Severe Bouts Of Sugar Problems

[lovinit4]

I was just recently diagnosed with celiac disease and have been somewhat gluten free for about a month. I have plenty of health problems but seem to be noticing a big problem when I have candy or cookies or anything that contains sugar. I feel as if my fatigue goes up 100% and I feel like I can't think straight and feel extra terrible and weak. I have never noticed this until I went off the gluten. It seems that I am extra sensitive to sweets now. I am just wondering if there is anyone else here that has noticed the correlation from removing gluten and not tolerating sweets after it has been removed. I am almost scared to get sweets due to the drastic drop in the way I feel. I appreciate any info anyone can give.

[Looking for answers]

I'm very sensitive to sugar so I do not eat it. The only exception is dark chocolate (I eat very dark, 80% or more) and some fruits (I even limit those to mostly low-sugar ones like berries). I function much better this way.

My guess is that the gluten-free sweets contain more carbs and less protein than their wheat counterparts, which is possibly why you feel it more. That's just a thought...hopefully someone else can provide you more concrete ideas.

[missy'smom]

It would be a good idea to get into the doctor and get tested for blood sugar imbalances. An A1c and/ or a glucose tolerance test would give good insight into what is possibly going on. If something shows up on testing, it is not neceasrily permanent. It may resolve in time with the gluten-free diet but it is important to find out now so that you can effectively manage it and feel better and some things if left to go on too long can become more long-term problems. Testing is just a few hours out of your life and well worth that little investment.

[txplowgirl]

Yes maam, I figured that one out about 2 months into my gluten free diet. That was hard for me, cutting a lot of my sweets out. But I've been able to replace with other things. So, hang in there. It is a learning curve, but you will feel so much better on the other side that it will be worth it.

[gf-soph]

I was just recently diagnosed with celiac disease and have been somewhat gluten free for about a month. I have plenty of health problems but seem to be noticing a big problem when I have candy or cookies or anything that contains sugar. I feel as if my fatigue goes up 100% and I feel like I can't think straight and feel extra terrible and weak. I have never noticed this until I went off the gluten. It seems that I am extra sensitive to sweets now. I am just wondering if there is anyone else here that has noticed the correlation from removing gluten and not tolerating sweets after it has been removed. I am almost scared to get sweets due to the drastic drop in the way I feel. I appreciate any info anyone can give.

You say that you are 'somewhat' gluten free. If you have celiac you need to be 100% gluten free, and I wouldn't expect to feel better until you are. Do whatever you need to get rid of the gluten, but you need to get it completely out of your system. If the candy or cookies you are eating have gluten in them that might be a big part of the problem, it can definitely cause the feelings you are describing, and if you have cut down on gluten you may be more sensitive to it than before.

To answer your question directly, I find that my reaction to sugar varies depending on my general health. Before I went gluten free I liked sweets but didn't notice a bad reaction to them. After I went gluten free I would have terrible overwhelming sugar cravings, and could eat a 200g bag or more in a sitting until the craving died down.

The cravings went away once I got my iron and b12 deficiencies under control, then about 6 months later I started feeling very hypoglycemic a lot. I did a glucose tolerance test and my insulin was just above normal, but glucose was fine.

This feeling went away after a few months, and now that I am on an elimination diet I notice that if I eat more than about a 50g tube of sweets a day it causes irritability and insomnia. The hypoglycemic feelings started a bit again recently but it's because I have been exercising quite a bit and hadn't adjusted my diet properly.

So the short answer is that I definitely notice a difference in how I deal with sugars, I have a problem with fructose and regular sugar is 50% fructose, but I haven't worked out if that's part of the issue yet.

It might be a good idea to get your glucose and insulin levels checked out if you still have problems with sugars when you are gluten free.