Came home feeling wobbly

Were you wobbly because you were having a hypo ??.did you test your bg ?. If it was a hypo th jelly babies are perfect. you need to get sugar into you're blood asap.

Hypo is when your levels drop below 4. Are you on any medication ?

If your blood sugar falls below around 4 you can feel wobbly, disoriented, panic and sweating heavily. These are just a few of the symptoms. It's caused by a lack of glucose in the blood affecting the brain. You must treat immediately with glucose or you could slip line a coma. There is lots of information on this forum main website

It could be hypo or your body is adjusting to no carb diet. If you have a meter, test to make sure if thats a hypo.
Im sure soon there will be someone more experienced than me to advice.

If you've dropped your BG rapidly over a short time span, it might be a false hypo - your body has been used to the higher levels and you get the symptoms of a hypo even if your BG is technically above the true hypo level. I went on insulin a few week ago and even though I have dropped very steadily, I've still had a few false hypos.

For me personally, dropping all your carbs and getting much lower figures rapidly isn't the right approach, I would suggest a slower rate of reduction will give your body time to adjust as it goes along, minimising the potential for eye sight issues, false hypos and the like.

Rog said:

My question is what do you guys take when you run out of steam. Would like an alternative to the jelly babies , non carb?

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I was told the following can be used to treat a hypo (if that was what you were experiencing)
Original Lucozade 60-120 mls
Original Coca-Cola 100-200 mls
Dextrose or glucose tabs (4-7)
Pure orange juice 100-200 mls.
Jelly babies (3-5)

Hope this helps.

Because I'm weird, had hundreds of hypos, I can't follow the usual advice unless I'm in a coma, haven't been there and don't want to go there.
I have a nice strong cuppa and 1 plain biscuit to gently raise my blood glucose levels.
Then when I feel better, I have a low carb meal, small plate size. Just in case.

Hope this helps!

In an emergency, if very low, go for glucose!

BooJewels said:

If you've dropped your BG rapidly over a short time span, it might be a false hypo - your body has been used to the higher levels and you get the symptoms of a hypo even if your BG is technically above the true hypo level. I went on insulin a few week ago and even though I have dropped very steadily, I've still had a few false hypos.

For me personally, dropping all your carbs and getting much lower figures rapidly isn't the right approach, I would suggest a slower rate of reduction will give your body time to adjust as it goes along, minimising the potential for eye sight issues, false hypos and the like.

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Agree,....dropping so low on carbs too quickly doesn't give the body time to adjust. Hope you feel better now Rog

Yes maybe you introduced all the changes too drastically. Going on medication and no carb straight away must be a bit of a shock for your body!

Rog said:

My question is what do you guys take when you run out of steam. Would like an alternative to the jelly babies , non carb?

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To add to what I posted before, as I was on a tablet and struggled quoting. There is no such thing as a no-carb treatment for a hypo - by definition you need to get glucose into your bloodstream ASAP - a hypo is your body warning you that it doesn't have enough energy to function and if un-treated will put you into a coma - and you need to treat it before you become disorientated and can't do so for yourself. You're likely to get a modest spike afterwards and that's preferable to going dangerously low. The fact that you went to 7.4 after 4 jelly babies would suggest it wasn't a true hypo and you were perhaps around something like 5-6 when it happened. I had my worst to date last week at 5.6 - not low in itself, but low for me.

It's much preferable to get your BGs even rather than just low, to prevent just this sort of fluctuation - there's more to it than just numbers. You already posted yesterday that you'd experienced blurred vision, so I'd really suggest increasing your carb intake a little more and getting a more gradual grip on control. Crashing them to very little in a matter of days, regardless of being diabetic or not, is going to take your body time to adjust to and make you feel pretty ******.

The advice I had recently for a hypo was to have a high sugar item initially (as per the list above, I personally have a glass of pure orange juice as it's always handy and palatable), when you start to feel better, have something carby and a little slower acting like a digestive biscuit or piece of toast and then when you feel up to it, something slow acting - or your next meal if due - to keep it steady.

Rog said:

Just returned from dog walk feeling wobbly , had 4 jelly babies( advised by clinic) and a few Brazil nuts , plus lots of water , I've settled down now.

I am on a no carbs since I was diagnosed 5 days ago.
My question is what do you guys take when you run out of steam. Would like an alternative to the jelly babies , non carb?

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Hi @Rog

When I was first diagnosed in late January this year, I wanted to get control of my Diabetes straight away. Like yourself, I decided to eat no carbs...no obvious carbs anyway. Ruled out all cereals, breads, fruit, flour/wheat based foods, beans, lentils & of course anything with sugar. My allowed vegetables were very low carb & small portions only. I even ruled out tomatoes & onions. I'd seriously restricted my food choices in an effort to completely get on top of my blood glucose levels. However, after eating ultra low carb for a month, I found the diet completely unsustainable. I was bored stupid with the food I was eating, so ended up skipping meals as I couldn't face eating the same old stuff anymore. Food had become my enemy & I no longer got pleasure from eating. All because I was determined to control my illness & wanted to be a "healthy" diabetic.

I'm guessing, being newly diagnosed yourself, that you may be trying to do what I did. Believe me, it's unsustainable & will make you miserable. Experienced members were advising me of this, but I didn't want to believe them. I convinced myself that the way I was managing my diabetes was the best way for me. So, I carried on with VLCHF. Easy for a week or so. But as I say, totally unsustainable in the long term. Maybe like me, you need to find that out for yourself. OR, you could put yourself out of the misery of such a restricted diet. Why not try a slice of toasted Burgen bread with butter, cream cheese, pate, pure fruit jam or any other topping of choice. This soya & linseed bread can be tolerated by many diabetics due to its slow digestive absorption meaning it doesn't make your blood glucose levels spike too high. Just eating one slice of bread, & thoroughly enjoying it, helped me realise that i was overdoing the restrictions. From then on, I introduced "normal" or "banned" foods back into my diet. I started with small pieces of fruit, a couple of roast parsnips with a dinner, Hovis crackers with spreadable cheddar...until I built up a list of foods that I could safely eat. I used my meter to test after 2 hours using the guidelines on this forum. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I just wanted you to know my experience when I was newly diagnosed. I too had carb withdrawal symptoms, rather than a full-on Hypo. Very similar...feeling weak, dizzy, lightheaded etc, due to quickly restricting carbs.

My diet is much more varied now. I eat healthily, have small portions of anything I want, I'm still losing weight, have stable blood glucose levels & eventually I even have a once a week takeaway now. I honestly thought I'd never be able to have a takeaway again when I was first diagnosed. I'm happier overall & eat pretty much what my family do, with a few adaptions to accommodate my dietary needs.

I hope I've been able to help. My very best wishes to you.

Ali. X

Rog said:

I really don't know, years ago I used to get what I called sugar shocks before I was diagnosed, my reading before I went out for the walk was 5.4.

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I'm going to agree with @Jaylee. I suspect you had a hypo. 5.4 is almost the lowest I let my bg go to, as from experience, 4.2 is a hypo for me so I make sure I stay above the 4s. Bearing in mind you are 'no carbs', I think the walk reduced your bg from the mid 5s to the low 4s or even the high 3s. It might be prudent to make sure you have glucose tabs or the dreaded jelly babies with you on the next walk