New to this forum and to HG

JDub

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all. I'm Jess and am lost in all this. Got CFS but being referred to Fibromyalgia team too.
It's nearly a year ago my blood sugars started to drop. Done some tests including the 72 hour fasting. Been diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia. I'm also seeing a dietitian regarding this.
I haven't got a blood sugar monitor yet so can't say what my levels are, but really struggling as soon as I've eaten anything and then keep struggling until I eat again, which is every two hours or so. Might get a window when feeling OK ish.
As my husband is a dietitian as well, I do eat well and well balanced meals and trying to follow a low GI diet.

Any advice or experiences you want to share is helpful to try to get my head around this horrible condition.
And any good monitors out there and what one's to avoid?

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
Last edited:

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome @JDub

I think the main piece of advice I can give you is that low GI did absolutely nothing for me.
I had to go MUCH lower carb than that.
And as soon as I did so, the RH just disappeared - until I ate too many carbs and back it came.

The thing about low GI is that is isn't necessarily low enough carb. You can eat moderate to high carbs, even if they are slower to digest. And if your RH is triggered by the quantity of carbs arriving in your bloodstream as glucose, then it is the height of the blood glucose spike that causes the over production of insulin, and the resulting hypo. Doesn't matter whether the carbs are low or high GI, they are still going to hit your bloodstream as glucose.

Have a look at getting a meter. Sometimes people don't believe that low GI carbs are as damaging as high GI ones until they see the evidence on their own meter screen. I suspect that the 'well balanced' meals you are eating would be fine for a lot of people, but not fine for someone with type 2 diabetes and/or RH.

Hope that helps!
 
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Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi,

Am I reading it correctly that you eat every 2 hours or so? Has this been recommended for you? I ask because if all these small meals contain carbs, you aren't doing yourself any good and are flooding your system with insulin. As soon as we eat carbs our pancreas produces insulin, so eating less frequently gives the pancreas a chance to rest and also helps with the digestive system. Have you tried eating just 2 or 3 meals a day?
 
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Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,793
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hi all. I'm Jess and am lost in all this. Got CFS but being referred to Fibromyalgia team too.
It's nearly a year ago my blood sugars started to drop. Done some tests including the 72 hour fasting. Been diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia. I'm also seeing a dietitian regarding this.
I haven't got a blood sugar monitor yet so can't say what my levels are, but really struggling as soon as I've eaten anything and then keep struggling until I eat again, which is every two hours or so. Might get a window when feeling OK ish.
As my husband is a dietitian as well, I do eat well and well balanced meals and trying to follow a low GI diet.

Any advice or experiences you want to share is helpful to try to get my head around this horrible condition.
And any good monitors out there and what one's to avoid?

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

Hi @JDub
Welcome to our forum.

Even though you have been diagnosed, you are not the good health that everyone has assured you about eating 'healthy!' Even your partner has never come across something like this and the normal dietary advice that is given to people with the condition or symptoms of the condition.
You have a rare condition, the 72 fasting test, is testament that you have a pancreas that doesn't behave like any others except those with RH!
I have the condition, I am intolerant to many foods, which means, that if I eat anything with carbs or sugars, my blood glucose goes up and then down making me feel awful.

Normal dietary advice doesn't work.
If you had food allergies, you would be advised to avoid them.
So if you have a group of foods that trigger an overshoot of insulin that will make you ill, why eat them?

My endocrinologist, doctor and dsn are now agreeing with me as to control the condition. I have experienced and experimented with all the food I like and found others like spinach, that I can tolerate without messing my blood glucose levels up and down.

The crucial advice is to be really healthy as possible with the condition is to maintain normal blood glucose levels, all the time. The avoidance of the food that exacerbates the symptoms is how to get control.
Usually glucometer is crucial in helping you understand what is happening.
If you eat carbs of any level of the GI foods, that will raise your blood glucose levels up, often very quickly, you hyper! This is because your initial insulin response is weak.
You get a second insulin response, because the amount of glucose in your blood is too high, so the second insulin response is too much for the glucose and you overshoot and too much insulin causes low blood glucose levels, a hypo!
The hyper then hypo over those hours is bad enough, but your body is not designed to cope with such a fluctuation in blood levels, this is why you feel awful.
I was advised by many practitioners and elsewhere on the internet and usually eating every two to three hours is the recommended treatment.
But that is because most practitioners believe we need glucose derived from carbs to help our brains cope and also stop the hypos. This is a reasonable piece of advice for some conditions but not RH!
For some reason, that is in the long run not going to help you get good control.

In my experience and my opinion of living with this condition for about four years since diagnosis. Very low carb (under 20gms per day) and intermittent fasting has helped my health be as good as possible with my age taken into consideration.

A couple of questions?

How did you feel at the end of your extended fast?
Did your energy return?
Where you hungry?
Did the brain fog go?

I know you have other conditions as well and I have no experience with advice on those, but please read the advice and experience of those who have posted on the forum. We have had some good success helping other RH ers.

Again welcome, and if you need questions answered, please ask!

RH is a dietary condition that can be controlled by a 'healthy' diet that is tailored to your particular personal lifestyle and finding that balance is and will make you healthier.
Best wishes.
 

Kaz261

Well-Known Member
Messages
413
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi @JDub and welcome to the forum.

I can't add any more to the very good advice you have already been given on here, but wanted to give you my experience.

I have suffered with CFS for many years and last year was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (although I don't think I truly have it!). I was also diagnosed with RH nearly two years ago. Since getting better control of my blood sugar, the symptoms of all my conditions have significantly reduced.

For me, a very low carb diet didn't help. Whilst it kept my blood sugar beautifully stable, I suffered from a severe lack of energy and I ached all over, which I believe was a result of having CFS/FMS.

With lots of testing and experimenting with different foods, I now manage all of my symptoms very well with a moderately low carb diet of 100-120g carbs per day. I have 3 main meals and very rarely need to snack in between. I never eat carbs in isolation, I always combine them with some healthy fat, protein and veg/salad.

You're in for a few months of experimenting I'm afraid and as we're all different, no one can do that part for you. Once you gain better control I'm sure your symptoms will ease greatly.

You can and will live a healthy and (semi) normal life again!

All the best

Kaz
 
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