Reactive hypoglycemia diagnosis

[Jennifer21]

Hi everyone

I have recently been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia and early type 2 diabetes. The dietician has advised me to change my diet completely which was a shock to the system. Since eliminating sugar and lowering my carb intake I have been suffering with headaches and nausea. Is this normal? What else should I expect to feel?
Thanks for reading

 

[Jennifer21]

No not yet as I am on the borderline so they have advised changing my diet to see if that works before having to be on medication. Yes I have a bloods machine and will start testing. I just hope the headaches will ease off

 

[Inka]

The headaches might be to do with dehydration @Jennifer21 High blood sugar can make you feel rough. High blood sugar can cause nausea too.

Did you have an HbA1C blood test to diagnose you? What was your result (ie the number)? You say “early” Type 2. I was just wondering what that meant - Type 2 or pre-diabetes?

 

[Jennifer21]

I had blood tests and I had to go into hospital for a 5 hour test where they took bloods every half an hour to see what happened after a meal. In terms of early it was explained to me as i am borderline type 2 and with diet change i should stop having these highs and lows. I've got consultant on March so will have a better idea then.

 

[Inka]

Ah, ok. That 5 hour test sounds like the test for Reactive Hypoglycaemia. I know there can be a link with Type 2. I hope your diet changes work well. It’s great you have the support of a dietician 🙂

 

[Jennifer21]

Yes I agree I feel grateful for the dietican otherwise I wouldn't have a clue where to start with a diet. Have you had diabetes long?

 

[Inka]

Yes I agree I feel grateful for the dietican otherwise I wouldn't have a clue where to start with a diet. Have you had diabetes long?

I’ve had diabetes almost 30 years. But there are some people here who’ve had it much longer. I have Type 1 diabetes. I don’t need to watch my diet so much, but obviously I try to eat healthily like anyone should.

It’s a difficult thing to get your head round to start with but hopefully once you start feeling a little better you’ll feel more ok with everything because you’ll see some benefits.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi everyone

I have recently been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia and early type 2 diabetes. The dietician has advised me to change my diet completely which was a shock to the system. Since eliminating sugar and lowering my carb intake I have been suffering with headaches and nausea. Is this normal? What else should I expect to feel?
Thanks for reading

Jennifer, I don't have RH myself, but I have a very good friend who has lived with it for many years.

As I understand it, the principles of treatment are to soften the curves of you blood glucose. With RH, like everyone else when we eat, your blood sugar will rise a bit. If your metabolism is struggling a bit, generally (and a borderline to T2 could suggest that), then the rises can be quite fast and steep, then your body kicks in to deal with that rise, but does it too well, and your lowering blood sugar overshoots through the "good" ranges, into hypoland, and probably lots of symptoms.

Sadly, this activity is encouraged by the carbs we eat. (We can see rises in blood sugars from protein and a very small extent from fats, but much less so than with carbs.) So, eating a decent portion of carbs, your body is then eventually producing more insulin that it needs at that time to push your blood sugars right down.

So, many find that by moderating their carb intake, they can soften the peak, which in turn tends to soften the drops, making things much less uncomfortable. How much you, personally, could need to moderate is very personal, and really this is where your personal fingerprick testing is critical.

I would encourage you to test a lot in the initial stages of any dietary changes, so that you can see what's going on, and learning how your body works. Everyone is very different.

What sort of changes have you made so far to your eating and drinking regimes? From there folks might be able to help you move in the right direction.

Adopting that approach has helped many people, but unfortunately, it is likely to need to be quite a sustained change, so don't set yourself goals of objective you know you won't be able to live with over the longer term.

Good luck with it all.

 

[Jennifer21]

I’ve had diabetes almost 30 years. But there are some people here who’ve had it much longer. I have Type 1 diabetes. I don’t need to watch my diet so much, but obviously I try to eat healthily like anyone should.

It’s a difficult thing to get your head round to start with but hopefully once you start feeling a little better you’ll feel more ok with everything because you’ll see some benefits.

Aww thats a long time. Yes it is difficult but this forum has lots of good conversations and advice which makes it easier. I cant wait to feel the benefits. Thank you for taking your time to reply to me I appreciate it

 

[Jennifer21]

Jennifer, I don't have RH myself, but I have a very good friend who has lived with it for many years.

As I understand it, the principles of treatment are to soften the curves of you blood glucose. With RH, like everyone else when we eat, your blood sugar will rise a bit. If your metabolism is struggling a bit, generally (and a borderline to T2 could suggest that), then the rises can be quite fast and steep, then your body kicks in to deal with that rise, but does it too well, and your lowering blood sugar overshoots through the "good" ranges, into hypoland, and probably lots of symptoms.

Sadly, this activity is encouraged by the carbs we eat. (We can see rises in blood sugars from protein and a very small extent from fats, but much less so than with carbs.) So, eating a decent portion of carbs, your body is then eventually producing more insulin that it needs at that time to push your blood sugars right down.

So, many find that by moderating their carb intake, they can soften the peak, which in turn tends to soften the drops, making things much less uncomfortable. How much you, personally, could need to moderate is very personal, and really this is where your personal fingerprick testing is critical.

I would encourage you to test a lot in the initial stages of any dietary changes, so that you can see what's going on, and learning how your body works. Everyone is very different.

What sort of changes have you made so far to your eating and drinking regimes? From there folks might be able to help you move in the right direction.

Adopting that approach has helped many people, but unfortunately, it is likely to need to be quite a sustained change, so don't set yourself goals of objective you know you won't be able to live with over the longer term.

Good luck with it all.

Jennifer, I don't have RH myself, but I have a very good friend who has lived with it for many years.

As I understand it, the principles of treatment are to soften the curves of you blood glucose. With RH, like everyone else when we eat, your blood sugar will rise a bit. If your metabolism is struggling a bit, generally (and a borderline to T2 could suggest that), then the rises can be quite fast and steep, then your body kicks in to deal with that rise, but does it too well, and your lowering blood sugar overshoots through the "good" ranges, into hypoland, and probably lots of symptoms.

Sadly, this activity is encouraged by the carbs we eat. (We can see rises in blood sugars from protein and a very small extent from fats, but much less so than with carbs.) So, eating a decent portion of carbs, your body is then eventually producing more insulin that it needs at that time to push your blood sugars right down.

So, many find that by moderating their carb intake, they can soften the peak, which in turn tends to soften the drops, making things much less uncomfortable. How much you, personally, could need to moderate is very personal, and really this is where your personal fingerprick testing is critical.

I would encourage you to test a lot in the initial stages of any dietary changes, so that you can see what's going on, and learning how your body works. Everyone is very different.

What sort of changes have you made so far to your eating and drinking regimes? From there folks might be able to help you move in the right direction.

Adopting that approach has helped many people, but unfortunately, it is likely to need to be quite a sustained change, so don't set yourself goals of objective you know you won't be able to live with over the longer term.

Good luck with it all.

Hi thank you for your reply I really appreciate it. Yes the lows are horrible make me feel awful until they pass.
In terms of diet change I have had to change caffine to decaff coffee with no sugar. I had to stop drinking diet coke and change to water with a slice of orange. I used to live on carbs so now I'm down to the bare minimum. I think this is why my body is in shock as to what is happening. Once I can loose the weight I'm sure the RH will go and then I can introduce more carbs back into my diet in a healthy way.
When is it best to test the bloods initially? Before and after meals? Also how long before and after meals should I test? What would you recommend?

 

[trophywench]

1. Are you getting testing strips for your meter on precription - or do you want signposting to a meter etc with more affordable strips cos you have to pay for them.

2. Here's a good testing regime you could follow to get the most out of doing it

Type 2 Diabetes - A Personal Journey: Test, Review, Adjust (loraldiabetes.blogspot.com)

 

[Jennifer21]

Yes there on prescription and I have to pay for the prescription.
Thank you ill definitely have a read over it and see what's best to do.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi thank you for your reply I really appreciate it. Yes the lows are horrible make me feel awful until they pass.
In terms of diet change I have had to change caffine to decaff coffee with no sugar. I had to stop drinking diet coke and change to water with a slice of orange. I used to live on carbs so now I'm down to the bare minimum. I think this is why my body is in shock as to what is happening. Once I can loose the weight I'm sure the RH will go and then I can introduce more carbs back into my diet in a healthy way.
When is it best to test the bloods initially? Before and after meals? Also how long before and after meals should I test? What would you recommend?

It can take your body a little while to adjust to changes in your diet, and headaches aren't uncommon during that period. Hopefully it won't persist too long for you, but please ensure you're also drinking enough. When changing diets, dehydration is quite common too.

In terms of when to test, just before you eat, then I'd suggest hourly until you feel fine, but a minimum of at 1 and 2 hours. Additionally, any time you feel you might be having a hypo.

The usual regime would be just before you eat then two hours later, but I think with your particular insulin dysregulation, it's good to know what's going on a while after you have eaten - hoping to understand how high you go, then what the resulting plummet down is.

Alongside that, personally, I'd want to record everything I ate or drank. Of course all that sounds a complete faff, but it is a way to begin to understand how your body works.

Do you know what your blood track looked like during your glucose challenge, or were you just given the diagnosis?

 

[Drummer]

You could be short of salt - there is so much added to processed carbohydrates (I used to work for Allied Lyons) so when you stop eating them a lack of salt is a distinct possibility.
You might try a multivitamin and mineral tablet, just a few times a week, simply because so many foods are low in minerals due to the way they are grown. Starting low carb usually results in a loss of electrolytes.
Changing to low carb can be a big shock to the system, so a little mollycoddling - having a sit down and a warm drink to rest and relax for a few minutes can take the strain off - assuming such behaviour is possible.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi everyone

I have recently been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia and early type 2 diabetes. The dietician has advised me to change my diet completely which was a shock to the system. Since eliminating sugar and lowering my carb intake I have been suffering with headaches and nausea. Is this normal? What else should I expect to feel?
Thanks for reading

Hi Jennifer,

I did a no sugar diet challenge a couple of years ago (lasted a year), had a headache for weeks. Sugar is very addictive and not so easy to just go cold turkey.

 

[Jennifer21]

It can take your body a little while to adjust to changes in your diet, and headaches aren't uncommon during that period. Hopefully it won't persist too long for you, but please ensure you're also drinking enough. When changing diets, dehydration is quite common too.

In terms of when to test, just before you eat, then I'd suggest hourly until you feel fine, but a minimum of at 1 and 2 hours. Additionally, any time you feel you might be having a hypo.

The usual regime would be just before you eat then two hours later, but I think with your particular insulin dysregulation, it's good to know what's going on a while after you have eaten - hoping to understand how high you go, then what the resulting plummet down is.

Alongside that, personally, I'd want to record everything I ate or drank. Of course all that sounds a complete faff, but it is a way to begin to understand how your body works.

Do you know what your blood track looked like during your glucose challenge, or were you just given the diagnosis?

Thank you. Yes I think I will definitely test regularly as I need to see which foods are sending me into lows and when. I am currently recording everything I'm eating on an app that I used previously as it keeps a record of calories and breakdowns of carbs sugars fibres. I am also keeping a record on an app of the sugars too so hopefully I will find it easier when speaking to the consultant. Thank you

 

[Jennifer21]

You could be short of salt - there is so much added to processed carbohydrates (I used to work for Allied Lyons) so when you stop eating them a lack of salt is a distinct possibility.
You might try a multivitamin and mineral tablet, just a few times a week, simply because so many foods are low in minerals due to the way they are grown. Starting low carb usually results in a loss of electrolytes.
Changing to low carb can be a big shock to the system, so a little mollycoddling - having a sit down and a warm drink to rest and relax for a few minutes can take the strain off - assuming such behaviour is possible.

Yes it has been a shock to the system defiantly and its true what you say about lack of salt and minerals. I will try taking a multi vitamin and see if that helps. I know this feeling is short term until my body is used to it but it feels longterm at the moment. Thank you

 

[Jennifer21]

Hi Jennifer,

I did a no sugar diet challenge a couple of years ago (lasted a year), had a headache for weeks. Sugar is very addictive and not so easy to just go cold turkey.

Yes I did one before and I couldn't stick to it. I lasted about 3 days as the headaches and feelings were horrible. This time I know if i don't change my diet i will end up with bad health I think that helps stick to it. Thank you

 

[Drummer]

I eat a wide variety of salad and veges, all low in carbs but all different colours and flavours - it probably helps in many different ways to have such a variety of different foods.

 

[Jennifer21]

I eat a wide variety of salad and veges, all low in carbs but all different colours and flavours - it probably helps in many different ways to have such a variety of different foods.

Hi. I bought a large selection of veg and salad today so hopefully that will help.

Does anyone know what the recommended daily carb intake should be? As I want to make sure I'm not overeating on carbs

Thank you