question about hypoglycaemia

[Aerose91]

I dealt with pretty bad hypoglycaemia for years hefore getting M.E. because of my severe adrenal fatigue- and because of this i know how to manage it.
However, i crashed about a month ago and the hypoglycaemia has been absolutely out of control at night. I know exactly how many grams of carbs, protein and fat my body can take, i know when to eat and what to/not to eat. My diet is f***ing perfect.

I keep myself under check during the day but i cant make it more than 2 hours sleeping. I eat while laying in bed before sleeping but it only gets me a couple hours. Then, i get shot awake like a bolt of lightening hit me and thats it for the night. I usually can't get back to sleep but i may be able to if i eat a TON, yet that may only net me another hour or so. Not only am i getting worse because of no sleep, im getting drastically worse because of the energy im putting out from adrenaline dumps all night.

Ive tried everything; i sometimes eat way more to try and make it through but lately im eating 3 meals throughout the night encroaching on 2500 calories, yet that still only nets me about 3-4 hours of sleep.

Im honestly getting concerned that im on a fast route to diabetes and/or brain damage if this continues but i have no idea how to stop it and get some sleep. The symptoms are getting unbearable too- intense vivid nightmares, insane pain, unbearable adrenaline dumps, psychosis, headaches, nausea, dizziness, terrible mood swings, increased brain fog etc..

Like i said with just adrenal fatigue i could manage the hypoglycaemia but theres something else at play here because as soon as night hits its a living hell. Could it have something to do with damage or hypoperfusion to the pancreas or liver? Anyone been through this? Any suggestions? that would be very much appreciated

 

[minkeygirl]

Are you doing anything to support your adrenals? I didn't see anywhere that you were. It seems to me that addressing that might help control some of the other stuff.

 

[Aerose91]

Oh yes, ive been on adrenal support for 4 years. Its kind of a catch 22 because as my sleep gets worse my adrenals get worse and the hypoglycaemia gets worse even tho im doing everything im supposed to to support my adrenals and the hypoglycaemia

 

[A.B.]

We need more info. What is your diet, what are you taking for adrenal support? Has the hypoglycemia been confirmed via blood glucose testing?

I have a tendency towards reactive hypoglycemia and can mostly keep it in check via diet, and might be able to offer some useful advice.

 

[Aerose91]

My hypoglycaemia came on with the adrenal problems, never had it before. i believe its fasting hypoglycaemia because if i dont eat i will get nasty adrenaline dumps yet sometimes im reactive to foods as well but not as often.

When my AF was very bad, before M.E. i was on hydrocortisone, DHEA and Pregnanolone as well as adrenal glandulars and vitamin/mineral protocols. i stopped the hormones about 2 years ago and was getting better but since the M.E. ive been crashing all over the place. I am now too sensitive to take glandulars and wont take hormones again so i take 5000 mg vit c/day, pathenine and pantothenic acid and eat a very strict hypoglycaemic diet.

For my diet; i make my own bone broth and use it as a base for vegetable soup which i eat 3-4 x a day. I use UltraClear per my doctor twice a day and any meals that fill in between are cooked vegetables with 6-15 grams of protein and no more than 15 grams of carbs from either yams, brown rice or quinoa (i cant handle any more carbs than that per meal). My fat sources are coconut oil, olive oil and avocados, however im light on the avocados because i try to avoid all histamine foods.

I also take Betaine HCL with every meal to aid in degestion.

Im very good at keeping my hypoglycaemia in check but since this crash a couple weeks ago theres been a massive, massive change. Nothing i do works and i havent been able to sleep more than 2 hours any night because i get shot awake by adrenaline, then im screwed for the rest of the night. This is on top of all the other symptoms i mentioned above.

 

[Aerose91]

For what its worth also, i had very severe adrenal fatigue a few years ago so im very familiar with what the hypoglycaemia feels like from that and i know how to keep it under control very, very well. This is much, much different and does not respond to any of the protocols that have worked for me in the past.

 

[bertiedog]

@Aerose91 I used to be exactly like you at night, just couldn't get through it without panic attacks and having to eat. Unfortunately the only thing that worked for me was Prednisolone 6mg daily. My knowledgeable doctor put me on h/c at first and it helped during the day but wasn't long lasting enough for the night, I was still getting the symptoms (plus sky high DHEA at night but under control during the day).

The Prednisolone worked like magic and now no problem whatsoever I can sleep through the night but to be honest I do wake at least once during the night but usually can get back ok and never have to eat after 10 pm until around 7 am.

If one's adrenals are really shot for some of us all that will help us is a steroid. I should also add I had Hashimotos at the time but didn't know it so I have been able to take dessicated thyroid along with the Pred so this probably played a part too plus I am 28 lbs lighter!

Good luck with it, I remember it as being a horrendous time and for me it was just as I was going into full blown ME and periomenopause.

Pam

 

[heapsreal]

I get hypo symptoms if i go too long without eating or if i eat too many carbs. I follow an Atkins style diet and find a good feed of bacon and eggs or say a steak and a few green veges will last me several hours easily maybe 6 to 8 hours.
I'm a big believer in lots of meat, little carbs and not worrying about fats has helped a lot.

Maybe snack on some nuts or low carb protein bar.

 

[Aerose91]

@bertiedog

Thanks for that. Out of curiosity are you still on prednisone? Its weird to me because back then hydrocortisone was the only thing that got me out of the hole, but even then i didnt have symptoms this bad. Since the M.E. has hit its been a total change but i am going to do another saliva and blood cortisol test to check.

Glad to hear youre feeling better.

 

[Aerose91]

I get hypo symptoms if i go too long without eating or if i eat too many carbs. I follow an Atkins style diet and find a good feed of bacon and eggs or say a steak and a few green veges will last me several hours easily maybe 6 to 8 hours.
I'm a big believer in lots of meat, little carbs and not worrying about fats has helped a lot.

Maybe snack on some nuts or low carb protein bar.

The reason i dont take too much animal protein is because my doctor tested my digestion and my protein digestion is off the charts bad. If i eat any animal protein i start to feel extremely toxic and sick no more than an hour later. I may need to try that though to see if it will get me through the night. At this point the toxicity would be better than what im dealing with currently.

The meals i eat before bed though have become massive- 700-1000 calories. This is the ony thing that can get me even 2 hours of sleep. If i dont eat that much i may only get 45 minutes if anything at all. Before M.E. a rice cake with almond butter was enough to get me through the night, now that wouldnt even allow me to get to sleep.

 

[heapsreal]

have u tried digestive enzymes etc? or just a good slow cooked stew would provide alot of meals?

 

[A.B.]

I found the best diet to prevent hypoglycemia are balanced, frequent (and thus small) meals. Balanced meaning taking protein, fat and carbs in equal amounts, and fibrous foods. The first three are digested at different speeds, resulting in a more even glucose curve (in theory), and fibers slow digestion somewhat. Frequent meaning 2-3 hours. I found that skimping on carbs makes the fatigue clearly worse.

That said your situation sounds like one where more than a controlled diet is needed.

 

[Aerose91]

I agree with all that, though i will say that i have to eat every 45 minutes - 1 hour otherwise i crash into oblivion. During the day i have it under control fairly well but night is the problem. I mean, im sleeping, i cant eat. Then by the time i get rocked awake by the adrenaline a few hours after i fell asleep its like im starting all over again because the damage is done. i definitiely need to figure something out to get me through the night.

 

[Aerose91]

Is there any thought to this being a downstream problem? As in, its not just low blood sugar for us but also the glucose isnt getting into our cells- hence a mitochondroa issue.

 

[bertiedog]

@bertiedog

Thanks for that. Out of curiosity are you still on prednisone? Its weird to me because back then hydrocortisone was the only thing that got me out of the hole, but even then i didnt have symptoms this bad. Since the M.E. has hit its been a total change but i am going to do another saliva and blood cortisol test to check.

Glad to hear youre feeling better.

@Aerose91 Yes I am and have been for 12 years. Took a bit of experimenting what was the right dose. Most days I have to add an additional 2.5mg h/c around 4 pm to get me through the rest of the day ok, otherwise I start to get pain and exhaustion but blood sugar isn't a problem now except when I exercise and need to eat something to replace what I have burned up.

Everything just feels calmer on the Pred and I am always very grateful that I got the help I needed.

Pam

 

[rwac]

It appears that you're not storing or storing little glycogen in the liver.
Hypothyroid can cause this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3131128

Yams have goitrogenic propertires. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/goitrogens/
If you can't tolerate brown rice, you might have gut dysbiosis and the fiber is causing problems for you.
Quinoa has saponins which can be toxic.

It might be a worthwhile experiment to try white rice/white potato. It might even be useful to drink OJ or eat some haagen dazs, because sugar increases glycogen storage.

 

[Aerose91]

Thanks rwac. Ive tried some things that are a bit more sugary and it makes me completely flip out almost immediatly. I would tend to guess its not hypothyroid because i have it checked regularly but your mention of the liver could hold value. This started immediatly after a PEM setback so maybe i have increased hypoperfusion to my liver now. Ill try a simpler carb like white rice and see if it helps. I sure hope so since im going on 5 weeks of this now with little to no improvement and all the lack of sleep/exertion these adrenaline dumps are giving me are causing my whole condition to worsen.

 

[xchocoholic]

Is that Metagenics ultra clear? That made my hypoglycemia worse.

I have hypoglycemia when I exert myself but I'm usually ok if I'm just resting. The paleo low carb diet helped my resting hypoglycemia but didn't make a dent in what I need for exercise.

 

[SB_1108]

It might be a worthwhile experiment to try white rice/white potato.

I did low carb/paleo for a few years before my hypoglycemia became a severe issue. When my hypoglycemia got completely out of control, I finally found some relief in eating carbs again - mainly white rice and potatoes but also corn. It went against everything I thought was best for my digestion and blood sugar issues but it helped me sleep through the night again! I still have hypoglycemia but I try to eat an entire meal before bedtime - with protein AND carbs, my insomnia is so much better.