Glad I found you

[Gloxie]

Hi I'm brand new to this , stumbled across this site by chance, so glad I did!
I was diagnosed with RH about 11 years ago. I have managed really well since then to keep blood sugars stable, with only the occasional hypo.
This all changed in October after I choked, had to have CPR and suffered a cardiac arrest. The outcome was that I now have to have a pureed diet, I have a hypo most days now, nearly always in the morning and I'm struggling! I'm a vegetarian so to get protein my doc prescribed Ensure drinks but these are full of sugar an a couple of hours after I have one my blood sugar goes into freefall. Hoping I can gleen some tips from this group

 

[Lamont D]

Hi I'm brand new to this , stumbled across this site by chance, so glad I did!
I was diagnosed with RH about 11 years ago. I have managed really well since then to keep blood sugars stable, with only the occasional hypo.
This all changed in October after I choked, had to have CPR and suffered a cardiac arrest. The outcome was that I now have to have a pureed diet, I have a hypo most days now, nearly always in the morning and I'm struggling! I'm a vegetarian so to get protein my doc prescribed Ensure drinks but these are full of sugar an a couple of hours after I have one my blood sugar goes into freefall. Hoping I can gleen some tips from this group

Hi, and welcome to our forum.
So sorry to hear about your continuous problems with your having hypos because of your difficulty with your prescribed dietary intake.
I have just googled the Ensure drink range and had a look at what's in them.
There is nothing unusual in these healthy drinks that someone with your problems, the problem is the RH.
The drinks will always trigger the cause of the inevitable hypos, because it is firstly quite concentrated, secondly, the amount of carbs is probably too high and your intolerance to those carbs will result again in a hypo rollercoaster.
Usually, I would personally avoid these types of food alternatives or so called healthy foods that contain that amount of carbs. But obviously unless you can find a low carb alternative.
Is it possible to create your own low carb option?
I have to create my own balance of foods, but mine are mostly meat in design, such as curry and soups, but that would be too much for you.
So the only things I could recommend or you could try is to have smaller portions every couple of hours, rather than your usual portion. Drinking every couple of hours should offset the hypo, but having to do this will be hard. And of course once you start in the morning, the need to drink every two hours is no guarantee that the trigger won't make you feel any better.
The second is fasting if you are able to.
I regularly fast, it helps with a lot of issues attributed to help the symptoms of RH.
I'm not sure how this would affect your dietary recommendations, I found out myself how good a fast could be because of what is known as a fasting test. I spent five days in hospital, no food, just sips of water, seeing if my blood glucose levels went hypo, they didn't! The symptoms disappeared, my energy levels increased dramatically, no brain fog, anxiety levels lowered, felt absolutely great for the first time in years.
Because of RH, I have found that I had to eat what was healthy for me!
Like yourself, I have been in control for the past few years, no hypos. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to change now!
I would certainly consider finding alternatives to what you are going through.

Best wishes

 

[Brunneria]

I had a look at different shakes recently, then another look when coronavirus reared its ugly head. My thinking was that a low carb protein shakr would be a nutritious option to have in the cupboard should we become ill and want something easy to consume with max nutritional punch.

the criteria I had were that any choice must be low carb (for me, so that my RH wouldn’t kick off), tasty (so that Mr B would go for them), not full of sweeteners, flavours and other rubbish, a significant hit of protein, and a long shelf life, since it is the sort of thing we will probably only use when ill.

My conclusion was that out of the low carb shakes, the Purition ones were probably the best choice for us.
So we have ordered two flavours and they are in the cupboard. Mr B says that he likes them enough to have for breakfast occasionally, and believe me, that is some endorsement!

hope that helps!

 

[Gloxie]

Hi, and welcome to our forum.
So sorry to hear about your continuous problems with your having hypos because of your difficulty with your prescribed dietary intake.
I have just googled the Ensure drink range and had a look at what's in them.
There is nothing unusual in these healthy drinks that someone with your problems, the problem is the RH.
The drinks will always trigger the cause of the inevitable hypos, because it is firstly quite concentrated, secondly, the amount of carbs is probably too high and your intolerance to those carbs will result again in a hypo rollercoaster.
Usually, I would personally avoid these types of food alternatives or so called healthy foods that contain that amount of carbs. But obviously unless you can find a low carb alternative.
Is it possible to create your own low carb option?
I have to create my own balance of foods, but mine are mostly meat in design, such as curry and soups, but that would be too much for you.
So the only things I could recommend or you could try is to have smaller portions every couple of hours, rather than your usual portion. Drinking every couple of hours should offset the hypo, but having to do this will be hard. And of course once you start in the morning, the need to drink every two hours is no guarantee that the trigger won't make you feel any better.
The second is fasting if you are able to.
I regularly fast, it helps with a lot of issues attributed to help the symptoms of RH.
I'm not sure how this would affect your dietary recommendations, I found out myself how good a fast could be because of what is known as a fasting test. I spent five days in hospital, no food, just sips of water, seeing if my blood glucose levels went hypo, they didn't! The symptoms disappeared, my energy levels increased dramatically, no brain fog, anxiety levels lowered, felt absolutely great for the first time in years.
Because of RH, I have found that I had to eat what was healthy for me!
Like yourself, I have been in control for the past few years, no hypos. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to change now!
I would certainly consider finding alternatives to what you are going through.

Best wishes

Thanks Lamont D
I've searches the internet looking for a low sugar high protein nutritional drink . Seems they are widely available in the USA , I could happily continue with Ensure Max if it wasn't so flipping expensive. Glad you're making your diet work for you, alas not that simple for a veggie pureed diet .

 

[Gloxie]

I had a look at different shakes recently, then another look when coronavirus reared its ugly head. My thinking was that a low carb protein shakr would be a nutritious option to have in the cupboard should we become ill and want something easy to consume with max nutritional punch.

the criteria I had were that any choice must be low carb (for me, so that my RH wouldn’t kick off), tasty (so that Mr B would go for them), not full of sweeteners, flavours and other rubbish, a significant hit of protein, and a long shelf life, since it is the sort of thing we will probably only use when ill.

My conclusion was that out of the low carb shakes, the Purition ones were probably the best choice for us.
So we have ordered two flavours and they are in the cupboard. Mr B says that he likes them enough to have for breakfast occasionally, and believe me, that is some endorsement!

hope that helps!

Hi Brunneria
Thanks for that reply I've found the Purition shakes in Boots, I've never seen these before but they look just right for me. I'm going to Boots for them tomorrow, they're on special offer £18.99 for 500 grams so I'm double happy.

 

[Gloxie]

Hi Brunneria
Thanks for that reply I've found the Purition shakes in Boots, I've never seen these before but they look just right for me. I'm going to Boots for them tomorrow, they're on special offer £18.99 for 500 grams so I'm double happy.