Headaches from BS roller coaster

mouseee said:

I have been maintaining a stable BS most days but if I do something stupid to spike it again what is the best way to avoid a headache?

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mouseee said:

I ate some crisps.

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Stop eating junk food such as "crisps" if you are a T2, your profile does not say what you are...

mouseee said:

I felt low around lunch time but was out without meter.

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Do people get hypos on metformin? I thought you had to be taking something like gliclazide or insulin to get hypos.

EllieM said:

Do people get hypos on metformin? I thought you had to be taking something like gliclazide or insulin to get hypos.

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Oh yeah! That was a bit of a problem when I first started Metformin. Once I got used to it, that passed.
Now if I could stop the occasional crash and burn on my insulin, that would be nice

If you are T2 - Avoid the crisps - That will stop the spike - That will stop the headache from coming on -

Crisps don't sound good for you.

Hope you feel better now.

My suggestions:

- train yourself to ALWAYS carry something in your bag or pocket that is low carb and ok to snack on. Then eat it BEFORE you feel low enough to trigger a carb binge feeding frenzy.

As the veteran of many a carb binge, I carry baby bel or kind bars for these little ‘emergencies’ my policy is prevention (hence the low carb food suggestions) rather than waiting til the hypo happens and then needing to treat it.

- your headache may have happened because of the rapid rise/fall rather than the height of the rise, and the depth of the fall. In which case, avoiding fast release carbs and rapid exercise, both of which force rapid bg changes, may help. For instance, fewer crisps, and instead of running 15 mins, try climbing a few flights of stairs, then wait 5 mins, test, and repeat as necessary.

- if you get another headache like that, drink masses of water

I kind of take the view that when the body is already stressed (hypo and recovery) it is best to be gentle/kind to it, rather than flog it into more stress (running with high bgs).

Hope that helps.

@EllieM
Any one of us, diabetic or not, can experience a hypo in the right set of circumstances. We don’t have to be on insulin, or even taking D meds. Metformin has a reputation of usually not causing hypos, but that doesn’t mean that it has any power to prevent a hypo if one is happening, and in fact its action in reducing liver dumps can make recovering from a hypo slower and more difficult.

EllieM said:

Do people get hypos on metformin? I thought you had to be taking something like gliclazide or insulin to get hypos.

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I have had several and been as low as 2.2 in the past.

Mind you I take prednisolone and that can have some pretty weird effects.

helensaramay said:

Are crisps so bad?
I get they are carbs but they contain a lot of fat so the bg rise should be shallower than cake, for example.
I wonder how much of the op's high was caused by the stress of the low.

I am not suggesting crisps are part of a Lchf diet. I am asking whether it is appropriate to put so much blame on them... and the op.

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The average packet of crisps contains about 17 grams of carbohydrate not a huge jolt to the system but can be significant I have the odd pack very occasionally if it fits in with my daily allowance.

EllieM said:

Do people get hypos on metformin? I thought you had to be taking something like gliclazide or insulin to get hypos.

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Yes, but I believe they're not caused by the metformin.

You can also get hypos even if you're not diabetic - I had a couple of mildish migraine induced hypos many years before I was diagnosed with T2 (due to not having eaten - I was told to always eat regular meals to keep migraines at bay - this was before they had the medication for them that's available now..) But I never knew what was going on until after I was diabetic and learned about hypos, though at the time my body knew it needed sugar!
See https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/trigger-factors/hypoglycaemia/

Robbity

Could also be imbalance between sodium and potassium creating headache, find out what low carb food contain potassium , as supplements seems to contain too much

mouseee said:

OK. First an admission. This was almost certainly my own fault.
I felt low around lunch time but was out without meter.
I ate some crisps.
By the time i got home I'd spiked to 15, my day to day is 5 or 6 now.
Couldn't be bothered to go for a walk or a run but when it got worse dragged myself up and went for 15min run.
BS dropped to 8.8 and then fairly quickly to 4 4.
My headache became so bad I was crying with pain and was like knives stabbing my head. I know it was caused by the highs and lows today but what I could do with is advice.
I have been maintaining a stable BS most days but if I do something stupid to spike it again what is the best way to avoid a headache? I have taken pain killers and have a bag of frozen peas on my head!

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You live, you learn. No reason to beat yourself up over it, just find something else to snack on... I'm sorry you had that migrainesque headache though...