Managing withdrawal from sugar

[woollygal]

Hello everyone. been a while since I was here.
Shamefully i need to ask for some help.

I have been doing really well got my sugars to 53 in July and everything was good.

then inexplicably about 3-4 weeks ago I started having sweets. Always during work hours (am a driving instructor). Wouldn’t have one bag I’d have two.

it’s not everyday but every 3-4 days. I get to say day 3 or day 4 today and I cannot manage without sweets. My mood drops, I get emotional and I just become a person I detest. I feel moody and I feel terrible. So I have sweets.

i know it’s terrible but I just don’t know how to cope with working and managing the withdrawal.

it is very similar to before I got diagnosed. At the start of the 3-4 weeks ago I completely lost my appetite. I found it difficult to eat anything. I’d force myself but just didn’t want to eat. If someone made food is be fine but me cooking I just didn’t want to.
That was identical to the months before diagnosis.
It’s come out of nowhere. Other than not wanting to cook or eat food wise is fine. But it’s the sweets.
I just do not know how to cope with the extreme and severe withdrawal and work.

if I have sweets I suddenly get energy and my mood improves to where I’m all chirpy and happy.
But I don’t want to go backwards.,

i was going to speak to doc but not sure how they could help. So thought I’d ask you guys because you’ve been there.,

 

[Oldvatr]

Hello everyone. been a while since I was here.
Shamefully i need to ask for some help.

I have been doing really well got my sugars to 53 in July and everything was good.

then inexplicably about 3-4 weeks ago I started having sweets. Always during work hours (am a driving instructor). Wouldn’t have one bag I’d have two.

it’s not everyday but every 3-4 days. I get to say day 3 or day 4 today and I cannot manage without sweets. My mood drops, I get emotional and I just become a person I detest. I feel moody and I feel terrible. So I have sweets.

i know it’s terrible but I just don’t know how to cope with working and managing the withdrawal.

it is very similar to before I got diagnosed. At the start of the 3-4 weeks ago I completely lost my appetite. I found it difficult to eat anything. I’d force myself but just didn’t want to eat. If someone made food is be fine but me cooking I just didn’t want to.
That was identical to the months before diagnosis.
It’s come out of nowhere. Other than not wanting to cook or eat food wise is fine. But it’s the sweets.
I just do not know how to cope with the extreme and severe withdrawal and work.

if I have sweets I suddenly get energy and my mood improves to where I’m all chirpy and happy.
But I don’t want to go backwards.,

i was going to speak to doc but not sure how they could help. So thought I’d ask you guys because you’ve been there.,

Hi, @woollygal Welcome back.

This is something I have not suffered from myself. I would hazard a guess that it is comfort food in response to the recent events in the world, and a touch of insecurity in respect of your present employment prospects, I did pig out briefly on a large bar of something the other night much to my daughters disgust since usually it is her that raids the cookie jar (aka hypo treatment stash). But I am self testing every day, and that seems to be enough incentive to keep my hands from straying.

If it is simply sugar that you crave, then perhaps choose a sweet that does not have the same appeal, like cough sweets. or perhaps chewing gum? Avoid jelly tots, jelly babies. Go for Xtra strong peppermints, maybe? Gobstoppers would at least slow you down. As a Low Carber, you could consider 80% dark chocolate which IMO is an acquired taste.

Please update your signature with the 2020 result - I got confused. It seems you were still progressing well until you fell off your perch

 

[MrsA2]

@woollygal
What are your blood sugars doing at the time you get the craving?
The clue to me is that you suddenly get energy. It seems your body needs energy and calls for sweets, so maybe look at making sure its full enough before not to want sweets, or give it something healthier instead?
If you were alcoholic (or drug addict) what would you do to not give in to your addiction?

 

[AloeSvea]

Hi @woollygal.

I am a hearty believer in subsitution when it comes to comfort eating and sugar addiction.

Find yourself some good artificially sweetened or stevia sweetened sweets to substitute for your traditonally sweetened sweetie favourites - find new favourites! And absolutely experiment if you don't have a 'go to' sweetener favourite already, by using your meter (and just plain old see how you feel) experiment with different kinds of sweetener to see which one works best for you - the effect on your body (as in your digestive system) and on your blood glucose level.

Once you know what sweetener works best for you finding substitutes wherever you are becomes a lot easier - just make sure you take your reading glasses if you have them to the stores with you, to check out the ingredients of artificially sweetened goods. And for the all-important carbohyrdrate level of course - and make sure you are looking at the per 100gram reading, not the per serving number - as that can fool you sometimes, due to the wildly different serving sizes.

If you don't want to go the stevia or other artificial sweetener route, then it's managing an addiction by helping you go cold turkey. I did that when I was first diagnosed, as I find 'all or nothing' easier when it comes to a radical change in my life, but people are very different with this sort of thing. (And I was not working as I was too sick at the time. I hear you on the added complexity of want and need for getting through work thing!)

Cinnamon and vanilla are fantastic safe spices to naturally sweeten. Use them liberally and make your own bliss balls sugar free - another great sweetie substitute. Berries make excellent sweetie subsitutes of course.

My absolute feeling is get rid of feelings of shame! As you will need the help and support of friends and family, as with any major change like this. And then I would use known herbs to support your cold turkey - and gymnema sylvestre is the one for that. I used that myself, soon after diagnosis and I highly recommend it.

I will always see old favourites waving at me in supermarkets . Especially as my partner still buys my absolute old favourite sweetie. (He knows to do this when I am not there, and hide them at home. It is too hard otherwise!) Those old brands wave at me especially when I am very sad and in need of comfort. Stevia and other artifical sweeteners are very good at such times - and there will be those times! Sweets are prominantly displayed in all stores on purpose. I treat myself as any addict, one where their addiction can kill them too early, and that works. Remind yourself why you want to keep being alive and as healthy as you can be! I do believe sugar is an addictive substance actually. And I find it really helps to treat it that way.

And keep geting support here in the forum!

 

[woollygal]

Hi, @woollygal Welcome back.

This is something I have not suffered from myself. I would hazard a guess that it is comfort food in response to the recent events in the world, and a touch of insecurity in respect of your present employment prospects, I did pig out briefly on a large bar of something the other night much to my daughters disgust since usually it is her that raids the cookie jar (aka hypo treatment stash). But I am self testing every day, and that seems to be enough incentive to keep my hands from straying.

If it is simply sugar that you crave, then perhaps choose a sweet that does not have the same appeal, like cough sweets. or perhaps chewing gum? Avoid jelly tots, jelly babies. Go for Xtra strong peppermints, maybe? Gobstoppers would at least slow you down. As a Low Carber, you could consider 80% dark chocolate which IMO is an acquired taste.

Please update your signature with the 2020 result - I got confused. It seems you were still progressing well until you fell off your perch

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
I don’t think it’s work related. I’ve been back at work since 7/7 having been off for 4 months due to lockdown. It’s horrible and stressful but no different now to what it was when I restarted.

i agree with the comfort bit but not at the levels I’m doing it.
It’s building up each week and I’m really not able to stop it. It’s basically what happened prior to me being diagnosed.
I’m going to book a telephone call with doc tomorrow.

 

[woollygal]

Hi @woollygal.

I am a hearty believer in subsitution when it comes to comfort eating and sugar addiction.

Find yourself some good artificially sweetened or stevia sweetened sweets to substitute for your traditonally sweetened sweetie favourites - find new favourites! And absolutely experiment if you don't have a 'go to' sweetener favourite already, by using your meter (and just plain old see how you feel) experiment with different kinds of sweetener to see which one works best for you - the effect on your body (as in your digestive system) and on your blood glucose level.

Once you know what sweetener works best for you finding substitutes wherever you are becomes a lot easier - just make sure you take your reading glasses if you have them to the stores with you, to check out the ingredients of artificially sweetened goods. And for the all-important carbohyrdrate level of course - and make sure you are looking at the per 100gram reading, not the per serving number - as that can fool you sometimes, due to the wildly different serving sizes.

If you don't want to go the stevia or other artificial sweetener route, then it's managing an addiction by helping you go cold turkey. I did that when I was first diagnosed, as I find 'all or nothing' easier when it comes to a radical change in my life, but people are very different with this sort of thing. (And I was not working as I was too sick at the time. I hear you on the added complexity of want and need for getting through work thing!)

Cinnamon and vanilla are fantastic safe spices to naturally sweeten. Use them liberally and make your own bliss balls sugar free - another great sweetie substitute. Berries make excellent sweetie subsitutes of course.

My absolute feeling is get rid of feelings of shame! As you will need the help and support of friends and family, as with any major change like this. And then I would use known herbs to support your cold turkey - and gymnema sylvestre is the one for that. I used that myself, soon after diagnosis and I highly recommend it.

I will always see old favourites waving at me in supermarkets . Especially as my partner still buys my absolute old favourite sweetie. (He knows to do this when I am not there, and hide them at home. It is too hard otherwise!) Those old brands wave at me especially when I am very sad and in need of comfort. Stevia and other artifical sweeteners are very good at such times - and there will be those times! Sweets are prominantly displayed in all stores on purpose. I treat myself as any addict, one where their addiction can kill them too early, and that works. Remind yourself why you want to keep being alive and as healthy as you can be! I do believe sugar is an addictive substance actually. And I find it really helps to treat it that way.

And keep geting support here in the forum!

I did all or nothing when I first got diagnosed. It was hard and I wasn’t perfect but I did it.
In the last year I’ve been more or less keto. Very super low carb. I have blips but they are minimnal. This time it’s not minimal. It feels very very different. I would have bad days but they were days and I could get back on track immediately the next day. At the mo I can’t. I’m needing more carbs to give me energy (which I know is false) but again this is what happened before diagnosis.
Going to ask for call with doc tomorrow because something doesn’t feel right.

 

[AloeSvea]

The only thing, though, @woollygal, is that a doc is not going to be able to help you with your being drawn to the sweet eating! (And subsequent, I would suggest, feeling bad and super blood glucose dysregulated).

My feeling about medical practitioners and medical practices, and specialists, is they are really good for diagnositic work, and testing - we certainly need them for the diagnoses and the testing for sure! And how magnificent are they at that? Magnificent indeed!

But, when it comes to nutrition, and ways of eating, and how that affects us, and the whole metabolic kit and kaboodle! (ditto auto immune diseases, and dealing with immunity issues) - they are next to worthless! In fact, often downright dangerous! That is not their area of expertise.

But for sure - get the tests from your doc. Talk about how you are feeling. But do not expect help with a sugar addiction that is not acknowledged, as far as I am aware, in medical circles. They are trained to prescribe you something, not work through food and its consequences with you. Is my thoughts on the matter at least.

 

[ariaxo]

I did all or nothing when I first got diagnosed. It was hard and I wasn’t perfect but I did it.
In the last year I’ve been more or less keto. Very super low carb. I have blips but they are minimnal. This time it’s not minimal. It feels very very different. I would have bad days but they were days and I could get back on track immediately the next day. At the mo I can’t. I’m needing more carbs to give me energy (which I know is false) but again this is what happened before diagnosis.
Going to ask for call with doc tomorrow because something doesn’t feel right.

hi how did the call with the doc go? I’m struggling with the same thing