Hypoglycemia driving me mad. Will HC help??

[Grigor]

Since a relapse that I have for a year now. I need to eat something every 2 hours otherwise I lose it completly.

Extremly tired. Super confused . Stressed etc. Heavy derealistion. Need to lay down instantly. Once I eat it gets better. Not perfect but it calms down.

I know my adrenals are low in the morning . My GP gave me HC but after 5 days I got panic attacks and was in bed the full 5 days.
So I stopped . I was starting to feel a bit better and didn't like that the HC made me worse in the beginning. It's hard to get of them ?? Can make things worse?
I was only gonna take 5 mg per day. But still.

Anyways. I am so fed up having to eat every 2 hours like this. I'm sure if I fix it also my fatigue levels will go up ??
Who has been on HC and it actually stopped the hypoglycemic symptoms??? And was it any issue to get off them??

I also heard it might be bad for Lyme to take HC. Another reason I don't take it cause I still need to get tested for that .

 

[Ema]

Physiological steroid replacement definitely helped my hypoglycemia. The best results I have had though are on a combination of dexamethasone and hydrocortisone. The dex is a longer acting steroid which provides a much steadier base and eliminates a lot of the ups and downs that taking HC alone can create.

Steroids are a critical part of the immune response. It's the large, pharmacological doses that are immune suppressive and to be avoided with chronic infections. But you'll never get rid of infections with insufficient cortisol either. Too little is just as bad as too much.

 

[Leopardtail]

obvious question here: what are you eating each time? how large are the amounts of carbs?
are you getting enough vitamin C & iron?

 

[heapsreal]

low carbs help me and i have found q10 and acetyl carnitine helpful also.

 

[Leopardtail]

ditto here re ALCAR, cq10, low carbs

 

[IreneF]

I get hypoglycemic if I don't eat, but my symptoms aren't as intense. Since I'm housebound anyway, it's easy enough for me to grab a banana and lie down for half an hour. When I was still out and about I carried energy bars with me. I need a combo of available sugar and something that takes longer to digest.

 

[Grigor]

OK thanks for the anwer.

Just to clarify. I'm on a strict diet to keep my Hypo in check. so nothing that raises my blood sugar. And drops like a big bomb after.
So carbs no No sugar, white bread, white rice etc. Also eating fructose free, lactose free, gluten free. It keeps it stable.

Anyways back to the subject.

Anyone else who got huge improvements in the hypo needing to eat every 2 hours with Hydrocortisone?

I'm housebound as well. And the eating is one of my occupations that keeps me busy all day. Seriously could do without.

 

[Grigor]

low carbs help me and i have found q10 and acetyl carnitine helpful also.

Taking Carnitine already. Q10 makes me super jittery. I've been trying many sups . Gingko helps me the most and B12 injections. But they don't help for the Hypo

 

[drob31]

Are you measuring your blood sugar at all? I measured mine for a while, and it likes to stay between 80-90, and 110 or so if i have carbs or slightly bigger meals.

I'm just curious what your number is at when you're hypo. I would guess 50-60?

 

[Grigor]

No I should for sure.

 

[drob31]

Blood glucose meter is like 8 bucks at walgreen where I live.

 

[adreno]

OK thanks for the anwer.

Just to clarify. I'm on a strict diet to keep my Hypo in check. so nothing that raises my blood sugar. And drops like a big bomb after.
So carbs no No sugar, white bread, white rice etc. Also eating fructose free, lactose free, gluten free. It keeps it stable.

Anyways back to the subject.

Anyone else who got huge improvements in the hypo needing to eat every 2 hours with Hydrocortisone?

I'm housebound as well. And the eating is one of my occupations that keeps me busy all day. Seriously could do without.

It's extremely hard for your adrenals to follow a very low carb diet. I would suggest you eat 50 grams of complex carbs three times per day.

 

[drob31]

My situation is actually weird. I feel okay when I wake up, then I eat and feel fatigue... then later I eat lunch and it gives me energy, but then I feel fatigue later on. In the evening my energy goes up around 7 or 8 and falls again around 10.

Not sure if mine is more of a mitochondria issue.

 

[A.B.]

I have used cortisone and it does help against hypoglycemia.

I believe you are operating under the misconception that avoiding carbs will improve the situation. It will make it worse! know because I have the same problem and experimented a lot until I understood what is happening. Of course you could be different, but I doubt it. This type of problem is not uncommon here.

The solution is not to avoid carbs, but to combine them with meat and vegetables. Don't skimp on fat either, but try to make healthy choices. Unprocessed carbs and raw vegetables have high fiber content and are digested more slowly, and will result in steadier blood sugar levels for this reason. Fruit and nuts also go well together. Eat something right before going to bed. Eat early rather than later, because later on you'll already be craving sugar. A single sweet meal can destabilize your system for several days.

The only things that you really need to avoid are sweet beverages of any kind (even healthy drinks such as orange juice), processed carbs without a sizable portion of meat and vegetables accompanying them.

Also, it sounds like you have an underlying medical conditions. Since endocrine disorders can be difficult to diagnose, I would recommend seeking an endocrinologist.

 

[Leopardtail]

Grigor,

to really help here, we need to know what you ARE eating. I would suggest as first step, you get a carb counting book (they are fairly cheap).... weigh your food and let us know what you are eating... and how much carbs are in each....

A couple of days of such a diary will give me a much better idea of what is going on and what we might do. I am type I diabetic myself as well as having ME. Eliminating all fructose, all lactose and all obvious carbs has the potential to create some dietary hazards of its own. Once we are clearer on diet, we can then start putting our collective heads together to work out what is happening.

If you get any craving for particular foods, that may give us some clues what might be happening.

Brian

 

[lavonia]

I have had a reverse pattern on my cortisol for a while.
The HC has definitely helped all of that. If you eat small meals, cortisol will produce in higher amounts. It's why I was on a very low calorie diet for a while. If your body is low of cortisol, you might be having a similar issue. If I don't eat on time, I'd get very sick. Any stessor, very bad.

HC does help my sugar type symptoms when I can get my cortisol up. It's not an exact science I'm sure and I'm still in the first stages of dealing with the issue myself so I probably have little advice to offer.

However, I do have extensive experience with nerves and pain regulation, which can be relative to panic issues. They may seem unrelated but it is about keeping the body calm and from going into a panic state. You can try GABA for relaxation. Panic issues can be tied to higher norepinephrine levels, I'd try talking to doc about the panic issues. However you can read up a bit about neurotransmitters yourself.
I've been on gabapentin for nerve pain but had swelling and other side effects, my new doc recommended natural gaba as being better than synthetic. I'd probably agree there. Basically, it'll relax the body more, with fewer panic attacks.
You essentially are adding more inhibitory neurotransmitters, it'll keep the body calmer. Also, in recommended doses, the worst side effect might be added sleepiness.

Not sure what dose HC you started on but I went through radiation (long story, major spinal cord injury and radiation) following. I was on 6 mg dexamethosone (powerful steroid) throughout the radiation. Because my cortisol was low going in, I felt better. On a high prolonged dose, months of use, I had trouble sleeping and exhibited high cortisol symptoms. It did make me jittery. Point being, I'd see what doc thinks about a nice lower dose. I'm on 5mg now, feels too low for me, but I think it is a good starting point. What'd they start you at?
If dose is too high, you may have that as well.

Best wishes. I have dealt with the fatigue for 15 years now, I've found nothing that works for low cortisol levels other than the HC. I eat only fresh veg/fruit/nuts/seeds and good protein. It's how I've su

 

[Leopardtail]

I have had a reverse pattern on my cortisol for a while.
The HC has definitely helped all of that. If you eat small meals, cortisol will produce in higher amounts. It's why I was on a very low calorie diet for a while. If your body is low of cortisol, you might be having a similar issue. If I don't eat on time, I'd get very sick. Any stessor, very bad.

HC does help my sugar type symptoms when I can get my cortisol up. It's not an exact science I'm sure and I'm still in the first stages of dealing with the issue myself so I probably have little advice to offer.

However, I do have extensive experience with nerves and pain regulation, which can be relative to panic issues. They may seem unrelated but it is about keeping the body calm and from going into a panic state. You can try GABA for relaxation. Panic issues can be tied to higher norepinephrine levels, I'd try talking to doc about the panic issues. However you can read up a bit about neurotransmitters yourself.
I've been on gabapentin for nerve pain but had swelling and other side effects, my new doc recommended natural gaba as being better than synthetic. I'd probably agree there. Basically, it'll relax the body more, with fewer panic attacks.
You essentially are adding more inhibitory neurotransmitters, it'll keep the body calmer. Also, in recommended doses, the worst side effect might be added sleepiness.

Not sure what dose HC you started on but I went through radiation (long story, major spinal cord injury and radiation) following. I was on 6 mg dexamethosone (powerful steroid) throughout the radiation. Because my cortisol was low going in, I felt better. On a high prolonged dose, months of use, I had trouble sleeping and exhibited high cortisol symptoms. It did make me jittery. Point being, I'd see what doc thinks about a nice lower dose. I'm on 5mg now, feels too low for me, but I think it is a good starting point. What'd they start you at?
If dose is too high, you may have that as well.

Best wishes. I have dealt with the fatigue for 15 years now, I've found nothing that works for low cortisol levels other than the HC. I eat only fresh veg/fruit/nuts/seeds and good protein. It's how I've su

Whether this is a good idea, or a very bad one depends to a very great extent on WHY your Cortisol is low, and how rapidly your body response to low blood sugar. If your problem is under-stimulation by the brain, it might help a little, but could also cause your mitochondria to produce less energy. If the core problem is with your adrenal glands, this may be a short term solution with long term consequences since you would further stress the adrenal glands.

The better solution is likely to be eating frequent slow acting energy sources as @adreno indicated above. This lowers the demand for Cortisol.

 

[Leopardtail]

Since a relapse that I have for a year now. I need to eat something every 2 hours otherwise I lose it completly.

Extremly tired. Super confused . Stressed etc. Heavy derealistion. Need to lay down instantly. Once I eat it gets better. Not perfect but it calms down.

I know my adrenals are low in the morning . My GP gave me HC but after 5 days I got panic attacks and was in bed the full 5 days.
So I stopped . I was starting to feel a bit better and didn't like that the HC made me worse in the beginning. It's hard to get of them ?? Can make things worse?
I was only gonna take 5 mg per day. But still.

Anyways. I am so fed up having to eat every 2 hours like this. I'm sure if I fix it also my fatigue levels will go up ??
Who has been on HC and it actually stopped the hypoglycemic symptoms??? And was it any issue to get off them??

I also heard it might be bad for Lyme to take HC. Another reason I don't take it cause I still need to get tested for that .

If you are on a very small of 5mg, it's far less likely you will have problems coming off them. If you are very short of Cortisol though, you are unlikely to feel well without help.

The fact that you feel better laying down, causes me to ask whether you suffer Orthostatic Intolerance. It produces some symptoms that mimic hypoglyceamia. We really need to know what is going on with your blood sugars when this happens (blood meter mentioned in a post above).

As per @adreno above, a diet consisting of a good mix of energy sources: reasonable amounts of protein, carbs in vegetables, high fibre carbs, a healthy balance of fats is by far and away the best solution for general health including your adrenal glands. Also take plenty of Vitamin C.

 

[Grigor]

It's extremely hard for your adrenals to follow a very low carb diet. I would suggest you eat 50 grams of complex carbs three times per day.

Yes I already do actually. I'm already on a great diet . Eliminated everything that might be bad.
Plus I have fructose malabsorbtion en lactose intolerance. But nothing really works.

As I said I have the HC in my drawer . Staring at me . So that's I wanna hear some successtories with HC that eliminated the need to eat every 2 hours.

 

[Grigor]

The fact that you feel better laying down, causes me to ask whether you suffer Orthostatic Intolerance. It produces some symptoms that mimic hypoglyceamia. We really need to know what is going on with your blood sugars when this happens (blood meter mentioned in a post above).
.

Yes I have OI for sure. That's actually the hardest . I also read that it is hard on the adrenals cause when you have too little bloodvolume your adrenals need to create more noadrenaline to pump the blood to the head. So you need to create more cortisol and your adrenals start to fatigue . Need to find out where I read it :-/

Did you take HC??