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Reactive Hypoglycaemia

LCHF Diet
I have reactive Hypoglycemia

So I’ve been rigorously low carbing for a week and a half now. Well I messed up on the 3rd evening but apart from that I’ve had virtually no carbs. I’ve started taking Magnesium and Potassium supplements and I’m drinking all the water I can.

I don’t have any Hypo’s at the moment but instead I am just constantly drained and in a dazed mental state. I know it has been suggested that I could have low carb flu but I’m not convinced that’s all it is as my main symptom has been heart palpitations every time I eat anything. If I wasn’t in an easy job that I’ve done for years I wouldn’t be able to function at all! Is this really what I am to expect when I start this diet??
 
If the salt, pot and mag haven't helped, it may be time to see your doc.

The only other suggestion I can make, is to ask if you have upped intake or introduced into your diet anything like artificial sweeteners, coffee, MSG or other foods that could be causing this effect?

Some of us tolerate sweeteners well. Others have to be very careful with them.
Same with coffee. Black coffee has always given me the shakes (even decaf) if I drink it on an empty stomach. You may be experiencing something similar with a food item that was masked by the carb/hypo cycle.

But I stress, check with your doc if the salt thing hasn't helped. Palpitations need investigation.

Most people get over carb flu within 2 weeks or so. The sluggish lethargy is often caused by glucose no longer being available as fuel, before the body switches to fuel burning mode. In my experience, once your body has learned to flip the carb/fat fuel switch, it remembers it for next time, and carb flu is never as bad again.
 
Another thought: how many calories are you eating?
If you just drop carbs and don't replace them with more nutrients from other sources, you may have ended up with a severe calorie deficit. That can be quite a shock to energy levels.

I'm sorry, I can't remember if you want to lose weight or not. If you don't, maybe up your calories, using protein and fat, to see if that helps.
 
Hi, @MrBigglesworth
Yes it could be any of the above as suggested.
You may need a bit more full fat, butter, cheese, yoghurt cream or from any thing naturally full fat.
If the palpitations persist, it will need seeing to!
Glad you have started to accept your diagnosis!
Keep us informed, don't give up on the low carbing!
We will be here to make sure you stay on course!
 
I am not remembering to put salt on things so that is possibly the issue.
I've never been able to gain weight so the more calories the merrier.
I think I am getting plenty of fat / calories eating lots of eggs, meat, cheese, turkish yogurt etc.
Sweeteners / caffine are at lower levels than before the diet.
I drink alot of water but still struggle to feel hydrated.

Hmm, so salt is the main test for this weekend. I've mentioned before that I have a pain in my liver / gallbladder area and have been paying particular attention to it. Oddly its severity seems to fluctuate throughout the day so I'm going to try and figure out if it occurs after consuming something in particular. At this point though in couldn't say what that is but hopefully I'll figure it out.

Thanks for the advice!
 
MrBigglesworth said:
I am not remembering to put salt on things so that is possibly the issue.
I've never been able to gain weight so the more calories the merrier.
I think I am getting plenty of fat / calories eating lots of eggs, meat, cheese, turkish yogurt etc.
Sweeteners / caffine are at lower levels than before the diet.
I drink alot of water but still struggle to feel hydrated.

Hmm, so salt is the main test for this weekend. I've mentioned before that I have a pain in my liver / gallbladder area and have been paying particular attention to it. Oddly its severity seems to fluctuate throughout the day so I'm going to try and figure out if it occurs after consuming something in particular. At this point though in couldn't say what that is but hopefully I'll figure it out.

Thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...

If the pain doesn't go away contact your doctor!
 
Quick response to @MrBigglesworth

The LCHF diet really threw my electrolytes off, and I was miserable. I finally settled on taking 150 mg magnesium citrate with each meal (for a daily intake of 450 mg), 99 mg potassium citrate with breakfast, and salt daily. My husband, who has atrial fibrillation, joined me on the LCHF diet, and it appears to have worsened his atrial fibrillation. We're not sure. And he chose to continue on the diet. While I had heart palpitations intermittently as I was sorting out the electrolyte problem and how to do the diet correctly, that problem resolved within a month or so. Getting the sodium (salt) right was the last piece for me. Hoping this problem resolves for you too.

An easy way to consume salt daily is to dissolve some in a cup of hot water and drink it. I'd start with an 1/8 teaspoon, and work up to a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon. By the third cup with an 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon of salt over a period of days, I began liking it, but maybe I'm just weird. Others here drink broth which is salty (and too often has yucky preservatives in it which I prefer to avoid; ask for brand suggestions here if you go with the broth option).

I have to go now, but I encourage you to list here exactly what you're eating each day here for two or three days so the more experienced low carbers here can help you tweak what your eating.

I'm concerned that you're not eating enough of a variety of healthy fats, so your caloric intake may be too low. Which would be uncomfortable for you. Also, in the beginning, it helped me to snack on 1 ounce of raw nuts or other sources of fat and protein between meals, and before bed. 1/2 an avocado or 12 small green olives with the pimento removed are good too after dinner or before bed. This potentially will temporarily stop the weight loss, but it will help with the transition to becoming a fat burner. Over time I significantly scaled back the snacking and eating hard cheeses somewhat and my weight loss resumed.

Each meal should include a source of a carbohydrate (in the form of a non-starchy vegetable as much as possible), a fat, and a protein. I don't feel good if I don't have an egg and at least one serving of meat, poultry, or fish daily.

As for the pain, that likely will take time to sort out. Initially, I was experiencing some discomfort in my right kidney, but my lab results consistently showed no problems, and it eventually resolved too. Hopefully, you don't have a stone problem.

I'll follow your posts over the weekend. :)
 
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I must be one of the lucky ones, who have not had these macro, micro nutrient problems.
I have never had to use supplements or add extra salt.
I took to low carbing like a fish to water and probably, because I had been so ill, though I didn't really know it, because I gradually kept feeling better, to be in such good health now!
To me, I know that now, I regularly have to eat quite a lot of full fat to keep me this way, but it was when I was testing vigorously and finding which food helps and those foods that raised my bloods.
@Winnie53 You are becoming so knowledgeable in so many ways that I raise my hat to you.
I look forward to reading your posts. I thought I was a bit obsessive about finding out about the way my condition works!;)
 
Thanks Nosher. I understand hypoglycemia, but not reactive hypoglycemia. It's so different. We're all learning from you. Obsession can be a good thing. :)

Not being able to build up a reserve of magnesium bugs me...a lot. A week or two ago I was reading a 27 page document written by Ron Rosedale, M.D., written in 1999, I believe. I'll have to go back and look for the quote...hope I'm remembering this correctly...but I recall him saying that high levels of insulin interfere with magnesium getting into the cells. One more reason to get those insulin levels down.
 
So true, all my latest tests, have been so good, I haven't had to worry with such things! (I'm shaking my head!) I am still learning and testing and experimenting with things, so I don't suffer from the lack of magnesium etc. I have always had salt with tomatoes and like a good salty gammon steak now and then. Bacon and eggs, lots of protein with the fat must help keep me running good. And of course full fat yoghurt! Love it!
But my balance should be put out as I can't have dairy, milk, cream, cheese and can't stand cooked greens, but I do eat a lot of salads.
As I say I must be lucky in getting in balance with my food and being continuously low blood glucose levels.
 
Wow, so many comments, I'm very grateful guys!

I can measure my blood pressure this weekend as I'm at my parents house.
I will keep a log of what I eat and post it here with any symptoms in a few days.
Should I be asking my gp to test my magnesium levels etc about now?
Yes, I have vitamin D deficiency although I expect the supplements I've been taking will have raised it a decent amount. It was at 12 btw.

Erm... That's all I can think of for now. When I'm at a pc I can look over the messages properly and post more.

Thanks!
 
MrBigglesworth, for reasons I don't understand, testing magnesium levels doesn't always identify deficiencies...

"Normal levels of magnesium do not necessarily reflect total body stores of magnesium. The body attempts to keep blood magnesium levels relatively stable and will release magnesium from bone and tissues to accomplish this. So, the blood level may be normal with early magnesium deficiencies."

For more information, here's the link... https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/magnesium/tab/test/

The problem with the LCHF diet is that initially at least, we pee out those electrolytes. Supplementing with magnesium, potassium, and sodium (salt) solved that problem for me. If you begin taking those supplements, and you begin feeling better, that's indicative of a deficiency. If you stop the supplements, and the troublesome symptoms return, that's also indicative of a deficiency. In my opinion, it's better to get magnesium from diet and supplements than from our bones.

@nosher8355 Here's the quote from a talk Ron Rosedale, M.D. gave at Designs for Health Institute's BoulderFest, August 1999.

For those interested in downloading and reading Dr. Rosedale's presentation, "Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects" go here and click on download in the first listing... http://drrosedale.com/rosedale_writing#axzz3eHf6qkTi

He was one of the doctors who began treating diabetic patients with the LCHF diet, in the 1990's or perhaps earlier, not sure. @MrBigglesworth, you likely will find it interesting too. :)

"Magnesium

A less known fact is that insulin also stores magnesium. But if your cells become resistant to insulin, you can't store magnesium so you lose it through urination.

Intracellular magnesium relaxes muscles. What happens when you can't store magnesium because the cell is resistant? You lose magnesium and your blood vessels constrict.

This causes an increase in blood pressure and a reduction in energy since intracellular magnesium is required for all energy producing reactions that take place in the cell.

But most importantly, magnesium is also necessary for the action of insulin and the manufacture of insulin. When you raise your insulin, you lose magnesium, and the cells become even more insulin resistant. Blood vessels constrict and glucose and insulin can't get to the tissues, which makes them more insulin resistant, so the insulin levels go up and you lose more magnesium. This is the vicious cycle that begins even before you were born.

Insulin sensitivity starts to be determined the moment the sperm combines with the egg. If a pregnant woman eats a high-carbohydrate diet, which turns into sugar, animal studies have shown that the fetus will become more insulin resistant.

Worse yet, researchers have used sophisticated measurements and found that if that fetus happens to be a female, the eggs of that fetus are more insulin resistant. Does that mean it is genetic? No, you can be born with something and it doesn't meant that it is genetic. Diabetes is not a genetic disease as such. You can have a genetic predisposition, but it should be an extremely rare disease."

@MrBigglesworth, glad you're supplementing with the vitamin D3, as a deficiency is a set up for serious problems down the road. My level was similar to yours four years ago. I had it tested again in February and it's as low as yours again because I stopped supplementing. Not smart on my part... :(
 
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@nosher8355 Here's the quote from a talk Ron Rosedale, M.D. gave at Designs for Health Institute's BoulderFest, August 1999.

For those interested in downloading and reading Dr. Rosedale's presentation, "Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects" go here and click on download in the first listing... http://drrosedale.com/rosedale_writing#axzz3eHf6qkTi

He was one of the doctors who began treating diabetic patients with the LCHF diet, in the 1990's or perhaps earlier, not sure. @MrBigglesworth, you likely will find it interesting too.

Thanks @Winnie53 , that was well worth reading and his opinions and his conclusions are what I have deep respect for.
That was a reminder to me why I am low carbing and trying not to over produce insulin.
And I found out certain things that have highlighted why I was 'ill' and getting fatter before I low carbed.
Really grateful for that.
I think I've just read my own horror story!
 
I can't get the statement that a potato is a ball of sugar! There is no fibre in a potato!:banghead:o_O

Dietician advised me to eat baked potato and beans!
This in her opinion was a balanced meal!

Thank you so much!:eek:
 
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