OT: coping with low blood sugar (for boiker's wife)
boiker said:
My wife has battled hypoglycemia since she was 12. MichelleZone, I commend your research into the problem. My wife and I had believed that her hypoglycemia had been starting to come under control the last couple years. Mainly, because the "shakes" had stopped when she had severe reactions. However, you're descriptions of the symptons has opened my eyes to some problems she's been having....specifically with sleep.
There is a lot more information out there now than when I did the research when I was 17. For example, there are glycemic indexes on the internet for common foods which can be useful in addressing the dietary issues.
A few tips that should help:
Liquid sugar is like mainlining a drug for someone with functional hypoglycemia because rate of absorption significantly affects how severe the body's reaction is. This is part of why I drink so much diet soda. I sometimes get weird reactions when I order diet coke and a slice of cheese cake, but my body can handle the occasional piece of cheesecake, it cannot handle liquid sugar. Period.
The cheesecake example brings me to another point: when she has been "bad" and imbibed sugar, something high in protein and NATURAL fats (like cheese, milk, butter) NOT fats from deep frying etc, can help to counter-act the problem as quickly as physiologically possible.
Because of the issues with liquid sugar, I rarely drink fruit juice. It isn't quite as bad as soda but it is problematic.
If she hasn't done so yet, she (and you) should learn all the various names for sugar, such as: lactose, fructose, dextrose, glucose, sucrose, honey, corn syrup, etc ad nauseum. And then read labels like crazy. She shouldn't put anything in her mouth that she hasn't read the label on. MOST "crackers" contain so much sugar that they are really not-so-sweet cookies. There are only a few brands of crackers I buy. A good cracker is a perfectly acceptable substitute for bread in a meal. Most crackers do NOT fulfill that function. And "whole wheat" crackers are sometimes the biggest offenders: they are sweetened to a ridiculous degree in order to market them to the twisted American "white flour, white sugar" taste buds.
As a rule of thumb: the less processed the food, the better. Whole grain breads rather than white breads, raw fruits and veggies rather than cooked, cooked fresh veggies rather than canned, etc.
She should have a high protein, somewhat fatty snack just before bed. I usually have a sugar-free carnation instant breakfast. I have a friend who usually has a hunk of cheese. If she cannot give up sugar completely, she should have her desert at lunch time. The last 6 hours before her usual bedtime need to be a "sugar free zone" as stringently as possible. That can make a big difference in her sleep issues.
It takes several days of improved diet to begin evening out the blood sugar levels. The improvement is not usually instantaneous. It always took me at least 3 days to begin getting a real pay off. The longer she is consistent about her diet, the more her twitchy pancreas will likely calm down.
If her shakes continue to mysteriously improve "for no apparent reason", she may be a candidate for becoming diabetic in the future and should discuss that with a doctor at some point. My hypoglycemia slowly got better over the years without any treatment. Then my genetic disorder was ID'd. I have been informed that, if I live long enough, I will almost certainly become diabetic. That is typical for my genetic disorder and has to do, in part, with thickened mucous gunking up the ducts from the pancreas and blocking its release.
I hope that helps.