Blood Sugar Question....

[taweavmo3]

Do any of your kids get uncontrollable and extremely angry when hungry? I know most kids whine, throw tantrums etc when hungry. But here recently, my little girl has been completely out of control, then once I get something into her she's fine.

I tried to run into Walmart to do a quick shop right before lunch. Once in the store, she starts winding up with a tantrum. Now, I'm used to tantrums. I usually just ignore her, or divert her attention, whatever.

This was totally different, by the time I had decided to leave, she was in a wild rage. She was screaming bloody murder, arching her back, biting, pulling her hair, etc. It took me ten minutes just to get her into the car seat.

She did this all the way home. She actually reached over and grabbed Ben's arm and bit him. Poor thing, he was happy as a clam until then! Once I put some food into her, she calmed right down.

I don't think this is gluten, b/c she's only acted this wild once before, and it was when she had a late lunch.

I'm guessing it's a blood sugar drop or something, b/c now she is happy and calm again. These episodes are hard to describe, and it probably sounds like I'm just bytching. But she just gets so out of control, all of the sudden, it's scary. I had strangers coming up trying to help me and asking me what was wrong with her. Someone offered cheerios, I had to laugh. Sure, just what she needs right now! It was a sweet gesture though. So, anyone else's kids totally lose their marbles w/out frequent snacks?? Lol.

[skbird]

I don't have kids but that is what I used to go through myself before I cut out refined sugars and started eating more protein. I learned a few years ago I am hypoglycemic. There is a long-standing joke in my family about my brother, me or my dad - when we start getting cranky, give us a peanut butter sandwich! Then we are fine. It is night and day with us.

I have learned a lot about how much my reactions stem from what I eat. Anytime I have wide-ranging emotions, I have to think ok, what did I eat? It's almost always the answer for my moods.

I have read in books that the behavior you are witnessing is common for kids having low blood sugar episodes. Look for lower glycemic snacks and try to get her food every two hours, something to snack on. For info on the glycemic index, do a google search. It helps a lot!

Stephanie

[Danijela]

Hey there

I'm 22 and if i'm hungry or my sugar goes low or high I get very irritated, angry and have mood swings....

when i get like that i think about what i was doing before it happened i'll either realize that i haven't eaten in a while or i've just eated something really sweet.... when i was 15 i had extremely low sugar all the time... now my sugar does really strange things.... my mother has type II diabetes and when her sugar is fluctuating she gets severe mood swings that are stopped by eating something....

The thing with children is they can't control things like this and obviously don't know whats causing their distress....so it will just progress...

It would be a really good idea to get your daughter's blood sugar checked

Take care and hope you figure this out soon!

[jerseyangel]

Stephanie, Sorry to get off topic, but what a beautiful cat! I love cats and yours is so cute I had to mention it. Sorry--back to the serious discussion.

[skbird]

Thanks! I have a few days off and have been spending a lot of time with Benny (my cat) and I'm gonig to miss him like you wouldn't believe when I go back to work next week. I don't know if he'll miss me but we have been spending some quality time lying around together. I love cats to the nth degree.

Stephanie

[tarnalberry]

Yes, one of the symptoms of hypoglycemia is irritability. It can make me really nasty, and I have to try VERY hard not to be a total witch. :-) If I maintain a good balance of nutrients in my meals throughout the day (never too many carbs, and I'm not talking "low-carb" here, just balanced), it's not a problem to go a few hours (5 or 6) without getting irritable/nauseous/other hypoglycemic symptoms.

[skbird]

My life improved greatly when I went low carb for two reasons - I cut out the sugars so that helped my hypoglycemia, and I also cut out gluten, inadvertently. Both cause mood problems in me. When I started eating more gluten products, things went awry. So I kept reverting to low carb. It was only when I cut out gluten that I found could maintain a good level mood with carbs. Now I eat probably a medium carb diet (maybe 150-200 a day, as opposed to the Standard American Diet which is likely closer to 400 or more) and feel good most of the time. I have found that if I eat any sugar after dinner, like a cookie or whatever, I will wake at 1 am and not be able to go back to sleep easily. But if I have a carb that is not sweet, or use xylitol/stevia/agave nectar for a sweetener, I do not wake up during the night.

Whenever my mood is out of whack (like this morning, I was snapping at my husband) I have to think, did I eat sugar last night? or did I get glutened? I just don't have any reason to act snappy unless I have eaten something wrong most of the time.

Stephanie

[jenvan]

Have any of you ever tested yourself throughout the day with one of the glucose meters?

[Guest Lucy]

My sons diabetic symptoms were TERRIBLE temper tantrums, he soon went to frequent drinking and bedwetting, so watch your daughter closely for any other symptoms of diabetes. My son was almost comotose b/f diagnosis. Went to Dr. 4 times that week b/f one of them finally took me seriously.

[pwalasik]

My daughter has the exact same symptoms when she goes too long without food or eats too many sweets without protein. She acted like this recently about 2 hours after cake and candy from the pinata at a birthday party. She hadn't eaten anything substantial since lunch. She is now 7. We have never done an official glycemic diagnosis but I just keep her food intake to approximately every 2 hours and I always include protein. It's very scary... like Jeckly and Hyde! Now that she's older, she is a little more in tune with the feeling and will tell me when she starts dipping. Good Luck. I am so glad you posted. I thought my celiac child was the only one with this problem.

[skbird]

Have any of you ever tested yourself throughout the day with one of the glucose meters?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey, I just saw this. Yes, I have done that, ouch! I was going through an unstable phase and ended up testing a lot - I started out doing every 15 mins one day to see what really happens. That's why I was so surprised when I went high both times now (after the endoscopy when I had the IV with sugar water and then when I had a shot of sake) because I have never seen myself go that high, only low. But I haven't been testing myself as much lately as I used to.

I was a member of a hypoglycemia group on yahoo for a while there and they had a good alternate to the GTT (glucose tolerance test) which they use to diagnose diabetes and sometimes hypo, but it's not a good test for hypo because many people react to it. Anyway, the basic GTT is fasting overnight, then drinking a certain amount of a sugary drink, then having your levels monitored over the next 3-5 hours (longer is better for hypo diagnosis). This is very hard on the system and many people have reported getting violent or just totally out of control without realizing it - this was witnessed behavior. So the alternative is to eat something less sugary and monitor yourself at home with a blood test kit. I can't recall the details right now but I think if you do a search on Google you will be able to find more info.

Stephanie