Reactive Hypoglycaemia

Brunneria · Brunneria, Dec 30, 2019 at 12:53 PM

SarahTee said: ↑

Hello everyone,

I am new here. I have been having some postprandial symptoms that seem hypoglycemia-like. I am going through this with GP and specialists, but it has taken nearly a year to finally get to an endocrinologist.

So while the medical investigation proceeds at a glacial pace, I was thinking of trying a low-carbohydrate diet off my own bat.

Here's the problem: I am vegetarian, cannot eat eggs (except in small amounts), and cannot eat high-fibre foods (e.g. lentils, chickpeas, hardcore salad stuff).

(The egg and fibre thing relate to bowel surgery that I had many years ago.)

Is it possible to eat a low-carbohydrate diet with these restrictions? I have tried and failed several times as I am stumped at what to eat and I live in a small town so no suitable take-away or restaurant options. I just got overwhelmed trying to prepare meals from scratch.

Breakfast in particular is a problem - no fruit, no toast, no porridge, no eggs. What to eat? Plus I always feel a bit queasy so there's no way I could chomp down on a plate of stirfry first thing!

I guess I am prepared to go non-veg to see if the change in diet helps.

I would really appreciate your advice. Have tried one dietitian but she wasn't any help. A, gradually reading through thread and learning a lot.

Cheers,
Sarah
Click to expand...

hi and welcome!

I can see how very low carbing as a low fibre vegetarian will have its own set of difficulties!
And a lot of that will depend on how low fibre and how low carb...

are chia seeds too fibre-y for you? Only chia seed puddings are great, if made low carb.
how about tofu scrambles or yoghurt for breakfast? Or avocado and mozzarella?
Golden milk? Coffee with cream or coconut oil?

My best breakfasts don’t happen at all.
By that I mean that if I skip breakfast completely (just a hot drink with a smidge of cream in it), my blood glucose stays beautifully steady until I do eat - which was 3pm yesterday.

Lamont D · Lamont D, Dec 30, 2019 at 6:27 PM

Hi, and welcome to our forum.
Having read your post, I have come to the conclusion that you are completely different to me. Because everything you can't eat, I do and vice versa. My daily intake is mostly meat, protein, eggs, and salad vegetables, with a few added tomatoes, small portions of fruit, mushrooms, onions.
Most of my meals are cooked fresh, some batched and frozen, like soup, curries and of course all very low carb.
However, as is pointed out, that most of my food intake is late afternoon, early evening. I use intermittent fasting, because my body tells me that if I want a good day and plenty of energy, then not eating is the simplest, easiest way to start the day.
If you don't mind, what is your fasting blood glucose reading before breakfast?
What tests have you had?

RH is a condition that is caused by food or drink that is too quick to turn to glucose.
Hypos are the result of eating those foods.
We are all different, we do need to find our own dietary needs.
Have a read of the low carb forum, there are some great ideas and recipes.

Do read the threads on the forum, any questions, we will try and help.

Best wishes

SarahTee · SarahTee, Dec 31, 2019 at 2:57 AM

Lamont D said: ↑

Hi, and welcome to our forum.
Having read your post, I have come to the conclusion that you are completely different to me. Because everything you can't eat, I do and vice versa. My daily intake is mostly meat, protein, eggs, and salad vegetables, with a few added tomatoes, small portions of fruit, mushrooms, onions.
Most of my meals are cooked fresh, some batched and frozen, like soup, curries and of course all very low carb.
However, as is pointed out, that most of my food intake is late afternoon, early evening. I use intermittent fasting, because my body tells me that if I want a good day and plenty of energy, then not eating is the simplest, easiest way to start the day.
If you don't mind, what is your fasting blood glucose reading before breakfast?
What tests have you had?

RH is a condition that is caused by food or drink that is too quick to turn to glucose.
Hypos are the result of eating those foods.
We are all different, we do need to find our own dietary needs.
Have a read of the low carb forum, there are some great ideas and recipes.

Do read the threads on the forum, any questions, we will try and help.

Best wishes
Click to expand...

Thanks, Lamont D. We are opposites! I can drop the vegetarianism if necessary, but the restrictions from my bowel op are non-negotiable unfortunately, and that does make things hard.

I don't usually feel hungry at breakfast time so I might try ditching breakfast next week and see how that goes.

I will check out that forum thread for ideas. Thank you for taking the time to write such a helpful and detailed reply – much appreciated.

Cheers,
Sarah

SarahTee · SarahTee, Dec 31, 2019 at 3:01 AM

Brunneria said: ↑

hi and welcome!

I can see how very low carbing as a low fibre vegetarian will have its own set of difficulties!
And a lot of that will depend on how low fibre and how low carb...

are chia seeds too fibre-y for you? Only chia seed puddings are great, if made low carb.
how about tofu scrambles or yoghurt for breakfast? Or avocado and mozzarella?
Golden milk? Coffee with cream or coconut oil?

My best breakfasts don’t happen at all.
By that I mean that if I skip breakfast completely (just a hot drink with a smidge of cream in it), my blood glucose stays beautifully steady until I do eat - which was 3pm yesterday.
Click to expand...

Hello Brunneria,
Thanks very much for your reply. I had forgotten about tofu scramble and I will definitely give that a try this week. If that doesn't help I will try no breakfast, as I don't usually feel hungry first thing.
Cheers,
Sarah

SarahTee · SarahTee, Dec 31, 2019 at 3:12 AM

I forgot to ask – how long is a reasonable trial period to see whether lowering carbohydrate helps? Would 2 weeks be long enough to see a difference?

(Sorry I haven't gone into detail about which tests/investigations I've had or my symptoms. It's all a bit complicated at the moment and I don't have all the test info to hand. Plus a few things are pending because everyone is on holiday now in Australia. I just thought trying a different diet is something I can do myself in the meantime.)

Brunneria · Dec 31, 2019

I think the timescales vary from person to person, and there are a number of things in play.

if someone drops their carbs from high to low sharply, and ‘goes keto’ then they may experience a few symptoms called ‘keto flu’ while their body adapts. Nothing to worry about, and easily dealt with. Others breeze right through with no such symptoms.

So RH symptoms may ease quickly (in my case, as short as a couple of days), but there could be other things going on during the transition. My body certainly had to adjust to steady bg levels after so long with wildly swinging ones. Hunger at weird times, headaches, carb cravings, and so on.

most transitional symptoms can be dealt with easily with a big glass of water or a hot drink. A bit of salt on your food, and eating good, unprocessed food with enough protein and fat to keep the hunger at bay and drip feed steady blood glucose levels.

good luck, and let us know how things go?

Ed for a typo

SarahTee · SarahTee, Dec 31, 2019 at 11:37 AM

Th

Brunneria said: ↑

I think the timescales vary from person to person, and there are a number of things in play.

if someone drops their carbs from high to low sharply, and ‘goes keto’ then they may experience a few symptoms called ‘keto flu’ while their body adapts. Nothing to worry about, and easily dealt with. Others breeze RH through with no such symptoms.

So RH symptoms may ease quickly (in my case, as short as a couple of days), but there could be other things going on during the transition. My body certainly had to adjust to steady bg levels after so long with wildly swinging ones. Hunger at weird times, headaches, carb cravings, and so on.

most transitional symptoms can be dealt with easily with a big glass of water or a hot drink. A bit of salt on your food, and eating good, unprocessed food with enough protein and fat to keep the hunger at bay and drip feed steady blood glucose levels.

good luck, and let us know how things go?
Click to expand...

Thank you, that's very helpful. I think I'll do it in stages. I only get the postprandial symptoms after breakfast and lunch, so I'll change those meals first. Then once I've got used to that and worked out a few recipes I'll change the rest.

LouisSunny · LouisSunny, Mar 18, 2021 at 2:43 PM

Lamont D said: ↑

If you wish to ask questions or are interested in asking anything pertaining to hypoglycaemia, diabetic or non diabetic. Ask here.
Click to expand...

Hi, I haven’t been on here for ages as I’m quite settled. I am just type 2 with RH. Hello to you all.
I had my first Covid jab on Sunday and my levels have been really strange? I usually go weird at 4.5 downwards but I’m going weird towards hypo at 6.7?? All the same symptoms but I haven’t changed any of my boring food? Have you had any other people ask?
Many Thanks Donna

Lamont D · Lamont D, Mar 18, 2021 at 5:15 PM

LouisSunny said: ↑

Hi, I haven’t been on here for ages as I’m quite settled. I am just type 2 with RH. Hello to you all.
I had my first Covid jab on Sunday and my levels have been really strange? I usually go weird at 4.5 downwards but I’m going weird towards hypo at 6.7?? All the same symptoms but I haven’t changed any of my boring food? Have you had any other people ask?
Many Thanks Donna
Click to expand...

Hi @LouisSunny welcome back.
I myself had a little rise for a couple of days and felt a little bit off but it was similar to the flu jab I get every year.
Be patient, I have heard about many people have lost their control for a few days even those without a endocrine condition.
Both my daughter and daughter in law have been to hospital, after the jab, my daughter had bronchitis and my daughter in law wasn't aware she was pregnant. They are ok now.
I'm glad you are coping with the RH and really enjoying the healthy boring diet (for you!)
Have you looked at dietdoctor.co.uk, this is @Brunneria preferred go to low carb/Keto dietary advice.

Hope this helps.

Keep safe

Brunneria · Brunneria, Mar 18, 2021 at 7:54 PM

LouisSunny said: ↑

Hi, I haven’t been on here for ages as I’m quite settled. I am just type 2 with RH. Hello to you all.
I had my first Covid jab on Sunday and my levels have been really strange? I usually go weird at 4.5 downwards but I’m going weird towards hypo at 6.7?? All the same symptoms but I haven’t changed any of my boring food? Have you had any other people ask?
Many Thanks Donna
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

I had my first jab today, so no symptoms or bg changes yet, but I have put a Libre sensor on specially to track any blips.

Reactive Hypoglycaemia

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