explanation please

[emmasamduke]

Hi all, had anther hypo again 2day i have been diet and exercise contolled for bout 4-5 weeks now can any1 explain why my bs are dropping so quickly after eating please, had breakfast this morn 3 hours later had dinner and 3 hours later i was 3.8 goin hypo, couple ov days ago had breakfast checked bs hour and 10 mins later was 9.3 checked again hour and ten min later was 4.2 so i was bk down to 4.2 after 2 hours and 20 mins thinking i would go hypo soon . Thanks in advance Andrew 😡

 

[Northerner]

What are you eating Andrew? It may be that the food you are eating is making your BG rise rapidly, but then fall rapidly again rather than it being a more even rise and fall. A rapid drop will also may you feel more hypo. Although levels of 3.8 and 4.2 are low, they are not exceptionally so, and it would be worth having a light snack just to give yourself a little boost - a biscuit or piece of frut maybe.

Certainly ask your doctor about it. If you are not on any medication then it is unlikely that you will drop dangerously low - as far as I know that only happens with insulin and sulphonylurea drugs like gliclazide. What are your levels like when you wake in the morning?

 

[Peter C]

Hi all, had anther hypo again 2day i have been diet and exercise contolled for bout 4-5 weeks now can any1 explain why my bs are dropping so quickly after eating please, had breakfast this morn 3 hours later had dinner and 3 hours later i was 3.8 goin hypo, couple ov days ago had breakfast checked bs hour and 10 mins later was 9.3 checked again hour and ten min later was 4.2 so i was bk down to 4.2 after 2 hours and 20 mins thinking i would go hypo soon . Thanks in advance Andrew 😡

Hi there,
might be Reactive Hypoglycemia.
You eat a load of carbs then the bg rises, the Pancreas rushes in to the rescue with lashings of insulin the gs drop like a stone.
Couls also be an effect of exercising/physical activity.
eat less carb and switch to low GI ones ?

 

[emmasamduke]

What are you eating Andrew? It may be that the food you are eating is making your BG rise rapidly, but then fall rapidly again rather than it being a more even rise and fall. A rapid drop will also may you feel more hypo. Although levels of 3.8 and 4.2 are low, they are not exceptionally so, and it would be worth having a light snack just to give yourself a little boost - a biscuit or piece of frut maybe.

Certainly ask your doctor about it. If you are not on any medication then it is unlikely that you will drop dangerously low - as far as I know that only happens with insulin and sulphonylurea drugs like gliclazide. What are your levels like when you wake in the morning?

Hi northerner thanks 4 quick reply as allways, breakfast 2 wheatabix with semi skimmed milk, altho just switched 2 oatabix then sarnie of mainly salad stuff and tuna or chicken, then half chicken breast with noodles that mainly wat i eat evry day i do snack on fruit in between but if i dont have anything at all for 3 hours then i go really low ie under 4.0 . my levels each morning are between 4.4 and 5.6. Could u tell me what gd level 2b 2 go 2 bed on aswell please because my levels sometimes in the 5s before bed and have maybe 2 toast. Ty again Andrew

 

[Northerner]

Hi northerner thanks 4 quick reply as allways, breakfast 2 wheatabix with semi skimmed milk, altho just switched 2 oatabix then sarnie of mainly salad stuff and tuna or chicken, then half chicken breast with noodles that mainly wat i eat evry day i do snack on fruit in between but if i dont have anything at all for 3 hours then i go really low ie under 4.0 . my levels each morning are between 4.4 and 5.6. Could u tell me what gd level 2b 2 go 2 bed on aswell please because my levels sometimes in the 5s before bed and have maybe 2 toast. Ty again Andrew

Might be worth trying something like porridge as it should be slower to digest. From the figures you give you seem to be doing very well - your waking levels are excellent. It could just be that you are not eating enough to cope with your activity levels, so your lows are similar to fasting levels. As Peter suggested, it might also have something to do with your pancreas overreacting to the food and putting out too much insulin. Before you were diagnosed it's likely that you had a high degree of insulin resistance. This will have made your pancreas produce more insulin - but now that you have adapted your diet and exercise that resistance is much less, but your pancreas hasn't caught on to the fact yet. That's just me speculating though, you really need a proper medical opinion.

 

[wallycorker]

Hi Andrew,

It sounds as though things are happening to you just like they happened to me. I think that the situation that you describe is simply reflecting your improved control. In my experience, the improvement comes along very quickly indeed.

The results you quote aren't particularly low and in my opinion give no grounds for concern if you are a Type 2 on diet or diet and metformin only. That's what my GP tells me anyway. When I have readings less than 4 - and sometimes I record levels of as low as 3.4 - my body tells me nothing at all - i.e. I feel just the same as when my levels are in double figures. What I do these days is carry small fruits such as satsumas, apples and pears with me wherever I go and snack on them at intervals of one hour or more - especially if I'm driving.

Are the lowish results causing you any problems? Do you have hypo symptoms associated with these results? If not, personally, I wouldn't be worried if you are a Type 2 just on diet and exercise. Just sounds as though you are getting there to me maybe even got there already.

If you are concerned just discuss things with your GP.

Best wishes - John

 

[wallycorker]

........... but if i dont have anything at all for 3 hours then i go really low ie under 4.0 . my levels each morning are between 4.4 and 5.6. Could u tell me what gd level 2b 2 go 2 bed on aswell please because my levels sometimes in the 5s before bed and have maybe 2 toast. .......

Great results! Sounds as though you are where everyone else wants to be Andrew!

However, in my opinion, from what you describe, you still sound to be eating quite a lot of starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereal and bread. That is something that you might wish to address if you don't manage to achieve the levels of control that you want to achieve further down the line.

Keep at it!

John

 

[emmasamduke]

Might be worth trying something like porridge as it should be slower to digest. From the figures you give you seem to be doing very well - your waking levels are excellent. It could just be that you are not eating enough to cope with your activity levels, so your lows are similar to fasting levels. As Peter suggested, it might also have something to do with your pancreas overreacting to the food and putting out too much insulin. Before you were diagnosed it's likely that you had a high degree of insulin resistance. This will have made your pancreas produce more insulin - but now that you have adapted your diet and exercise that resistance is much less, but your pancreas hasn't caught on to the fact yet. That's just me speculating though, you really need a proper medical opinion.

Great results! Sounds as though you are where everyone else wants to be Andrew!

However, in my opinion, from what you describe, you still sound to be eating quite a lot of starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereal and bread. That is something that you might wish to address if you don't manage to achieve the levels of control that you want to achieve further down the line.

Keep at it!

John

Hiya John ty for your replies, when i go low as 4.0 i do get symptoms shakey confusion heart pounding and such like my concern is the hypo's why do i go low so quickly after 3 hours of not eating anything, in a year of diabetes my hba1c has come down from 9.2 ish to 5.6 so ino i am doing some tjing right sumwhere i just hate them hypo's they frighten me so much ty again . Andrew

 

[am64]

wow andrew just want to say after a year i've gone from 7.8-6.4 your results are amazing well done!!

 

[Einstein]

As Northerner said I'd suggest some longer burning carbs, porridge for breakfast is my main preference.

I'd just add that bread wise in your sandwich is it white or brown? I'd suggest wholemeal, again it will give you a longer burn.

Supper wise, have you tried brown rice instead of noodles?

What all these small changes will do is put you on low GI (slower, longer burn carbs) so they should see you through while your pancreas is adapting with all that's going on around it.

With a lot of newly diagnosed diabetics it's not the fact they are having a hypo, more the fact their body has been used to running on higher blood sugars for so long and now life is in coming back into control, as such it's new, unchartered territory and your systems and alerts need to adjust to these levels.

In some people this is quite a quick adjustment, in others it can take a few months and all of a sudden things kick in overnight.

Good results so far, keep with it, it's best you keep of medication for as long as you can.

 

[emmasamduke]

wow andrew just want to say after a year i've gone from 7.8-6.4 your results are amazing well done!!

Ty am64 you are also doing very well keep it up

 

[wallycorker]

Hiya John ty for your replies, when i go low as 4.0 i do get symptoms shakey confusion heart pounding and such like my concern is the hypo's why do i go low so quickly after 3 hours of not eating anything, in a year of diabetes my hba1c has come down from 9.2 ish to 5.6 so ino i am doing some tjing right sumwhere i just hate them hypo's they frighten me so much ty again . Andrew

Hi again Andrew - your HbA1c results have changed very similar to mine over the twelve months - 8.5% to 5.3% last twice for me. I'm due to go for another test soon and think that I could be lower still on that one. These days, I'm in the 4s and 5s almost all the day - and below 4 quite often too - and it causes me no problems whatsoever. It's a shame that you are having the hypo symptoms to take the pleasure out of your achievement. Aren't there any signs that these symptoms might be reducing with time?

Have you tried eating small portions of fruit between meals say every one to one and a half hours? I've found that very useful. In particular, the small 'easy peeler' satsumas (I'm bone idle and can't deal with anything that doesn't peel easily) - they are very easy to carry around and deal with anywhere you are - and contain around 7g of carb. Maybe something like that would prevent the symptoms arising?

Something else that I have used to snack on are Ryvita Goodness Bars and they suited me and did a job. I used to buy them at Tesco but they seem to have stopped selling them recently.

Stick with it you sound to be almost there!

John

 

[emmasamduke]

As Northerner said I'd suggest some longer burning carbs, porridge for breakfast is my main preference.

I'd just add that bread wise in your sandwich is it white or brown? I'd suggest wholemeal, again it will give you a longer burn.

Supper wise, have you tried brown rice instead of noodles?

What all these small changes will do is put you on low GI (slower, longer burn carbs) so they should see you through while your pancreas is adapting with all that's going on around it.

With a lot of newly diagnosed diabetics it's not the fact they are having a hypo, more the fact their body has been used to running on higher blood sugars for so long and now life is in coming back into control, as such it's new, unchartered territory and your systems and alerts need to adjust to these levels.

In some people this is quite a quick adjustment, in others it can take a few months and all of a sudden things kick in overnight.

Good results so far, keep with it, it's best you keep of medication for as long as you can.

Ty Einstein, any sandwich i eat now is always brown or wholemeal, may try the porridge and brown rice tnx again. Andrew

 

[Northerner]

Ty Einstein, any sandwich i eat now is always brown or wholemeal, may try the porridge and brown rice tnx again. Andrew

Even better than wholemeal is a seeded bread like multigrain or granary bread. A lot of people swear by Burgen linseed bread which is very nice, but not always easy to get hold of.

 

[am64]

vogel bread is also very good...no extra sugar added like many breads

 

[Einstein]

vogel bread is also very good...no extra sugar added like many breads

I rest my case when I say there are loads of technical people here, I'll just kick the idea in and see what the experts come up with

 

[am64]

I rest my case when I say there are loads of technical people here, I'll just kick the idea in and see what the experts come up with

re previous thread bread
http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=4731&highlight=vogel

 

[Peter C]

Hiya John ty for your replies, when i go low as 4.0 i do get symptoms shakey confusion heart pounding and such like my concern is the hypo's why do i go low so quickly after 3 hours of not eating anything, in a year of diabetes my hba1c has come down from 9.2 ish to 5.6 so ino i am doing some tjing right sumwhere i just hate them hypo's they frighten me so much ty again . Andrew

Hello again,

As a T2 You might be suffering "phantom hypos" which are hypo like symptoms caused by SUDDEN drops in bg rather than going far too low. the body gets used eventually to being in the 4s ( as it should be) and the phantom hypo symptoms disappear.
But if you are plunging into 3s you might be suffering actual glycopenia ( the cause of hypos) when the body, especially the brain is starved of glucose.
What were you doing in the hour when your bg dropped from 9.2 to 4 ? Are you very active, exercising in that time - that could be the cause of the drop.
As a T2, dropping quickly to 3s and 4s, you are liable to a "Liver Dump" - the liver panics at the low level and pumps glucose into the system sending you sky high again. And then you are on a rollercoaster.
How do come up from the 3 and 4 levels ? Are you aware of the 15-15 rule ?
Eat 15 g of carbs when you are low like this and then test after 15 mins again, repeating until you are at a safe level.
BTW it is good to see you are testing, you do well not to subscribe to the nonsense about T2s not needing to test.

 

[emmasamduke]

Hello ev1 been a while since been on here, heads been so mixed up, well finally after 2 half year i have proper diagnosis, i do not have diabetes anymore which i always questioned because my sugars did not stay high after meals they always dropped quickly, well they say i am now reactive hypoglycemic, trying me on a medication called acarbose, glucobay, to try stop me spikng after meals, steady rise and fall, well i bought an ebook on line bout over coming hypoglycemia,and read it many times now, now i understand why i felt like i did all the time anxiety depression even some suicidal thoughts, can any1 shed a bit more light on the subject for me, would appreciate it ty . Andrew 😱

 

[Northerner]

Hi Andrew, nice to hear from you again 🙂 Good to hear that you don't have diabetes after all! I don't know a great deal about reactive hypoglycaemia - I believe it is when your pancreas overreacts and produces too much insulin in response to eating, which causes your levels to fall too quickly. Acarbose slows the digestion of your food, so perhaps this helps reduce the response from your pancreas, or means that the food is still digesting as the insulin gets released, so helps to keep your levels up. I hope the new diagnosis and medication help 🙂