Ideas for Hypoglycemic

Hello all

I have decided to do something different.. and post to this website. I have been reading mostly for three years since I have had my VSG.  Having surgery was the best thing I ever did. 

Recently, however, I am experiencing issues again. I never got to goal.. I am about 5'7 1/2 and I got down to 162. I now weigh 172.. 10 pounds has crept on in the past few months.. I contribute it to eating more and also new medications (seraquel) which is known to gain weight.

One of my biggest obsticles is blood sugar.  If I dont eat every two hours I get shakey and feel very weak.  I have taken glucose tests and my sugar has gotton down to the 30's.. very scary.

When I try and eat protein I am never full.. Carbs seems to be the only thing that satifies me...  anyway, my question to everyone is where is the best food ideas for us VSGers and low blood sugar issues.

On another note, I am getting a tummy tuck on 12/21.  I am hoping this jump starts me to lose 15 pounds or so and get back on track...

Thanks all for any advice

Jen

 

Hola mz Jen - welcome here and hooray for a tummy tuck! 

I know for the doctors I work with, they usually prescribe higher protein, fewer starchy carb diets, to keep the blood sugar steady instead of up and down - but if you have to eat every 2 hours, then that's what you gotta do! 

I know for Roux-en-Y folks, a carb and a fat (to slow transit) seem to be their saving grace - like peanut butter crackers - but hopefully someone can give other options.

Peanut butter crackers would be more than just a slippery slope for me!  It would be a full on vertical ice sheet and I would be barefoot! 

Edit to ask - Are you on any PPIs?  Not acid reducers but PPIs?  Because we, as gastrectomy folks, have a history of having our gut empty out quickly and PPIs (according to a something shared by one of our ResidentSchmaaaties! Jen) help to slow that down.  I wonder if that would help you feel full longer?

Okay, I'm confused now. Your name is Jen, and everything you just wrote, could have been written by me! Not only that, but I'm 5'7", got down to almost exactly the same weight as you, and had a 10 pound bounce back.

The reason you have to eat every 2 hours is that your stomach is emptying too fast. That's one of the side effects of the sleeve. They take out the stretchy part, leaving a smaller more muscular stomach. It pushes food completely into the intestines much more quickly, unlike a loose stretchy stomach that might leave food in there for 5-6 hours. I think we're just beginning to see the long term effects of that- you'll see a lot of people around here mentioning how frequently they get hungry.

Before the sleeve, I had found that a meal higher in protein and fat would keep me full longer. A lot of us had that experience on different diets- that on high carb diets we would have frequent hunger, but on an Atkins type diet we would stay full much longer. It's not clear that the protein/fat diet trick works as well with the sleeve, because that little muscular stomach can push just about anything out fast.

These are the things that are known to slow down gastric emptying:
-Lower carb
-Higher protein
-Higher fat
-Not drinking with meals
-Taking a PPI like Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix

There is a good chance you are already doing those things. I'm hopeful that as more sleeves are done, the surgeons will take notice and find some better solutions for this problem. It seems to get worse further out- because as normal hunger and cravings return, getting hungry every 2 hours is more of a problem.

Someone on this board mentions she keeps a thermos of healthy soup on her desk at work, and eats it slowly throughout the day. It keeps her full better than having blood sugar crashes every 2 hours. I think I'm going to try it.

Thank you all so much for your responses... Jen, I am excited to have a twin! I always wanted to be a twin so here we are!

I am going to get this hypoglycemic down.  I had to take some blood test for my upcoming surgery and my iron is very low.. I need to go on supplements right away and retest in two weeks.  Hope this does not interfere with my TT.. I know this does not sound right. But I have been feeling so miserable lately and I need a pick me up.,