Hey Altari,

With hypoglycemia, the worst thing you can do is eat sugary foods. Your blood sugar will spike and then crash. You need a decent amount of the correct foods at regular intervals to prevent the drop-out of your blood sugar--liquid supplements won't provide that.

Have your thyroid levels checked--find a different doctor if you have to! After all, you're paying them! And consider rethinking your approach to food. Your thinking sounds like an all-or-nothing kind of approach, and you don't have to go that way.

Please let us know how your thyroid tests come out! We'll be rooting for you!

Jay

I'm not paying them though. With my husband in college and the three girls, we're on state aid. That's why my OBGYN couldn't perform the test. They have very strict rules on what each doctor can do. If they don't have 'good reason' for a thyroid condition, then they can't give the test. And it's easier for the GPs to tell me to eat less, exercise more than to argue that I needed to $100 blood test. At least, that's what my OBGYN's nurse told me, lol.

Gee, Altari, I hope that on top of everything else you're not the sole support of your family, with your husband in college. That's a lot of stress, too.

Even though you're on state aid, I would still go back to the GP and ask for a thyroid test--tell him or her that you would like to rule out low thyroid as a cause of your overweight, just to put your mind at rest. And even on state aid, I still think you could change doctors if you had to. If you went to a car mechanic who refused to check your car's oil, you'd probably go to a different mechanic, right? It should be the same with doctors--no matter who's paying.

In the meantime, think about other ways to get proper nutrition! We have a planning thread here in Support--it's just what other folks are doing, as a kind of accountability thread--but you might get some ideas of what a different weight loss program could look like.

Good luck!
Jay

Hi Altari,

I share your pain. It's taken me 15 months to lose 45 pounds. I've all but maybe 2 of the symptoms for hypothyroid yet they won't test me and I have private insurance. I workout 90 min a day, 45-60 cardio, 5 days a week and calories are between 1200-1500 99% of the time. If I go over 1600 I really feel like I binged. I've been trying the past few days to eat more (healthy food), thinking maybe I'm in starvation mode, and I have to force myself. I'm just not hungry. Of course I could just do the ice cream and M&M thing to get the calorie count up but something tells me that won't work!

My doc is like "eat less exercise more. I know how to do this!!! I've told her this repeatedly. I lost 72lbs in about 9 months after my son was born and I didn't do it on a liquid diet or by starving myself. On my most recent visit her diagnosis was that I'm losing slowly because I don't eat enough vegetables. Things clearly are amiss but the whole world just sees the number on the scale and go on auto eat less, exercise more pilot.

Even if not thyroid, I know something is going on because my female hormones are a mess too but Dr. won't bother looking into it because I'm 41, overweight, and just need to exercise more because hey I have 3 spare hours a day to spend at the gym.

FWIW your diet seems like it might be sorta high bad carb (ie. white bread, flour, etc.) and sugar. Sugar is the devil for me. Stress can be a factor as well. Lack of sleep. Poor nutrition. I won't touch most "diet" food. If you look at the ingredient list, sugar/high fructose blah blah is usually in the top 3 ingredients. For me too much of that stuff = hunger, increased stress and irritability, and if the stars aren't aligned exactly right, a major depressive episode. Plus, the higher your blood sugar level the less calories from fat you burn. Instead you burn the sugar.

Perhaps you can get a referral to a nutritionist at the very least? That's my next step. I'm going to track everything that goes into my mouth for the next month in FitDay and the print it out for them. Hopefully they won't assume I've been scarfing down twinkies and not logging them.

Or perhaps a psychiatrist might order some blood work? You obviously have a lot to deal with, so perhaps even if you don't feel the need, you could tell the GP you've been feeling extremely stressed/anxiety ridden lately or something. Then if you tell the psych what's going on they may order the test for you. When I took my son to see one for depression the first thing they did was order blood work.

Also, you might want to check out "The Schwarzbein Principle 2", by Diana Schwarzbein. She's an endocrinologist. Basically it's about the hormonal process - what happens when we eat carbs, fats, protein, how lifestyle/stress factors in and why perhaps some of us can't lose weight. She doesn't even recommend synthetic hormones (like those that are prescribed for thyroid issues) unless absolutely necessary. Her thing is to show us how to get our systems back in balance and functioning properly by eating the proper diet for our symptoms. Guess I should go read it again!

Your second post opens up a lot of information.

A couple of things come to mind. Firstly, have you officially been diagnosed as hypoglycemic? Or is this a self diagnosis? Sorry, i am a nurse, i go into "nurse mode" once medical conditions are brought up.

Considering your weight and history, there are other things that would come to my mind. By saying you need a "pick me up" and that is why you eat the m&ms, is that because at about mid afternoon you are feeling sluggish? That is not consistent with gypoglycemic unless dizziness is accompanying. It is more likely that you have PCOS and insulin resistence, and this is causing your dips in energy. This would also account for your lack of ability to lose weight. Which leads to my second concern.

By saying your doctor will not listen to you in regards to your thyroid. Has he tested you and you dont agree with the results? Why hasnt the OB tested you? I dont know, something just doesnt sound right. To me, it is more likely that your thyroid is fine, but your insulin is high. Do you check your blood sugar when you think it is low? I would be willing to bet that its not that your sugar is low, but that your insulin is high. I know these may sound like the same thing but they are actually very different diagnoses, that requires different treatment.

Have your OB check for pcos/IR. That could answer all of your problems in a nutshell, including the weight loss problems. I just find it hard to believe that someone your weight could actually have low sugar. High insulin is much more likely.

p.s. Oh and if you do have low sugar, Tammy is right, m&m's and soda are not what your endocrinologist would recommend with your weight. That is another reason, i am thinking this is a self diagnosis. You are doing what would make sense to you, but not what would make sense to a medical professional.

I have been diagnosed with hypoglycemia. About 3 hours after breakfast, I'll get tired, hot/cold and dizzy. I also experience a very severe and sudden hunger, that actually makes me nauseous. These are symptoms I've always had that led them to diagnosing it. They did the 4 or 6 hour blood test and came back saying that's what I had.

The thyroid was never really thought of as an issue, until my OBGYN's nurse suggested it. None of my doc's have tested me for it. But, since I'm on state aid, if the OBGYN performs the test while I'm not pregnant, it won't be covered. The other docs could test me, but they would have to justify the reasons to the state agency, and it was easier for them to tell me to eat less, exercise more. I also don't really have a choice of other docs, since we live in a very rural area and are on the state aid. It's kind of a crappy situation, because I'm highly stigmatized by my doctors as a 'teenaged mother'. When my gallbladder was going bad, it took them three weeks to diagnose it correctly. Every time I went back in for the pain, I was basically passed off, given anti-indigestion drugs, and told to get some sleep. By the time it got so bad I was taken to the ER, my liver was killing itself. They didn't do anything because they would have to justify why they ran these tests.

I LOVE my OBGYN, but she can't do much for me unless I get preggers again.

My dad has a blood meter. I'll try that when I feel a dip the next time I'm over there.

LoL no! That is NOT what they told me to eat when I was diagnosed. I was told to eat something with a small amount of sugar (like a piece of fruit) with something high in complex carbs so my blood sugar would remain steady with protein (hmm..sound familiar?). This is a case of willful disobedience, because the simple sugars make me feel better; they work quicker, give me the boost, and then I can move on.

well I have to be blunt. until you accept that you have to modify what you are eating, you're going to remain stuck

after 3 hours without food.. i get shaky, cranky, tired etc.. as well. that's where a healthy snack of complex carbs and protein comes in.

I eat something every few hours.

but ya gotta eat the RIGHT foods and willful disobedience does not mean you are losing hope. IT means you are making CHOICES and you don't like that you have to make different ones in order for different results to happen.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. CANDY is NOT diet food.

LoL...ok...ok...I'm closing my own thread. I've been sufficiently kicked in the rear. Once the kiddies are taking a nap I'll be reevaluating my diet and making a planner for the next few days...

Hey Altari! I can close this thread if you like, just let me know!

Also, if you want to post your plan, we'd be happy to check it out for you. But only if you want to--it's up to you.

Jay

Well, here's what I was thinking for today...

Breakfast : Oatmeal with an apple and 1 tbsp of peanut butter [all natural]
Lunch : Salad with 1 tbsp low fast Italian dressing and 2 oz baked chicken breast.
Dinner : Broiled fish with roasted potatoes, stir fried veggies and spinach salad.

However...breakfast already got me frustrated! I had bought some high-fiber oatmeal...and guess what? It's sweetened with Splenda. And enough to leave an aftertaste. Insta-headache. The Slim Fast has Splenda in it too, but not enough to bother me. Oatmeal turned into fruit salad and one of those instant breakfast shakes.

hey the plan looks GREAT... just add some veggies and fruit/veggies for snacks and you should be good to go...

sorry about the oatmeal FWIW I tried steel cut but i prefer plain old fashioned.

I make 1/2 cup in a 4 cup bowl by cooking it for about 7 minutes (while I prepare my lunch) at 40 percent power. then I add some sf caramel syrup and a banana. i have that for breakfast (with a hard boiled egg and some V8 on the side) almost every morning...

Plain ol' Quaker Oats, right LadyBug? And then you can sweeten or not, as you wish.

I want to second the idea of some low-cal snacks in between meals. Things like: apple, string cheese, 4 to 6 Triscuits, lowfat cottage cheese, a small bunch of grapes, some water-packed tuna on those crackers, perhaps (not all at once, of course! )

Jay

Yes Jay Plain old quaker oats... the OLD FASHIONED not the quick cooking...

i tried steel cut but they just aren't creamy enough for me

one string cheese is an aweseome snack.. i've cut back on cheese and i miss that....

That looks *much* better! You'll feel better at the end of this day that you did yesterday, guaranteed!

I third the snack suggestions. A girl needs snacks. Fruit and protein or fiber. No more M&Ms! One of my favorite snacks is 2 Ryvita crackers each with 1tsp of peanut butter. It's very yummy, has some fiber and some protein and comes in at 127 calories.

My only other suggestion would be to bake your potato rather than roast it for your dinner tonight. You can top it with margarine or low-fat sour cream and it would still be lighter on the fat calories than roasted ones. And watch the oil in your stir-fry

I don't like oatmeal of any kind, so I would like to recommend Kashi GoLean with some fruit for breakfast. Lots of fiber, lots of protein and it tastes quite good too. You can also scramble some egg whites and eat them with a piece of whole wheat toast.

Good job. I'm certain you'll be making progress AND feeling better in no time.

I'm a big fan of FiberOne Bran Cereal. Tons of fiber, low calories, zero to few grams of sugar (I can't remember..). Rather tasty too. I like it in non-fat yogurt with a few berries. Yum.