Reactive Hypoglycemia - my trial, error & research...
wow Kajun blues, becareful those sound like some pretty serious symptoms!! There is testing out there for hypoglycemia, but there isn't testing for "reactive" hypoglycemia. Testing for Hypoglycemia involves drinking an ensure type of drink and if you're sensitive to sugars, you'll probably dump.. To me that sounds like pure misery, dumping and crashing at the same time?? ugh lol something I'll pass on!
One good thing about your symptoms is you know when you're about to "crash"
"i can always tell when one is about to happen as my heart starts feeling funny, I get a funny chill in my chest and a pain in y upper right side, as if I had a gall bladder which I don't any more"
When you start feeling like that grab a couple glucose tablets as soon as you feel that way (this will bring your blood sugar up quick) and then have some protein to keep your blood sugar up (cheese stick, yogurt, cottage cheese, peanut butter, nuts, deli meat, any of your favorite protein).
you're the first person who has said you know when its about to happen and explained your symptoms. I too get the same feeling, when I'm about to crash my stomach gets itchy (maybe the insulin?) As soon as I feel it happening I grab a few sips of orange juice if its available. If it isn't I go for the next best thing, peanut butter (it will bring your blood sugar up slower than oj or glucose tablets, but it will stabolize it). Peanut butter is a great way to get your blood sugar back on track because its protein, easy to digest and the greatest thing about it, you can travel with it!
have you tried journaling? a lot of rhg people find processed foods trigger "crashes" like white bread, crackers, white potatoes, white rice,shredded wheat, pretzels, etc. no matter how many ways I try white potatoes I crash so I stick to sweet potatoes. Complex carbohydrates are better for you because they burn slower (sweet potatoes, sour dough bread, rye, pumpernickel, wheat bread, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc). when I journaled, I found eating white carbs made me crash 1.5 hours after eating them (almost on the dot).
try making changes to your daily menu and keep us posted on how things go for you! good luck :)
~Stylz~
post - op 261.2/current 124.2/goal 125
~~~ down 137 pounds ~~~
LESS HALF THE PERSON I USE TO BE
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
I have never kept a journal, but, I have found that what might trigger the reaction today, may not trigger it tomorrow, it is very strange.
I have had the Glycemic test....I had it at the hospital and when they had me drink the stuff I told then they would have to make accomodations for me in case I had an eposode and sure enough I did and they put me on a gurney and I went to sleep and they would wake me every soften to draw the blood and then they let me sleep. I slept through the whole thing. I also had what they call a Tilt Table test where they put you on a slight incline and inject you with I think it is a form of adrenaline and it simulates what happens when I have an episode and sure enough I went out and they had to bring me back from it. They made sure to have a cardiologist there when they administered the drug...So that kind of gave them an idea too... But so far no one has come up with a solution.
Sometimes it gets very discouraging because I wanted to drive from Michigan where I live to Louisiana where I am from alone and it is a little scary to think I could have an episode on the highway and have to get a hotel room or someplace unfamiliar to ride it out. I hate the not knowing..
Hello to Stylz, Michelle and everyone else,
Sylz, you've obviously have done a ton of research. Thank you so much, as I have been trawling the net and finding bits of information everywhere and this has been very encouraging.
I needed a motivational boost as I have had this for years and did go through a period of research a few years ago. At the time someone at work handed me a book on hypoglycemia and I instantly new that was my problem.
I went to my doctor who gave me the 4hr glucose tolerance test. I almost passed out and I am sure my symptoms got even worse after that. I would never encourage anyone to have this test unless they really have to. As expected I was told I had RGH.
With the help of the book, I began to manage it with diet and started to feel a level of control over a part of my health problems. But over time there were lapses and I paid for it with worsening of symptoms. As I began to reach menopause my body became even more sensitive.
I daren't touch alchohol unless I've just eaten a large amount of the right food. The same goes with anything sweet. To make matters easier or worse I have candida, which means no sugar is good sugar. I have chronic fatigue, depression, fibromyalgea and now migraines almost everyday and hot flushes. To add to this marvellous ****tail my brain, now starved of oxygen because of migraines and occasionally starved of glucose because of RGH, is struggling to remember who I am let alone do any research on how to fix the problem!
I have a sneaking suspicion that the migraines are really the result of menopause and RGH. I can no longer sleep through the night and need to get up every 2-3hrs to eat. I suspect that when I sleep through the RGH reaction then that results in a migraine.
Why did this all happen? Who knows. But I think part of the answer for me was my lifestyle. I was never overweight and drank alcohol maybe one or two glasses once a week, enyoyed some sweet food atleast once a day. I was into healthy eating, but not obssessive. I didn't smoke and when I turned 36 I started training for and competing in triathlons.
Sounds all good doesn't it? However, emotionally I was stuffed, probably already suffering symptoms of RGH. But going back even further. When I was young I lived a life of high tension at home. Never feeling safe or secure knowing that happiness only lasted a short time till Dad got home. I became "hypervigilant" (Phsychiatrists call it). The fight or flight response was in high alert a large part of the time. The bodies response to this is to produce adrenalin. So there was my poor body producing all this useless adrenalin that didn't go anywhere.
After I left home I was so used to this way of life that when life was so called "normal" I bacame bored. My (stupid) response to this was to make my own problems to make life exciting. Eventually, I took up something healthy like triathlons. But silly me stuffed up again and this time my body said "I've had enough!". Hence RGH, chronic fatigue, depression etc.
I am sure my mental state has had a lot to do with my problems. Thinking this I decided to add psychological nurturing to the treatment. Being unable to pay for expensive cognitive therapy I opted for meditation and studying the Budhist philosophy on how to face suffering and surprisingly happiness. This brought me imense mental relief, but did not solve my symptoms.
I found a treatment in England called Reverse Therapy (reversetherapy.com). It made me realise that to be happy you have to work at it 24/7. Again, my emotional side began to improve even more. The more disciplined I got the better I felt. Years of tension started to melt.
I took up Iyengar yoga and did a remedial course. The fibromyalgea started to fade, energy started to return as my spine loosened up and the tension that seemed in shoulders all my life started to soften.
Sorry there isn't a happy ending - yet. For some reason, maybe menopause, these migraines have surfaced. They seem to coincide with RGH particularly at night. I can deal with the depression (that I feel is only a symptom and not me being sad). The resulting tiredness and headaches, confusion and memory loss are effecting my ability to work and I am a little worried about that.
Yesterday, I bought a herbal mixture called GI Balance with Gymnema and Milk Thistle and other beneficial nutrients and will give it a go. (Has anyone tried any of these herbal remedies?) As well as diet, yoga, meditation and walking (to try to keep the creeping fat from accumulating).
I also read that because of the high protein it is good to take enzymes to help the liver to digest them, as protein is harder work for the liver.
Lastly, if all the above doesn't work, does anyone know the name of a good Witch Doctor?
Sylz, you've obviously have done a ton of research. Thank you so much, as I have been trawling the net and finding bits of information everywhere and this has been very encouraging.
I needed a motivational boost as I have had this for years and did go through a period of research a few years ago. At the time someone at work handed me a book on hypoglycemia and I instantly new that was my problem.
I went to my doctor who gave me the 4hr glucose tolerance test. I almost passed out and I am sure my symptoms got even worse after that. I would never encourage anyone to have this test unless they really have to. As expected I was told I had RGH.
With the help of the book, I began to manage it with diet and started to feel a level of control over a part of my health problems. But over time there were lapses and I paid for it with worsening of symptoms. As I began to reach menopause my body became even more sensitive.
I daren't touch alchohol unless I've just eaten a large amount of the right food. The same goes with anything sweet. To make matters easier or worse I have candida, which means no sugar is good sugar. I have chronic fatigue, depression, fibromyalgea and now migraines almost everyday and hot flushes. To add to this marvellous ****tail my brain, now starved of oxygen because of migraines and occasionally starved of glucose because of RGH, is struggling to remember who I am let alone do any research on how to fix the problem!
I have a sneaking suspicion that the migraines are really the result of menopause and RGH. I can no longer sleep through the night and need to get up every 2-3hrs to eat. I suspect that when I sleep through the RGH reaction then that results in a migraine.
Why did this all happen? Who knows. But I think part of the answer for me was my lifestyle. I was never overweight and drank alcohol maybe one or two glasses once a week, enyoyed some sweet food atleast once a day. I was into healthy eating, but not obssessive. I didn't smoke and when I turned 36 I started training for and competing in triathlons.
Sounds all good doesn't it? However, emotionally I was stuffed, probably already suffering symptoms of RGH. But going back even further. When I was young I lived a life of high tension at home. Never feeling safe or secure knowing that happiness only lasted a short time till Dad got home. I became "hypervigilant" (Phsychiatrists call it). The fight or flight response was in high alert a large part of the time. The bodies response to this is to produce adrenalin. So there was my poor body producing all this useless adrenalin that didn't go anywhere.
After I left home I was so used to this way of life that when life was so called "normal" I bacame bored. My (stupid) response to this was to make my own problems to make life exciting. Eventually, I took up something healthy like triathlons. But silly me stuffed up again and this time my body said "I've had enough!". Hence RGH, chronic fatigue, depression etc.
I am sure my mental state has had a lot to do with my problems. Thinking this I decided to add psychological nurturing to the treatment. Being unable to pay for expensive cognitive therapy I opted for meditation and studying the Budhist philosophy on how to face suffering and surprisingly happiness. This brought me imense mental relief, but did not solve my symptoms.
I found a treatment in England called Reverse Therapy (reversetherapy.com). It made me realise that to be happy you have to work at it 24/7. Again, my emotional side began to improve even more. The more disciplined I got the better I felt. Years of tension started to melt.
I took up Iyengar yoga and did a remedial course. The fibromyalgea started to fade, energy started to return as my spine loosened up and the tension that seemed in shoulders all my life started to soften.
Sorry there isn't a happy ending - yet. For some reason, maybe menopause, these migraines have surfaced. They seem to coincide with RGH particularly at night. I can deal with the depression (that I feel is only a symptom and not me being sad). The resulting tiredness and headaches, confusion and memory loss are effecting my ability to work and I am a little worried about that.
Yesterday, I bought a herbal mixture called GI Balance with Gymnema and Milk Thistle and other beneficial nutrients and will give it a go. (Has anyone tried any of these herbal remedies?) As well as diet, yoga, meditation and walking (to try to keep the creeping fat from accumulating).
I also read that because of the high protein it is good to take enzymes to help the liver to digest them, as protein is harder work for the liver.
Lastly, if all the above doesn't work, does anyone know the name of a good Witch Doctor?
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