I’m not diabetic nor hypoglycemic, but my self-diagnosis (many years ago) is that I am a reactive hypo. Giving up carbs helps that a LOT… I hardly ever have symptoms anymore, but this morning something happened that puzzled me:
I normally fast till lunchtime but this morning, don’t know why, I was so ravenous I couldn’t think or focus so I grabbed a teaspoon of ghee/coconut oil (I buy a product that has the two combined). Within 5-10 minutes I got the old familar jolt of dizziness, followed by extreme hunger, high anxiety and crashing fatigue.
My theory is that when my body sensed incoming food, it signaled my pancreas to release some insulin, but since all I ate was a teaspoon of fat, the insulin wasn’t really needed? Thus, the quick rise and/or fall of my BG level?
I don’t have a BG monitor at the office with me but over the years I have quickly tested my blood during these episodes and I’m always in normal range. I have just ingested a large handful of pecans hoping to become functional again.
Is my theory close? Would I have been better off not having that teaspoon of fat? Or if I’m going to give in to ravenous hunger should it be something with more quantity rather than just a teaser to my system?
Any thoughts are appreciated. I hate when this happens… it takes the wind right out of my sails and I go from being perky, happy and productive to being a cranky slug who doesn’t want to see anyone and just needs a place to lie down.
Sue
Bless your questioning mind for putting this out there. I’d like a good explanation for this sort of thing, too. I sense a circadian pattern to such unfortunate events.
Well, Joy… here’s hoping we both get some good answers or possible explanation… I so hate feeling that way and 6 hours later, I’m still feeling the effects. It can totally ruin an entire day.
Sue
I get these freak blips in blood sugar/ insulin too.
While I think it’s excellent to question the reason why, I have given up after years of questioning why.
Sometimes, my body is just a weird freak.
Honestly!
It has so many issues - some of the explainable some inexplicable.
I’m hoping someone will provide some interesting insights to this too, but my gut instinct is that sometimes my body is a weird freak, and that’s that.
Hi Sue,
your last paragraph “I hate when this happens… it takes the wind right out of my sails and I go from being perky, happy and productive to being a cranky slug who doesn’t want to see anyone and just needs a place to lie down.” This describes exactly what a T1D experiences. As a T1D I describe a bad hypo afterwards as “feeling like I’ve run a marathon”. I just need to “sleep it off and my hubby knows to just leave me alone.”
From personal experience and remembering that even though you are not diabetic, I suggest you deal with the sudden drop by eating something sweet such as a couple of wine gums or jelly babies followed 5 mins later by something which a much lower glycaemic index (so hence releases carbs more gradually ) such as a small glass of full fat milk or two tablespoons of cream. This helps to bring you back to normal range(stabilise your BGs) and minimizes the feeling of needing to sleep. I’ve deliberately kept this in the practical advice range. Hope this helps you if it happens again.
Possible reason for happening in first place could be that your protein level was lower the evening before? Just a thought
I’ve had reactive hypoglycemia for years. Keto generally cures it, I haven’t had a real episode in 4 months, since I started. But I have experienced the “start” of a possible episode and I also find that eating temporarily worsens it. I think your reasoning is correct, a release of insulin that lowers BG. Even when I had terrible episodes, my BG didn’t go terribly low, probably in the 60s, even when I was a sweaty, shaky mess. I think the problem was probably whatever you ate The day before, some hidden carbs somewhere.
Fear of hypoglycemia keeps me completely on the keto trail. Not having to worry about needing to eat all the time has greatly improved my life.
That was comforting because, I, too, have always said I should leave my body to medical science when I die. it has always been such a unique machine, stumping and baffling doctors (and me) for decades now. And I seem incredibly sensitive / aware of the slightest changes in my body chemistry - I’m betting lots of people suffer from some of the challenges I deal with but they probably don’t know that they’re suffering from them… they just figure they’ve come down with something or they caught a bug or they just feel crappy that day. I envy them - I need to find out WHY things happen so that I can prevent them in the future. Perhaps you could share some of your “acceptance” with me?
I’m a control freak and I want to control when I feel good and when I don’t - I live in fear of plans (either mine or those I’m close to) getting ruined due to unexplained illness. If I get to the bottom of this, I’ll definitely let you know.
Thanks for this, but this is exactly what I am constantly confused by! Yes, I know that when a diabetic has low blood sugar they are supposed to ingest glucose to bring it back up, but my thought has always been that this would just put me on a horrible rollercoaster. Yes, my BG will raise, but then it’s going to crash again, so I’ll need to take more, and I’ll get temporary relief before it crashes again, etc. So I never know if I should try to raise my BG or try to ride it out and wait for it rise slowly and on its own.
Yes, this! Fear of eating and raising it only to have another episode shortly thereafter! I noticed a few years ago that eating protein by itself will send me crashing. I wrongly thought that eating protein was the perfect way to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes, so when I was hungry and needed to grab something fast because I was running off to an appointment or outing I would grab a big handful of almonds or a piece of chicken breast. And to my horror and surprise, I would crash so hard and never knew why that would happen from protein. I guess I know now that protein turns to sugar.
So much to learn about these complex machines of ours, and I’m still on a quest to gain control over it. Eating keto is key to that, but even thought I’ve not ingested anything “wrong”, this happened today anyway. I need a miracle food that I can have with me at all times for when I feel the symptoms beginning. As horrible as this sounds, in the past that miracle food was a small piece of chocolate: sugar and fat.
Sue
And speaking of a mystery and being odd and unique, this is one symptom that ALWAYS occurs with my crashes and I’ve yet to be able to find evidence that others have this… it doesn’t show up on any of the “symptoms” list . . . sudden, urgent, diarrhea.
The cycle of low blood sugar episodes is always the same: I first get a jolting wave of dizziness. Then I’m instantly anxious and panicky, ravenous, and within 10 minutes find myself rushing quickly to the bathroom. Then… the crashing fatigue and weakness. I don’t hear of others having the bathroom issue but perhaps that’s because I have colitis and the insulin rise and fall activates the mobility of my gut?
Sue
There is something else going on here. The diarrhea symptoms you describe are ringing a faint bell, but not loudly enough to be useful, sorry. You may need to visit the doctor.
I can tell you, however, that the reason the fat didn’t help is that it takes longer to digest than carbohydrate, so the advice to have a piece of candy does have some merit. But over the long term, I suspect that staying keto, and above all eating enough calories (otherwise known as “fat to satiety”), will help smooth out these hypos. I’d also be interested to know if your hormonial cycle is influencing things.
And here’s a thought: Diarrhea such as you describe is one of the symptoms of a migraine headache. I have a hard time, sometimes, distinguishing between a migraine and a hypo, so for what it’s worth, are you sure you weren’t starting a migraine? That might be worth checking out. I can say that although I seem to be experiencing more auras than I did before going keto a year ago, they never seem to progress to full migraines anymore, and they go away pretty quickly, especially if I take some ibuprofen early enough in the cycle. You don’t say how long you’ve been keto, but if it’s only a few months, perhaps this sort of thing will eventually lessen or go away completely over time.
This sounds like a sensible approach to me. It’s certainly how I approach extended fasting - if there’s a freak drop in blood sugar, then addressing it with a BIT of sugar is probably the medically correct thing to do!
This does not mean eating a whole tub of icecream and then several bars of chocolate tho : )
It is using sugar in a medicinal sense.
I think buffy’s idea of following it up with low-glycaemic food (eg fats) is a fantastic idea.
Awwww
Reading your comment is very comforting for me too!!
Yes, lets leave our freaky bodies to science and see if they can make any sense of it
I’m not sure I’ve found “acceptance” really - it’s more that my body has soooooooooo many issues (oversensitivity like you describe) and I’ve tried sooooooooo many things to help/ heal/ ease/ alleviate these things, that I’ve kind of given up in some ways. I don’t know how many countless doctors I’ve confused over the years either. It’s a mystery!!
Nowadays I try to change what I can, but also try and have the wisdom to not freak out about the things I can’t change or explain, because if I do I won’t have the energy left to change the stuff I CAN change.
I’m probably just mellowing out with age by partly “giving up”
Feel free to call it “acceptance” tho! It makes it seem like a Buddhist virtue
Not sure what else could be going on because this is the sequence of symptoms that happens every time I have a blood sugar issue. The only thing I haven’t been able to find as “normal” is the urgent bathroom run, but I am guessing that is because I have colitis so it takes very little to trigger an episode.
I don’t think I have migraines. I may have had a few in my life and I did have one with auras once, but they are not a regular occurrence.
Since everything gets “hyped up” during these episodes (anxiety, sweating, shaking, etc.) I guess it makes sense that my irritable bowel gets ramped up, too?
Sue
OK, understood. so possibly the perfect “emergency kit” to carry with me at all times is a few hard candies and a pack of almonds? The hard candy to bring the sugar up quickly and the almonds to help it come down slowly instead of crashing? I’m going to an all day event Sunday and am worried about this happening that day … I’ll be away from home, trapped in a strange place, and won’t have the option to give in and lie down.
Sue
I’ve heard of this referred to as “dumping syndrome” and yup, I get it too.
I also have very, very weird migraines (both traditional (head) and abdominal migraines) where this happens too. Also, during migraines you can have weird sudden releases of other fluids too, like peeing HEAPS over the space of several hours.
I also sometimes get very sweaty.
All kinds of physical weirdness going on!
I know that stress triggers the flight/ fight mechanism which impacts digestion massively - either making people constipated or getting diarrhea.
I have sheep and the SECOND they get nervous/ startled the first thing they do is wee and poo.
I also know friends who suffer from anxiety - for example re public speaking or exams and they will get massive diarrhea as a stress reaction every time, so it could just be your body “reacting to the stress” of a major blood sugar drop.
Are you my long-long twin!?!?! You sound just like me with the “stumping the doctors” and the high sensitivity to bodily changes. I guess we’re blessed to be so acutely aware of every little thing our bodies do, but it’s a curse, too.
I, like you, have been working hard lately to stop obsessing over them all and just say “Eh, so what… shit happens, you don’t have to know why it all happens.” And the two things I’ve been chanting to myself a LOT are: “this too shall pass” and “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Yes, I could stay home for the rest of my life worrying about “what if” I have an episode while I’m out and about, or I can try to focus on “but what if it DOESN’T happen”?
I’ve read about dumping syndrome, not sure if that’s the case with me, though. I think your other theory makes more sense, that my already inflamed colon is reacting to the anxiety and hyperness of the sugar spike and crash.
Abdominal migraines!!! Now THAT is something I’m going to have to go read about! Wow… these bodies our souls live in are truly fascinating!
Sue
