Sugar And Weight Gain

[Victoria6102]

Hi all. I have been gluten free for a year and 6 months. At first I missed gluten so much that I craved sugar a LOT and was eating like 2 candy bars everyday ( I know that's terrible!) and also I have to eat lots of salt for another condition I have so my doc said to eat lots of salty chips and pretzels. I did, and I didn't think anything about how unhealthy that was because I was losing weight, even though I was eating so much. Now that my body has started to heal, I'm now in the bad habit of eating that way and am eating less sugar but I have gained 30 pounds. it is so hard for me to lose weight now and I'm so self conscious. I was told by an adult recently that I'm fat and I am a little overweight which I know....but I'm not fat...anyways, I don't want to gain anymore weight and I want to lose that 30 pounds. My body is just so addicted to sugar I don't know what to do. If I don't eat sugar, within a few hours I get shaky and lightheaded, nauseous and cold sweats. Can anyone help?!

[pricklypear1971]

Can you sub in lower glycemic sweeteners like honey, date sugar, stevia, fruits etc. and still fulfill your craving?

You may try weaning yourself off.

Have you monitored your blood glucose?

[Juliebove]

Have you been tested for diabetes? I suffered from reactive hypoglycemia for many years prior to diabetes. I had to eat a bite of something sweet every couple of hours. What I was eating in those days wasn't necessarily gluten-free but some of what I ate was fruit leather or fruit snacks like you'd give to little kids.

We now know that reactive hypoglycemia is a precursor to diabetes. You need to get yourself tested.

[dani nero]

What kindof doctor would recommend eating chips o.O He could have recommended something healthy like olives, which is a good alternative if you need to keep your salt levels up. As for the sugar, you need to try sweets that aren't harmful like fruits or 75% and higher dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate tastes awful if you're not used to it, but when you can't have anything else you start appreciating it, and in time you will actually prefer it to milk chocolate. The great thing about dark chocolate is that you don't need much of it to feel satisfied.

Make sure the brand doesn't contain trace amounts of gluten though.

[cavernio]

If you're a recently diagnosed celiac, you likely aren't absorbing the fat on the chips anyways, and if you do, it's still probably good for you :-p

The sugar thing sounds like a medical issue really, and I would definitely go to your doctor about it. Sounds like you're almost a diabetic...

Your weight should be a secondary concern to your no sugar shakes.

[Victoria6102]

I talked to my doc about it, she said "you're probably just growing" but she sent me to a cardiologist, who diagnosed me with orthostatic hypotension(low blood pressure that worsens with change of body position). A few months later I went back to the cardiologist becuz I feel dizzy and lightheaded a lot and was having chest pain. The cardiologist said "oh it's just growing pains, many kids feel like you but don't recognize it" basically her nice way of saying" its all in your head". So the docs wouldn't listen to me...my moms a nurse so she's checked my blood sugar several times and it's normal. But I've never had a doc check it. Although they don't seem to listen to me anyways. If my blood sugar is fine even when I'm feeling shaky and dizzy, is there any way I could still have diabetes? Someone also suggested maybe a thyroid problem, anyone have any experience with that? Thanks

[pricklypear1971]

Some people can experience hypoglycemia symptoms (which include shakiness, sugar craving to stabilize glucose) without dipping below 60 bg. I do that.

I'd re-investigate thyroid and adrenals with a good doctor. You'll have to fight for the adrenals, probably, unless you can get a thyroid dx.

If your parents will take you, research and find a good Naturapath. They work on helping you feel better and will treat adrenal issues that typical md's won't. But you must find a good one, not someone selling snake oil. Hopefully you can do alot of reading about adrenals and thyroid online, and present good reasons for testing to your parents and physicians.

If you are Celiac or NCGI you need your vitamin levels checked - iron panel, b's, d, k, cal/mag. You may need supplamentation. Insufficiency of some of those can cause heart palpitations and issues.