I am starting to get the hang of a diabetic diet and I seem to be doing O.K. However I noticed when I cut back too much on carbs my sugar drops…not far but between 80 to 90. I feel really weird, kinda shaky sort of spacy but I have no appetite at all. Only another diabetic would understand what I mean. I have been losing weight and so far have lost 21 Lbs! I need some advice as to what to do when the weirdness feeling happens if it is not near one of my mealtimes. I have really tried to cut out eating between meals and feel that this is one of the the reasons I am losing weight. What could I eat when my sugar drops that will not send me into a snack frenzy but will make me feel better? I take Metformin BID. Any ideas anybody?
If you are just recently getting your levels under control, the 80-90 will seem low to your body. Once you get used to it being in a more normal range, you’re not going to feel so strange until it drops a little more.
I like to eat a couple pieces of hard candy when I’m feeling a little low or even some glucose tablets. I am also watching my weight and candy or glucose tabs have no fat content so I don’t feel like I’ve gone overboard.
dex 4 glucose tabs. It gets the BS up quickly and I usually do 2 tabs if I feel shaky around 80 and 4 tabs if I am lower than 70. Less than 50 and I will do 6, but then I get a rebound high a few hours later. When your BS drops your liver kicks out glucagon( may not be spelled right) and that is what the glucose tabs are, if BS is too low, the liver kicks it out and you are also adding to it with the tabs which is why I have rebounds sometimes. Good luck!
Also, the only ones that taste good will say DEX 4 on the jar, the others are kinda gross. Walmart and Rite-Aid carry them where I live.
Pamela, 80-100 mg/dl is an ideal, target blood sugar, as you know. The only reason you are getting hypo symptoms is because your body has (tragically!) become accustomed to high BGs.
You do NOT want to “correct” a good blood sugar level. Rather, you want your body to spend more and more time at that 80-100 mg/dl range — and as little time as possible at the higher ranges, say above 140-150 mg/dl.
As your control improves, 80-100 will feel normal and you will begin to sense the sickly feelings of high BG when you exceed 150-160 mg/dl (as a hypothetical example, and, an ideal example). This is where you need to be.
Minimizing/eliminating the carbohydrates in your diet will lead to weight loss, as well as making blood sugar control spectacularly easier.
The priorities remain the same: 1) achieve target blood sugars, and 2) minimize your blood sugar variations from those target blood sugars. With those simple principles, so many other things will go smoothly.
Molly, fat in your food does NOT make you fat. Quite the opposite. Candy, glucose, and excessive insulin are what cause your body to store fat. Fat foods are, in fact, healthier, and increasing them in your diet will help your body composition efforts and your blood sugar management. I understand how contrary this is to the accepted myths (which became popular about the same time our obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics began … no coincidence there). I can provide links and references if you want to follow up.