Sugar A Problem ?

[IrishHeart]

Hi guys!

You have all been so helpful and encouraging, answering my many questions. I am doing better so far (gluten-free 6 weeks) in the tummy/bowels situation, less spacy- headed (hooray!) and overall, less fatigued. I am sooo encouraged. Sleep and pain still problematic, but I know it takes time!

However, I feel "racy" and jittery after some meals. It's NOT gluten, soy or dairy. My thyroid is fine, B-12 levels good, D good, etc...blood sugars tested repeatedly. Blood pressure is perfect.(after being really LOW pre-gluten-free)

Is it sugar in foods ?(like maple or brown rice syrup or evaporated cane juice?) I rarely eat any gluten-free packaged foods (just Erewhon cereal sometimes or UDI bread when we run out of our own baked bread).

Just wondering if you guys had to give up SUGAR at first as well?

Thanks a bunch!!

[Jestgar]

I get 'racy' after too many simple carbs (white rice or sugar). You might just need to cut back, or eat more fat and protein when you eat simple carbs.

[IrishHeart]

  On 2/17/2011 at 5:13 PM, Jestgar said:

I get 'racy' after too many simple carbs (white rice or sugar). You might just need to cut back, or eat more fat and protein when you eat simple carbs.

thank you for your reply!

I did know that about carbs/pro/fat, but perhaps I am not eating enough protein overall.

It's weird. I decided to forego the cereal this morning and instead, I ate a hard boiled egg ( I am not an egg fan:>), a banana and some V8 juice and it is pounding like mad right now...!! too much potassium? I don't know. My EKG was normal, BTW. I look good "on paper" now LOL

As much as I think I am getting enough protein, my thin hair and major-league lost muscle mass may be an indicator that years of malabsorption may take some time to resolve and that protein may need to be increased.

I'll do as you suggest!! Thanks!

[twe0708]

  On 2/17/2011 at 3:55 PM, IrishHeart said:

Hi guys!

You have all been so helpful and encouraging, answering my many questions. I am doing better so far (gluten-free 6 weeks) in the tummy/bowels situation, less spacy- headed (hooray!) and overall, less fatigued. I am sooo encouraged. Sleep and pain still problematic, but I know it takes time!

However, I feel "racy" and jittery after some meals. It's NOT gluten, soy or dairy. My thyroid is fine, B-12 levels good, D good, etc...blood sugars tested repeatedly. Blood pressure is perfect.(after being really LOW pre-gluten-free)

Is it sugar in foods ?(like maple or brown rice syrup or evaporated cane juice?) I rarely eat any gluten-free packaged foods (just Erewhon cereal sometimes or UDI bread when we run out of our own baked bread).

Just wondering if you guys had to give up SUGAR at first as well?

Thanks a bunch!!

I get that way too if my meal contains too many carbs. I try to stick to a meal with mostly protein. Its really hard bc I love sweets and when I consume too many sweets or carbs I get shaky and feel my heart racing. I keep almonds or pistachios in my bag and grab a handful when I start to feel jittery. The instant protein balances me out within a few minutes.

[burdee]

  On 2/17/2011 at 3:55 PM, IrishHeart said:

Hi guys!

You have all been so helpful and encouraging, answering my many questions. I am doing better so far (gluten-free 6 weeks) in the tummy/bowels situation, less spacy- headed (hooray!) and overall, less fatigued. I am sooo encouraged. Sleep and pain still problematic, but I know it takes time!

However, I feel "racy" and jittery after some meals. It's NOT gluten, soy or dairy. My thyroid is fine, B-12 levels good, D good, etc...blood sugars tested repeatedly. Blood pressure is perfect.(after being really LOW pre-gluten-free)

Is it sugar in foods ?(like maple or brown rice syrup or evaporated cane juice?) I rarely eat any gluten-free packaged foods (just Erewhon cereal sometimes or UDI bread when we run out of our own baked bread).

Just wondering if you guys had to give up SUGAR at first as well?

I often experienced mild tachycardia or palpitations and slight nausea after eating sweets. I didn't understand why until I did a blood (ELISA IgG and IgE mediated) allergy test. That showed I had a high reaction to cane sugar (which is also known as evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, molasses, Splenda, etc.).

So I stopped eating cane sugar for awhile. After I accidentally consumed some cane sugar (coating on Tylenol caplets), I experienced that familiar (but even stronger) reaction of palpitations and nausea. So I abstained from all sources of cane sugar and stopped getting those reactions.

I can still eat pure beet sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave, but just not any forms of sugar made from sugar cane. My doctor has several other patients who tested positive for allergies to cane sugar and react in similar ways.

[rain]

I had a similar symptom except that I also had a strong tingling sensation in my body also. I cut my sugar intake way back and it has helped tremendously. I removed fruit, sweet potatoes, cut back on carrots, and of course all sugared foods including chocolate. It was complicated to figure out how to remove sugar but worth the effort. I don't get the racing feeling hardly at all anymore.

(Before going gluten free I have always gotten the racy feeling from fried foods and salty foods like french fries. So I don't eat them. Not sure if that's the case for you -- also not sure why that happens.)

[IrishHeart]

  On 2/18/2011 at 1:25 AM, twe0708 said:

I get that way too if my meal contains too many carbs. I try to stick to a meal with mostly protein. Its really hard bc I love sweets and when I consume too many sweets or carbs I get shaky and feel my heart racing. I keep almonds or pistachios in my bag and grab a handful when I start to feel jittery. The instant protein balances me out within a few minutes.

THANKS, GUYS!

TO TWE:

I love sweets too!! --and find myself craving something sweet throughout the day. I don't often indulge myself (this is weird because before going gluten-free, I wasn't a "craver" and before the celiac was "triggered" and I was sickened by all food and plunged down 90 lbs., I was A CHUBBY!!...LOL)

Thanks for the suggestion about the almonds. I'll give it a try!

TO BURDEE:

I think I may be a sugar cane reactor as well. I don't notice any reaction to agave, honey, or stevia....just the sugar.

Thanks for your thoughts!!

TO RAIN:

This will be difficult as fruit, sweet potatoes and carrots are some of my favorites....I did notice a heart racing episode after some gluten-free/SF/DF chocolate...sigh...okay, more food to exclude...bummer..

My hubby comments... pretty soon, I'll be down to lettuce and water

[T.H.]

  On 2/18/2011 at 2:59 PM, IrishHeart said:

TO RAIN:

This will be difficult as fruit, sweet potatoes and carrots are some of my favorites....I did notice a heart racing episode after some gluten-free/SF/DF chocolate...sigh...okay, more food to exclude...bummer..

When I went gluten free, I had much more trouble with sugar, too. Since then, I've been diagnosed by blood test as being allergic to sugar cane, and found out something. If you look on the gluten free products, they typically have sugar cane juice, evaporated cane juice, but rarely just 'sugar.'

Sugar is so processed that there is hardly any of the sugar cane protein left. But the cane juice is FULL of the sugar cane proteins that you can be allergic to. So going to gluten free products, if you have a sugar cane issue, is likely to make you have much more of a reaction than to the normal non-gluten-free foods.

Explains why many of us sugar sensitive folk suddenly have an issue with gluten free foods, yeah?

[IrishHeart]

  On 2/19/2011 at 5:54 AM, T.H. said:

When I went gluten free, I had much more trouble with sugar, too. Since then, I've been diagnosed by blood test as being allergic to sugar cane, and found out something. If you look on the gluten free products, they typically have sugar cane juice, evaporated cane juice, but rarely just 'sugar.'

Sugar is so processed that there is hardly any of the sugar cane protein left. But the cane juice is FULL of the sugar cane proteins that you can be allergic to. So going to gluten free products, if you have a sugar cane issue, is likely to make you have much more of a reaction than to the normal non-gluten-free foods.

Explains why many of us sugar sensitive folk suddenly have an issue with gluten free foods, yeah?

Shauna,

It makes sense to me. I never many heart palps, "racing" etc. until the last 3 years. I wore a holter monitor, had an EKG...the usual tests... of course, I am "normal"

I attributed it to the gluten, adrenal fatigue and how very ill I became and to erratic dips in glucose levels. I am not diabetic, not even close. Tests reveal nothing unusual.

I had blood tests for food allergies. The only thing that showed up was soy.

It does not happen very often now, just occasionally after eating some foods like rice milk or coconut milk. They have Evap. cane juice in them. I also indulged in a gluten-free treat from the gluten-free bakery. DELISH!! but...yeah, it happened again. I have to be realistic and see that maybe I am just sensitive to it--or, as others have suggested to me, perhaps I take in too many carbs and not enough protein. I am working on that. Getting enough protein is difficult when you cannot eat dairy, soy, fish or too many eggs (yuck)Some good people on here gave me suggestions to add more nuts and try hemp protein. I got some of that!

I had no appetite for a long time because everything gave me heartburn to die from and the big D. I am starting to give a crap about eating again, and things are improving, so that's a good thing.

Before this happened to me, I never read labels past the first few ingredients. This may be the "blessing in disguise" of celiac that I will come to appreciate someday (not now) because I was overweight, ate and drank anything, and was probably headed for diabetes , like my sister, or a heart attack. While I am not happy about losing 90 lbs. the way I did because I lost muscle mass and have horrible muscle and joint pain--it has been 3 years in HELL-- I have been forced to stop drinking and eating whatever I darn well pleased and maybe, once I am healed, I will be healthier than I have been in my whole life. That's what I hope for, anyway.

An interesting side note: a friend of mine with MS told me YEARS AGO to avoid anything that listed sugar or evaporated cane juice in the ingredients. (She herself is a vegetarian and rarely eats anything from a package) It was her rule of thumb and it has helped her keep her MS controlled for 25 years. She ran the Boston Marathon!! I have always thought she is as healthy as she is simply because she gave up sugar, packaged foods and eventually, meat. She also gave up GRAINS --long before anyone really thought about gluten or "dangerous grains". She was pretty savvy! She is the picture of health, despite the MS.

Maybe there's something to it. After all I have been through the last 3 years, I'll try anything to get well.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Just wondering....do you eat maple syrup, honey, agave?