Withdrawal-jittery & Wired

[homemaker]

Well I have really paid attention to my withdrawal symptoms and they seem to be the most acute in the morning, after many hours without food. The first thing I want to do is EAT in the morning and FAST....

Perhaps, I am thinking to keep some juice by my bedside to scarf down upon arising and have a late night snack. It seems that I cannot go without food for long periods of time.

Although my blood sugars tested fine, the mornings feel very hypoglycemic. Walking the dog before I eat is almost impossible since I have gone gluten-free. I feel shaky, jittery and it takes a couple of hours after breakfast to feel reasonably normal again.

I am trying to pay attention to the quality of my foods and to make sure I have protein to work on my carbs. I am eating gluten-free breads and I am NOT carb deficient as far as I know.

It seems as though my body is CRAVING nourishment. I am 55 years old and have NEVER felt this hungry in my life!

Thanks for listening...

[Byron of Ashwood]

Well I have really paid attention to my withdrawal symptoms and they seem to be the most acute in the morning, after many hours without food. The first thing I want to do is EAT in the morning and FAST....

Perhaps, I am thinking to keep some juice by my bedside to scarf down upon arising and have a late night snack. It seems that I cannot go without food for long periods of time.

Although my blood sugars tested fine, the mornings feel very hypoglycemic. Walking the dog before I eat is almost impossible since I have gone gluten-free. I feel shaky, jittery and it takes a couple of hours after breakfast to feel reasonably normal again.

I am trying to pay attention to the quality of my foods and to make sure I have protein to work on my carbs. I am eating gluten-free breads and I am NOT carb deficient as far as I know.

It seems as though my body is CRAVING nourishment. I am 55 years old and have NEVER felt this hungry in my life!

Thanks for listening...

This is something that I've gone through regularly over the last three years since my diagnosis and I turned fifty this year. It's very unpleasant fainting around the house while you're franticly getting a meal pulled together while you sweat, are dry mouthed, fuzzy, panicked and in tears. It is also a shock to experience this form of devastating hunger where if it isn't raw or bolted to the floor, you'll devour it furiously!

Conditions improved radically when I followed my doctor's advice, scaled back on my regular meal servings spreading the intake over five mini meals a day. The trick for me, was a protein and carb combo for breakfast, morning tea and lunch, ending with a light protein only with veggies for dinner. Doing this has an immediate effect on the wired and jittery sensations. (I also cooked up spare emergency foods such as several gluten-free sausages that I could keep on hand and quickly turn into an open sandwich, add to a quick dish of rice, gluten-free soup, shelled boiled eggs or semi prepped buckwheat pancake mix to which I only had to add sugar for a sweet base, grated cheese for savoury mix with egg and water and cook in three minutes. With these on hand in the fridge I could grab and bang out something fast in the ten minutes before I'd collapse.) The next vital secret was a structured time plan - not my usual lifestyle. So breakfast was 7am, tea was 10am, lunch was noon, afternoon tea was 4pm and dinner was between 6pm and 8pm. I didn't need evening snacks but there is no reason you can't have something like a glass of milk, gluten-free cheese an apple, pear or even a cup of gluten-free boullion.

Since the start of this year I've made my own gluten-free bread and I always have it on hand. If I'm caught short, I can grab a slice or two and slather on some peanut butter while the rest is being prepped or cooking.

I find that I don't really need much on hand. So it is not a case of perpetual planning and anticipation which takes a lot of the stress away. In my situation, I followed this for two months, increasing my water intake. The change was almost instantaneous as in within 48 hours, do not ignore any hunger signals during this time because I found myself getting close to the edge if I went beyond what my body needed in the shape of reserves.

I also found that a bar of "something" tucked into my work satchel or coat pocket was a blessing if I was trapped outside. Small gluten-free bars of old fashioned peanut brittle are cheap here in the UK, small enough to lug around and will tide me over while I'm in transit or unable to make a meal for an hour. But the sky is the limit for ideas, a few dates stuffed with gluten-free cheese, a small bag of mixed nuts, a boiled egg and gluten-free cracker or slice of bread - that sort of stuff.

Yes your body is deprived and flipping out.

And "yes" there is a withdrawal period coming off gluten as your body sorts things out. (I found that a couple of tablespoons of sweetened lime juice in a glass of water speeded up the process.) Don't feel bad or confused by it. Remember that you need the food. Listen to the warning signals and grab from your emergency stash. You'll probably find that a couple of slices of plain chicken or even a little tuna as a late night snack will help too. After five months of this regime, I found that I was eating less, as in returning to three meals a day, wasn't having these starving frenzies and had shed a couple of stone in weight. My moods were less erratic, I am more relaxed and happier too. My sweet tooth became dormant and all but died on me, as sure sign that my body is processing things properly.

Tip - do not abandon your emergency stash when you get through the next few months, those "attacks" crop up once in awhile.

Good luck. Take heart, things will get better soon and you'll feel much better than you have in years!

Marcus

[ang1e0251]

That's good advice. I would just reinforce that your body is asking if not demanding the food it requires. Don't skimp on what it needs. Just give it as much safe food as it wants. But go heavy on the protein and low carb veggies and light on the carbs and sugars. In the morning a slice of safe lunchmeat chewed slowly turns me around quickly. If you need to walk the dog, you may need several slices in a bag in your pocket. I wouldn't do fruit juice, the sugar in that will have you crashing. Meat or cheese would be better until you can have breakfast.

I also cannot let myself get too humgry or before I know it, I'm in a free fall. If I get that far, I feel bad the rest of the day. I also carry a Lara bar or something with me if I go out so I don't get caught in that down ward spiral.

You'll make it, it just takes a little scheduling that soon becomes habit.

[Eric-C]

I went through the same exact thing, see my post about yeast, that is what was causing my hypoglycemia and shaky/jittering feeling.

As I go back through my symptoms, chart them out, compare it against foods I've ate, etc it all keeps leading me back to yeast growth.

Good luck.