I found this website with a link from Blood Sugar 101 which I think gives excellent advice. Basically, I am 67 years old and have a diagnosis of ME/CFS/Lymes disease and I never know how many of my problems are linked to this illness but I have a real suspicion that many of my problems are due to unstable blood sugars.
A little history, I know I was a carb junkie until 2001 when I had crashed with ME/CFS and was no longer able to teach but illness had been creeping up on me throughout the 90s. It is complicated by the fact I lost about 4 pints of blood during childbirth in 1975 and things were never quite the same after and my doctor believes I had a mild form of hypopituitary disease called Sheehans. However, the NHS did nothing for me and I didn't get any help until 2002 when I found a private doctor who was a qualified Endo and after looking after my saliva test results and blood results said I needed a steroid and also desiccated thyroid.
Both these gave me a boost and I felt better and lost over a stone and a half in weight fairly quickly together with a lower carb diet. I have had to stay on these meds 6mg Prednisolone plus 2 grains desiccated thyroid tabs but over the past few years my bs is creeping up and no longer drops quickly the way it used too. Before treatment I had severe reactive hypoglycaemia and could never keep bs up. I know the steroid can make you insulin resistant and I think this is what is happening now. My fasting bs can vary between 4.5 and 5.3 depending on where it was the previous evening. The hypoglycaemia was so severe I would sometimes practically fall off a chair with it or when out walking and the energy was suddenly gone I would suffer with the most horrendous panic attacks which I could hardly cope with.
I am not overweight now, 5ft 4in and 9 stone 7lbs but do have a stomach which is too fat and that is where I store any excess weight. During the day my bs creeps up but if I don't eat after say going shopping in the mornings or taking my dog for a walk in the afternoons I am completely out of energy, dizzy, pouring with sweat and good for nothing except lying down and resting. My bs goes down to around 5.3 after a walk but I feel dreadful.
During the evening my bs has been creeping up to 7.1, 2 hours after eating my evening dinner which would be meat or fish and non starchy veg plus a few berries and cream so last night I only had meat and non starchy veg and it took 4 hours to go back to 5.5 when I felt very hungry and wanted to eat so had a few peanuts and almonds and was ok all night. Last year my GP tested my HbA1c and is was 32 which equals 5.5 but I have learned that isn't great and later if it goes any higher could cause me many problems.
My biggest problem is the morning, when I wake up I just have to eat something to get my brain and body working even though this will only entail sitting in bed and reading! I usually have a little kefir or yoghurt with a some ground flaxseeds and psyllium. This is around 7.15 am and by 8.45 I will be getting a headache and desperately want to eat which was 1 Rye Ryvita with cheese and one small tomato plus celery and cucumber. After reading the forums on what people eat, I tried a 2 egg omelette with mushrooms, tomatoes plus some plain whole milk yoghurt. Immediately after I started to sweat, and felt dreadful and developed a bad head which would be likely to go into migraine so had to take a painkiller. Severe sciatica had came on a long time before eating which also happens after a walk when I have been cutting down on my carbs. One and half hours later bs was 5.5 so had a cup of tea and some peanuts/almonds and I did feel better and have gone shopping so tested my bs feeling sure it would be in the 5s but no it was 6.5.
Sorry this is so long but trying to explain that I just cannot do very low carb first thing in the morning the way others can do and wondered if there are others like me. I understand that one is setting oneself up for the day with what you eat but I have never been able to start the day the way others can.
A little history, I know I was a carb junkie until 2001 when I had crashed with ME/CFS and was no longer able to teach but illness had been creeping up on me throughout the 90s. It is complicated by the fact I lost about 4 pints of blood during childbirth in 1975 and things were never quite the same after and my doctor believes I had a mild form of hypopituitary disease called Sheehans. However, the NHS did nothing for me and I didn't get any help until 2002 when I found a private doctor who was a qualified Endo and after looking after my saliva test results and blood results said I needed a steroid and also desiccated thyroid.
Both these gave me a boost and I felt better and lost over a stone and a half in weight fairly quickly together with a lower carb diet. I have had to stay on these meds 6mg Prednisolone plus 2 grains desiccated thyroid tabs but over the past few years my bs is creeping up and no longer drops quickly the way it used too. Before treatment I had severe reactive hypoglycaemia and could never keep bs up. I know the steroid can make you insulin resistant and I think this is what is happening now. My fasting bs can vary between 4.5 and 5.3 depending on where it was the previous evening. The hypoglycaemia was so severe I would sometimes practically fall off a chair with it or when out walking and the energy was suddenly gone I would suffer with the most horrendous panic attacks which I could hardly cope with.
I am not overweight now, 5ft 4in and 9 stone 7lbs but do have a stomach which is too fat and that is where I store any excess weight. During the day my bs creeps up but if I don't eat after say going shopping in the mornings or taking my dog for a walk in the afternoons I am completely out of energy, dizzy, pouring with sweat and good for nothing except lying down and resting. My bs goes down to around 5.3 after a walk but I feel dreadful.
During the evening my bs has been creeping up to 7.1, 2 hours after eating my evening dinner which would be meat or fish and non starchy veg plus a few berries and cream so last night I only had meat and non starchy veg and it took 4 hours to go back to 5.5 when I felt very hungry and wanted to eat so had a few peanuts and almonds and was ok all night. Last year my GP tested my HbA1c and is was 32 which equals 5.5 but I have learned that isn't great and later if it goes any higher could cause me many problems.
My biggest problem is the morning, when I wake up I just have to eat something to get my brain and body working even though this will only entail sitting in bed and reading! I usually have a little kefir or yoghurt with a some ground flaxseeds and psyllium. This is around 7.15 am and by 8.45 I will be getting a headache and desperately want to eat which was 1 Rye Ryvita with cheese and one small tomato plus celery and cucumber. After reading the forums on what people eat, I tried a 2 egg omelette with mushrooms, tomatoes plus some plain whole milk yoghurt. Immediately after I started to sweat, and felt dreadful and developed a bad head which would be likely to go into migraine so had to take a painkiller. Severe sciatica had came on a long time before eating which also happens after a walk when I have been cutting down on my carbs. One and half hours later bs was 5.5 so had a cup of tea and some peanuts/almonds and I did feel better and have gone shopping so tested my bs feeling sure it would be in the 5s but no it was 6.5.
Sorry this is so long but trying to explain that I just cannot do very low carb first thing in the morning the way others can do and wondered if there are others like me. I understand that one is setting oneself up for the day with what you eat but I have never been able to start the day the way others can.
