Just found out I'm hypoglycemic (Doctor says I can't be vegetarian anymore)

[Braylynnesmom]

Well, my entire life I've felt horrible. Bounced from doctor to doctor trying to find out. When I was younger they put me on depression meds, but they did nothing, so I took myself off of them.

Anyway, I finally found an all natural doctor who discovered I have hypoglycemia.

I've been monitoring my blood sugar for days. It seems like my body can't handle beans or grains. I mix them along with fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds...but lately I have been feeling worse.

So he said I need to add chicken back into my diet and cut out the beans and limit my intake on whole grains.

Anyone out there hypoglycemic? I'm nursing my daughter who is a year old and plan on nursing her, But I can't keep on going the way I feel. When I was pregnant they told me I had gestional diabetes but then I ended up finding out I had preclampsia. My current doctor said why they thought i had GD was because after the hour test my blood sugar was 195, then about an hour after that I felt HORRIBLE! They made me fast and then drink the sugar, so that makes sense. I passed out an hour later. He said that was probably because my blood sugar dropped incredibly fast.

I barely eat any sugar. No white flour at all. Normally when I have fruit it's berries...

Any help would be appreciated!


Erica

[pumpkin]

I'm not hypoglycemic so I can't offer you specific advice about that.

I did have insulin problems before I had my thyroidectomy. I was slowly transitioning to vegetarianism for philosophical reasons. My research about my condition and working with a nutritionist I really trusted led me to decide to reincorporate meat into my diet.

I'm not advocating that you do the same. I would recommend working with a nutritionist if at all possible. Your doctor probably doesn't have much training in that area. The nutritionist I met with was well versed in my specific condition and was supportive of my eating choices. She tried to help me come up with a diet that met all my needs. Even with her support and knowledge I discovered that I felt much healthier being an omnivore. It wasn't an easy choice - but I felt like I really investigated my options so I was ultimately comfortable with my decision.

So in summary: I would try to see a nutritionist instead of just your doctor. If that isn't an option - I would try experimenting a bit. Eat both ways for awhile and see which option is healthier for you.

Wanted to add that I found eggs to be just about the perfect food. Of course, I really want to get some chickens so I know my eggs are gathered in a humane manner, but its just not feasible at the moment.

[alegna]

I tend toward hypoglycemia as do my mom and sister (both worse than me) You don't have to eat meat- but you might have to search for other good proteins. Do you do dairy? I find that cheese is a good balancer for me.

good luck!

-Angela

[maciascl]

I have had minor problems with hypoglycemia for years. I am vegetarian, I just have to be aware of my protein intake. My guess is that if beans are even giving you problems your is worse than mine. I would suggest doing some research on it. Many times it is also refered to as insulin resistance. GL!

[kmamma]

I got hypoglycemia while I was semi-vegetarian. Although I ate some meat (3-4 times a week) my diet was based on carbs. I didn't eat a lot of sugar either. Less than when I was younger and a regular meat consumer.
Through experimenting on my own I have discovered that eating protein from meat is the only way to stave off those horrible feelings of hypoglycemia. Dairy may work, but milk products contain quite a bit of lactose, sugar that is, and for me it has the same effect as eating whole grains and legumes.

[Lisa Lubner]

i'm hypoglycemic, and i was vegan for nine years. there are several members of my family that tend towards hypoglycemia, and mine got really bad when i was pregnant and depressed with my second child. i was eating really poorly then, including a LOT of sugar...

i don't think you need to go so far as to eat chicken if you don't want to. it is super important to eat frequently, to make sure you don't go more than three hours without food. stress relief is also pretty important. hypoglycemia.org is a nice resource too.

btw, i stopped being vegan a few months ago and i feel much MUCH better. i think i was also suffering from an EFA deficiency, so i started eating some enriched eggs and really good fish, and i feel MUCH better. i'm not nearly as depressed and my hypoglycemia is much better.

[Braylynnesmom]

Thanks ladies.

I monitored my intake today and I can't even handle sprouted bread. This morning I felt great I had eggs for breakfast, and then at lunch time had the sprouted bread and felt horrible. So I'm going to avoid grains and beans I guess for the time being to see.

I got a book from the library today and it says to eat lots of protein.

Yes, hypoglycemia and depression seems to go hand in hand. It's funny all the symptoms in the book- I have them to a T! So I'm hoping I'll start to feel better shortly.

Thanks for the advice and support.

Erica

[srain]

My husband is hypoglycemic and has been a vegetarian for about 10 years. Protein is really important for him, in the forms of beans, nuts, eggs, and cheese. When you eat beans on their own, they give you blood sugar spikes and crashes?

He rarely can eat fruit unless it's well-tempered with a big high-protein meal.

[ericswifey27]

no advice, just want to bookmark this thread to go back to! I haven't been feeling well either and think it may be diet related...

[Braylynnesmom]

Srain- Yea, like last night I made refried beans (out of pinto beans) and then mixed that with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sour cream and about an hour after that I felt HORRIBLE- so I took my blood sugar and it was at 155 and then an hour after that, I felt a totally different horrible, so I took my blood sugar and it was at 42. I can eat lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and be fine... I add in the beans... and get sick. This afternoon I had sprouted grain bread with tomato and cheese... and I got sick and horrible feeling...

The same with brown rice- I can't handle that either. I can handle oatmeal though. Fruits... the only ones I seem to be able to handle is berries.


Erica

[Lisa Lubner]

are you sure it isn't the tomatoes? like a sensitivity to nightshades?

[Sandi_lea]

Hi,

I'm Type 2 diabetic. First off, I think you need to see a dietitian. I thought my doctor was crazy when she said I needed to see a dietitian, but it helped me a bunch. Some people can't can't eat certian things, it's alot of trail and error. Like I can't eat beans, they make my blood sugar go high. Also, you need to eat at a regular set time each day and you need to include snacks in between meals. Snacks need to include a carb and a protien, the protien helps your body absorb that carb more slowly. Helping to keep your blood sugar level. And I felt horrible until I got my blood sugar under control.

What are some of your blood sugar readings? What kind of tests have you had done recently? What is your fasting blood sugar?


And also it's not the just about sugar, it's about carbs too, more so. Almost everything has carbs in it, including fruit and carbs break down into sugar some faster than others.

Hope this helps some...... and I hope you get to feeling better.
Please post some of your blood sugar readings, I'm curious.


Sandi

[AngelBee]

Hypoglycemic mama here.

I am working on coming up with a nutritional plan for myself. I too have a breastfeeding child, Angelo who is 11 months old.

I will look through my favorites and see if I have any sites that would help you.

[Braylynnesmom]

Sandi...

Yes, he told me it's all about eating complex carbs, protein...avoiding simple carbs etc.

Well, this morning when I woke up my blood sugar was 60. Before I went to bed I ate a piece of cheese. It seems like if I don't eat before bed (like the previous day), my blood sugar was 40 in the morning.

He ran me through all sorts of tests. He tooks a million blood tests to see if I was allergic to anything first and that came back fine. Then he ran the glucose tests I guess, I hated that. Well after a few weeks of testing and seeing him, he finally figured out what was wrong. So far, in these couple days I'm feeling better when i eat a meal without High Carbo things...like beans and grains.

We never eat any sugar- well atleast I don't. I really just don't like sweet tasting things. About the only things I eat with "sweetness" is berries like I said before. I may have to even cut those out in my trial and error testing. The only flour I ever used in cooking was brown rice flour. So, it's not like I was such an "unhealthy" person before... I just couldn't handle the levels in the stuff I guess.

He also said a lot of health care professionals don't believe in hypoglycemia yet, so maybe that's why it went missed.

I went to the library and took out some books. I'm trying very hard here, because I Just want to feel better.


Thanks!


Erica

[callmemama]

If you want to remain veg, I would encourage you to go to a veg*n dietician. Most medical professionals really aren't up on nutrition! Good luck.

[Braylynnesmom]

Well, my insurance won't cover one...that's the thing. So, I was coming here to see if anyone was in a situation like mine! I wish I could. I had to pay out of pocket to see the doctor I did and the bill was 500 bucks total! We have no other money to pay for me to go anywhere. I'm not complaining, because it was worth 500 bucks to find out what was wrong with me!!


Erica

[Braylynnesmom]

Oh, I wanted to add... I don't mind changing back to eating meat if it'll make me feel better. I know I'll feel "bad", but it's better than having health problems, if that makes any sense. I just want to do what's best for my body.

[tboroson]

Really, some docs don't believe in hypoglycemia? I don't doubt you, because a lot don't believe in celiac and a lot of other food related things. But, that one really amazes me because I've been hearing about it for so many years. I remember a friend of mine being diagnosed with it when I was in... oh, jeez... 10th or 11th grade. 1989-ish.

I asked my doc about it once, and her opinion was that my energy swings were normal. I was dubious, because if it was normal, why did I never feel like that before my pregnancies? But, I didn't push it. My doc is very holistic, homeopathic, herbs, delayed/selective vax, etc. So, while I was surprised, I didn't push it further. Now I think maybe I should push it further. While I think that eating every few hours is a good thing for anybody, I don't think that if I was "normal" I whould be feeling ready to pass out after six hours of not eating. Hungry, yes. Hot, shaky, dizzy... no.

Anyway, if you're willing to go back to eating meat if it'll make you feel better... why not try it for a week or two? If you feel better... well, the proof will be in the pudding (or chicken breast, as the case may be...)

[Artisan]

I was a veg for seven years before my hypoglycemia demanded that I eat more protein than I was able to consume without meat products. No doctor ever told me to eat meat, I reached that conclusion on my own after lots of research and listening to my body. I love cheese and eat a ton of it, but didn't feel comfortable eating such huge quantities of saturated fat.

For me, the key is a balance of carbs, protein, and fat as often as possible. Cheese with wholegrain crackers, natural peanut butter on celery, yogurt, that sort of thing. I switched to drinking 2% milk so there would be a bit more fat to even out my blood sugar.

I do feel much better eating more protein.

[Sativarain1]

I began having hypoglycemia issues after my first son was born, and by trial and error I've come to realize I cannot go 3-4 hours without having some type of protein snack.
A lot of people don't understand this problem at all so I'm so happy to have found this thread. Don't feel guilty for eating meat if your body needs it. Hope you feel beter soon!~


Valerie