :)
 

John222

Member
Messages
7
Its only short time ive been trying to manage my symptoms with diet. But im finding anything under 4.3 im off balance . dizzy .irritable and have to eat again. maybe i should double the size of my breakfast add more fat and a little fruit to give me enough energy i need . Im non diabetic.
Thanks for the advice its a bit overwhelmingly trying to work this out alone.
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Sounds like a plan. I would agree that your brekkies sounded rather small and low fat.
Eggs fried in butter, or scrambled with double cream is a good one.

You may have to tweak quantities till you reach the point where each meal lasts you till the next one. I tend to only eat once or twice a day. Big satisfying low carb meals. Of course this is very different from the advice given by most health care professionals (small meals and regular snacks, drip feeding glucose all bloomin day). That NEVER worked for me. My body hates that kind of endless nibbling and teensy little meals. I do better on proper food, in proper quantities, and then forget all about it for hours. So long as I stay very low carb, it works like a charm for me. :D
 

John222

Member
Messages
7
Thanks for the advise... im happy i found this forum... for me i find breakfast the worst meal to control the blood sugar drop ,as the day goes on it improves and by a evening meal i can go more time without out eating again.
I guess it will take time to find the right balance of food which suits me ..
Thanks again .
 

Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,796
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hi.. im very confused .
Before breakfast 4.7
Breakfast 1 egg . 50g turkey . 6 olives
One hour later blood sugar 4.0
No carbs eaten.

Ive been told by my GP i have reactive hypoglycemia. Which fits because normal pattern with some carbs is before 4.7 up to 5ish back down to low 4 within 2 hours

Today is first day i tried no carb breakfast. Any advise would be great thanks.

Hi and welcome to our forum, I am non diabetic and have reactive hypoglycaemia.
I am in control of my blood sugar levels and I haven't had a hypo in years, because I avoid the food that causes the symptoms and hypoglycaemic episodes.

Have you had any diagnostic tests that your GP used to test for RH?

Have you read any of the threads about RH?
I would advise you to try and understand what is happening to you and why.

Could you give us an idea of what you are eating regularly?

The reason why breakfast is usually the start of your daily problems and the symptoms you get. It's because when you wake up, your blood sugar levels are in normal range and you feel ok. Once you eat, especially if there are carbs involved, that will trigger the symptoms and throughout the day your blood sugar levels are going up and down too much, the symptoms are those feelings of dropping blood sugar levels. Towards hypo levels even though you are not in hypo levels!
The sudden drop down is the symptoms you are getting.

It's a great idea to have a very, very low carb breakfast or none at all as you have said, this should not effect your blood sugar levels as much and you should not get the symptoms.
Or like I do, avoid breakfast until much later in the day!

Keep asking, keep reading and keep asking questions.

Best wishes
 

John222

Member
Messages
7
Thankyou very much for all the info you have shared.

Today i had a reading of 4.9 at 8 am first thing in the morning . I decided to delay my breakfast by one hour . I just drank a cup of hot water only now at 9am my reading is 4.0 .

This doesnt sound like reactive hypoglycemia.? Or maybe i have RH plus something else.
Any help. On this subject would be great.

Thanks.
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,939
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thankyou very much for all the info you have shared.

Today i had a reading of 4.9 at 8 am first thing in the morning . I decided to delay my breakfast by one hour . I just drank a cup of hot water only now at 9am my reading is 4.0 .

This doesnt sound like reactive hypoglycemia.? Or maybe i have RH plus something else.
Any help. On this subject would be great.

Thanks.
RH means you get a peak, then crash, after eating a carby meal. If you have a lot of carbs, your pancreas puts out too much insulin, causing the hypo. (Being a reaction, hence reactive in the name.). You didn't eat any carbs, so there was no overblown insulin response. Now if you'd eaten porridge, peaked at one or two hours later, and crashed at three hours, that is what RH looks like. If you cut down on carbs, your pancreas doesn't overreact... So that's basically the treatment right there. Keep things on an even keel, and you won't hypo.
 
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Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,796
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Thankyou very much for all the info you have shared.

Today i had a reading of 4.9 at 8 am first thing in the morning . I decided to delay my breakfast by one hour . I just drank a cup of hot water only now at 9am my reading is 4.0 .

This doesnt sound like reactive hypoglycemia.? Or maybe i have RH plus something else.
Any help. On this subject would be great.

Thanks.

It doesn't sound like RH, because of the normal blood sugar levels before you eat called a fasting blood sugar level.
RH is a condition that is caused by what you eat and drink.
Until you eat, the normal levels remain.
It all depends on how much carbs you have and your intolerance to them causes the 'reactive' scenario. And of course how your endocrine health is at that time. If you have insulin resistance, your insulin response will be higher and the symptoms greater. The more severe reaction you will feel because your blood sugar will rise quickly and higher, then drop just as quickly.

And what @JoKalsbeek says!

Best wishes
 

John222

Member
Messages
7
Does anybody know the average blood sugar reading for non diabetic R H person
1 Waking up first thing in the morning
2 Two hours after food
3 Before going to sleep.

Thanks
 

Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,796
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I have been recording my blood levels for nearly ten years now.

Since diagnosis and avoiding all the intolerant foods.
My average fasting is between 4.6 and 5.3.
My average after one hour is between 5.2 and 5.7
I haven't done recording before bed, as I have found it unnecessary!

Hope that helps.
Best wishes
 
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