Low Blood Sugar anyone??

Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone is having trouble maintaining their blood sugar levels? My problems began when I was pregnant ( I delivered 4 months ago) and have continued on until now. I am breastfeeding so maybe that has something to do with it. While I was pregnant I had to eat 35 carbs every 2 hours. I have fallen from that routine becuase I really want to lose pounds again, now the problem lows are back. I had a reading of 27 yesterday and that scared me enough to eat again...grrrr. I am about 25lbs from goal, but the good news is that I am 1.5 pounds lighter then my pre-pregnancy weight. ANyway, I just thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone else is having this happen! Have a GREAT 4th everyone! Sherry

Sherry - you are not alone.....I haven't had any pregnancies or anything like that but as of about 2 weeks ago I've been having an extreme amount of low blood sugars...enough to set up an appt with my PCP. I have been barely eating carbs but do some breads, he told me to at least have one wheat toast a day to bring my sugars up and I stopped having low sugars daily. But then the doc noticed my LFTs were elevated..LFT's are the liver function tests..so he ran 2 more times and both times they were also high. So he told me to see a GI doc. I started to look and it has been hard finding a doc to get me in there immediately so I decided to contact my surgeon and pose him the question of what was going on. He wrote back to get him the labs and that he wants to see me...he said it's common to have fatty liver disease.....so now I'm researching this problem. It seems that due to possible malnutrition it can happen...I'm still getting the hypoglycemia and was feeling pretty bad..I'm back to having it and it can happen when the liver doesn't do it's function. I go on vacation next week so I'll have to wait but I'm doing a final blood test before I go to see if I'm improving but Im still not feeling fully well...I see a weird ring around my neck. So after my vacation......running to see the surgeon to see what tests need to be run to get the proper medication I may need. I have heard of Milk Thistle..might try that. Anyway, first thing for you is to have your doc run some blood tests and check for anemia, LFTs and the sugar levels.....I was a high sugar diabetic trading it in for low sugars....but low sugars are no fun at all.....I feel shaky and weak and my vision is changing again. I have to care glucose tablets and mints to get the sugars up quickly....monitor what you eat, when and what is the level from your glucose machine and keep a record..thta is what I'm doing now. Good luck and keep me posted.

Hi Ruth...thanks for the reply. I would be interested in knowing what your test results say, that is if you feel like sharing. Boy this all sounds really scary. I will be keeping you in my thoughts....please keep me posted....Sherry

I've noticed that my Blood Sugar is running lower than normal these days... I was not diabetic before my surgery, so I have never checked my sugar levels much, but I can sure tell when mine gets too low. I HATE that feeling. I have sorta noticed though, that if I eat something "high sugar" like candy (my MAJOR weakness) is usually when I experience the "low sugar" feelings. That makes NO sense to me, but I am sure that there is a plausible explanation for it. I have never had "dumping syndrome" before and wonder if I am "developing" it now? That would be a GOOD thing for me as sweets are a definite problem area for me. I am allergic to wheat, so I don't eat many carbs at all except for fruit and candy!!! Hope you find out the "problem" and can solve it and take off those last "stubborn" lbs.!!! Hugs, Pam

Thanks for the reply Pam...I too have the lows after something sugary. I think they call it reactive hypogyclemia....I guess what is happening is that when we eat something high in sugar our body starts to produce insulin...be we produce too much insulin and then the blood sugar bottoms out because the high level of insulin, so to bring it back up, we eat something sugary...vicious circle....wish I could have the self control to stay away of sweets...urghhhh...I won't have them in the house now, so maybe that will help! Thanks again for your reply! Sherry

Hi Sherry, I had a reactive hypoglycemia incident this week, but it doesnt happen to me too often. Unfortunately, i don't think i go without food long enough for it to be a problem most of the time but the other day, i ate very lightly all day, then had a coffee drink and they were sampling baked items at starbucks, so i had a couple bites of sweet, and then went shopping, and about 2hrs into the shopping, i was shaking so bad in the store that i had to rip open the only food they had which were gourmet cookies (it was a TJ Maxx) i was reallly shaky and it was a bit disturbing. I recognized what was happening because I used to take insulin for my diabetes and remember that feeling of going low. congrats again on your sweet baby, and on getting below your pre-prego weight!! talk to you soon Sue

Thanks for your reply Sue...it's nice to know we are not alone! Sherry

Sherry, I've been diagnosed as hypoglycemic for about 4-5 months now. My endocrinologist had a 5 hour glucose intollerance test done to confirm it. My problem tends to be starches: potato, corn, peas, bread, etc. I avoid all sweets unless it's sugar-free...but it's harder for me to avoid the starches. I was never told to get in so many carbs every so many hours. Instead, I'm to get in at least 100g carbs/day...but that had to do with the WLS, not the hypoglycemia. I keep a food journal and make special note of what I ate the day I have a low sugar reaction. Usually, it is very traceable...veggie soup that had the starchy veggies in it, a tamale, a sweet potato. Sometimes, it's not so easy to figure out. There was one morning for breakfast that the only thing it could have been was a few chunks of pineapple (must have been packed in syrup instead of water..???). Once I determine a food is a problem food for me, I try to avoid it. I carry glucose tablets with me and also have a big bottle of them on the counter at home. When I have an episode, I munch on 2-3 of them and if I'm where I can, I drink a glass of skim milk. Don't bring up sugar with sugar. That does start a viscous cycle. Have a few glucose tablets to bring it up, and then some protein (ie skim milk) to maintain it. That was what I was told to do by my endocrinologist and by the dietician who is now over-seeing my food journal with 'hypoglycemic WLS post-op' in mind. I was having 3-4 episodes a week. I'm down to ~once a week. I learn new things about my body all the time! Sherri

Hi Sherry, Looks like alot of us are having this same problem with low blood sugar. There has been several times lately that I have felt bad and would check my sugar. And it would be low. A wk ago, I got sick.. dizzy, nausea and numb feeling all over. Hubby helped me ck my blood sugar. It was 35. I had broke out in a sweat... honestly thought that my life on this earth was over.. That's how bad that I felt. He fixed me 2 peanut butter and crackers and it made me feel better. I have to keep a ck on my blood sugar now. On good days it runs 70 and below. Hope all works out for you. Jo