Hypoglycemia?

Hi ladies. I posted about this a few weeks ago but I really need some help.  I keep having these hypoglycemic attacks. I start getting the shakes and my heart races and I have to have something with sugar to get out of these attacks. My ob doesn't have experience with weightloss patients but I have tricare military insurance and in our small town there are no specialists or OBGYN's who have experience. My primary dr said to eat carbs  & protein when these happen but they don't help. I can reach for saltines and cheese or peanut butter, as my NUT suggested originally, but it still doesn't work. I keep getting these attacks one after another all day long unless I keep eating. I am taking all my vitamins and protein. I eat mostly protein and few carbs. Any suggestions? If I dare eat any carbs, I sware I get one of those attacks so fast. I had pasta a few nights ago, just a small amount with my chicken noodle soup I was craving, and I went into an attack. I see the ob in a week, but until then, I am going crazy.
Thanks.

Sounds like reactive hypoglycemia to me-I had it bad during pregnancy and still have issues with it. It sounds like you are probably in need of more carbs all day to stabilize as you are already eating mostly protein, or more sugar in some way. Have you thought about another trip to the nut? I had to eat something with a little sugar at least once a day. Milk sometimes works too, because it is sugary. That was the only thing that would keep me from overreacting. I know we've had surgery, but if you completely cut out entire food groups while pregnant, it doesn't work really well. I'm not saying to eat a twinkie or anything, but maybe consider altering your post op diet a little. You don't have to slip into bad habits to do so. I found that I could eat more when I was pregnant, and then post baby I have struggled to eat 1/2 of what I was eating pregnant, which is still less than a normal person eats in a day. You have a little leeway, and as long as you keep exercising with your OB's ok, you shouldn't gain too much weight. The more important thing is that your sugars stay more stable and that you are able to feed your baby. I have also heard of using glucose tablets sold to diabetics, so try that too in a pinch. The problem is that your body is telling you that your levels are out of whack, and you need to work on evening them out a little more. If you try to eat when it's happening, you've already missed your opportunity. One thing that this surgery has done for me is to help me listen to my body. When I was pregnant and my body said eat, I did. Now I do have some baby fat to lose and it sucks, but the reality is that I gave birth to two very healthy 36 week old twin boys with absolutely no complications, which is hard to do for people without surgery and hypoglycemia. I would maybe consult a nut if it makes you feel better. Good luck though!

Carrie

Thanks Carrie. I do eat and I do eat carbs. That is the crazy part. I noticed, however, when I do eat carbs, it seems to get worse. I do eat sugary things throughout the day, since pregnancy especially, to help the attacks- I have protein bars with sugar and I am able to handle them, I drink sweet tea sometimes just for the sugar, I eat fruit, etc. I don't understand why they keep happening. Since days after surgery. I really need to see my NUT but the problem is that there are no bariatric surgeons in my area. The nearest is 2 hours away and I can't travel that far right now and I am having a hard time getting approval from my insurance.

Hi I love my soldier,  I too am having issues with my sugar dropping.  I am 14 wks preggers and it has happened occasionally since I was abt 8 wks.  I get the same symptoms you do and have to sit down and eat something.  I talked to my OB/GYN who also doesn't deal with diabetes whether it be high or low, they referred me to the NUT and I had an appt with her yesterday.  She gave me a glucometer and she pretty much told me this is a natural thing that happens in pregnancy or can happen and that I have to be mindful that I am eating OR drinking something btw 1-2 hrs.  IF it starts happening more frequently then closer to every hour.  She has increased my calories to 1500 a day and she has ok'd me to drink things like 100% OJ or the Minute Maid 100% no sugar added juice boxes and that helps take care of some of the calories so that way I am not having to "eat" all my cals a day.  Its a guessing game but she did tell me that when my sugar is in the 60's like it usually hits, she wants me to drink or do something FAST acting like OJ or the glucose tabs-but I'm unsure abt the sugar content on those.  She said that IF you have to chew it up and let it take its coarse, its gonna take longer for your sugar to come back up.  So if you drink OJ, it goes directly into your system and starts raising that glucose level.  But she did tell me that a good thing to remember is that for every 1 gram of carb you eat, it raises your sugar level 3-4 pts , so if your sugar is say 65, you would need to raise it to above the 90 mark so that it doesnt drop right back down, even though normal BS levels are around 80 or higher.  She did tell me that she is concerned with the 60's but that when your sugar drops below the 60 mark, that is when you need to seek IMMEDIATE medical attn b/c thats when it starts affecting your baby.  I am soo sorry I feel like I am rambling but I learned ALOT yesterday.  If you want to message me, I can pass along some other info if you would like.  Good Luck with everything and hope your sugar gets better.

Wow! Thanks! That is the best advice I have had since surgery! My problem, however, is not just when Im pregnant. It has been since surgery. I have not found any relief. I would appreciate any other advice! Thank you for your help!

Ok well, a really close friend of mine, who is 16 mths post op from RNY has started having the same issues too and she isn't preggers and the therapist told her that when you are not preggers and have the reactive hypoglycemia, that is actually a form of delayed dumping and that shocked the heck out of me but i  looked it up on here and dang if it aint something to do with that, but ours is more related to our babies that we are baking lol   Hope it gets better for you and remember to eat!!  LOL

Wow. I can't believe she is getting it at 16 months out. I wonder why I got it right away. I eat every hour or two hours. I drink all day long. I still get the attacks. I don't know why. Thank you for all your help! I will try the OJ or sugar free juice. I like chrystal light and Lipton Green Tea and Citrus diet b/c it has no sugar.

I have had issues with my blood sugar forever...before sugery and some afterward.  During my pregnancy, I had pretty bad reactive hypoglycemia.  My OB told me to eat every couple of hours all day long...something that was hard to wrap my mind around initially.  I found that the packages of 6 peanut butter and crackers were my saving grace.  (btw, the Ritz brand is WAY better than any of the others.)  My surgeon's nurse suggested that I carry the glucose tablets and use them when I had issues.  I was very close to my due date when she did, so I never got around to getting any.  My surgeon said that my issue would likely resolve itself once my pregnancy was over, and it has gotten much better.

I find that eating something with a high sugar content only feeds into the cycle.  You might want to really analyze what you're eating when you have a reaction.   You need to bring your sugar level up, but if you put a lot of sugar into your body at once while you're panicked about having a reaction, you're just setting yourself up for another reaction in an hour or two.  Your sugar is going to go up and then suddenly bottom out again, and then the cycle continues.  At least, that has been my experience.  I try to eat things that have a low to moderate sugar content...no more than 10-12 grams for me. 

Hope you can get it under control.  That is a miserable feeling!  And congrats on your pregnancy...Natalie

Thanks Natalie! I tried to stay away from carbs and sugar and it helped! I have not had an attack since. I also tried sipping watered down juice all day and that helped. I really appreciate the help! I didn't realize the sugar was putting me in such a rollar coaster! Nobody explained it like that before. Thanks again!
Michele