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How to stabilise blood sugar?

Battery Muncher

Senior Member
Messages
620
Does anyone else have problems with blood sugar levels? Mines constantly see-saw - it makes me very irritable and argumentative. What sort of foods/snacks should I eat to help this?

Thanks!
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
I would imagine it would depend on whether your dropping low (as your mood changes would suggest) or going high. Eating protein with everything should help stabilse things either way, if your dropping too low then more "complex" carbs (as opposed to "simple" carbs) should help.

If you are going high then simplest way of controling it is intermitent fasting until it's stable again.

I'm also a type 2 diabetic ;-)
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Eat several small balanced meals and snacks every 3 hours or so. Balanced means it includes protein, carbs and fat. The carbs should be low to medium on the glycemic index. That means whole foods, no processed foods, no sugar or fake sugar, etc. The protein should be real protein like beef, chicken, fish, etc. The fat will help keep you from getting hungry again as quick.

This is basically the Zone Diet which was designed to keep your blood sugar in a "zone", not too high or too low. If you need more detail, look up the Zone Diet.
 

uni

Messages
52
i think its best to mix protein/fats/carbs in the same meal, at least this worked better for me

this is a problem i still constantly have, even though it has gotten better

hydrocortisone (which is a controversial drug to take for CFS), seems to have helped with the hypoglycemia
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I have severe blood sugar issues but dont currently have diabetes. I say severe as I can get hypoglycemia to the level in which many would go unconscious and the mood swings it causes me are bad enough that I get violent with it. Ive got in trouble with the police from it. Im fortunate as Im now under two specialists (one is a nutritionist and the other one an allergist who specialises in sugar and insulin issues) for this.

Many people have hypoglycemia due to hyperinsulinemia. One eats carbs which then triggers ones insulin. In some its triggered too high.. this can cause a sudden drop in sugar.

Someone replied back here that complex carbs are fine.. I'd like to say that isnt always true with this issue.

50-55g carbs is enough to make me smash car windows .. I go off about 15 mins!! (it happens quite fast) after having a fresh salad (no sugar added) of chickpeas which are that amount of carbs (I didnt know they were high in carbs till I had them and got that extreme reaction).

Having just a normal roast with normal veg most eat.. can set me into mood swing. Diabetic diets contain far far too many carbs for me. (in my own case due to also having MCS.. I wonder if that is why Im so sensitive to insulin mood wise).

The low carb diet my specialists first put me onto for this issue was so strict it contained
- no cereal/bread/rice/noodles
- only 10 nuts per day
- no root veg as most are higher in carb then the other veg, no corn
- watching how many carbs I had in dairy..milk has carbs so I wasnt having more then one glass per day of dairy
- only one small piece of fruit per day and trying to stick with the lower carb fruits when it came to having that one small piece (bananas are quite high in carbs), no juices (as the sugar concentrates in juice
- nothing with added sugar in it of cause.

(I spent 4-6 weeks on that diet before some things were slowly relaxed to find out just how many carbs I could have before symptoms came in again).

Other rules they gave me were
1/ Eat protein EVERY MEAL (I was told to eat it some before having anything else), protein helps to balance the sugar.

2/ Do not have low fat milk only full cream milk (the fat in the milk causes less carbs to be absorbed I think was their explaination).

Id previously tried to control the hypoglycemia with frequent meals without luck but the issue had actually been my body producing too much insulin from carbs causing then sugar drop issues rather then hypoglycemia from not eatting frequency enough. So keep this all in mind if eatting frequently dont help.

I recommend those who have ME/CFS to avoid artifical sweeteners. I use a natural product called xylitol.

Also be aware that these kind of issues can also cause people to be wrongly diagnosed with CFS as they can cause not just mood swings but many other symptoms too. The specialist I see has completely fixed (as long as they stay on very low carb diet) many who had previously been diagnosed with CFS.

I find when I arent being careful enough with my diet as far as carbs go.. it makes other ME symptoms worst eg I get more sore throats.

The low carb breakfast for me (my diet has been loosened slightly) consists of 2 eggs, a couple of slices of corn beef (I like all the salt .. one could have bacon instead), a packet of cheese chunks and 3 crackers which contains 7g carb. So this whole breakfast is a 7g carb breakfast which I can highly salt for the POTS.

If I eat takeaway.. I go for chicken or just yiros meat without the yiros bread with greek salad on the side (to which the tomato has been taken out. shops tend to do that if one asks.. that way I can have something else for my one small piece of fruit per day). Greek salad (combo of olives, feta cheese, a touch of salad onion, cucumber and tomato) is the lowest carb salad Ive been able to find in some takeaway places, most salads are quite high in carbs as far as my low carb diet goes.

You'd be shocked to see how many carbs are in a tiny one persons serve tub of KFC coldslaw

Instead of making something like baked potatoes ((baked potatoes have a lot of carbs), try stuffed baked pumpkins. I use butternut pumpkins hollowed out more but one can use other kinds.. one can boil them for 5 mins first before stuffing them). I stuff them with mince, add a few pine nuts, an egg, herbs/salt/pepper and whatever else one wants which is low carb, Im nowdays got small amount of carrot included in my diet so I usually grate some along with some chopped onion and put in mince stuffing too) and then top them with cheese.

I also like to do things like herbed patties and bake them on the top of large mushrooms.

Sauces often have quite a few carbs in them. I make my own sweet and sour sauce to dip chicken Kababs I make in (kabab of hicken/capsicum/mushroom/onion).

Sweet and sour sauce ... mix of 8Tbs of rice vinegar, 4 Tbs of xylitol, 2 tsp of soy sauce (some tomato sauce or canned tomatoes can be added to taste).. mix all together and heat in pan.

I make my own no carb limeaide (good lemon aide substitute from a product called "True Lime" which has under 1g carb per serve. (No added sugar and is natural made of lime oil and lime juice but is a dry sprinkle product which one can mix with things). I mix this product with soda water and will take it with me to add to a jug of soda water if I eat out at a resturant. www.truelemon.com (I dont recommend their orange one thou as it made me not well and I think had sugar or something added to it).

Pizza and pancakes are the only two things I used to eat which I havent been able to find good low carb substitutes for and do miss.

My specialists have said that over time as long as I stay very low carb, my body will heal from the issues it has with the sugar and insulin issue thou to expect it is going to take years.
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I have severe blood sugar issues but dont currently have diabetes. I say severe as I can get hypoglycemia to the level in which many would go unconscious and the mood swings it causes me are bad enough that I get violent with it. Ive got in trouble with the police from it. Im fortunate as Im now under two specialists (one is a nutritionist and the other one an allergist who specialises in sugar and insulin issues) for this.

Many people have hypoglycemia due to hyperinsulinemia. One eats carbs which then triggers ones insulin. In some its triggered too high.. this can cause a sudden drop in sugar.

Someone replied back here that complex carbs are fine.. I'd like to say that isnt always true with this issue.

50-55g carbs is enough to make me smash car windows .. I go off about 15 mins!! (it happens quite fast) after having a fresh salad (no sugar added) of chickpeas which are that amount of carbs (I didnt know they were high in carbs till I had them and got that extreme reaction).

Having just a normal roast with normal veg most eat.. can set me into mood swing. Diabetic diets contain far far too many carbs for me. (in my own case due to also having MCS.. I wonder if that is why Im so sensitive to insulin mood wise).

The low carb diet my specialists first put me onto for this issue was so strict it contained
- no cereal/bread/rice/noodles
- only 10 nuts per day
- no root veg as most are higher in carb then the other veg, no corn
- watching how many carbs I had in dairy..milk has carbs so I wasnt having more then one glass per day of dairy
- only one small piece of fruit per day and trying to stick with the lower carb fruits when it came to having that one small piece (bananas are quite high in carbs), no juices (as the sugar concentrates in juice
- nothing with added sugar in it of cause.

(I spent 4-6 weeks on that diet before some things were slowly relaxed to find out just how many carbs I could have before symptoms came in again).

Other rules they gave me were
1/ Eat protein EVERY MEAL (I was told to eat it some before having anything else), protein helps to balance the sugar.

2/ Do not have low fat milk only full cream milk (the fat in the milk causes less carbs to be absorbed I think was their explaination).

Id previously tried to control the hypoglycemia with frequent meals without luck but the issue had actually been my body producing too much insulin from carbs causing then sugar drop issues rather then hypoglycemia from not eatting frequency enough. So keep this all in mind if eatting frequently dont help.

I recommend those who have ME/CFS to avoid artifical sweeteners. I use a natural product called xylitol.

Also be aware that these kind of issues can also cause people to be wrongly diagnosed with CFS as they can cause not just mood swings but many other symptoms too. The specialist I see has completely fixed (as long as they stay on very low carb diet) many who had previously been diagnosed with CFS.

I find when I arent being careful enough with my diet as far as carbs go.. it makes other ME symptoms worst eg I get more sore throats.

The low carb breakfast for me (my diet has been loosened slightly) consists of 2 eggs, a couple of slices of corn beef (I like all the salt .. one could have bacon instead), a packet of cheese chunks and 3 crackers which contains 7g carb. So this whole breakfast is a 7g carb breakfast which I can highly salt for the POTS.

If I eat takeaway.. I go for chicken or just yiros meat without the yiros bread with greek salad on the side (to which the tomato has been taken out. shops tend to do that if one asks.. that way I can have something else for my one small piece of fruit per day). Greek salad (combo of olives, feta cheese, a touch of salad onion, cucumber and tomato) is the lowest carb salad Ive been able to find in some takeaway places, most salads are quite high in carbs as far as my low carb diet goes.

You'd be shocked to see how many carbs are in a tiny one persons serve tub of KFC coldslaw

Instead of making something like baked potatoes ((baked potatoes have a lot of carbs), try stuffed baked pumpkins. I use butternut pumpkins hollowed out more but one can use other kinds.. one can boil them for 5 mins first before stuffing them). I stuff them with mince, add a few pine nuts, an egg, herbs/salt/pepper and whatever else one wants which is low carb, Im nowdays got small amount of carrot included in my diet so I usually grate some along with some chopped onion and put in mince stuffing too) and then top them with cheese.

I also like to do things like herbed patties and bake them on the top of large mushrooms.

Sauces often have quite a few carbs in them. I make my own sweet and sour sauce to dip chicken Kababs I make in (kabab of hicken/capsicum/mushroom/onion).

Sweet and sour sauce ... mix of 8Tbs of rice vinegar, 4 Tbs of xylitol, 2 tsp of soy sauce (some tomato sauce or canned tomatoes can be added to taste).. mix all together and heat in pan.

I make my own no carb limeaide (good lemon aide substitute from a product called "True Lime" which has under 1g carb per serve. (No added sugar and is natural made of lime oil and lime juice but is a dry sprinkle product which one can mix with things). I mix this product with soda water and will take it with me to add to a jug of soda water if I eat out at a resturant. www.truelemon.com (I dont recommend their orange one thou as it made me not well and I think had sugar or something added to it).

Pizza and pancakes are the only two things I used to eat which I havent been able to find good low carb substitutes for and do miss.

My specialists have said that over time as long as I stay very low carb, my body will heal from the issues it has with the sugar and insulin issue thou to expect it is going to take years.

Thank you for this post. I also have severe blood sugar issues and have now for over 20 years but didn't know what was happening until around 2001.

I am not sure but I wonder if eating a diet far too high in carbs for so many years actually caused the severe adrenal problems I developed or if it was because i was going to have the problem anyway. I didn't used to be able to keep my blood sugar stable at all, it would go too high then drop like a stone and I would feel terrible, so dizzy I would feel like I was falling off a chair, terrible sweating.

At the time I was hypothyroid but didn't know it so this wouldn't have helped either. In 2002 I was diagnosed as needing hydrocortisone and later Prednisolone for my adrenals plus dessicated thyroid medication with the addition of a tiny bit of thyroxine. Over the years these have stabalised the blood sugar to a degree plus a much lower carb diet but now I have the opposite problem and my blood sugar never goes back to fasting and is too high all day long.

I have read the Blood Sugar 101 book and according to that my blood sugars are just ok but they aren't if you follow Bernstein's guidelines. My blood sugar is usually around 6.2 2 hours after eating a low carb meal of salad with a tiny bit of coleslaw, one small tomato, lettue, french dressing and fish followed by 4 teaspoons of plain wholemilk yoghurt with 2 teaspoons of flax seeds. However if I go for a 20 minute walk with my dog it will fall to around 5.3 but I feel empty and the first thing I need to do is to eat some peanuts and have a cup of tea which will then push the blood glucose back to 6!

My fasting blood sugar is fine, around 4.8 and my blood glucose will fall after a tiny bit of unripe orange melon plus an egg, cheese and ham. But with the fall I can feel terrible and usually by 10 am I will need to eat some plain yoghurt or have some cheese and a cup of tea. I couldn't face a breakfast of just eggs, bacon or ham every day. I just don't like a cooked breakfast, its fine to have it later in the day just not first thing in the morning. I always feel almost desperate to eat breakfast but don't feel like this later in the day when I tend to feel better anyway. Mornings have always been my worst and continue in this way.

I often need to eat something around 7 am because I have a tendancy to get migraine so usually it is just a teaspoon of no sugar peanut butter and a cup of tea.

I hope to go and see a knowledgeable doctor soon to ask if he thinks its ok for me to carry on with my blood sugar around 5.7 - 6 most of the day. I have found it impossible for it to stay low despite no more carbs than 50 daily maximum. I feel blood sugar is one of my biggest problems and know how it can cause severe migraines, depression, insomnia etc if you don't get it right which means very low carb for me.
 

Battery Muncher

Senior Member
Messages
620
Thanks for the posts, they've been very helpful and informative. Esp tania's - must have taken some effort to type that out - thank you! I'm off to try some of these out.
 

Calathea

Senior Member
Messages
1,261
I find that staying off sugar is important, and I stick to wholegrains (although that depends on how well you tolerate grains and also what your digestive tract is up to - obviously some people can't tolerate that much fibre). With regard to vegetable protein sources, I was advised to combine proteins by a dietician, and I think it helps. The three groups are meant to be grains, nuts/seeds, and pulses, and the idea is that you should eat any two of them together at one time. Regular mealtimes helps as well, along with sensibly planned snacks.

If you want to work out how you react to different foods, get hold of some dieting software that will analyse it all for you. I think some of it will even allow you to enter your mood or similar, which would give you some means of recording your reactions to meals, and it will definitely show you what you're eating in terms of protein, fats and carbs.
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I'll just add my last major situation related to my condition. I say "my condition" because I'm not sure sometime if what is happening is related to my CFS. Over the last 15 years and usually during a normal checkup my glucose would be 98-102. They gave me a meter just to have and told me to check it especially if I ever felt way off in on direction or another. My triglycerides were either high or pushed the limit every time. My HDL was low sometime by 1or 2 points, but with high triglycerides and low hdl they can't calculate ldl (if triglycerides are very high). Around late 90's my triglycerides went into the upper 300 and lower 400. I went through 4 statins before I told them no more because of muscle pain and they were producing very minimal effects.
She decided to try another med called Triglide?, which I believe is a fibrate. I think it was kind of new because she the previous fibrates did not work well and were not consistent. Anyway I took the Triglide without any problem whatsoever and my next appointment my triglycerides were 177 and my HDL went up to 46, so of course LDL was fine to. Six months later the numbers were almost exactly the same and said she had never seen fibrates raise the HDL that much. My diet was good and my excercise was up so we decided to stop the meds and 6 months late they were still good, but my HDL drop back down to 42 and everything else was fine. This was in the 1998 time frame and nothing else was ever said about my lipids even though the triglycerides started creepin back up.
TIME WARP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2011 I decide to check my blood sugar one morning and it was 96 and it went up to 154 a couple of hours later and it seemed fine. November 15th my eyes are blurry and I can't see, but i had to start using old glasses because others broke. They broke one nigh because I had a horrible nightmare and I got up and tripped over some luggage and fell flat on my face, with the bad part being I fell asleep reading and I drove the frame of my glasses into my face and forehead and I tired to get up, but could not and dug my forearm into something and I had a very deep gouge 8 - 10 inches long. I managed to get on bed and woke up next day with blood everywhere and my face was swollen. I just used ice packs and ibuprofen and it got better after about 2 weeks, but my swelling in my face was gone. My vision was still bad, so it was off to the opthemologist. He could not understand what had happened to my eyes. My left eye did a complete 180 as I was near sighted in it now after being far sighted for 8 years. My right was sill far sighted, but much worse. I did not buy glasses and after about a week I remembered a gentlemen came into my hospital room one time because I minor surgery.

This guy had got sugar problems and had become blind! So, for curiousity sake I found my meter and my blood sugar was 496! I called the doctor and it takes me 4 days to get appt because I do not think they believed me. I went to Walgreens and had one of their pharmacist document it at 486. I had a copy when I handed it to my nurse and she about crapped in the floor. She then ask me who was treating me for diabetes and I said no one because it was perfect about 10 weeks ago. The doctoer comes in and says you are a diabetic. Here is a meter and a script for metformin and glimperide It only brings my fasting down to 330 to 350 range. I called back a week later and told them and see asked if I was seeing an endocrinologist and I was. She told me I had to call them. I called them and they would not see me because I had not been referred to them ,by my primary, for diabetes. They called back and said I had an appt sometime in April, 2012. I called primary and told them thanks for helping and getting me the appointment (thing to remember was this stil this past December), but I was a little concerned that it wasn't until April. She said I'll call you back before the day is over with. She called bac about 3:00 and I went in that following Saturday at 1:30. All he did was double my medicine and told me to come back in March.

I'm very sorry for such a long story, but I really wonder what this disease is doing to us. With such an exteremely fast onset I sort of thought they would of had an MRI or Ultrasound done? but no. The nurse told me I should have been sent straight to the hospital and been put on insulin for about 3 weeks to pull that number down quick. That was 8 to 10 weeks of between 400 and 500 (540 was my highest). I wonder did that nightmare have anything to do with it. I scared my son, he came back there and shut my bedroom door. The good thing is my eyesight came back to exactly what it was before all this happened. That's weird! I've got to get my diet in order now because I am not staying on these meds. Metformin will definitely put a dent in your Vitamin B-12 supply.
 
Messages
15,786
My fiance had the same thing happen to him about a month ago (minus the malpractice). He went from having no problems to extremely high blood glucose levels (literally off the charts), and had to be sent to the hospital ER to detect the actual levels. It was 48 mmol/L, which translates to 864 mg/dL for the Americans. He was in the hospital for 4 days, having his glucose checked every couple hours at first, with IVs for glucose, saline, potassium, and insulin while they got him stabilized.

The eyesight thing is also normal, once blood glucose levels are normalized. It affects the pressure in the eyes somehow - at first my fiance's eyes went from -9 and -4 to -2 and -.25 over a couple weeks. Since then, he's slowly gone back to about -7 and -3. One part of his diagnosis is that they scheduled him a exam with a proper eye doctor (not one of the dudes in the shops) for 6 weeks after starting on insulin, since his eyes should be stabilized by then.

An MRI/etc probably isn't necessary ... they should be running a full diabetes diagnostic panel to determine which type of diabetes you have. In the case of my fiance, it's type I (autoimmune) based on finding antibodies against his insulin producing cells. MAKE SURE THEY CHECK FOR THIS. It's easy to assume adults have type II, especially if overweight and otherwise unhealthy, but most type I diagnoses are made in adults now.

It is very dangerous to have very high blood glucose. In addition to doing damage in the long term, high enough values can be just as deadly an low values. If your level is still too high, you should seriously consider going to the ER, since your doctors are being useless and don't seem to be capable of diagnosing or managing your diabetes.
 
Messages
15,786
I just looked up the drugs your "doctor" is giving you, and they are both for type II diabetes. They probably aren't helping much because you probably don't have type II. And even type II's sometimes NEED insulin.

I really really think you need to resolve this immediately.

And then consider suing your doctor. Or at least find one with a brain.
 

rydra_wong

Guest
Messages
514
Chromium will help stabilize blood sugar.

Oh, thanks for reminding me! Diabetes runs in my family and I have been diabetic twice but recovered. I have lifelong had low blood sugar issues (well in spells...and now it seems MAYBE they are tied mostly to adrenal issues due to severe allergies). My hair analysis said I was low in chromium and vanadium, which is typical for a diabetic and these are both supplements to stay on top of to help with blood sugar.

I want to point out some things. There are supplements that can lower blood sugar significantly, so if you are sensitive - either stay away or procede cautiously. You can look them up online - I do when I have issues. But this one is VERY STRONG: alpha lipoic acid will lower your blood sugar so much that it's almost impossible to keep it up! I tried 600mg which is the diabetic dose and had SIX low blood sugar attacks per day! It took me 5 days to figure it out. As I reaearched I found things like that niacin raises blood sugar. Welll I had never been sensitive to niacin so I discounted that long term but at the time I was having trouble I discontinued everything that might affect blood sugar until I found the one that was sinking me.

Next thing that causes repeated low blood sugar is adrenal problems (and allergies are tied to adrenal problems). Also nettle will cause low blood sugar as it raises insulin. Nettle is used to treat allergies (it works, but it raises insulin!). I only used guggul for a bit so cant really say that it works but I read that guggul lowers insulin. I tried guggul after the nettle but when allergy season ended I was back to normal anyway so I cant really tell if it worked. I don't know what nettle does in low dose. I had to take it in high dose (VERY bad allergies) of maybe 5x the recommended amount to get it to work.

I did a search on Yahoo in the past for the words "lower blood sugar" and also for the words "raise blood sugar" - it is too ponderous to look through studies for that.

As to diet, I stabilised my blood sugar most of my life by eating 20g of protein at breakfast (Adele Davis reported on a study that if you moved your protein intake so 20g was taken at breakfast that it would stabilize your blood sugar even after lunch). So I subscribe to the technique many people listed above that protein takes longer to digest and so keeps blood sugar more stable.

Fat also, but using fat to do this isn't the best strategy.

However there is a book called The Glucose Revolution about studies out of Australia into the glucose index of foods and they report that ACID also slows the digstion of food and stabilizes blood sugar. So they cite two meals that look the same - the only difference being the type of bread - but the meal with normal bread would raise blood sugar and the one with sourdough would not (sourdough has an acid in it). Also they cite using apple cider vinegar on salads taken with meals has the same effect.

High protein is linked to cancer, so using organic acid to stabilize blood sugar sounds a better tack. That is being careful that the acid is something that once digested actually turns alkaline so as not to mess up negatively your ph. (ACV becomes alkaline upon digestion for instance, but other vinegars do not).

That said, if you eat on the run, the acid thing is hard to do. I did want to alert you though that it is not just diet but supplements that can play into this so be careful.

Rydra
 

rydra_wong

Guest
Messages
514
I have read the Blood Sugar 101 book and according to that my blood sugars are just ok but they aren't if you follow Bernstein's guidelines. My blood sugar is usually around 6.2 2 hours after eating a low carb meal of salad with a tiny bit of coleslaw, one small tomato, lettue, french dressing and fish followed by 4 teaspoons of plain wholemilk yoghurt with 2 teaspoons of flax seeds. However if I go for a 20 minute walk with my dog it will fall to around 5.3 but I feel empty and the first thing I need to do is to eat some peanuts and have a cup of tea which will then push the blood glucose back to 6!

.

Oh this reminds me - I have wheat allergy and for several years foloowed a celiac diet which wound up being Atkins-like as I did not do a good job finding alternate sources of safe carbs. After 2 years on this high protein low carb diet, all I had to do is walk between one building and another at work to go to a meeting and I would get low blood sugar, complete with sweating, shaking, feeling like I was going to fall over, etc.

I read the book "Reversing Diabetes" by Dr. Julian Whittaker who runs a cnter for diabetics in California, shows them how to eat, and improves or cures their condition. He cited several studies from the 1930's which showed that one could take healthy volunteers and make them diabetic in 2 weeks on a diet of too much protein, or too much fat, or too few calories. The studies showed that this diabetes could be reversed by a diet high in carbohydrates. (This was 1930 - they didnt have the junk carbs we have now). So I reasoned that I was not getting enough carbs and so I quit avoiding wheat (blood sugar issues are hard on your organs and I figured that was worse that the depression and joint pain I got from wheat). My blood sugar issues went away when I stopped avoiding carbs.

I know this is contrary to what Tania is saying and I do know where she is coming from because I have been in that state where I could not eat a single thing with calories or my blood sugar would spike and tank (when I was on alpha lipoic acid). It sounds like Tania presented with possible an adrenal problem, which causes low blood sugar, and the treatment to avoid carbs is a bandaide treatment, but long term it means you simply cannot tolerate carbs. I am fortunate that my adrenal issues are only sporadic (they are caused by seasonal allergies and go away afterward) because once your adrenal is better, low carb is not the best way to go.

These are my experiences anyway.

Regards,
Rydra
 

triffid113

Day of the Square Peg
Messages
831
Location
Michigan
And yet another way to control blood sugar. I have found that low thyroid leads to low adrenal and the following two products help me stave off low blood sugar due to low adrenal/thyroid while dieting. I mean I can feel a low blood sugar attack coming on, I take this, and poof - gone! I need to take it 2-3 times / day. At first, 3 times per day. Or I should rephrase that -- I need to take 2 doses AT ONCE in the morning and a 3rd later in the day. The reason is to get the requisite amount of tyrosine...it must be at least 500mg to help me with this. These are the products:

http://www.iherb.com/Absolute-Nutrition-Thyroid-T-3-Original-Formula-180-Capsules/27664?at=0
http://www.iherb.com/Thorne-Research-Coleus-Forskohlii-60-Veggie-Caps/18578?at=0

The first contains tyrosine and phosphates which the thyroid needs while dieting (I sem to need the tyrosine all the time) and guggul to lower insulin. The second contains forslean, a patented substance that helps thyroid hormone get into the cells.

Which brings us to why rhodiola was able to help me with this in the past -- it also contains a form of tyrosine (tyrosol) and this is the amino acid the thyorid gland needs to make thyroid hormone.

The above stops low blood sugar for me, but only if I am getting enough iron. The thyrid also needs selenium, zinc, copper, and mB12. I always read more zinc revs it up and more copper revs it down, but I couldn't really say if that's true. For me, I have to take an iron pill and the above and that's it.

Triffid
 

Calathea

Senior Member
Messages
1,261
I need to raise blood sugar with my GP tomorrow, and I'm not sure what to ask for.

I've noticed that I respond to food, lack of food, and sugar in quite distinct ways. I don't get on well with sugar, and it can cause a nasty head rush, migraine, fatigue and so on. Complex carbs are the way to go for me, wholegrains wherever possible. I also don't do well with skipping meals, I keel over quickly. On Saturday I had my gallbladder out. I ate breakfast (two pieces of wholemeal bread with a bit of margarine and Marmite) at 7, then was completely off my food after the op. I managed a couple of mouthfuls of fruit in the afternoon but threw them up shortly afterwards. In the evening, after I'd been begging for ages, they did a finger prick test, and apparently my levels were 14 where the normal is 4-6. They muttered something about diabetics but that was about it. All that I knew was that I had been really concerned about the fasting all day, and that I'd asked for an IV of electrolytes or nutrients or something, but they refused.

On Sunday I still couldn't get food down me and left hospital in the afternoon having eaten no more than a very small bowl of cereal. I'm still having a lot of trouble eating, though I'm starting to find foods I can manage.

I just rang Diabetes UK and they said I should certainly get tested with a result like that. They said a fasting glucose test should do the trick. Is it reliable, or is it one of those things that can be wonky with people with ME?
 
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I just rang Diabetes UK and they said I should certainly get tested with a result like that. They said a fasting glucose test should do the trick. Is it reliable, or is it one of those things that can be wonky with people with ME?

I think the best way to diagnose is usually thought to be a fasting glucose, and then a post-breakfast glucose on the same day. All sorts of weird stuff can effect fasting glucose, so it's not particularly reliable by itself.

It also sounds like a lot of us with ME have symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia, and I've been able to verify it in my case by using a blood glucose meter. It's only a problem for me if I eat only carbs for a meal AND go too long between meals. So I usually mix protein with my carbs, and I eat small amounts every couple hours.

From what I've read (not much), it's pretty rare to have both reactive hypoglycemia and diabetes. It's definitely a good idea to get checked out though, with the high reading. Though a false reading is possible from a blood glucose meter if you were handling sugary things (like fruit!) prior to having it checked and hadn't washed your hands.

HbA1c is also a good one to have checked at the same time, since that reflects your average blood glucose over a long period of time. It's possible that the reading at the hospital was a fluke related to surgery, and testing HbA1c is a good way to determine if odd blood sugar levels are temporary or have been going on for a while.
 

Athene

ihateticks.me
Messages
1,143
Location
Italy
Your natural cortisol, produced by the adrenal glands, plays an important role in regulating blood sugar. If you are low in cortisol, you will have an exaggerated blood sugar curve - blood sugar goes excessively high when you eat sugary food and then plunges too low before finding the right level again.
Adrenal exhaustion is extremely common in CFS, which is the reason I think it could be relevant to you.

The first thing to do is take chromium, as has already been mentioned, which the body uses to regulate blood sugar effectively. It helps your insulin machanisms work better. Where I live in Sicily type 2 diabetes is so common that people pass syringes of insulin round the table after meals, like after dinner mints. I know insulin injectors who have stopped needing insulin when they switched to chromium supplements. It is pretty miraculous stuff.

Taking a cortisol supplement will not help much as it will flood your body with a steady state of cortisol, when what you need is for your adrenal glands to react in real time to the amount you actually need, based on what you have just eaten. To get your adrenal glands healed and working I would read "Adrenal Fatigue" by James Wilson.

I did start at thread where I summariesd this book, so you could glance at that to get an introduction:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/show...ing-cortisol-and-feeling-DRASTICALLY-improved

Also, the general rule that starchy carbs have a low glycemic index and sugary ones a high index is very misleading. Do some searches to find tables of GI food by food. For example, potatoes hit the blood stream with glucose faster than some sweeties! That may help you manage your diet better by avoiding the high GI foods.

When I saw KDMs dietician, she also advised me that you should always eat some fat along with carb foods, as this moderates the rate of absorption. Never eat bread without butter or marge on, never eat fruit without a fatty snack too, etc. This definitely works for me.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
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13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I know this is contrary to what Tania is saying and I do know where she is coming from because I have been in that state where I could not eat a single thing with calories or my blood sugar would spike and tank (when I was on alpha lipoic acid). It sounds like Tania presented with possible an adrenal problem, which causes low blood sugar, and the treatment to avoid carbs is a bandaide treatment, but long term it means you simply cannot tolerate carbs. I am fortunate that my adrenal issues are only sporadic (they are caused by seasonal allergies and go away afterward) because once your adrenal is better, low carb is not the best way to go.

These are my experiences anyway.

Regards,
Rydra

yes that is correct. I also have adrenal issues due to the ME/CFS. (abnormally low cortisol shows up on my 24hr urine tests).

Adrenal issues are very common in ME/CFS, (a CDC CFS study showed that one in every 3 of us have low morning cortisol compared with a non CFS control group).