Those are great discoveries
Part of the awfulness of the symptoms are because when we RHers hypo, our body takes some emergency measures to try and sort things out.
I’m not familiar with all the hormone names, but basically, when our bg drops below where it should be, a number of hormones including glucagon, adrenalin and cortisol are pumped out rapidly. This triggers an emergency glucose release from the liver. Other processes too. The glucagon is an antagonist that is supposed to stop the action of insulin (which is driving the bg down). All of these hormones can go wonky too (excess production, imbalance and resistance...)
This raises bg and brings you out of the hypo.
And of course, it works.
Thank goodness.
But the massive stress hormone dumpage has other effects too. Pale skin. Wobbly knees. Trembly hands. That jitterly hollow feeling. Those aren’t the hypo. They are the knock on effect of the hormones that have desperately rectified the hypo. And it takes a while to recover. For me, it can take 2-3 days, after a bad one.
It is a very similar effect as a shocking near car crash, or a fall, or other similar.
Our emergency stress hormones don’t know the difference, and they behave the same no matter what caused the shock.
Classic Fight or Flight.
Plus of course, this happens to us RHers daily. Sometimes several times daily. After something as innocuous as a slice of toast. So our bodies lurch from panic stations to recovery, to panic stations, like a rollercoaster whenever we eat foods that trigger it. Sometimes for years.
That has a serious long term effect. In my case it affected emotional and mental health, sleep, stamina, and eating habits. Especially when the doc told me there was nothing wrong with me and the symptoms were basically figments of my imagination!
The body goes from neutral, to ‘shock’, to craving carbs to recover (sweet tea is traditional for shock, isn’t it?), and then repeats in an endless loop. We believe it is carbs that make us feel better, when in reality they are just setting us up for the next round. My body eventually went deeper and deeper into insulin resistance and raised my bgs, probably as a combo of coping mechanisms where it was on hair trigger hypo watch, while simultaneously pumping out excess insulin, desperately trying to stop the bg rise.
BUT now you know what is going on, you get to take control.
Avoid the hyper, and the hypo won’t happen.
And there are a LOT of delicious very low carb treats and snacks and foods that you can use to make a low carb existence very pleasant.
Just google low carb cookies, cakes, desserts and snacks, and you will see some amazing ideas.
I made this for my father recently.
I will take it over a toast/hypo combo anyday.
https://joyfilledeats.com/blueberry-danish/
Part of the awfulness of the symptoms are because when we RHers hypo, our body takes some emergency measures to try and sort things out.
I’m not familiar with all the hormone names, but basically, when our bg drops below where it should be, a number of hormones including glucagon, adrenalin and cortisol are pumped out rapidly. This triggers an emergency glucose release from the liver. Other processes too. The glucagon is an antagonist that is supposed to stop the action of insulin (which is driving the bg down). All of these hormones can go wonky too (excess production, imbalance and resistance...)
This raises bg and brings you out of the hypo.
And of course, it works.
Thank goodness.
But the massive stress hormone dumpage has other effects too. Pale skin. Wobbly knees. Trembly hands. That jitterly hollow feeling. Those aren’t the hypo. They are the knock on effect of the hormones that have desperately rectified the hypo. And it takes a while to recover. For me, it can take 2-3 days, after a bad one.
It is a very similar effect as a shocking near car crash, or a fall, or other similar.
Our emergency stress hormones don’t know the difference, and they behave the same no matter what caused the shock.
Classic Fight or Flight.
Plus of course, this happens to us RHers daily. Sometimes several times daily. After something as innocuous as a slice of toast. So our bodies lurch from panic stations to recovery, to panic stations, like a rollercoaster whenever we eat foods that trigger it. Sometimes for years.
That has a serious long term effect. In my case it affected emotional and mental health, sleep, stamina, and eating habits. Especially when the doc told me there was nothing wrong with me and the symptoms were basically figments of my imagination!
The body goes from neutral, to ‘shock’, to craving carbs to recover (sweet tea is traditional for shock, isn’t it?), and then repeats in an endless loop. We believe it is carbs that make us feel better, when in reality they are just setting us up for the next round. My body eventually went deeper and deeper into insulin resistance and raised my bgs, probably as a combo of coping mechanisms where it was on hair trigger hypo watch, while simultaneously pumping out excess insulin, desperately trying to stop the bg rise.
BUT now you know what is going on, you get to take control.
Avoid the hyper, and the hypo won’t happen.
And there are a LOT of delicious very low carb treats and snacks and foods that you can use to make a low carb existence very pleasant.
Just google low carb cookies, cakes, desserts and snacks, and you will see some amazing ideas.
I made this for my father recently.
I will take it over a toast/hypo combo anyday.
https://joyfilledeats.com/blueberry-danish/