Kenny Banya
Senior Member
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- Australia
Just wondering from forumites
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Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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I have impaired liver function
I monitored BG a little at home but never caught anything massively out of range. From what I gather consensus is that its very hard to spot these swings on random tests using basic equipment.
I do tend to be low in the elements manganese and chromium which help control blood sugar. So I take a supplement which contain both of these.
It's interesting how different we can be in our responses. When I first read about hypoglycemia I started taking chromium. Within two days I could barely move because I had so little energy. I think the chromium pushed my blood sugar too low and kept it low.
I am assuming you added a supplement without testing first
Thanks for the tip, i'll look into them if LFTs go sideways again. My last test saw bilirubin and ALT at almost normal range again for the first time in years - my endo feels it may have been fatty infiltration that is now rectifying on the ketogenic diet. Unfortunately at their worst before the dietary change I didn't see them exceed more than 2-3 times normal range, so I couldn't get a liver specialist to pay any attention or do an ultrasound on the NHS. I have had malabsorption problems (coeliac) in the past and this is known to contribute to NAFLD so I'm hoping its just that...Have you ever looked into using the combination of ALA, Selenium, and Silymarin? If you Google "Dr. Berkson ala" you'll find a lot of info.
This is something my POTS specialist has noted as common with his patients. It's interesting because it doesn't quite fit with the postprandial hypo theory at that time - certainly not for you if you went to bed at 7pm and hadn't eaten since then. So I guess you're into hormonal fluctuation explanations instead. For me it was harder to separate them as I would eat right before bed, so 4am was just about within the 4hr postprandial limit (as if everyone is the same!).Hypoglycemia has influenced my sleep wake cycle: my blood sugar starts to drop at around 4:30am so I get up at 4am and eat by 4:20. Since my blood sugar is fine from 7pm onward, that's the time I go to bed.
Fully agree. It would appear hypos (the adrenergic counterregulation part?) can trigger mast cells. Smoothing out BG swings have helped a great deal with my suspected MCAS over-reactivity. Not to mention being a reliable trigger of migraine that'd last way past the hypo and ruin the day...If you get regular low blood sugar episodes then it's important to figure out the timing and eat before your blood sugar starts to drop. A low blood sugar episode sets off a cascade of reactions in the body that will continue for some time even after you get your blood sugar back up, so it's important to head off that reaction to reduce the significant bodily stress of a low blood sugar episode.
Have you given any thought to a keto diet as a means to avoiding the BG swings
Under stressful conditions, cortisol provides the body with glucose by tapping into protein stores via gluconeogenesis in the liver.
I agree with you but for me the Zone diet has just a bit too much carbohydrate. I do well with my diet being about 55% fat and only 20 % or so of carbs.This is basically the Zone Diet.
Low carb sounds like hell. If I drop out of ketosis even briefly (usually because i've eaten too much protein and not enough fat) I lose all the benefit, its all or nothing for me. I'm glad you're getting weight back now! If you were to try you may find the weight loss stabilises after you've finished adaptation, I pee'd/burnt off 5kg in 2 weeks when I started it but have now put a kilo or 2 back on with BMI of 22.I tried going low-carb at one point a couple of years ago (not a full ketogenic diet) and was exhausted. Also, I'm very underweight. Without carbs I drop weight like crazy (as in, a pound every day, even when eating lots of protein and fat).
Sounds familiar. My 9am cortisol was always out of range high, unfortunately I didn't get to see it at other times during the dayMy hypo episodes might be due to disregulated cortisol from having weak adrenals. If my cortisol is too low during the day then it could cause hypo episodes, and then if it rises for the night then I have enough to keep my blood sugar stable but the high cortisol causes poor sleep (which I manage with various supplements and LDN.)
Hypoglycemia is a symptom of adrenal fatigue and both of those are symptoms of mercury toxicity.