Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Low Blood Sugar?

Last night I woke up at 1:00 a.m. with the shakes - I was lightheaded and knew I needed food. Not just a "need" for food, but it was a feeling of a "desperate survival need" for food. I had eaten dinner around 9:00 p.m. and it was higher in carbs than it was in protein. (About 2:1 carbs to protein, which is the opposite of what my normal meal would be.) Then I had a late night snack that was also a bit too carby around 11:00 p.m. I went to bed around 11:30 -- so 2 hours after eating I was awake desperately eating grapes and peanuts. Grapes & peanuts? I'm not sure where that combination came from, but it's was I ended up with in my moment of desperation. This is not the first time it's happened. In fact, it happened Sunday afternoon when I ate lunch (another too-carby meal) then laid down for a mid-afternoon nap (isn't that what Sunday afternoons are made for anyway?). About 2 hours after lunch I woke up and needed food because of the shakes and lightedheadedness. I remember at least one other time of this happening but it was a while ago and I don't remember the specifics. It also sometimes happens after a race where I hadn't eaten anything beforehand. It feels like what I imagine low blood sugar issues would feel like. Because within about 15-20 minutes of eating something, the shakes are gone and I feel better. It makes me wish I had a blood glucose monitor so I could test my blood at different times of the day or when this happens. I wonder if my brother has an extra one laying around I could borrow (he's Type 1 Diabetic). I can see in these past two instances that it happens after eating a meal or snack that is too high in carbs and not balanced with enough protein. I usually try to keep my meals balanced so that there is more protein than carbs (2 bites of protein to 1 bite of "something else"). If I keep my meals balanced like they should be, then I shouldn't have this issue, right? But another side of me wants to figure out what's going on and fix it so it doesn't happen again. It's a scary feeling to wake up in the night like that. Growing up with my brother who has had diabetes since he was 10 years old (?) and experiencing low blood sugar issues with him - I know how serious this is and I'm not going to play around with it. And I think the experiences I've had all my life with him has helped me realize that it is probably related to low blood sugar. If I didn't have that knowledge I would probably be brushing this off as nothing. If it continues I'll call my doctor for assistance. ~Pam

3 comments:

  1. Yep, I've had that happen too. I actually fainted once, and it was after I had chicken and rice for dinner, and then a banana for dessert later on. DUH, no wonder, right? NEVER AGAIN. It's very scary!

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  2. I can relate, Pam! If I don't go 2:1 favoring protein, I pay the price, especially when & if the carbs are "bad" (ie: chips, bread, pasta,etc.).
    ;) Woody

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  3. Here's a link to a coupon for a free monitor.....

    https://offers.bayerdiabetes.com/CouponReg.aspx?product=contour

    ReplyDelete

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