First off I apologize for the lengthy post but, I'm a bit worried that I might be showing signs of possibly having diabetes or some other medical problem. Since reaching my goal weight I've been having a consistant problem with my blood sugar. If I literally don't eat something every two hours, I feel like any energy from my body gets drained. Such as today I went shopping with my mom we were out for like 2 hours trying on clothes and doing some running around and what not. We left the house at 10am, by the time 12pm rolled around I instantly felt drained and started to over heat and I had to sit down, I didn't have any food on my but I always have a bottle of water on me and drinking it only helped a tiny bit. Not only did I have drained energy but I also felt like I had the shakes inside my body though it didn't quite make it to the point where my body actually shook. The only thing I could think of that causes this is having low blood sugar levels. The last time that I ate was 7:30am this morning and that was a bowl of oatmeal, half a blueberry muffin, a handful of grapes and coffee. After I felt the low energy come on we quickly got the nearest food since I had to eat something right there because I was starting to feel faint, which not the best food but was Del Taco, I felt sick to my stomach when eating but it helped get my energy up and now I feel a bit better. This is a common occurance if I don't eat something every two hours, it doesn't matter what it is but I know I just HAVE to eat or I get like this, I've also noticed I get mood swings when my energy also gets like this.
I don't think this is normal but I'm worried that something is going on because I shouldn't HAVE to eat every two hours so I don't get this way. I think something is going on, I'm worried that low blood sugar is a sign of having diabetes which now I'm really worried that it could be a possibility. I'm going on vacation next week but I plan to make a doctor's appointment when I get back to see if there's anything going on. But I'd like you're opinion's of what you guy's think is up, weather it's a possible medical condtion. All I know is something is up and this is not normal.
Last edited by SoCalCowgirl; 07-16-2012 at 04:31 PM.
Sounds like hypoglycemia to me. You can buy glucose tabs at a drugstore to have with you just in case. I have had sugar problems and from time to time, I get a little low sugar so it's nice to have them in my purse. When I struggled with it the most, I figured out that my old birth control pill was a contributing factor. You might have a look over any meds you take and see if any of them might be affecting you or possibly interacting with something else you take or possibly eat. You might also try eating more protein and/or fat so you don't have a crash from carbs. Good Luck!
how many calories are you eating a day? Can you post a sample menu of your meals?
you ate at 7:30 a pretty high sugar meal and by 12 were really hungry with blood sugar crashing. Not unusual to be hungry 4.5 hours later. Try lower sugar meals (blue berry muffins and grapes are both high in sugar) and have more protein, eggs, cheese, even meats for breakfast.
Sounds like hypoglycemia to me. You can buy glucose tabs at a drugstore to have with you just in case. I have had sugar problems and from time to time, I get a little low sugar so it's nice to have them in my purse. When I struggled with it the most, I figured out that my old birth control pill was a contributing factor. You might have a look over any meds you take and see if any of them might be affecting you or possibly interacting with something else you take or possibly eat. You might also try eating more protein and/or fat so you don't have a crash from carbs. Good Luck!
hmm I'll have to look up hypoglycemia on the internet to find out more about it. As far as over the counter meds, or any meds in general I don't take any, so that's not the cause and I really appreciate the help, I've just been worried because this is a daily occurance for a while now.
Yep I think you have hypoglycemia. I have it, and honestly I just always carry around a little bag of almonds in my purse, or sometimes a piece or two of beef jerky. But Eating sugary breakfasts (or any meal for that matter) will cause a major crash in a few hours if you don't have protein, wether you have hypoglycemia or not!
how many calories are you eating a day? Can you post a sample menu of your meals?
you ate at 7:30 a pretty high sugar meal and by 12 were really hungry with blood sugar crashing. Not unusual to be hungry 4.5 hours later. Try lower sugar meals (blue berry muffins and grapes are both high in sugar) and have more protein, eggs, cheese, even meats for breakfast.
Since being on mainatance I try to eat closer to 2000 calories a day, but I honestly don't think I make the 2000 limit, It's probably more like 1500-1700 at the most. And one other note that I should add was when I experienced the sudden crash when shopping, I don't remember exactly feeling hungry at all, and I was pretty much content especially since my mind was focused on shopping and trying on clothes, but once I crashed I felt like I was starving.
My daily meals tend to varry these days especially now that I'm letting myself eat more these day's but here's what somedays are like:
Morning: bowl of oatmeal and snack wells breakfast bar and a cup of coffee at 7-7:30am
Snack: Fiber bar 10 or 11am
Lunch: 3 cheese quesdilla's on wheat tortia shells OR bowl of salad, at 12pm
Snack: jello, piece of fruit or almonds, usually throughout the day until dinner
Dinner: usually varies as I still live at home and mom cooks, but it' usually consists of salad, meat, and veggies at 6-6:30pm
Desert: usually jello at 8:30pm
Drinks: water, coffee is the only thing that I drink besides water, and that's only in the morning.
So that's my usual day, I normally try to eat some sort of snack througout the day, usually about every 2hrs, because if I don't that's when I have a blood sugar crash. And also I try to keep my snacks no more than 100 calories each, like the Fiber Bar is 90 Calories, Jello 60 calories.
Yep I think you have hypoglycemia. I have it, and honestly I just always carry around a little bag of almonds in my purse, or sometimes a piece or two of beef jerky. But Eating sugary breakfasts (or any meal for that matter) will cause a major crash in a few hours if you don't have protein, wether you have hypoglycemia or not!
Back when I was dieting I made sure I always had a bag of almonds with me too, especially when I was at work and at school. I remember my worst blood sugar crash was when I was taking a test during school and I got extremely dizzy and nearly passed out, I was fighting the lightheadness during the whole class and made it nearly impossible to concentrate on the test but somehow I managed to get through it then went straight to the vending machine just so I could get something in me then shortly after the dizzyness faded.
When you got tested for hypoglycemia, how did you find out? I'm assuming the doctors did a blood test to find out?
You can find out for sure by getting your blood tested at the doctor's office. One test is a fasting glucose that will measure your blood sugar level after you have fasted over night. Another test is the A1C that provides your doctor with a snapshot of your glucose levels over three months. These tests can be done on a simple blood draw.
You're eating a lot of sugar and refined carbs in those bars/jello. I'd be dizzy all day if I ate that stuff, too.
Have you tried replacing them with more fat/protein for a day and see if you feel better?
Also, I use Intermittant Fasting as a way to control my blood sugar. I was having a lot of blood sugar issues when I was forcing myself to eat every 2 hours. Now that I'm used to eating in a 4 hour window, they are VERY rare. It's counterintuitive, but it works for a lot of us.
@ Garnet- thanks for the info, I'm relieved that it's only a blood test to determine what the cause is, I'm going to try to get into the doctors as soon as I get back from vacation
@valrock- I'm willing to try to change what I eat to see if that makes a difference in my blood sugar. I hate when my symptoms pop up so I'm willing to try just about anything to make them go away, I hate the feeling of weakness. And I'll be sure to look at Intermittan Fasting to see if that will help as well.
I just hope I get this figured out before I go back to college in a month as I really don't want to have this happen while in school.
Since being on mainatance I try to eat closer to 2000 calories a day, but I honestly don't think I make the 2000 limit, It's probably more like 1500-1700 at the most. And one other note that I should add was when I experienced the sudden crash when shopping, I don't remember exactly feeling hungry at all, and I was pretty much content especially since my mind was focused on shopping and trying on clothes, but once I crashed I felt like I was starving.
My daily meals tend to varry these days especially now that I'm letting myself eat more these day's but here's what somedays are like:
Morning: bowl of oatmeal and snack wells breakfast bar [sugar and highly processed]and a cup of coffee at 7-7:30am
Snack: Fiber bar 10 or 11am [sugar and highly processed]
Lunch: 3 cheese quesdilla's on wheat tortia shells OR bowl of salad, at 12pm
Snack: jello [sugar, no nutritional value] piece of fruit or almonds, usually throughout the day until dinner
Dinner: usually varies as I still live at home and mom cooks, but it' usually consists of salad, meat, and veggies at 6-6:30pm
Desert: usually jello at 8:30pm [sugar, zero nutrition]
Drinks: water, coffee is the only thing that I drink besides water, and that's only in the morning.
So that's my usual day, I normally try to eat some sort of snack througout the day, usually about every 2hrs, because if I don't that's when I have a blood sugar crash. And also I try to keep my snacks no more than 100 calories each, like the Fiber Bar is 90 Calories, Jello 60 calories.
My comments above in bold.
YOu are eating a lot of highly processed, non-nutritive sugar laden foods. You shouldn't need to snack through out the day if you are eating adequate meals. Especially on just sugar. I'd add meat to to the tortilla dishes, more veggies besides just lettuce (sweet potato is a good one) cut out all jello, bars, and snack well things.
Add some 2% greek yogurt in, as a snack or after dinner if needed.
YOu are eating a lot of highly processed, non-nutritive sugar laden foods. You shouldn't need to snack through out the day if you are eating adequate meals. Especially on just sugar. I'd add meat to to the tortilla dishes, more veggies besides just lettuce (sweet potato is a good one) cut out all jello, bars, and snack well things.
Add some 2% greek yogurt in, as a snack or after dinner if needed.
thanks so much for the suggestions, I will try this starting tomorrow and see if their's a difference, I also think I'll start writing down what and when I eat and what time, and also when I start feeling symptoms of low blood sugar to try and help pinpoint what foods cause it.
Also do you have any reccomendations of on the go foods, I'm trying to think of what would be good to bring to school throughout the day, I used to bring like a protein or fiber bar and a bag of almonds but is there anything else that would be better to bring with me?
Last edited by SoCalCowgirl; 07-16-2012 at 06:36 PM.
Are you sure that typical day is 1500-1700 calories? I don't know how many cals the breakfast bar is or how much you ate of each thing, but a rough guesstimate put that at around 1000-1200 cals. Yes, you could get dizzy and sick if you aren't eating enuff. I have the same problem; and must have a snack most days in between my meals.
When I was younger and smaller, I could get away with eating less; but not now. I must eat a certain amount of calories, or I feel ill too (light-headed, nauseated, dizzy, shakey). If you were running around (meaning active) and hadn't eaten for over 5 hours -- yes, that was probably why. I think some people are more prone to this than others. You could try adding in some more protein & dairy like others suggested.
Yes, you could carry some nuts or trail mix with you to snack on at school; just watch how much you eat each day as they are high in cals. Measure a certain amount into a baggie to take with you each day.
If the symptoms keep up, maybe a check by the doctor is in order ...
The last time that I ate was 7:30am this morning and that was a bowl of oatmeal, half a blueberry muffin, a handful of grapes and coffee.
By all means, see your doctor and ask for the appropriate testing, however I suspect that what you're eating may be more to blame than your physiology.
Carbohydrates, especially high glycemic carbs, digest very quickly. Oatmeal is a whole grain which will last a bit longer than the white flour and sugar in the bluleberry muffin (though was it instant oatmeal? Instant oatmeal is higher glycemic than quick-oats (and usually includes quite a bit of added sugar), and quick-oats is higher glycemic than steel-cut oats or whole oat groats).
All the foods you listed are quickly digesting, high-glycemic carbs. They're not going to sustain you as long as protein, fat, and lower-glycemic carbs.
Even the grapes are higher-glycemic, quicker digesting than higher-fiber fruits.
Try reducing the carb to protein/fat ration, and see if that helps. It probably will. Including protein, a high fiber fruit or veggie, and a healthy fat at every meal would be a great start.
You'll have to experiment to find the carbohydrate level, and the carbohydrate distribution that works best for you. Some people find they have blood sugar issues even when they eat too many healthy carbs (I do).
If I eat grapes or watermelon, or other higher sugar fruits, I will be hungry an hour later (and weak and wobbly after three). Eating the fruit with a bit of protein and fat (like a piece of cheese) tends to hold me longer.
I do have blood sugar issues and may have had them all of my life. My blood sugar results have been non-diabetic for the last few months, but I have had diabetic-range numbers a few times.
Some folks have fewer hunger issues with a low-carb or paleo-diet (which is a high-fiber, low-glycemic, high-protein, moderate-fat, relatively-low carbohydrate diet).
For many years, I just ate every three hours, thinking that was the best way to control my blood sugar issues (it's what my doctors had advised me to do).
My current doctor however suggested that I try low-carb, but warned me not to "go too low" (though admitting he had no idea what constituted "too low.") I've experimented and found that paleo really helps me keep hunger under better control, and I rarely get the weak, and wobbly feeling.
However, just another suggestion - caffeine (the coffee) also can contribute to the weak and trembly feelings (in my experience). I don't know if the caffeine speeds up the digestion or whether the effects of the caffeine just magnify the weak and trembly feelings. Personally, I find it even more important to keep carbs under control when I'm having a caffeinated beverage with a meal. Caffeine doesn't usually make me jittery unless I've combined it with a sugary food. So I try not to drink my caffeine with a high-glycemic, high-carb meal or snack.
Carb-tolerance (and caffeine tolerance for that matter) is highly variable, so you're going to have to do some experimenting to find what works best for you.
I'd have to agree with others that it might be what you're eating that's causing this. When I used to eat a lot of processed, sugary things I would get hungry sooner. When I restricted calories I would get dizzy.
If I paired these things with a source of protein, I was usually fine.
I can have a 100-200 calorie breakfast of an egg or two and some veggies and be full until lunchtime and beyond (sometimes if I'm busy I'll forget to have something!)
If you're worried go and get checked out, but it might be worth it to at least switch around your diet a bit first
Low Blood Sugar Complications...A bit worried
