Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Question About Gluten And Hypoglycemia

Monklady123

Recommended Posts

Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted

So, something just struck me this morning, about breakfast. I always have loved cold cereal. But I knew that if I ate a bowl of cold cereal I would get this sudden hunger a couple of hours later. The sudden, shaky, sweaty, weak kind of hunger, where I had to eat something immediately. I always called it hypoglycemia, although I was never officially diagnosed with that. But I figured it was low blood sugar because of the spike from the breakfast. -- I could avoid that by eating something with fat and protein for breakfast -- peanut butter on toast, or egg. Now this was all before my gluten "adventure" (as one of my kids calls it).

Well, now that I've been gluten-free for several weeks something just hit me. Some mornings I've been eating a bowl of cinnamon chex. And I do not get that shaky hunger thing anymore. Not once! I just get ordinarily hungry at around lunch time. Now, why should this be? It's the same milk, same size bowl, even sort-of the same cereal (I used to eat chex sometimes). How does this relate to being gluten free? If it even does... maybe it's just a coincidence.

Anyway, I don't know enough yet about celiac to know exactly how the gluten affects our bodies (except for the symptoms I had) but I thought someone here might know if there's a connection. :)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


bluebonnet Explorer
bluebonnet
Posted

thank goodness for chex ... i love a cold bowl of cereal for breakfast or a snack! :) for me though, having a quick bowl of cereal will still leave me hungry a lot earlier than if i threw some good protein in there. but it may not be a coincidence because i have hypoglycemia and overeall i think its improved being gluten free. in fact, so so many things are improving!

StephanieGF Rookie
StephanieGF
Posted

I was having problems with hypoglycemic moments (like what you described) before I went gluten free too. To me the connection between celicas and hypoglycemia is rather simple. You intake a moderate to high level of sugar (such as cereal and milk) and you body releases insulin, however, because your intestines are damaged and unable to absorb all of that sugar, the result is high insulin and then low blood sugar levels. Make it a high gluten meal, and your body really can't absorb the nutrients and the result is stronger. This theory is just something I came up with from my own experience.

Glugle Newbie
Glugle
Posted

Interesting. I noticed before I went gluten-free that I was always getting really bad hunger pains and sometimes dizziness/low blood sugar feeling about 2-3 hours after eating. Of course I would eat something like a piece of bread to try to stop the feeling. I always felt worse. I later realized it was my gluten reaction. Since going gluten-free, I have never had that reaction, unless I accidentally ingested gluten.

Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted
  • Author

This is really interesting! The insulin theory makes sense to me. I had mentioned the sudden shaky hunger thing to my doctor once and he said "oh, just eat protein and some fat for breakfast." It was a solution, but he never thought that gluten could have been the cause. Very interesting... :) -- And yes, thank GOODNESS for Chex! lol... I've been eating the cinnamon ones, but I've just heard that chocolate chex are also gluten free. Can't find them in my grocery store, so I'll be checking other stores. lol...

foodiegurl Collaborator
foodiegurl
Posted

Maybe I am the only one who feels the opposite, or maybe I just snacked more before?

I definitely can tell that if I add protein, like peanut butter, I can last longer, and if I have a bowl of cereal, I won't last very long...but I feel like my window of not having to eat is much shorter now than when I did eat gluten. I wonder why this is? I am not a meat eater, so maybe that is why, but I wasn't before either. I just had all my bloodwork done and that was all good, and my celiac numbers are negative too. I try to make sure I always have nuts or fruit on me.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,137
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Jamy
    Newest Member
    Jamy
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Sarah Grace
      Headaches / Migraines and Hypoglycaemia

      By Sarah Grace · Posted

      Dear Kitty Since March I have been following your recommendations regarding vitamins to assist with various issues that I have been experiencing.  To recap, I am aged 68 and was late diagnosed with Celiac about 12 years ago.  I had been experiencing terrible early morning headaches which I had self diagnosed as hypoglycaemia.  I also mentioned that I had issues with insomnia, vertigo and brain fog.   It's now one year since I started on the Benfotiamine 600 mg/day.  I am still experiencing the hypoglycaemia and it's not really possible to say for sure whether the Benfotiamine is helpful.  In March this year, I added B-Complex Thiamine Hydrochloride and Magnesium L-Threonate on a daily basis, and I am now confident to report that the insomnia and vertigo and brain fog have all improved!!  So, very many thanks for your very helpful advice. I am now less confident that the early morning headaches are caused by hypoglycaemia, as even foods with a zero a GI rating (cheese, nuts, etc) can cause really server headaches, which sometimes require migraine medication in order to get rid off.  If you are able to suggest any other treatment I would definitely give it a try, as these headaches are a terrible burden.  Doctors in the UK have very limited knowledge concerning dietary issues, and I do not know how to get reliable advice from them. Best regards,
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @rei.b,  I understand how frustrating starting a new way of eating can be.  I tried all sorts of gluten-free processed foods and just kept feeling worse.  My health didn't improve until I started the low histamine AIP diet.  It makes a big difference.   Gluten fits into opioid receptors in our bodies.  So, removing gluten can cause withdrawal symptoms and reveals the underlying discomfort.  SIBO can cause digestive symptoms.  SIBO can prevent vitamins from being absorbed by the intestines.  Thiamine insufficiency causes Gastrointestinal Beriberi (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation).  Thiamine is the B vitamin that runs out first because it can only be stored for two weeks.  We need more thiamine when we're sick or under emotional stress.  Gastric Beriberi is under recognised by doctors.  An Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test is more accurate than a blood test for thiamine deficiency, but the best way to see if you're low in thiamine is to take it and look for health improvement.  Don't take Thiamine Mononitrate because the body can't utilize it well.  Try Benfotiamine.  Thiamine is water soluble, nontoxic and safe even at high doses.  I thought it was crazy, too, but simple vitamins and minerals are important.  The eight B vitamins work together, so a B Complex, Benfotiamine,  magnesium and Vitamin D really helped get my body to start healing, along with the AIP diet.  Once you heal, you add foods back in, so the AIP diet is worth doing for a few months. I do hope you'll consider the AIP diet and Benfotiamine.
    • captaincrab55
      Finding gluten free ingredients

      By captaincrab55 · Posted

      Imemsm, Most of us have experienced discontinued, not currently available or products that suddenly become seasonal.   My biggest fear about relocating from Maryland to Florida 5 years ago, was being able to find gluten-free foods that fit my restricted diet.  I soon found out that the Win Dixie and Publix supper markets actually has 99% of their gluten-free foods tagged, next to the price.  The gluten-free tags opened up a  lot of foods that aren't actually marked gluten-free by the manufacture.  Now I only need to check for my other dietary restrictions.  Where my son lives in New Hartford, New York there's a Hannaford Supermarket that also has a gluten-free tag next to the price tag.  Hopefully you can locate a Supermarket within a reasonable travel distance that you can learn what foods to check out at a Supermarket close to you.  I have dermatitis herpetiformis too and I'm very sensitive to gluten and the three stores I named were very gluten-free friendly.  Good Luck 
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.