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What just happened? Very false hypo??

Emmar

Well-Known Member
Messages
63
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Can anyone throw some light on what just happened to me please? I am type 2, take 1x500mg glucophage twice a day. I was low carb for a while, but when started on Metformin 3 months ago the nurse told me to reintroduce carbs. I did, but not too much. However over the last month i have slipped back to old ways. Yesterday I bought a large squashy fresh baked white loaf and ate far more than I should last night. This morning I had a slice toasted for breakfast. Then at 11.30 I experienced what feels like a hypo to me (I used to have this sometimes when my blood sugars werent controlled very well). However I checked and my reading was 11! I felt shaky and very hungry and dizzy. As I'm not allowed many test strips the nurse told me not to check my bs daily so I don't know what my levels have been like lately. Could the bread have caused spikes then drops then a liver dump - would this explain the rollercoaster of sensations? I do suffer from panic attacks which I have often said feel very much like a hypo , I am know beginning to wonder if many of my panic attacks over the years which seemed to come out of nowhere, were related to my blood sugar levels? I just read an article about the effects on adrenaline on the blood sugar and am questioning if my anxiety, panic attacks and diabetes could be linked? Does anyone have any insight? I do also have a mild cold at the moment.
 
I don't know if this is your problem but I sometimes get a strange feeling in my head when my BS is high. It can feel slightly like a hypo and I usually have to,test my BS a couple of times to convince myself it's not!
 
So many possibilities...

Not sure I can make any helpful comments (it could be any of the things you mentioned), but it really does sound to me as though you need to start testing regularly, if only to set your mind at rest and help you to manage your blood glucose.

I don't get a meter and test strips on prescription (very few of us T2s do), but I self-fund using the SD Codefree. It is the cheapest one I know, and FAR cheaper than buying one of the more expensive brands that the NHS seem to prescribe.
 
With a reading of 11 it wouldn't be a hypo, but definitely sounds like your body isn't happy. The white bread would make your sugar rise very quickly and to a high level and then you would get a sudden drop. Perhaps you were a lot higher than 11 and started to drop quickly? I know I start to feel weird when my sugar drops fast. But for me usually if I'm not careful I'll wind up in the 3's or 2's on my meter. So it could be the same thing happening for you maybe? But then you could have other health issues going on as well. I have a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system which I notice when I get sudden changes to my sugar levels I also get changes to my BP and heart rate at times which makes me feel quite unwell. Again, another possibility for you. I hope whatever it is you can try and avoid it if you can in future. I wish you the best.
 
I agree with @Brunneria You need to start testing several times a day, every day, to see what is causing your high levels. Otherwise you are working blind and you will not find the cause or be able to do something about it. The Codefree meter is a good option. Pharmacies don't sell them.

https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/

Test before eating and 2 hours after first bite. Keep a food diary and record your levels alongside. Patterns will emerge and you will see which foods are causing the problems.
 
maybe it was only the very rapid spike and rapid decrease that made you feel very ill.

White bread is made of white flour; that is the standard for the glycemic index where the highest is 100, which is the value for white flour, which means maximum spiking and white flour do actually spike more than plain sugar that do spike about 65...
people do usually not know that white flour is actually quite a lot worse than plain sugar that is also very bad, watemelon (72 in G.I.) is in between sugar and white flour

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods
please note the baguette that has the number 95 in the glycemic index in the above index...because it hardly consists of anything else than white flour

one could roughly say that 200 grams of white bread is almost equeal to 300 grams of plain sugar...when it comes to spiking
 
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Shaky, very hungry and dizzy are what I feel when my blood sugar is in the 11's. I usually have blurry vision at that level as well. My blood sugar always goes up when I am sick-like with a cold. And like freema said above-if you are looking for something to spike your blood sugar white bread is just the thing to do it! I think you know you need to eat better again to feel better. Remember to drink lots of water to stay hydrated as well. I hope you are feeling better. I am tagging @daisy1 for you with newcomer information-I am not sure you ever received it.
 
Thank you for all your replies. @Freema, wow that really puts it into perspective re the white bread!! Having done plenty of research over the years on my condition, the one thing I still don't understand is how your can feel ravenously hungry but have high blood sugar - I just don't get it?! Anyway, I've spent the last couple of hours freezing under a blanket and I'm now running a slight temperature, so maybe this was a combination of the white bread and the start of a wee bug? Thanks again. X
 

The reason you feel hungry is because you are eating too many carbs. Carbs make you hungry. It is fat that stops hunger. Lower carb and increased fats is the way to go.

I hope you feel better soon.
 

one reason why one can be terribly hungry when having high blood glucose is rather simple : when your insuline is high (far too high as in type 2 like 6-10 times higher than it should be) when insuline is high the blood glucose is used to store fat into the cell, and therefore we are always hungry... a lot of storing going on. high insuline = too much food = the body goes storing

When on the other hand insuline is low we switch to fat burning, but the insuline must be low before the signalt to burn fat is send in high enough doses, and then when we can loose weight.

one of the best ways to get ones insuline down is by not eating carbs that get insuline raising, and by fasting that after 9 hours of not eating starts to go down , but only about 15-20% , but after 3 days of fasting insuline goes down like 30-35% or a little more..and thats about the most fasting does... but as type 2 diabetics that is really important because otherwise we can keep on storing fat all the time, and have a very hard tie loosing weight compared to other people.... all my theories here are from Jason fung the famous low carb diet doctor

I didn´t feel hungry all the time though, but did store fat alright, but maybe my diabetes came from medication and passivity more than eating very high levels of carbs...
 
Definitely concur that carbs make you hungry. People often ask me how I can cope fasting but I just do not feel hungry when I fast. I just make sure I drink plenty of clear non fizzy fluids
 
I love the support being offered above - stay curious ... if your weight and waist are returning to normal you are on the right track. Metformin is not the problem, it is helping the process.
These feelings are really scary - as a GP I wish the term 'false hypo' was more widely used and understood.
Your body /brain has reset the higher sugar levels as being normal.
Falling below these levels is safe but scary. I recommend drinking 1 - 2 glasses of water and thinking back about what foods had caused the spike and sudden fall. (I am non-diabetic, but missing breakfast then coffee and 2 digestives would trigger this reaction in me - I have eaten low carb for years and really love it.)
 
Hi,

The term "false hypo" is widely used & understood on here! If one is used to prolonged cruising (BG wise.) at high altitudes? One will feel a "cold turkey" effect as sugars move into healthier parameters... Especially if it's a nosedive to get there.

An unhealthy tolerance can be built up with high BG. But it's still killing with potential complications, like one would with drugs & alcahol addiction..

That's why I feel BS meters should be recommended to all diabetics...
 
A false hypo feeling of these type of symptoms can be also be attributed to sudden changes in blood glucose levels, up as well as down.
Your body will be used to having a level which it is used to, if some food or drink triggers a sudden burst of glucose or unusual amount of insulin, adrenaline and thyroid , any of which and other hormones will exacerbate the situation.
Anxiety and other mental health problems can be symptomatic of fluctuating blood glucose levels.
 
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