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Blurred vision after exercise - Post Prandial Hypoglycaemia

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Sedbet

Sedbet

Active Member
Hi everyone, I joined this forum on 21 August this year and already am benefitting enormously from the advice I have been given and reading as much as possible from other people - thank you all.

I have just played a round of golf and managed well until the 15th hole when I started to shake. I have only just received my blood glucose meter 2 days ago and didn't realise it was a good idea to take it out on the course with me. As soon as my shakes started I had no idea whether it could be a hypo or hyper. First my muscles started shaking then very blurred vision and now I am home I have 'hot' pins/needles and numbness in my left thigh muscle. When the shakes started on the course I ate a small dried apricot but seemed to get worse as I couldn't concentrate and my arm muscles and hands were also shaking.

I have now learned that I should have my meter with me but is the blurred vision as a result of my apricot being too sweet, perhaps 1/2 may have been better.

For the first 15 holes I had a packet of Pork Scratchings which are very high fat, high protein and virtually no carbs. I nibbled these most of the time, just one at a time and about every 3rd or 4th hole I had 3-4 raisins, also plenty of water.

When I went to bed last night my BG was 5.4 and when I woke this morning it was 5.2 and then I had a mushroom omelette with fried mushrooms in butter and a cup of boiled water. No shakes and I felt fine setting off golfing.

I would really appreciate your comments, especially regarding the blurred vision and the pins/needles and numbness.

Thank you.
 
Blurred vision happens when your blood sugar is changing too rapidly (I expect someone who knows how that works will come along soon and tell you the science behind it, I'm too squeamish to think about it!). If you were hypo when you ate the apricot it wouldn't be too many carbs/too sweet, and wouldn't be likely to cause blurred vision on its own ... but the build-up of the raisins and then the apricot added together might have been too much and have caused it, if your blood sugar suddenly started swinging high. That seems unlikely to me though, based on your symptoms. Although it is sometimes difficult to know whether you're too high or too low, shaking and not being able to concentrate are common symptoms of hypos, so in your place, if I hadn't been able to test, I'd have been eating something sugary at that point!
 
Hi. I agree with Juliet.
Some of those symptoms do sound like hypo symptoms to me, my first hypo sign is having what I can only describe as black spot before the eyes rather than blurred vision. But we all have different warning signs (some have none) and they can change over time, mine have, I also get the shakes, tingling face, a very urgent need to wee sorry if tmi and can get stroppy.

It’s best never to be far from your meter , test strips etc and very fast acting glucose treatment. When I’m out I h@ve tubes of glucose tabs in my bag, test kit, car , I don’t use jelly babies like many do on here, as I wouldn’t have any left for hypo treatment 😱:D I also have a tube of glucose tabs in the bathroom and bedroom so I don’t have to negotiate the stairs when I c@nt see properly and am wobbly .
Downstairs I have full sugar coke or fruit juice plus the glucose tabs in my test kit and handbag.

I love pork scratchings, but I’m wondering if the high fat content was part of your problem , I’ll leave that to the more experienced people on here like @Northerner .
Imo A dried apricot and a few raisins imo is not nearly enough carbs or rapid enough for hypo treatmeant

When your not able to test and you get symptoms imo it’s wiser to assume it a hypo and treat it as such.
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
Blurred vision happens when your blood sugar is changing too rapidly (I expect someone who knows how that works will come along soon and tell you the science behind it, I'm too squeamish to think about it!). If you were hypo when you ate the apricot it wouldn't be too many carbs/too sweet, and wouldn't be likely to cause blurred vision on its own ... but the build-up of the raisins and then the apricot added together might have been too much and have caused it, if your blood sugar suddenly started swinging high. That seems unlikely to me though, based on your symptoms. Although it is sometimes difficult to know whether you're too high or too low, shaking and not being able to concentrate are common symptoms of hypos, so in your place, if I hadn't been able to test, I'd have been eating something sugary at that point!
Click to expand...
 
Thank you once again Juliet, as ever, your advice is much appreciated. We are staying with golfing friends for a couple of days next week so will bear what you say about the build up of raisins and apricots. Jen x
 
It sounds very much like you were having a hypo - I get all those symptoms when my levels are falling rapidly. As @Ljc says, if you are unable to check when this happens then it's safest to assume that it is a hypo and treat accordingly. Some activities may make you more prone to hypos than others, it is a very individual thing - I can run for miles and not drop low, but if I walk the same distance I have to keep topping up with jelly babies! Sometimes there is no apparent logic! 😱 It might be worth, on your next round, checking periodically to see where your levels are. This will give you a better understanding of how your body reacts to the activity and warn you of an impending low. Once you are familiar with how you react you won't need to test as frequently 🙂
 
I agree with the others about it being a hypo. Diabetes is one long learning curve; we are always listening to and learning from how our bodies react to certain situations. Top marks for clearly having an action plan before starting the round. You now have more knowledge than you had prior to it and are a bit further up that curve.
 
Ljc said:
Imo A dried apricot and a few raisins imo is not nearly enough carbs or rapid enough for hypo treatmeant
Click to expand...

Just to add for anyone else reading this thread who hasn't realised - Sedbet isn't diabetic and isn't using insulin, so her needs will be slightly different - she has hypoglycaemia (effectively, eating carbs causes hypos). I wouldn't have suggested dried fruit as a hypo treatment for anyone on insulin, but I originally suggested it to Sedbet because my partner also has hypoglycaemia and that's what he usually uses when he starts to shake - it works for him. But it may well be that golf is more exercise than he would usually have so the dried fruit may not be enough - he also suggested fruit juice, which might be better when Sedbet is having a full-blown hypo.

Ljc said:
When your not able to test and you get symptoms imo it’s wiser to assume it a hypo and treat it as such.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! Much safer that than the other way round, for a hypoglycaemic as well as for someone on insulin.
 
I only used to get blurred vision after extended periods of high blood glucose (where increased urination and thirst can leave you dehydrated and change the fluid in the eyes so that they subtly change shape). Though I do get visual disturbance (flashing / flickering) with low BG. Symptoms are very individual, of course - so yes it’s much more likely to be low BG I would think as the high BG blyrriness wiukd usually build up over time.

My parents tell me that 18 holes of golf could easily be a walk of 10Km or more (6-7 miles) and might be hilly and involve carrying a 10-15kg bag. Not to mention all the waving your arms about, plus the jumping up and down in rage and frustration that seems to accompany the game.
 
Last edited:
I get temporary blurred vision quite often if my blood sugar's going up or down rapidly - the only time I got it on a more long-term basis (weeks rather than minutes) was with an extended period of high blood glucose, when I had DKA.
 
Ljc said:
Hi. I agree with Juliet.
Some of those symptoms do sound like hypo symptoms to me, my first hypo sign is having what I can only describe as black spot before the eyes rather than blurred vision. But we all have different warning signs (some have none) and they can change over time, mine have, I also get the shakes, tingling face, a very urgent need to wee sorry if tmi and can get stroppy.

It’s best never to be far from your meter , test strips etc and very fast acting glucose treatment. When I’m out I h@ve tubes of glucose tabs in my bag, test kit, car , I don’t use jelly babies like many do on here, as I wouldn’t have any left for hypo treatment 😱:D I also have a tube of glucose tabs in the bathroom and bedroom so I don’t have to negotiate the stairs when I c@nt see properly and am wobbly .
Downstairs I have full sugar coke or fruit juice plus the glucose tabs in my test kit and handbag.

I love pork scratchings, but I’m wondering if the high fat content was part of your problem , I’ll leave that to the more experienced people on here like @Northerner .
Imo A dried apricot and a few raisins imo is not nearly enough carbs or rapid enough for hypo treatmeant

When your not able to test and you get symptoms imo it’s wiser to assume it a hypo and treat it as such.
Click to expand...
everydayupsanddowns said:
I only used to get blurred vision after extended periods of high blood glucose (where increased ruination and thirst can leave you dehydrated and change the fluid in the eyes so that they subtly change shape). Though I do get visual disturbance (flashing / flickering) with low BG. Symptoms are very individual, of course - so yes it’s much more likely to be low BG I would think as the high BG blyrriness wiukd usually build up over time.

My parents tell me that 18 holes of golf could easily be a walk of 10Km or more 6-7 miles and might be hilly and involve carrying a 10-15kg bag. Not to mention all the waving your arms about, plus the jumping up and down in rage and frustration that seems to accompany the game.
Click to expand...
everydayupsanddowns said:
I only used to get blurred vision after extended periods of high blood glucose (where increased ruination and thirst can leave you dehydrated and change the fluid in the eyes so that they subtly change shape). Though I do get visual disturbance (flashing / flickering) with low BG. Symptoms are very individual, of course - so yes it’s much more likely to be low BG I would think as the high BG blyrriness wiukd usually build up over time.

My parents tell me that 18 holes of golf could easily be a walk of 10Km or more 6-7 miles and might be hilly and involve carrying a 10-15kg bag. Not to mention all the waving your arms about, plus the jumping up and down in rage and frustration that seems to accompany the game.
Click to expand...
 
Hi and thank you for your comments and your very amusing idea of golf!

I always thought my painful eye days were somehow linked to sugar but I didn't realise it was so specific to high BG levels. I have been referred to so many dieticians since being diagnosed in 2010 and I always told them about my eye problems and that I thought there was a link to sugar but not one of them picked up on it being directly linked to high BG. Prior to joining this forum I have been drinking at least 3-4 litres of water a day and even more on golfing days and usually 2 pints during the night. Since starting the LCHF diet I am not as thirsty, not sure why. However, I am now more aware of when my eyes start feeling tight and then painful and notice that there is a definite link with my BG going higher. I am due to see my Optometrist in November so will ask him if he can check to see whether there has been any 'long term damage'.

Our golf course has some quite big hills and I certainly couldn't imagine myself carrying my heavy golf bag up there these days (I used to) but, as you say, it is all good exercise including my extra mileage looking for lost balls. At least my golf bag gets lighter the more holes I play!

Kind regards
 

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Thirst is also connected to high blood sugar, so if the LCHF diet is evening your spikes and plummets out a bit you will be less dehydrated.
 
Hi Juliet,
What you are saying makes so much sense to me now. I am really sticking to LCHF and am thrilled if it is showing a slight improvement already. I am becoming much more aware of my symptoms and acting accordingly. Prior to joining this Forum no-one had explained what my symptoms could be indicating. I feel as though I am amongst friends already - thank you. Jen x
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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