hypoglycaemia

Lamont D said:

All those numbers are good. It was only a small raise and a little drop all within normal blood glucose levels. That is what I would always aim for.
Anxiety can and will raise your bloods a little higher but not that you would notice as the monitors are not exact.

I think that your body will take time to adjust and adapt to Low carb eating. Your body is probably asking for more sugars and carbs. It is going to take a few weeks to get through this initial period. Keep with it, it will be so beneficial in the future.

Ok, anxiety!

It is a symptom of RH! Not the actual condition of what is diagnosed as 'General Anxiety Disorder'! Therefore it is caused by the high insulin in your blood.
That means the lack of glucose getting to where it is most needed, your brain.
However, what happens next, your brain is urging you to get some more glucose, so you get hunger messages to eat more and more. But the more you eat, especially carbs, triggers more and more insulin and you get a circle of horrible symptoms and the effects.
Your brain is telling you to eat, when you shouldn't!
The less carbs and sugars will reverse all those symptoms and the hunger goes away and the anxiety will eventually, hopefully go away. Like mine did, I still question myself and I try not to cause problems, but isn't life all about facing these things and battling through them?

Anxiety is caused by the high insulin and low glucose in your blood. As far as I'm aware, this cannot cause diabetes! This is usually high blood levels consistently over a number of years! You have normal hba1c levels, so the threat of diabetes is not there.

But, I will say this, but it is your results that give me that confidence.
Hyperinsulinaemia (high insulin levels) does preclude type two in many cases. With high glucose levels following on. If you (with normal levels) have a low carb diet your insulin will drop to normal levels naturally.
With RH, the best way to treat it is to stay away from foods and drinks that raises blood glucose levels, and that causes hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose levels), that will trigger the first and second insulin response, over producing insulin and lowering glucose levels to hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose levels).
No hyper, no hypo!
Your body adjusts to having normal blood glucose levels and that improves general health naturally without medication. The symptoms dissipate and you feel much better and healthier over time.
It works!
Nothing I have come across, dietary intake, diets, ever works!

Best wishes, keep asking!

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Brunneria said:

That is a GREAT testimonial @algarvedave

Have you been adding in the broth or salt, and making sure you get enough magnesium and potassium, while low carbing?

It is a fairly common experience that people get cramps when they drop all the processed carbs, mainly because there is a lot of hidden salt in the carbs, so when we switch to eating unprocessed foods, we usually reduce the salt intake.

Personally, I supplement with small amounts of magnesium and potassium, or get cramps in the night.
And I add salt to my cooking.

Here is a link on the subject
https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2013/04/16/Keto-flu-and-Sufficient-Intake-of-Electrolytes

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algarvedave said:

Hi Ayed,
I am fairly new to this forum but the help and information you will find here is fantastic.
Your blood sugar levels you posted look perfect, well within the normal range.

I have been RH for 51 years following a stomach operation as a child but only really discovered more recently that I had RH.
Whilst my RH seems to to have got worse as I get older I have not developed diabetes so hopefully you won't.

All my life doctors never really explained my hypos so I learnt to live with it and had sugar on hand at all times just in case I felt dizzy or lightheaded.

My shaking, dizziness, extreme sweating and near fainting episodes would always be controlled by a massive intake of sugar - chocolate, buscuits, glucose gel. Anything to get my sugar levels back up.

More recently I ended up in hospital on a couple of occasions due to almost passing out ( both times in a restaurant ) after particularly high carb meals. That made me determined to control my diet to control my RH.
Through internet research I discovered that more people had RH as well as me and I found this forum a couple of months ago.

Thanks to advice found here I started a low carb high fat diet (LCHF) exactly 4 weeks ago and it's going great.
I have been checking my blood sugar level around 13 or 14 times a day and they are now stable, more excitingly I have not had one hypo in that time.
The first week or two were the most difficult as you try to adjust but then you get into a routine.
It's important to keep a diary and you will soon see what causes a spike.
It's a little difficult giving up sugar, bread, potatoes, noodles, rice, pasta, chocolate etc but it's possible with will power and the results speak for themselves.
You learn to improvise - cauliflower rice fried up with onions, garlic and mushroom is a great substitute for rice.
I have also found that I can sneak a couple of squares of 85% chocolate every day as well, and a glass or two of red wine.

The only down side I have at the moment is that I have started to get bad lower leg cramps every night so I need to get that under control. More research needed.

So far in my experiences LCHF is certainly the way forward.

Read a lot and you will learn a lot.
There is a lot of info out there and a lot of low carb recipes to try.
Good luck and watch out for the deceptive labeling - "low sugar" does not necessarily mean low carb

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Brunneria said:

Hi Ayed.

I have never actually been diagnosed with RH. I went to the doc several times, over about 20 years, asking for help with the symptoms of RH, but they were never able to help. RH is rare, and they never even checked blood glucose. A couple of times I was told it was all in my imagination. By the time I hit type 2 diabetes, I had learned to control my RH by low carb foods, so a diagnosis is unnecessary.

Ironically, I now have a lot of evidence (recorded blood sugar readings, etc.etc.) to prove without doubt that I have RH. But I don't need to do so, because my blood glucose is under control.

As a result, I have never had medication for RH.
Likewise, I control my type 2 diabetes with diet, and don't have medication for that, either.

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Lamont D said:

It took me over ten years at least to get a proper diagnosis.
Not many doctors or even specialist endocrinologists know how to diagnose it and then do the necessary tests which rule out other conditions which have the same symptoms.
It is crazy, it is worrying, it is rare, the medical practitioners haven't a clue and are following old practices to it being dietary as its cause.
It was once called idiopathic, up until recently, because they didn't realise that insulin was the root cause. They still don't realise that stopping insulin production is the answer. They believe we need glucose, when we are glucose intolerant. So they insist on us having carbs to do this, it doesn't, we don't need it, our bodies will provide enough, if we eat sensible. We are different in a rare, weird way, our bodies don't work like the majority of people. When we eat no sugars and very low carbs, we are well, if we follow their dietary advice, we are ill!
I know what I prefer!

I'm not going to advise on your mother's diabetes, I don't know enough!
Except, that going low carb, will also help her!

If you follow our advice, you should not develop any type of diabetes.
I'm not saying you won't, but it is unlikely!

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Brunneria said:

Hi

Here are some great food lists of low carb foods. Basically low carbers can eat anything on the lists,

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-few-asking-for-low-carb-food-lists.96321/

You can eat as often as you like. The general advice for RH is to eat every 3 hours. So if that works for you, do that. Or if 4 meals daily works for you, do that.

You can take supplements if you like.
Regarding fruit, it all depends on what your body can tolerate.

What did you eat yesterday to raise your blood glucose from 81 to 145? And did you feel hypoglycaemic at 66?

If you want to find out more about type 2 diabetes, then it may be best to read the rest of the forum, because even if I tell you about me and my body, you will quickly see that everyone experiences diabetes slightly differently. Different reactions to foods. Different reactions to exercise. Different reactions to stress. All those things affect blood glucose, and your body will react differently from mine, or anyone else. So have a good read round the forum, and ask questions if you like.

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Brunneria said:

Ah, sorry - I misunderstood.
I thought that those blood glucose numbers were from what you ate yesterday.

Are you getting hypos nowadays, with what you have been eating?

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Lamont D said:

Hunger is a symptom, your brain is asking for more sugary stuff!
It can be part of what is known as comfort eating, which stress does play a part.
You will have to avoid feeding your hunger.
Small meals is the way forward. Just a few bites, just enough to keep you going.


Your doctor doesn't know, he's guessing, following standard procedure.
If he knew how bread could send your blood levels so quickly, and make you feel awful, why would he say that?
If you have really low blood glucose levels of course it's dangerous! As we have said, avoiding the hypers, to avoid the hypos is better for how you feel and your future health.
It is not the start of diabetes, unless you ignore the dietary advice and your insulin and glucose levels are persistently high.

Exercise is good and as @Brunneria has suggested, we have our own individual needs to how our bodies response to it. Walking for that distance is brilliant!

I know we are supposed to trust our doctors, but if they are not trained in rare endocrine conditions, how can they really know how it works?
The posters on this forum have been through the same ordeal as yourself, we had to make the same decisions, trust our GPS? Or trust someone who has the condition and succeeded and has found health and fitness, lost weight, more or less no symptoms, and can now work with no problems whatsoever?
I would add, my endocrinologist, who diagnosed me and literally saved my life, has changed his mind about how to treat the condition, as such, as when we discuss things, ideas, thoughts and when I try a different approach, he is open minded and between us and from learning from this forum, we have learned so much. Knowledge on how this condition does effect us, is so vital, if it's your health we are concerned with! I have scoured the internet for information and so called experts on the subject.
Most have never encountered RH! Until the research is better and how the excess insulin and how your body reacts to even complex carbs, the advice from these experts will remain the same!

Diabetes, may never happen, I have had a real good go at trying to be diabetic for over a decade. It didn't happen, I intend for it to stay away.
So can you!

Low carb works!
You only have to live with it!
It works!

When you get through to being low carb, the way you feel will amaze you.

Best wishes!

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Brunneria said:

Sorry, can't explain the MacDonalds thing, but I just wanted to say

WELL DONE!!! on the 6 hours feeling fine. That is brilliant.
So what did you do differently from usual, to feel get this benefit?

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Lamont D said:

I think your anxiety is playing too much with your mind!
It is not wrong to have doubts, but to overcome the fears you have to face them, talk about them and battle through, I know these thoughts, I have had them all!
You have started to cope with the why and when, now to tackle the how and achieve a better life for you. But it will take time.
The six hour results are brilliant and that is a start.
That is called intermittent fasting.
When you do this, your body is not triggered to create insulin and therefore your body is in a more normal of how your blood is composed from your hormones.
I do a lot of intermittent fasting!
It does really help and doing low carb when not fasting really stabilizes my blood glucose levels. The amount of food I require has diminished and I am never hungry!

What is a normal person?
I'm not!
It takes a lot to get your thoughts around why you are different from others, but we are all individuals, just like our fingerprints.
I have convinced myself that it is ok to be a little bit more weird than to be normal.
In fact, I'm special! (Ha!)

I really like your sentence, 'love is letting go of fear!' So true!
Can you take that and bring yourself to work on that sentiment and be brave enough to see the change through and have the will power to succeed in getting your health back?

Best wishes.

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