A doctor told me that I am probably
hypoglycemic over a year ago. I started
paying attention to my body after that,
and I have to agree. For the past year I
have been taking care of myself be eating
every two or three hours, but I have
definitely not been eating the right
foods. I want to find a proper diet, but
there are some obstacles.
First of all, I have done a little
research, and I have found so much
conflicting advice. I really don't know
what to believe. I am also a vegetarian.
Which makes things difficult when I read
that I should be eating a lot of protein,
but beans aren't okay. That really limits
me. Oh, and we basically do not use any
dairy products at home. I guess that is
probably good as far as milk goes...I read
that it turns to sugar too fast. Does the
same thing go for soy milk?
The place that I work makes eating very
difficult for me. I live at work for
three days. I work 16 hours a day with no
breaks, and that includes no breaks for
meals. I have to eat the meals that are
served in the cafeteria. There are
typically one to three dishes. If I am
lucky then I might be able to eat some
potatoes or rolls - but now I know that
those foods are bad for me. I typically
just eat countless poptarts at work in
order to keep my sugar up. I know this is
terrible for me. I need to figure out
some foods that will keep for four days,
require zero preparation(maybe I can make
them in advance), and don't require
refrigeration. Is this even possible?
I have also read that wheat is bad. I
know that foods made with white wheat are
bad. We do a lot of whole wheat at my
house. But I have read some things that
say that whole wheat is also bad. I
understand that wheat breads often aren't
whole wheat and contain sugar. But we
make a lot of our own bread products at my
house. If I am making my own flatbreads,
tortillas, and pitas with whole wheat, is
that acceptable?
I guess what I am really looking for is
some sort of resource that will tell me
what I am supposed to be eating and give
some recipe and meal suggestions. I feel
so lost and confused. This is going to be
a *huge* change. Completely changing my
diet is huge. Especially when I eat far
too many sweets... I need some solid
guidance.
Also, I have a question about some
symptoms that I have been experiencing
lately. In the past when my sugar was low
I would experience symptoms such as being
tired, nausau, confusion, feeling
sick...Nothing too extreme. In the past
two weeks I have experienced three more
severe "spells". I am not sure if they
were caused by low sugar. At first I
thought they were an allergic reaction
because I was at work and there were a lot
of scents in the air. The symptoms were
strange. I had a very strong, very
strange feeling in my arms. It felt as if
my arms were going crazy. They were
filled with a strange, awful energy, and I
just wanted to shake them to get the
energy out. I felt nauseaus, but not in
my stomache, in my head. And I felt, not
just mentally confused, but sort of crazy,
like I was going to fall apart mentally.
This happened twice at work. And then it
happened at home last night. At home
there were no scents, since I am allergic
to them. So that makes me doubt that the
others were caused by allergies. I also
drank a glass of orange juice and
experienced relief, which makes me think
it was caused by low sugar. However,
after last night's "spell" I was left with
a sinus headache, and even had to take my
asthma puffer. Is it possible that low
sugar might make me more sensitive to
scents - so that it seemed like they were
much stronger than usual? I know that low
sugar can cause a headache...But a slight
asthma attack sounds odd.
I guess that I should just go to a doctor.
But from everything that i've read
doctor's don't have much to say about
hypoglycemia. So, I thought that people
with experience might have some advice.
|
Stan
Moderator
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: ,
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 02-28-06 08:30am
And here I come! Make sure you read my
long post to damien below, it contains my
system of diet that made my symptoms
nearly nonexistent in only about a month.
However, it does require eating meat, but
we can try to think of ways around that.
Soy milk does not spike blood sugar, as
long as you are buying the unsweetened
variety. Most soy milk has added cane
juice (sugar) or other things. It must
say "unsweetened" on the box or it's no
good for you. Were you tested for
hypoglycemia? The reason I ask is that
because it's a condition like diabetes,
your work needs to make accomodations for
you. If they could get you a little
refrigerator or something, that would be
great. You need to speak with a superior
to explain your situation and how you can
absolutely not eat anything they're
serving at your cafeteria, or at least not
most of it. You should be avoiding bread
and grains until your sugar is stable, and
then you can try adding it back in bit by
bit. Tortillas are generally awful,
because they're usually made with corn,
which must always be avoided. The spells
are your symptoms getting worse. You're
not getting alergic to anything, so don't
even think about it. The reason you're
thinking that is your mind is beginning to
obsess. This doesn't mean "it's all
over" or anything, it just means your
symptoms are getting worse. I've felt
the arm thing before, so I know what
you're talking about. It has nothing to
do with smells at work, this is all the
sugar. Your mind is just trying to
attach to any feasible possibilities it
can experience directly, and sugar isn't
one of them because it requires you to
think about it. So don't worry, these
symptoms are natural reactions because of
the low blood sugar. Don't be afraid,
just always keep that in mind. If you
can find a doctor who knows about
hypoglycemia, great. If not, we'll help
you as much as we can. First thing to do
is talk to a superior about your condition
and see how they can accomodate you.
Little refrigerators don't cost much and
even the rest of the workers could use it.
