what do i do when my blood sugar is so low i feel dizzy?

my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions? this
happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't help my
sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of induction.
what's good to munch on that will give me some energy without ruining
my carblessness?

I agree with Pat, and disagree with the "sugar cookie solution"'. The
impact of the sugar on your system might be less than salutary.

Most anything should do. When I had that happen, I usually took a few bites
of tuna, a few slices of tomato, whatever. The important thing here is to
keep eating enough to keep this from happening. Forget the "three meals a
day" thing if it causes problems. Eat a little something BEFORE you start
getting really hungry. And make sure you drink plenty of water.

mish wrote:
:: my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions?
:: this happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't
:: help my sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of
:: induction. what's good to munch on that will give me some energy
:: without ruining my carblessness?

http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/twogramcure.htm

Did you measure your blood sugar?

How low was low?

"mish" wrote in message
om...
my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions? this
happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't help my
sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of induction.
what's good to munch on that will give me some energy without ruining
my carblessness?

Take this as a message that your body is telling you that this is not the
way for you to lose weight -

try something else, perhaps a balanced food diet consisting of less calories
than you are used to eating within reason combined with moderate exercise.

Losing weight is scientific....decrease your calories without putting your
body into some sort of a "panic" and increase your movement.

As soon as you try a diet that has a name attached to it - Atkins, South
Beach, Weight Watchers, Cabbage, Garbage, etc. you have already set yourself
up for failure. Everyone who follows these programs will lose weight. The
real question is what habits have you changed long term, and will the weight
stay off. Most of these diets work while someone is on them because we are
taking is less calories, but can we follow whatever restrictions they have
for a lifetime? There are no miracles or easy fixes - just the same ole
thing marketed in a different package -

Bottom line - for most of us - excluding health related issues - eat
healthy - eat less, excerise more - you will lose weight - and the best
exercise is patience and persistence!

Myself did Atkins long ago - 4 years ago before the "craze".....I can tell
you that I gained it all back within 2 years. Going without pasta or bread
for the rest of my life is not part of my plan - but finally reached a point
where I realized that I don't need an Atkins or a South Beach Diet to tell
me that not eating sugar and desserts are going to make me lose weight -
that's just common sense. Eat less, exercise more - that's common sense for
me. Use It!!!!!



"mish" wrote in message
om...
my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions? this
happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't help my
sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of induction.
what's good to munch on that will give me some energy without ruining
my carblessness?

Do you know it's low for a fact (using a blood glucose meter)?

or are you guessing it's low because of how you feel?

When it "happens" to you... what and when did you eat last? What were
you physically doing?

If it's a true hypoglycemic event, you need to know how low you are
(blood glucose meter)... then a quick acting glucose tablet may be in
order.... if it's a false low, then eat some protein.

But a cookie is not your best choice.

Jennifer


mish wrote:

my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions? this
happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't help my
sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of induction.
what's good to munch on that will give me some energy without ruining
my carblessness?

"mish" wrote in message
om...
my atkins buddy said eat half a cookie. any better suggestions? this
happened to me sunday, too, where i felt so weak I couldn't help my
sister move--even the light stuff. this after a week of induction.
what's good to munch on that will give me some energy without ruining
my carblessness?

First of all, this effect may go away within the first two weeks.
It did for me. Secondly, you may experience these symptoms
even if your blood sugar is fairly high. I know I did my whole
life before adopting a low carb lifestyle. I would get light headed,
and respond by eating sugar. I finally got around to checking
my glucose levels, and I would get these symptoms at a wide
range of blood sugar levels (usually 120-180). So the insulin
cycles were causing me to keep my blood sugar levels high,
and I steadily gained weight.

However, my levels now stay between 75 and 95, and I never
get that light-headed gotta-eat-before-I-pass-out feeling. I can
get arbitrarily hungry, but no bonking just from expending a
little energy.

Stick things out. Most of the weird stuff that happens in the
first couple of weeks doe snot continue.

Alan

Hi Dan,
On 25-May-2004, "dcmina" wrote:

Snip
Myself did Atkins long ago - 4 years ago before the "craze".....I
can tell you that I gained it all back within 2 years. Going
without pasta
or bread for the rest of my life is not part of my plan - but
finally reached
a point where I realized that I don't need an Atkins or a South
Beach Diet
to tell me that not eating sugar and desserts are going to make me
lose
weight - that's just common sense. Eat less, exercise more -
that's common
sense for me. Use It!!!!!

I'm curious as to why you keep coming back to ASDLC if you don't low
carb any more. Did you finally reach your goal using your present
approach?

Take care,
Carmen(?)

Alice Faber wrote:

If you're having an actual hypoglycemic attack, you need fast acting
sugar, but only a small amount. Health needs trump dietary goals.
Diabetics who are prone to hypos tend to carry glucose tablets. In a
pinch, a *small* glass of juice should pick you up. Once you're past
that, you need to work out a preventive strategy.

An easily available form of glucose is Sweetarts. I keep them in my
desk, in my purse and in my gym bag.

I like them as my choice for assisting with low blood sugar because they
have a much more measurable effect than something like a glass of juice.
I also like them because I don't actually like them much, so it's no
temptation to keep them around.

It is easy to decide that any tiredness or lack of energy might be due
to low blood glucose. Given that there can be many causes of such
symptoms, I personally would not actually eat decide to ingest sugar
unless my meter indicated I should.

It is very typical to feel crappy during induction... you're asking your
body to make significant changes in the way it works. Ingesting sugar,
unless required to correct low blood glucose, would just defeat the
purpose of induction.

Another point... if the OP was running significantly above average blood
sugars before starting induction, the feeling and symptoms of
hypoglycemia can occur even without actual low blood glucose levels. It
may just take a bit of time to adjust to not having really elevated
blood glucose if one has become accustomed to them.


The cheese that
another poster mentioned would work for that. Be careful, though, that
you don't increase the amount of food you eat. If you take the same
amount of food you would eat in 3 meals and spread it into 6 smaller
meals, you should be OK.

I disagree. The OP is one week into induction, therefore not actively
trying to lose weight yet, but simply switching biochemistry over to
fat-burning mode. During that process, cravings can be very strong and
the important bit is to detox from the sugar, not worry about food
volume. There's plenty of time to worry about volume of food after
induction, when it's easier and more comfortable to do so.

I ate like a pig my first week or two attempting to drown out the
cravings, piles of pepperoni and hard-boiled egg after hard-boiled egg.
Eventually the appetite-supression effects of ketosis kicked in and
watching food volume became largely irrelevant.

But whatever it takes to get through that initial period is what one
should do... it's just not a time for trying to limit calories. During
induction, one's willpower needs to be aimed at just not eaitng the carbs.


Another thing to think about is that you can
get similar symptoms from dehydration, so if you're working (or working
out), make sure to drink plenty of water.

Agreed.


--
As you accelerate your food, it takes exponentially more and more energy
to increase its velocity, until you hit a limit at C. This energy has
to come from somewhere; in this case, from the food's nutritional value.
Thus, the faster the food is, the worse it gets.
-- Mark Hughes, comprehending the taste of fast food

Jackie Patti wrote:
:: Alice Faber wrote:
::
::: If you're having an actual hypoglycemic attack, you need fast acting
::: sugar, but only a small amount. Health needs trump dietary goals.
::: Diabetics who are prone to hypos tend to carry glucose tablets. In a
::: pinch, a *small* glass of juice should pick you up. Once you're past
::: that, you need to work out a preventive strategy.
::
:: An easily available form of glucose is Sweetarts. I keep them in my
:: desk, in my purse and in my gym bag.

I was using Sweetarts and Smarties...however, I found that my Smarties have
other things in them like high fructose corn syrup, so I stopped using them
and just get glucose tablets at Wal-mart. They are in the diabetic section.

I've been reading a book on reactive hypoglycemia. According to the
authors, the term hypoglycemia is a misnomer, as the problems really have to
do with carbohydrate absorbtion and glucose instability. These authors even
state that someone with "hypoglycemia" can suffer an episode even while BG
levels are not low....which of course, is counter to the definition.

I'd like to hope that the OP is just suffering from the induction blues and
is simply confusing it with a low-blood glucose event.

::
:: I like them as my choice for assisting with low blood sugar because
:: they have a much more measurable effect than something like a glass
:: of juice. I also like them because I don't actually like them
:: much, so it's no temptation to keep them around.
::
:: It is easy to decide that any tiredness or lack of energy might be
:: due
:: to low blood glucose. Given that there can be many causes of such
:: symptoms, I personally would not actually eat decide to ingest sugar
:: unless my meter indicated I should.
::
:: It is very typical to feel crappy during induction... you're asking
:: your body to make significant changes in the way it works.
:: Ingesting sugar, unless required to correct low blood glucose, would
:: just defeat the purpose of induction.
::
:: Another point... if the OP was running significantly above average
:: blood sugars before starting induction, the feeling and symptoms of
:: hypoglycemia can occur even without actual low blood glucose levels.
:: It may just take a bit of time to adjust to not having really
:: elevated
:: blood glucose if one has become accustomed to them.
::
::
::: The cheese that
::: another poster mentioned would work for that. Be careful, though,
::: that you don't increase the amount of food you eat. If you take the
::: same amount of food you would eat in 3 meals and spread it into 6
::: smaller meals, you should be OK.
::
:: I disagree. The OP is one week into induction, therefore not
:: actively trying to lose weight yet, but simply switching
:: biochemistry over to fat-burning mode. During that process,
:: cravings can be very strong and the important bit is to detox from
:: the sugar, not worry about food volume. There's plenty of time to
:: worry about volume of food after induction, when it's easier and
:: more comfortable to do so.
::
:: I ate like a pig my first week or two attempting to drown out the
:: cravings, piles of pepperoni and hard-boiled egg after hard-boiled
:: egg. Eventually the appetite-supression effects of ketosis kicked
:: in and watching food volume became largely irrelevant.
::
:: But whatever it takes to get through that initial period is what one
:: should do... it's just not a time for trying to limit calories.
:: During induction, one's willpower needs to be aimed at just not
:: eaitng the carbs.
::
::
::: Another thing to think about is that you can
::: get similar symptoms from dehydration, so if you're working (or
::: working out), make sure to drink plenty of water.
::
:: Agreed.
::
::
:: --
:: As you accelerate your food, it takes exponentially more and more
:: energy to increase its velocity, until you hit a limit at C. This
:: energy has
:: to come from somewhere; in this case, from the food's nutritional
:: value. Thus, the faster the food is, the worse it gets.
:: -- Mark Hughes, comprehending the taste of fast food