blood sugar issues and a bad nurse

So far my nurses have been awesome.  This whole experience had been great.   Welll this morning I woke up at 3 with pain and a headache.   she took a blood sugar reading to check it.  OK.   It was 68.  OK.   That's low and I get that.   I did not deal with sugar issues before so this is all new to me.   She says she needs to bring me some juice.  OK. 

She gets back with oj and a carton of milk.   Both of which are not on my diet.   I'm on clears only.   she says "this is doctors orders"  it can't be.   I'm on clears so my stomach doesn't work hard and oj and milk will make it work harder.  I ask for Apple juice and after some argument she brings me 2 cartons of apple juice.   8 ounces each.   She tells me I need to drink both right now.   I say "I'll start now but it will take me a long time to finish.   About 6 hours.   I can only take in 2 ounces at a time. "  she says that because it's liquid I will not take that long.   That rule only applies to solids.  

Am I nuts?   Or is she wrong?   I drank 2 ounces of apple juice, rather fast which hurt but she was insisting,  and she rechecked my blood.   I was back up to 92.  I don't deal with glucose.   I don't get it.   Won't this make me dump of I drink as much as she is telling me to?

Dumping:  You might, but might not.  However, I really do agree with you that drinking orange juice or milk were not on your plan.  And definitely drinking 16 oz of juice quickly is a problem too.   I was allowed 1 oz water every 15 minutes.  When i had "dinner" of broth, i had 2 oz, and that was to be taken slowly also.

It really does sound like the nurse is unfamiliar with your plan, and that she is unwilling to admit this.  Does  this section of your hospital focus on WLS?  Sometime night shift nurses float.  Hang in there!  Maybe ask to speak with someone else, like your doctor, or your doctor's nurse.

You think the low blood sugar was a dumping symptom?  All day I had ensure clear 8oz, chicken broth 10oz, apple juice 6oz, water 30oz.  All of it was mixed up and spread out through the day.   This didn't happen right after the juice intakes.  After I took the 2oz of juice and it raised my blood sugars and my headache and body ache went away. No signs of dumping. 

I am sorry if it sounded like I thought the low blood sugar was from dumping.  I did not mean to suggest that.  I was mostly responding to your worry, in your first post, that you wondered about the juice the nurse was giving you to treat the low blood sugar--if that juice could cause dumping if you had 2 glasses of it quickly, and if you could trust your nurse.  Maybe I misread that question.  I really have no idea why your blood sugar was low.  But it does sound like your nurse might not understand your WLS dietary needs. On the other hand, maybe she does, but urgency requires her to follow a special protocol in the hospital.  In any case, my comment about dumping was basically that not everyone dumps.  It sounds like you are doing better now, and I hope you continue to improve.  Best wishes to you!

P.s. on the orange juice, my plan does not allow any citrus whatsoever for an entire year.

in a hospital setting,possibly saving your life comes before ANY eating plan. Your surgeon would likely agree with. The steps the. Nurse took,since it was not an everyday thing and your life could have been at stake.

the juice could have made you dump,but apparently it didn't or you would know that already.

Let's say you are right.   Type of juice aside, there is no way a brand new bariatric patient would be expected to chug 16 ounces of apple juice orange juice or milk to save their lives.   It's simply impossible.   They would have brought something in shot form. I already spoke to the doctor.   Her cna for the night who was in the room had already reported her actions as abusive to a patient and she had been reprimanded.   Like I said, everyone here has been amazing.   Just fantastic.   I just had one bad nurse.   My doctors also think that my pancreas is just talking time to getting used to the new situation and is sending me home with a glucose monitor.   I have had no more dips all day.   

I am a nurse and would never have brought any of that to you. I would have called the bariatric surgeon for orders, prob IV D50. At our hospital, bariatric patients do not get apple juice on their trays either....broth, sugar free jello, water with crystal lite, etc.

I had my blood sugar plummet last night around the SAME TIME and I had the same symptoms.  I have a small jar of apple juice here at home (we have added protein powder to it so its not such a sin) and I had a half an ounce of apple juice and all the symptoms went away in less than 5 minutes.  I am just wishing my body would stop being shocked and figure this out, but he said it will eventually level out, but is monitoring it anyway.

I asked about the juice and he said that they give it to the patients when they take them off the IV incase they need something with natural sugar.  They also off broth, sf jello, sf Knotts jewels (those are gross), decaf tea and coffee, and ensure clear in apple and mixed berry flavor. 

I lost my first 100 lbs pretty much with no problems, the last 20 have been a little harder because my family history of hypoglycemia has reared its ugly head and because of my Gastric bypass I am Hyper Hypoglycemic. what this means is my blood sugars will drop rapidly from a normal range into the 30-40 range in minutes. I have had it as low as 14 in the middle of a glucose tolerance test (That scared the **** out of my doctor). I know that you are only a few weeks out from surgery and your doctor is right it takes time for your body to adjust. when my weight is stable I don't have problems; it is when I lose a few lbs that I start having problems. But you had to make adjustments in your diet for this surgery and if you want this surgery to work it is a lifetime of change and if your blood sugars are going to be a problem its just one more learning curve in the change you committed to too improve your life and health. I know I have to eat some protein with every meal, I am 6 years out from my surgery and I still do not eat any pastas without at least 5 grams of fiber, brown rice only, no breads with yeast in them, I cant drink milk or eat any type of ice cream product because I will guarantee a low blood sugar if I do, besides the dumping before. I do not go anywhere without candy in my purse, smarties are the best. but I do not regret getting my surgery, I do not regret losing the weight and I have more that I want to lose and I will it just takes me a little longer. As bad as a low blood sugar is at 208 lbs I cant imagine having one at 328 or 346 that would have killed me. Good Luck, give it time and remember everyone is different my story will not be yours. relax and enjoy the ride of your weight loss.