Hi everyone, I'm new here, but have been perusing this forum for a few months.
A bit about me:
I'm 28 with no previous health conditions worth noting. A couple of years ago (immediately before the original 2020 lockdown, actually), I began experiencing symptoms of low-blood sugar: pounding heart, sweating, confusion/inability to focus, lightheadedness, general weakness, shakiness, anxiety, and fatigue like no other. At the time, these symptoms were mind-boggling and I attributed them to simply being hungry (despite having never previously felt like this when hungry), but I eventually came to notice a pattern: I would eat breakfast around 8am, and without fail, these symptoms would come on around 10.30-11 in the morning. Eventually, I called my GP, but this was now right in the middle of the original 2020 lockdown. I was invited to the surgery for a blood test, but the test was at 2pm and I wasn't experiencing any symptoms, so I knew that it would come back normal, which it did. Things were chaotic at the time and GPs were (rightly) occupied with other matters, so no further investigations were done. I did some of my own research, discovered that white bread was a common culprit of these symptoms (and indeed, I was usually have white toast for breakfast), so I stopped eating toast and the symptoms became far less frequent.
Over time however, it seems like this has gotten worse. I went back to my GP last year and mentioned my symptoms again. I was tested for indications of diabetes, which came back negative, and then for any indications of a tumour that might be impacting my pancreas; again, this came back normal (I don't know what specifically was tested, but they were blood tests by my GP).
I'm currently focusing on trying to figure out what foods are causing me to feel like this. I've started a food diary and am making notes. I've noted that I can't eat bread on its own at any point during the day now, so I'm trying to eat more fruit, vegetables, and plant-based sources of protein (I'm vegan). I typically drink Huel in the mornings, which generally sets me up for a good day, but Huel is expensive and I don't want to have to rely on it for breakfast every day of the weak. So I'm experimenting, I guess.
Anyway, I've done quite a bit of reading up on this topic, and I generally understand what is happening (or I guess what could be happening, since I don't have a diagnosis). I'm keen to understand my body more so that I can start to feel better, but I find that I keep getting stuck on one thing: exercise.
Typically, my preferred forms of exercise are cycling and long-distance running. I find that when I exercise shortly after breakfast in the morning, regardless of the length or type of exercise, the hypo doesn't come on (does anyone know the science behind why this is?) and I feel pretty good (obvously I can't always exercise in this very specific time frame). What I'm concerned about though is fuelling before and during long-distance runs in particular. My understanding of fuelling for exercise is very basic, but this is what I think I know (correct me if you know I'm wrong): you need to be consuming fast-acting carbs regularly throughout your long runs/rides. Running differs from cycling in that your stomach is generally is unable to handle any substantial types of food, so this means that people are eating sweats and energy bars during their runs. I do this as well, and in general, this works well for the run itself.
However, this brings me to my main question (tl;dr): would fuelling like this while running be counter-productive to my overall goal of stopping these hypos? I keep reading information about how I should be eating a low-carb diet to prevent the hypos, but because I do long-distance sports where more carbs = more running/cycling/whatever, I feel conflicted and unsure of what to do. I feel like knowing more about how exercise impacts RH would be beneficial to understanding what is good for me to eat and what isn't, but in general, I'm just trying to figure things out.
Anyway, like I said, this is all a big learning experience for me right now, and I'm committed to figuring out what's best for my body. Maybe this is a super niche topic, but any insights/discussion would be very much appreciated!
Thanks.
A bit about me:
I'm 28 with no previous health conditions worth noting. A couple of years ago (immediately before the original 2020 lockdown, actually), I began experiencing symptoms of low-blood sugar: pounding heart, sweating, confusion/inability to focus, lightheadedness, general weakness, shakiness, anxiety, and fatigue like no other. At the time, these symptoms were mind-boggling and I attributed them to simply being hungry (despite having never previously felt like this when hungry), but I eventually came to notice a pattern: I would eat breakfast around 8am, and without fail, these symptoms would come on around 10.30-11 in the morning. Eventually, I called my GP, but this was now right in the middle of the original 2020 lockdown. I was invited to the surgery for a blood test, but the test was at 2pm and I wasn't experiencing any symptoms, so I knew that it would come back normal, which it did. Things were chaotic at the time and GPs were (rightly) occupied with other matters, so no further investigations were done. I did some of my own research, discovered that white bread was a common culprit of these symptoms (and indeed, I was usually have white toast for breakfast), so I stopped eating toast and the symptoms became far less frequent.
Over time however, it seems like this has gotten worse. I went back to my GP last year and mentioned my symptoms again. I was tested for indications of diabetes, which came back negative, and then for any indications of a tumour that might be impacting my pancreas; again, this came back normal (I don't know what specifically was tested, but they were blood tests by my GP).
I'm currently focusing on trying to figure out what foods are causing me to feel like this. I've started a food diary and am making notes. I've noted that I can't eat bread on its own at any point during the day now, so I'm trying to eat more fruit, vegetables, and plant-based sources of protein (I'm vegan). I typically drink Huel in the mornings, which generally sets me up for a good day, but Huel is expensive and I don't want to have to rely on it for breakfast every day of the weak. So I'm experimenting, I guess.
Anyway, I've done quite a bit of reading up on this topic, and I generally understand what is happening (or I guess what could be happening, since I don't have a diagnosis). I'm keen to understand my body more so that I can start to feel better, but I find that I keep getting stuck on one thing: exercise.
Typically, my preferred forms of exercise are cycling and long-distance running. I find that when I exercise shortly after breakfast in the morning, regardless of the length or type of exercise, the hypo doesn't come on (does anyone know the science behind why this is?) and I feel pretty good (obvously I can't always exercise in this very specific time frame). What I'm concerned about though is fuelling before and during long-distance runs in particular. My understanding of fuelling for exercise is very basic, but this is what I think I know (correct me if you know I'm wrong): you need to be consuming fast-acting carbs regularly throughout your long runs/rides. Running differs from cycling in that your stomach is generally is unable to handle any substantial types of food, so this means that people are eating sweats and energy bars during their runs. I do this as well, and in general, this works well for the run itself.
However, this brings me to my main question (tl;dr): would fuelling like this while running be counter-productive to my overall goal of stopping these hypos? I keep reading information about how I should be eating a low-carb diet to prevent the hypos, but because I do long-distance sports where more carbs = more running/cycling/whatever, I feel conflicted and unsure of what to do. I feel like knowing more about how exercise impacts RH would be beneficial to understanding what is good for me to eat and what isn't, but in general, I'm just trying to figure things out.
Anyway, like I said, this is all a big learning experience for me right now, and I'm committed to figuring out what's best for my body. Maybe this is a super niche topic, but any insights/discussion would be very much appreciated!
Thanks.
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