Type 1 Hypo treatment without wheat

[Shinealight]

Good morning all. I am looking for ideas for what to give my daughter for treating a hypo. We usually give her a carton of orange juice followed by a digestive biscuit or cracker. As she has just been diagnosed with a third autoimmune disease we are trying an autoimmune protocol diet and cutting out wheat, sugar and dairy for one month. I tried giving her a rice cracker after her juice and despite it containing just under the amount of carbs she needed, her bg really spiked. afterwards. Does anyone use anything that works well but has none of those things? Thanks

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Shinealight

Can you advise if your daughter is on pens or pump ?

I use a pump so if I’m asleep and the alarm goes off I turn my pump basal down for an hour as I’m not hypo at this point but it saves me dipping, if I go hypo I use glucotabs but don’t take anything else so avoid eating crisps/biscuits etc. Otherwise I’ll go pretty high.

It also depends on the severity of the hypo if going low low I go straight to glucose if just below then glass of milk can do the trick too. I am unsure about orange juice as it’s not great for teeth that’s mum speaking !

Also just take care hypos can happen again later on when the liver needs to replenish it’s glucose stocks, I can quite often get 2 in one day.

 

[Diakat]

Wheat, dairy and sugar out?
Have you looked in the FreeFrom aisle?

 

[mentat]

Make sure you take into account that fruit juice is full of sugar. (In fact it's 50% sucrose which is the main thing in sugar cane. But fructose and glucose feed gut bacteria too.) When I was on an autoimmune diet, I sucked on honey without too much swallowing. But at the end of the day, a hypo NEEDS to be quickly treated, so it's a difficult trade-off. Given their effect maybe you could actually use rice cakes as your fast-acting treatment...?

I'm on keto now and treating hypos can throw things off, so I use a CGM, and down a coffee or two if I'm heading down too fast. For the caffeine kick. (I have almond milk coffee; because it's got almost no carbs.)

Here are some thoughts:

• Any major change means you need to re-learn diabetes management. And if it's a "rare" diet then you will have to figure things out on your own. Trial and error.
  
• This means that you may need to change your mentality around hypos. Maybe you need to delay your "long acting" carbs for 15 minutes, or maybe just keep the short-acting thing multiple times, maybe let the spike happen but realise that it will come back down to a good level. Trial and error.
• If you're avoiding sugars you will need other carb sources. You could try boiled brown rice as it tends to be absorbed slower than white rice. Potatoes (fried or baked?). Some lower-carb options are (boiled) carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin.
• If your daughter is in her teens and you're OK with sweeteners you could try sugar-free energy drinks for the caffeine (yes they're evil but as I said, you have to make trade-offs.)

 

[Mathewted]

I'm on keto now and treating hypos can throw things off, so I use a CGM, and down a coffee or two if I'm heading down too fast. For the caffeine kick. (I have almond milk coffee; because it's got almost no carbs.)

Hi mentat
Do you still find that Clinical Hypoglycaemia causes you to have symptoms while in ketosis.
I used to have seizures with low glucose levels but since keto don't even have symptoms, let alone seizures, even when my glucose level could not be recorded by my libre because it was so low.
Very interested to hear what you have to say about this [when in ketosis] is you're able.
Thanks

 

[Mathewted]

Does anyone use anything that works well but has none of those things? Thanks

When I used to suffer from Hypoglycaemia I always reached for GlucoTabs because they can be counted (1 Tab = 3.7g CHO) and worked quickly so that you can use the minimum needed and if necessary top up and they are there if you get a double dip. You could even cut them in half or quarter them. If she suffers symptoms of hypoglycaemia I would always plump for the fastest acting solution and i ended up experimenting with only so much as to make a material but not substantial difference. I haven't used more than 5/6 tabs in the last 9 months so not bought any for a year or so but think they are now called 'Lift' which has the following ingredients according to its website: dextrose, maltodextine, carrier (magnesium salts of fatty acids), natural to identical flavour, citric acid and vegetable fat - so i think they tick the boxes with the big exception of the glucose of course! Of which my take is below...


I think the thing with auto-immune protocol diets - I'm now following a ketogenic lifestyle with all organic where possible - is that they appear to be lifestyle choices and so once comfortable with the one that works for your mix of microbiome and developed conditions it'll be fairly easy to stay with it and reap the benefits. While the auto-immune protocol 'diets' i've come across all purport that sugar, processed foods, and GMO crops and GMO meat are effectively contributors to development of auto-immune conditions but they don't generally speak to minimal and medicinal use of glucose and usually disclaim all suggestions that they are giving medical advice so would presumably encourage use of sugar for acute purposes. I would always manage acute danger before the chronic danger - just limiting the treatments with side effects (such as glucose) to the safe minimum.

I hope this helps you all.

 

[mentat]

Hi mentat
Do you still find that Clinical Hypoglycaemia causes you to have symptoms while in ketosis.
I used to have seizures with low glucose levels but since keto don't even have symptoms, let alone seizures, even when my glucose level could not be recorded by my libre because it was so low.
Very interested to hear what you have to say about this [when in ketosis] is you're able.
Thanks

I think keto does reduce my hypo symptoms (mostly weird ###%ing subjective experiences that are probably focal seizures) however I'm not confident because I simply do not allow myself to go hypo. Before keto, a hypo could render me non-functional for a week so it's just not worth the risk.

That said, keto is known to help a large proportion of people with seizures so I think that is happening for you.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Good morning all. I am looking for ideas for what to give my daughter for treating a hypo. We usually give her a carton of orange juice followed by a digestive biscuit or cracker. As she has just been diagnosed with a third autoimmune disease we are trying an autoimmune protocol diet and cutting out wheat, sugar and dairy for one month. I tried giving her a rice cracker after her juice and despite it containing just under the amount of carbs she needed, her bg really spiked. afterwards. Does anyone use anything that works well but has none of those things? Thanks

Hope your daughter feels better for the new diet and that she may also find her levels less volatile if she ends up eating less carb or less of everything because you are being so careful. Perhaps you could think about reducing her basal rate to avoid regular lows and the almost inevitable spikes.
The gluten free aisle is expensive and sugar laden so I'd stick with glucose tablets or a spoon of powder in her plant milk? Raisin have a little sugar but it may be easier to limit the quantity consumed in comparison to juice or there are gluten free oatcakes I believe that my be absorbed more slowly than the rice cakes.