Hypoglycemia Symptoms and Treatment

Using Apple-juice & ginger for remedy I've developed some hypoglycemia in the last couple of months. Mine hits me in the a.m., and after I have eaten breakfast. I do drink 2 cups of coffee with, each with 1/16 tsp of stevia and 1 tbsp half and half. I've been doing this for several years with no issues. Then after coffee I eat either steelcut oats with Blackstrap Molasses, or most often, 2 eggs w/avocado and nutritional yeast, piece of whole-wheat toast w/Vegan spread instead of butter. My symptoms are hit about a 1/2 hour after breakfast and they include shakiness, kind of a ravenous hunger, and feel weak/awful. This happened again yesterday so I ground up 1 tbsp of ginger, added about 6 ounces of the most pure apple-juice I could buy at health-food store, and a bit of water to make the juice go further. It's very expensive for me. Within about 5 minutes I began feeling normal, and went on my way to do my errands. This fixed my issue, but I believe it's a symptom I remedied, so now I am after the cause. If anyone has feedback, I would so appreciate it. Really loving our new site, although I know they are not finished with it yet. I'm finding things again though, and have so missed the site, Denise

Are you diabetic?

What people fail to realize is that a very large percentage of doctors became addicted to opiates back when the pharma reps came into their offices and marketed the opioid drugs to them and their staff starting in the 1990s. Many of them tested the free sample, left in Easter baskets no less, and became addicted.

Unfortunately, many doctors practice with a drug habit because if they were to seek help for their addiction, they would likely lose their medical license. It is a huge problem we have.

It's too bad, isn't it? Long time ago when I was young we did trust our doctors. They almost had God status....but things have gone haywire. I've had some very strange encounters with doctors of late. One urologist said such shocking things to my husband and I that I seem to be blocking the memory of what he said. But a friend told me she knows someone who went to the same doctor and was also shocked. She was pregnant at the time, and when she walked into the room he said, "Well, I see you're knocked up! " She reported him, but it probably didn't do any good. I could go on....a neurologist walked over to my 84-year-old husband and said "You do look quite frail". Knowing Jack still works out, and being offended, I said "Why don't you shake hands with Jack?" (Jack is one of those guys that enjoys crushing people's hands. He does it with his regular doctor all the time:-). He said "Oh, I never shake hands with patients. I just give them one finger." (You know what I was thinking, but I didn't do it.) Then he went over to my husband and stuck out his index finger and Jack shook his finger. What a nutcase!

In theory if I'm not mistaken, the jogging is only a good thing if sugars have got too high and the jogging would help to burn off the sugar. That being said if sugars have gotten low then jogging is not going to help but only make it worse.

Why ask " what Brand?"

Just buy fresh organic or wild crafted if possible. This way you are guaranteed no fillers.

I had problems ever since I was a teenager. Several years ago I started hiking and lost about 40 pounds and everything straightened out. Then due to various events, I got out of hiking and put the weight back on. Sure enough, hypoglycemia popped up again. I've tried cinnamon capsules a little lately and do feel they've helped but know that knocking off some weight and getting exercise is the most sure-fire real fix.

This type of yoga breathing is usually done once a week, but you can do it when you feel like you need it. I have done it twice in one day. It is most popularly known as "rebirthing" a name given to it by Leonard Orr, the western guru. His website is http://rebirthingbreathwork.com/

Click on "training". Healers that do this are called "rebirthers". There are thousands worldwide.

Psychiatrist Dr. Stanislav Grof calls it "holotropic breathwork". His website is http://www.holotropic.com/about.shtml

He has trained many people (not MDs) to do it his way.

My training was with Leonard Orr. My website is http://www.thespiritualkey.com/

Yoga breathing completely changed my life, all for the better.

Yes, please explain the yoga breathing and how often a day you do it and how long etc... Thank you!

Hi, I have been hypoglycemic for a long time now and I have always drank diet coke. Do you know that I stoped drinking diet coke and I have not had one low blood sugar since. Last night I tryed the diet coke again and woke up at 3 am with a blood sugar of 60. I believe the aspartame is what makes people have low blood sugar whether it be in the things we drink or eat.

Please please tell me more about yogic breathing. Thank you.

Hypoglycemia is always caused by high insulin levels. Insulin breaks down sugar so when ur insulin is high, ur glucose is low. After many years of not treating your hypoglycemia, your pancreas will eventually wear itself out from over-production... Causing you to become the opposite - a low insulin, high glucose diabetic. Or so my doctor told me anyway. But then again, what do doctors know? my doctor told me strep throat is incurable without antibiotics.... In my experience, I had it three times in a row: the first two times I used antibiotics. The symptoms were horrific, and it came right back both times. The third time, I refused antibiotics and went with a natural approach, using nothing but immune-boosting herbs and brewing tea, and using local raw honey, also rinsed my mouth w/ hydrogen peroxide daily. The strep lasted only a few days and was practically symptomless, other than the white pus pockets on my tonsils. Has not come back, and rumor has it that if you let your immune system beat the disease instead of antibiotics then your immune system learns to keep it at bay and you become "immune, " so I hope to never have it again :) I HOPE! No guarantees but I do trust mother nature more than I trust doctors.

I had a severe case of hypolycemia for 8 years. It started right after I had an emotional upset in 1976. Then I discovered yoga breathing in 1984. By the time I had my 20th breathing session I was healed of hypoglycemia and of most emotional problems. Yoga breathing is also called Rebirthing, Conscious Breathing. A great many of our "uncurable" physical problems are caused by emotions that we suppress into the body.

How can one tell if their Hypoglycemia is caused by high or low insulin levels? Beside seeing a doc.

No-Grain Diet

After a decade of battling hypoglycemia and it's associated symptoms, I have begun following a no-grain diet. While I do not weigh food and calculate quantities, I do try to eat no more than 1. 5g per kilo body weight of protein per day. This includes a low-carb whey protein shake, two eggs and very small portions of fish or meat. The rest of my plate is filled with non-starchy vegetables/salads and a good serving of healthy fats. The fats are very important. I chase my meals with a glass of water mixed with juice of half a lime. It took about 2 weeks to see results when I first started. For the past 4 months of following this diet, I have felt no hypoglycemia symptoms whatsoever. No shaky hands. No brain fog. No dizzy spells. No afternoon headaches. No ravenous hunger soon after eating. My energy levels are better. Just losing the 'shakes' is such a great feeling! I do take basic multivitamins... But I do not attribute the change to them since I have been taking them for a while now with no noticeable difference. I must note that I have been gluten-free for 5-6 years now... However that alone did not help my hypoglycemia. Giving up ALL grains is what did the trick!

I've had good luck with smaller more frequent meals however this most certainly will not cure the problem. If you are interested in completely getting rid of it (and you should, low blood sugar is deadly) google Dr. Roberto Illa and make an appointment to see him, well worth the plane ticket (saved my life). He is an ingenious research doctor and has a method that can actually fix the underlying problem (hypothalamus usually), he has a book call the Illa protocol if you are interested.

Which brand of cinnamon did you take? I've wanted to use cinnamon for controlling high blood sugar but understand that not all brands will give you the same result.

WARNING!

Hey ya'll,

I've been battling hypoglycemia lately and I've found some great stuff here on EC. So thanks to everyone for posting and special thanks to Ted for all of his input.

I did want to point out, however, that if you are dealing with hypoglycemia, be careful of taking too much cinammon. Most of the blood sugar supplements out there are for diabetics and the emphasis is on lowering blood sugar.

I read on one post that cinammon will "stabilize" blood sugar and it will, if you are diabetic. On the other hand, if you are hypoglycemic, cinammon could potentially drive your blood sugar too low. I guess "stabilize" means "lower" to a diabetic, I should have caught that.

So just be careful with cinammon and hypoglycemia. I experienced this myself when I tried taking 500 mg, twice per day. I took one tablet at night and one in the morning and by mid morning, my sugar plummeted. The cinammon was the only thing I changed in my daily routine. Before this, I had been getting progressively better and sugar swings were becoming less and less frequent.

Cheers, JRo

I have had Hypoglycemia for around 1 year because I stopped drinking alcohol. That's what I think. I tried using cinnamon and it helped but I did not no that I could purchase Cinnamon Tablets. Thank you so much I need a good night sleep because Hypoglycemia wakes me up and I have to eat something sweet to go back to sleep. During the day the Hypoglycemia doesn't botter me. So I am thankful for this information. Coretta

I had suffered for years from Hypoglycaemic attacks, mainly when I have neglected to eat regularly, as we all do from time to time.

However, I was still prone rather severe episodes of Hypoglycaemia until I read that caffeine was a probable cause.

I now only ever drink tea, coffee (or caffeine) after lunch and this has virtually eliminated the attacks which only occur if I do not eat regularly.

In short - my personal cure for Hypoglycaemia - eat little and often and avoid any caffeine until after lunch.

I would also worry about doing heavy exercise if you don't have your blood sugar under control. I think you should work on diet first. Exercise is important too for overall health, though.

Many people, like myself, who have hypoglycemia get fits of nausea after aerobic exercise. So jogging won't help everyone.

Cinnamon Tablets cured my Hypoglycemia! I use to suffer from Hypoglycemia until I started taking Cinnamon tablets which you can purchase at any Health Food store or Vitamin shop. The Cinnamon helps to stabilize your blood sugar when taken on a daily basis. It's inexpensive and ALL natural. I havn't had any hypoglycemic episodes since I've been taking the Cinnamon. 500 to 1000mg per day is what is recommended. You will experience immediate results!!!

WARNING!

I would be careful about using stevia for hypoglycemia, depending on the causes. Stevia is traditionally used to treat diabetes because it raises your insulin levels. But, for those who are hypoglycemic because their insulin levels are already too high (like myself) could be sabotaging themselves. Also raised insulin levels affect all your other hormones, raising them across the board, which, if you are a woman, can be very bad, leading to polycystic ovaries.

Nothing cures hypoglycemia better than jogging 40 minutes a day.

I first read about stevia a little over a year ago. I was convinced enough to try and have been using it ever since. I have hypo-glycemia (low blood sugar), however, I no longer suffer from the extreme drops in blood sugar levels. I drink 10-15 drops of the darker liquid stevia every day in yerba mate tea. This gives me a nice boost in the morning, staves off my allergies and helps to balance my blood sugar.

I know of a little girl who lost her hair due to extreme thyroid problems when she was younger. I had remembered reading that if you combine a few drops of the dark stevia with creme de cocoa soap and lather on your scalp, you may be able to re-grow hair. I truly didn't know if this would work and was very skeptical but my heart went out to this 12 year old that has to wear wigs everyday so I told her parents about it. She's been using it for about two months now and her hair is re-growing. Granted, ever so slowly and patchy on her head but we're all very hopeful that she will continue to grow gorgeous locks!

Bottom line, stevia is extremely sweet and takes a little getting used to. It's a wonderful alternative to artificial chemicals. It has zero effect on blood glucose levels. I've found it in dry packets, clear liquid and dark liquid forms.

I've also heard it's good for acne but I have not tried that myself. Apparently it tightens a little bit as it dries on your skin. Put a light coating on yoru skin. Leave on overnight. It washes off very easily. After several days you should see much improvement.

Most "alcoholics" don't realize their addiction is chemical and a direct result of being "hypoglycemic". The addiction to the alcohol is so strong because their blood-sugar level drops so severely and gets replenished so quickly with alcohol--because of the high sugar content. In other words, it's not your fault! This is the answer, if you are trying to cut back on your alcohol intake or go "cold turkey", just buy a bottle of "L- Glutamine" and take one every time you have a craving for alcohol. "Glutamine is an amino acid that your brain can use as an emergency substitute fuel when you haven't eaten recently or have been eating too many carbs and your blood sugar level is too low. This is a glucose stand-in that stops the impulse to run to the candy machine when it's low blood sugar time. L-Glutamine can stop your cravings and get you feeling steady and even within ten minutes." Julia Ross, from The Mood Cure-awesome book. I'm telling you, it works, now go help yourself!