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Help Pls. - I want to prevent Low Blood Sugar from D-Ribose and other supplements.

Jennifer J

Senior Member
Messages
997
Location
Southern California
Hi, Everyone. I've read through many of the threads, yet my brain is sleepy and I want to make sure I have this right so can I put things in place to make this work for me. I think I get low blood sugar. I'm not diabetic. Sometimes, I get cranky, spaced out, tired and sometimes cold, if I don't eat every few hours.

I took a supplement a few years ago and one of it's side effects is it may cause low blood sugar. I became very chilled (cold to the bone, couldn't get warm) for the rest of the day, and extremely tired, I had to lay down and sleep. I tried it again another time and the same thing happened. Not sure if this is a low blood sugar thing or something else? It was a supplement to help mitochondria.

Now, I'm ready to try D-Ribose and want to try to prevent any possible low blood sugar response. From reading through the posts, I gather what I need to do is eat some protein, fat and ?complex carbs before I take D-Ribose. Is this right? How much food do I need to eat? I hope not much. Also, what about glycemic levels of food, what is best for this? And if after eating and taking D-Ribose if I feel like I have low blood sugar, what do I eat then? Thank you in advance for any help. It's greatly appreciated. :hug:
 
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ryan31337

Senior Member
Messages
664
Location
South East, England
Hi @Jennifer J,

What you describe sounds pretty typical of reactive hypoglycemia - did you notice anything like blurred vision, hunger pangs, migraine, (worsening) orthostatic intolerance, palpitations, anxiety/adrenaline and sweating too?

All of the above became so bad for me that they were far more debilitating than anything else - of course its very difficult at the time to know what is being caused by reactive hypos and what is just 'normal' underlying ME/CFS/PEM experience.

For me the solution was a ketogenic diet (see Atkins diet). If you are similar to me I would think you'd have a far, far greater improvement trying the diet rather than taking D-Ribose. We're all different but I went from struggling to sit at my desk for more than 1hr without crashing, needing to sleep 3x times a day etc. to now being (moderately) active all day with no rest. No more migraines. I also sleep through the night without hypos waking me up.

Ryan
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
D-ribose supposedly has a negative glycemic index according to several sources including this article.

I have to eat ten small meals per day to keep my blood sugar stable. I can take d-ribose without any noticeable effect on my blood sugar. My first meal of the day (oatmeal) always has 5mg of d-ribose added. It doesn't cause a need to eat my next meal any sooner due to a blood sugar drop.

Your symptoms from the mitochondria supplement may have been caused by low blood pressure. CoQ10 is a supplement that I can't take because it lowers my already very low BP.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
I have mild reactive hypoglycemia. If I take D-ribose on an empty stomach, it causes low blood sugar. If I take it with any amount of food I have no problem.

If you develop low blood sugar, you need to eat a small amount of sugary food to bring the blood sugar back up fairly quickly combined with some carb and protein to stabilize it. I find wholewheat bread with peanut butter and raisins works well and can be prepared quickly.
 

Jennifer J

Senior Member
Messages
997
Location
Southern California
Thank you everyone for all you've shared here and elsewhere. After reading your posts, and research, I am ready to start D-ribose within a few days. Yippee. I hope, I hope, I hope it makes a difference. If it could add an hour to 5 hours a day of being able to be out of bed, it would be the most amazing thing. It would be life changing. If only one hour a day, imagine 7 hours a week... :woot:

Hi @Jennifer J,

What you describe sounds pretty typical of reactive hypoglycemia - did you notice anything like blurred vision, hunger pangs, migraine, (worsening) orthostatic intolerance, palpitations, anxiety/adrenaline and sweating too?

All of the above became so bad for me that they were far more debilitating than anything else - of course its very difficult at the time to know what is being caused by reactive hypos and what is just 'normal' underlying ME/CFS/PEM experience.

For me the solution was a ketogenic diet (see Atkins diet). If you are similar to me I would think you'd have a far, far greater improvement trying the diet rather than taking D-Ribose. We're all different but I went from struggling to sit at my desk for more than 1hr without crashing, needing to sleep 3x times a day etc. to now being (moderately) active all day with no rest. No more migraines. I also sleep through the night without hypos waking me up. Ryan

@Ryan, thank you! I'm not sure about if I had the other symptoms you mentioned. I didn't pay attention to others than the major ones due to always having others going on. I'll have to see next time.

That's really great that the ketogenic diet helped you so much. :) I will check it out. It won't be something I can get going right away for many reasons because I'm assuming it's a high protein diet which would be very difficult for me to do right now if even possible. Definitely will look into it and if some circumstances change for me I'll be able to try it. Thank you. Love the idea of making myself feel better by eating differently.

D-ribose supposedly has a negative glycemic index according to several sources including this article.

I have to eat ten small meals per day to keep my blood sugar stable. I can take d-ribose without any noticeable effect on my blood sugar. My first meal of the day (oatmeal) always has 5mg of d-ribose added. It doesn't cause a need to eat my next meal any sooner due to a blood sugar drop.

Your symptoms from the mitochondria supplement may have been caused by low blood pressure. CoQ10 is a supplement that I can't take because it lowers my already very low BP.

@PatJ, thank you for the information and article. The article was informative and I'm going to try some of what is recommended. It's good to hear that with oatmeal for your first meal it hasn't affected your blood sugar, and to know that you have to eat several small meals a day.

And thank you for writing that the symptoms I had after taking CoQ10 could have been low blood pressure from the CoQ10. Sorry your BP is very low and that you can't take it. :hug: I didn't even think of those symptoms as low blood pressure I just assumed it was probably a hypoglycemic reaction or something else strange with me and mitos that I don't understand. I was excited about taking CoQ10 and looking forward to more quality of life. Oh, well. Other things to try.

I have mild reactive hypoglycemia. If I take D-ribose on an empty stomach, it causes low blood sugar. If I take it with any amount of food I have no problem.

If you develop low blood sugar, you need to eat a small amount of sugary food to bring the blood sugar back up fairly quickly combined with some carb and protein to stabilize it. I find wholewheat bread with peanut butter and raisins works well and can be prepared quickly.

@Little Bluestem, thank you. That is so good to know that with any amount of food you'll be fine. I've seen it written take with plenty of food. Not sure what plenty would be and I can't eat plenty. Thanks for the quick fix too suggestion that is helpful. :thumbsup:
 
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ryan31337

Senior Member
Messages
664
Location
South East, England
Hi @Jennifer J,

It won't be something I can get going right away for many reasons because I'm assuming it's a high protein diet which would be very difficult for me to do right now if even possible. Definitely will look into it and if some circumstances change for me I'll be able to try it. Thank you. Love the idea of making myself feel better by eating differently.
You wouldn't normally increase protein much if at all, just the fat :)

Best of luck with your trials!

Ryan
 

Jennifer J

Senior Member
Messages
997
Location
Southern California
Hi, @PatJ, @Little Bluestem, @Valentijn and any one that might know and have the energy to respond. I'm unclear and need some help. I'm hoping you can help me.

I'm needing to buy some food and then I want to start D ribose.

From reading what has been shared in this thread and other threads, and the internet medical sites, I'm uncertain about a few things and I want to make sure I have this right.

I believe I have some form of hypoglycemia from past experiences and I usually have to eat every few hours. I don't have a monitor to test if I have low blood sugar, if I experience what I think is low blood sugar after I take D ribose, I'm confused about how to go about it. Medical sites say eat some simple sugars or drink fruit juice then test again in 15 minutes. Keep repeating these steps every 15 minutes until you feel better.

Yet I've read to eat something sugary then eat some protein and complex carbs to stabilize it. Also, read to eat fats with this too.

I'm not sure how to time all this or even if to eat protein and complex carbs until sugar is not low any more?

How long can you wait to eat protein and complex carbs to stabilize it? Will that interfere if the blood sugar is still not where it needs to be as far as the wait 15 minutes and test, and repeat as necessary? I'm assuming I can go on how I'm feeling since I don't have a monitor, if my low blood sugar is better can I notice this within 15 minutes time?

Also, how long after eating something sugary to bring it back up would it start to go down again cause of the surge in sugar?

I've poured over lots of information yet some of this isn't clear. My energy and health is such I can't deal with complications from trying new things and need to have things in place ahead of time to prevent and to remedy. Thank you for any help you can give me. :hug:
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
Hi @Jennifer J - I've taken d-ribose for ten years and it hasn't caused low blood sugar for me. I add it to my morning coffee - Sarah Myhill says that the caffeine potentiates the effects of d-ribose. And then I'll have more with lunch or a mix it in a cup of tea after lunch.

For a very long time I did have to eat every couple of hours to keep my blood sugar stable and this had nothing to do wtih d-ribose. I found the best thing to do for my blood sugar was to eat something with protein - nuts, cheese, etc. with snacks. If I just ate sugar without some form of protein or a complex carb, it wasn't good. Sugar alone led to more blood sugar spikes and lows for me. But as long as I had some protein every couple of hours (it didn't have to be a lot), I did okay.

I can go longer without eating now than I used to and I think it may in part be due to B1, thiamine, which can help regulate blood sugar levels. Also l-glutamine I think has had a beneficial effect on my blood sugar.

So re the d-ribose, I would have it with food - mix it in with something you're eating, or dissolve it in water and drink with something you're eating, preferably something with protein. I would not keep eating sugar every 15 minutes as your medical sites say to do.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
I'm with Mary on not eating sugar every 15 minutes. Are you sure the medical site was talking about primary hypoglycemia and not hypoglycemia in diabetics who have taken too much insulin?

Also, how long after eating something sugary to bring it back up would it start to go down again cause of the surge in sugar?
This is exactly what you are trying to avoid. If I eat something sugary to quickly bring up very low blood sugar, I have about 15 minutes to eat some protein and complex carbs or I will get an even worse sugar drop. If my blood sugar is not seriously low (another thing to avoid, if possible), I find it better to do protein and complex carbs. That gives you a slower rise, but a more stable blood sugar level.

Ribose will give me low blood sugar if I take it on an empty stomach. I have never had any problem taking it with food. I just take it with my meals and bedtime snack.


P.S. A blood sugar monitor is not that helpful for low blood sugar. What is low for one person may not be low for another. How quickly your blood sugar has dropped also makes a difference in how you feel. That is the reason for eating food that will keep your blood sugar more stable.
 
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Messages
1,478
I like others take d ribose on an empty stomach with my morning coffee (10g). I then take another 10g with food for brunch ( I feel sick if I eat first thing). I may then have another cup of decaf coffee with d ribose in and some dark chocolate (>70%) for a snack if I feel I've overdone things. I used to get the ups and downs with energy before and after meals but this has stabilised since reducing my total carbs to 100-150g per day. I also have a higher fat (50% of calories) and normal protein (100g) diet and use almonds as a snack if I get a bit wobbly. This has helped loads. I've not noticed any drops from d ribose either. I hope it goes well for you.
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
You could mimic time-released ribose by sipping water with ribose throughout the day. This way hopefully you can avoid spikes and crashes.
 
Messages
15,786
I believe I have some form of hypoglycemia from past experiences and I usually have to eat every few hours. I don't have a monitor to test if I have low blood sugar, if I experience what I think is low blood sugar after I take D ribose,
Get a monitor. Much easier and cheaper than making major dietary changes based an a guess.
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
Monitors aren't all that reliable. I used one for awhile and found, by doing repeat tests of blood from one prick, that the value could be off by a full point (a significant amount when the range is so small; Canada uses mmol/L.) And standard ranges don't apply to everyone. One person could have no symptoms below the bottom of the 'acceptable' range, while another would be showing extreme symptoms.

If you are quite familiar with how hypoglycemia feels then just go by your symptoms. Take the d-ribose with food and see how you feel. You could try starting low and increasing over a few days. The standard dose is 5g. I take 5g in the morning and 5g later in the day.

There are different causes of hypoglycemia. The advice to eat sugar is usually for diabetics. If you are having reactive hypoglycemia then eating sugar will just spike your blood sugar and cause a crash a short time later. Eating something that contains fat and protein slows digestion and allows for a more gentle increase in blood sugar.

I think the low blood sugar some of us with CFS/ME experience isn't diabetic, and isn't reactive but happens due to adrenal dysfunction. I have to eat starting at 4:20am, then 1h40m after finishing that small meal I need to eat again. This goes throughout the day until 7pm and then I can last until 4:20am without needing to eat again. The timing is important to head off the start of a blood sugar drop and the cascade of reactions the body goes through to compensate. I feel much better if I eat a few minutes before I know my low blood sugar symptoms will start.

I've been using Vitacost d-ribose for a couple of years. It's currently $25 for 10.6 oz and is sometimes included in their buy one get another for half price deals. The quality seems good and the price is the best I've found for the quantity, although there are probably bulk suppliers that could provide it for a better price.
 
Messages
15,786
Monitors aren't all that reliable. I used one for awhile and found, by doing repeat tests of blood from one prick, that the value could be off by a full point (a significant amount when the range is so small; Canada uses mmol/L.)
Maximum allowed error range is 15%. So yes, a meter can be off a bit. But that's the difference between "low" and "borderline low". It's not going to give you normal values when you're low.

Those meters have been keeping millions of diabetics alive for decades. They're a lot more reliable than going off of vague symptoms which you haven't been able to compare with an actual episode of documented hypoglycemia.
 

Jennifer J

Senior Member
Messages
997
Location
Southern California
Thank you everyone for your help. :hug:

For a very long time I did have to eat every couple of hours to keep my blood sugar stable and this had nothing to do wtih d-ribose. I found the best thing to do for my blood sugar was to eat something with protein - nuts, cheese, etc. with snacks. If I just ate sugar without some form of protein or a complex carb, it wasn't good. Sugar alone led to more blood sugar spikes and lows for me. But as long as I had some protein every couple of hours (it didn't have to be a lot), I did okay.

I can go longer without eating now than I used to and I think it may in part be due to B1, thiamine, which can help regulate blood sugar levels. Also l-glutamine I think has had a beneficial effect on my blood sugar.

So re the d-ribose, I would have it with food - mix it in with something you're eating, or dissolve it in water and drink with something you're eating, preferably something with protein. I would not keep eating sugar every 15 minutes as your medical sites say to do.

Thank you @Mary this is helpful. Also, that's great that you can go longer now without eating and that it may have been the supplements that helped with this. :thumbsup: I'll have to check them out further at some point in time.

I'm with Mary on not eating sugar every 15 minutes. Are you sure the medical site was talking about primary hypoglycemia and not hypoglycemia in diabetics who have taken too much insulin?

Hi, @Little Bluestem. I'm not sure. The sites speak of diabetic hypoglycemia and other causes of hypoglycemia and treatment. They don't differentiate and only speak of the one treatment. Maybe an error or limited on words or some other reason. So I gather from what is being said here, that diabetic hypoglycemia and other types of hypoglycemia are treated differently. Am I correct on this?

This is exactly what you are trying to avoid. If I eat something sugary to quickly bring up very low blood sugar, I have about 15 minutes to eat some protein and complex carbs or I will get an even worse sugar drop. If my blood sugar is not seriously low (another thing to avoid, if possible), I find it better to do protein and complex carbs. That gives you a slower rise, but a more stable blood sugar level.

Ribose will give me low blood sugar if I take it on an empty stomach. I have never had any problem taking it with food. I just take it with my meals and bedtime snack.

P.S. A blood sugar monitor is not that helpful for low blood sugar. What is low for one person may not be low for another. How quickly your blood sugar has dropped also makes a difference in how you feel. That is the reason for eating food that will keep your blood sugar more stable.

Thank you this is very helpful.:)

I like others take d ribose on an empty stomach with my morning coffee (10g). I then take another 10g with food for brunch ( I feel sick if I eat first thing). I may then have another cup of decaf coffee with d ribose in and some dark chocolate (>70%) for a snack if I feel I've overdone things. I used to get the ups and downs with energy before and after meals but this has stabilised since reducing my total carbs to 100-150g per day. I also have a higher fat (50% of calories) and normal protein (100g) diet and use almonds as a snack if I get a bit wobbly. This has helped loads. I've not noticed any drops from d ribose either. I hope it goes well for you.

@arewenearlythereyet, thank you. This is very interesting. Someone else has recommended more fat in my diet. Something to check out some day, too.

You could mimic time-released ribose by sipping water with ribose throughout the day. This way hopefully you can avoid spikes and crashes.

Thank you @adreno. That's a good idea to try.

Get a monitor. Much easier and cheaper than making major dietary changes based an a guess.

Thank you @Valentijn. Oh, I can't get a meter at this time. Don't want to go into the reasons why because it will overwhelm me putting my struggles and realities I'm dealing with into words. Bottom line I'm too limited and too much of importance needs to take place...

I wasn't looking to make major dietary changes. Only how to deal with the situation if it arises from taking d-ribose. Even if I had a monitor I'd still have to know how to treat it if it happens after I take d-ribose.

Yes it's quite cheap to get a monitor @Jennifer J

Also it is easy to confuse hypoglycaemia with dysautonomia/POTS/low salt type issues. I thought I got hypo but I did this https://tipsforme.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/resource-home-hacking-blood-glucose/
and didn't have any hypo readings but quite a few high glucose ones.

Thank you, @Jenny TipsforME. I'll have to read this. I've experienced years before I had ME what appears to be hypoglycemia sometimes when I've needed to eat. It's good to know a few of the other things it can be confused with. Gosh, doesn't that seem to be the case with a few things, it can be other things.

...One person could have no symptoms below the bottom of the 'acceptable' range, while another would be showing extreme symptoms.

If you are quite familiar with how hypoglycemia feels then just go by your symptoms. Take the d-ribose with food and see how you feel. You could try starting low and increasing over a few days. The standard dose is 5g. I take 5g in the morning and 5g later in the day.

There are different causes of hypoglycemia. The advice to eat sugar is usually for diabetics. If you are having reactive hypoglycemia then eating sugar will just spike your blood sugar and cause a crash a short time later. Eating something that contains fat and protein slows digestion and allows for a more gentle increase in blood sugar.

I think the low blood sugar some of us with CFS/ME experience isn't diabetic, and isn't reactive but happens due to adrenal dysfunction. I have to eat starting at 4:20am, then 1h40m after finishing that small meal I need to eat again. This goes throughout the day until 7pm and then I can last until 4:20am without needing to eat again. The timing is important to head off the start of a blood sugar drop and the cascade of reactions the body goes through to compensate. I feel much better if I eat a few minutes before I know my low blood sugar symptoms will start.

I've been using Vitacost d-ribose for a couple of years. It's currently $25 for 10.6 oz and is sometimes included in their buy one get another for half price deals. The quality seems good and the price is the best I've found for the quantity, although there are probably bulk suppliers that could provide it for a better price.

Thank you @PatJ for all of this. Very helpful. :) That is interesting about the adrenal dysfunction and low blood sugar, and the hours you can go without eating. I'll have to notice this with myself. And thank you for letting me know about Vitacost's d-ribose works for you and their deals! :hug:
 
Messages
19
Sorry , couldn't read the entire thread but I too have to eat almost every 2 hours to keep these symptoms away.But I did Glucose tolerance test at home and it is almost normal.So it's not hypoglycemia but it feels more like pre- syncope.As volume is already comprised, eating regularly keeps it at least at functional level.
Secondly please go through Dr lam's adrenal fatigue website where he has explained this very well.As PatJ has stated it sounds more like adrenal dysfunction.
I'll look into D - ribose soon. Thanks for reminding it as option☺
 
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