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frustrated by information

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R

roscoe

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Type 2
I have been diagnosed for 3 years now with type 2 but suffered low blood sugar for the last 25 years.

Strangely I have been told that if i am diet only I cannot have a hypo.

I have experienced low blood sugar and symptoms of shakiness, cold sweats, slurred speech and inability to function. Is this a hypo?
 
Do you have a blood meter? The only way to really know if you're hypo is to test.

If you're diet only you can't have a medically induced hypo which is what people tend to think of when you talk about hypos in diabetics. However it is possible for anyone (diabetic or otherwise) to become hypoglycemic (have a bg under 4/3.5 depending on your definition) but generally speaking this is likely to be fairly mild and last a shorter time.
 
yes I do have a blood meter it usually is between 4.3 and 3.0 at the time. I have never just waited for it to pass though as when I lose the abiity to function well, i usually drink a small can of coke with sugar (mixer type). What would happen if I waited?
 
Anything below 4 is considered a hypo. If you are diet controlled, it is less likely that you will have a hypo, but not impossible. It depends on your activity level and what you have been eating too.

Coke or lucozade are good ways to treat a hypo, but follow it with some carbs or a meal if you are due one.
 
Caroline said:
Coke or lucozade are good ways to treat a hypo, but follow it with some carbs or a meal if you are due one.
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:( so how do you lose weight?

I eat sensibly, not loads, e.g. total intake 2 bananas, chicken leg and thigh, jacket potato, lettuce and balsamic dressing.... excercise 40 mins - take no tablets for diabetes but do not lose weight and if I lower it from the sort of thing above I get hypo symptoms - any one got an answer? I really need to lose weight for an op, medics no help:(
 
I'd swap the breakfast banana for something like 1 Oatibix and small amount of semi-skimmed/skimmed milk as this will keep you going for longer due to the low glycaemic index of the oats. Either that or have porridge. Then for lunch have a sandwich with multigrain bread. For a snack, have something like an apple. For evening meal, have what you're already having.
Bananas tend to be medium-high G.I. so they'll raise your blood sugar but only for a short time. It's better to have medium-low G.I. foods as they'll raise your blood sugar less and will stay in your system for longer therefore avoiding the hypos.

I've been on this "diet" for the last 8 months and have lost 3 and a half stone so far (with about an hour of exercise 4 times a week). I'm Type 1 though but it should be easier for you as you don't have to inject fat-storing insulin!
 
SamInnocent said:
I've been on this "diet" for the last 8 months and have lost 3 and a half stone so far (with about an hour of exercise 4 times a week). I'm Type 1 though but it should be easier for you as you don't have to inject fat-storing insulin!
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tried porridge but it seems not to last and I can end up with a hypo, and tried the sandwich followed by the usual dinner as described but the weight has maintained despite excercising 40 -60 mins per day. So i figured I need to eat less, but low sugar kicks in if I do. How do I get rid of this weight?
 
How big is your dinner? because if you consume less calories than you use up each day you will lose weight.

You need to have something more substantial for breakfast and lunch because this keeps you going throughout the day.
 
What kind of exercise are you doing? To burn fat you need to be doing aerobic exercise - running, playing tennis/badminton/squash/football etc. It may be the kind of exercise you're doing which is just building muscle instead of burning fat (as muscle weighs more than fat it doesn't appear you're losing anything).

Also, are you on insulin? I'd be surprised if you have a hypo after a bowl of porridge if you're not.. Are you doing a lot of exercise to burn that carbohydrate up after breakfast? I'm on 3 times a day mixture of medium and long acting insulin - not basal/bolus regime - and this means I always have insulin in my blood dealing with the carbohydrate I take in. With Type 2 you use your own body's insulin but you're either not as sensitive to it (in which case you take something like Metformin to increase sensitivity) or don't produce enough for the amount of carbohydrates you take in. If you're just on diet and exercise alone (as my 64 year old dad is), you won't have a hypo unless you're just not eating enough for the amount of exercise you're doing.

Sorry for the long-windedness! Hope it helps..
 
no tablets or insulin - last Hb1c was 6.0 last count and the excercise is a 40 - 60 min walk each day with the dog. My other conditions preclude aerobics etc But the walking is vigerous enough to make me sweat.

My dinner is normal portion size e.g chicken leg and thigh, jacket potatoe and lettuce as an example. Nothing fancy, no sauces etc and a small amount of olive oil spread on the jacket.

I am unable to eat more for breakfast (can not physically consume it) and could just manage a sandwich for lunch (with ham or cheese) and all my drinks are sugar free. No milk (except in tea) or on cereal - no sugar if I have a change.

For years I only ate lunch and dinner and my appetite is not large, a sandwich and a half would be way too much, I can't eat the quanity.

I do not gain weight, not a 1lb in 3 years but nor do I lose it.
I need an op on my foot as it is painful and they wont do it as I am too fat :( catch 22...
 
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roscoe said:
no tablets or insulin - last Hb1c was 6.0 last count and the excercise is a 40 - 60 min walk each day with the dog. My other conditions preclude aerobics etc But the walking is vigerous enough to make me sweat....I do not gain weight, not a 1lb in 3 years but nor do I lose it.
I need an op on my foot as it is painful and they wont do it as I am too fat :( catch 22...
Click to expand...

Your HbA1c suggests good control - do your levels ever go high? As others have said, normally you'd have to be doing some pretty extreme exercise to get low blood sugar if you're not on insulin (think Paula Radcliffe or Ranulph Fiennes!), so perhaps there is another medical condition at play? Have you been tested for anything else, or are you perhaps on medication for another condition, not diabetes? How low do you go? Sorry for all the questions! I sometimes feel low when I am hungry, but my BG levels are usually OK. I don't normally worry about anything above 3.5 as I seem to function perfectly well at that, but do get hypo symptoms below that (usually!).

Really, I'd expect you to be having trouble keeping levels down rather than up. As you're producing your own insulin, your body should 'switch' this off when your BG drops too low, and change to producing glucagon which is like the opposite of insulin and encourages the liver to release stores of glucose to raise your levels. If you have to inject insulin, then you can get the quantity wrong and can't switch it off. There is a condition called 'hyperinsulinity' where the body can't switch off the insulin production, but I believe that is very rare and I think you'd be on the floor several times a day with that!

Definitely have a word with your doctor and ask if there are any other explanations for your symptoms!
 
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If you are only eating as much as you say then you really should be losing weight.

Have you told your doctor or a dietician what you are eating and how much exercise you are doing? Because if you arent losing any weight the only other thing I can think of is that it could be a medical issue or genetics.
 
I'd also suggest keeping a food diary (and you must be honest with this - include all snacks/treats etc!!) which you can then show to your doctor to prove it's not what you're eating that's keeping your weight up. Maybe get them to check for hypothyroidism which can keep your weight up (unlikely though if you've been the same weight for years). How long have you been exercising for? I had to keep up the exercise for 3 months before I saw any weight loss.
 
SamInnocent said:
I've been on this "diet" for the last 8 months and have lost 3 and a half stone so far (with about an hour of exercise 4 times a week). I'm Type 1 though but it should be easier for you as you don't have to inject fat-storing insulin!
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You've done what I need to. 🙂 4 stone is my target weight loss but 3/3.5 stone would be excellent. When I get paid I might look into joining the local gym and trying to cut calories out of my diet where I can. 🙂
 
Sounds good! Good luck with your weight loss Marc - you can do it!
 
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