Celiac And Hypoglycemia

[cmoore]

Is anyone dealing with a combination of Celiac and Hypoglycemia? Seems like a lethal combination to me. I was diagnosed with low blood sugar when I was 9 and Im struggling a bit with all of this.

[pricklypear1971]

I have what acts like hypoglycemia, but my blood sugar doesn't dip below 60.

Started after they triple dosed me with steroids for DH. I don't think my adrenals were in great shape going into that, and those steroids were the breaking point.

My episodes are triggered by sugar binges - 3-7 days of eating desserts. Then I go what I guess is hyper, followed by a few weeks of hypo. Only way I can snap out of it is low-sugar, high fiber/protein food with a high fat /low sugar "bite" if needed.

So, yes, it seems to be my new permanent way of life. I'm better sticking to a mostly grain free diet all the time. Im experimenting with baking with nut flours and actually prefer the texture to other gluten-free grains.

It's hard to come up with gluten-free snacks that are prepackaged because they are mostly low fiber, high carb. Or, so sugary it's pointless.

I make nut mixes and eat a few low gci Kind bars. I always have something in my purse. I snack on fruits /meats, and try to keep lots of cooked veggies around and eat them with every meal. I can't get enough veggies - the more I eat the more stable my blood sugar. I've learned to eat a little everywhere.

[alex11602]

Me too. And like Prickley grain free seems better for my sugar. Although I have noticed that if I have about 1/4 c of white rice or potatoes with dinner that I stay even more stable and will not wake up with my sugar in the 30s. I personally can't really tolerate sugar so I don't eat many fruits and too many veggies upset my stomach also right now so I make sure that I have alot of protein and use extra virgin olive oil for a healthy fat, the combo makes my sugar level out. I bake with almond flour alot, using recipes from Elana's Pantry, and can still enjoy things with my family without my sugar going haywire.

Mostly what I have found is that you need to find the right combination for your body. What works for one may not work for another.

[cmoore]

I discovered something that so far appears to be helping what has been ( evendentallhy ) a precipitous drop in blood sugar levels over night.

Open Original Shared Link

3/4 cup of that and Im much better. I uses to have nasty muscle cramps in my legs over night and in the morning, now as long as I have a dollop of this plain yogurt before bed, ... zero cramps.

NOTE: Stay far far away from the NON fat yogurt its loaded with Sugar, like most low fat things. In my opinion some "natural" even saturated fat is way better for you in the long run then sugar.

Now having said all this, its my guess I could secure a good protein drink that would do the same thing for me and I would not have to deal with dairy either so, I'll be investigating that.

Celiac being largely a disease of malnutrition, Id bet lot more people have issues with this then they are aware of. All of this is nasty, nasty stuff.

[SGRhapsodos]

Wow! Your stories are exactly what I've been going through and have been trying to find the answer for for so long! Last year I had bronchitis and they prescribed corticosteroids. I did not react well to the medication because I started having horrible panic attacks. Anyway, ever since then, I've had these hypoglycemic symptoms and exhaustion that didn't improve after being diagnosed and going gluten free the traditional way. It wasn't until after I followed the high protein, higher fat, moderate carb and went completely grain free, sugar free, and caffeine free that I started feeling better. Now if I have candy or a coke, my body will make me pay a hefty price for DAYs!!!!!!!

[cmoore]

Wow! Your stories are exactly what I've been going through and have been trying to find the answer for for so long! Last year I had bronchitis and they prescribed corticosteroids. I did not react well to the medication because I started having horrible panic attacks. Anyway, ever since then, I've had these hypoglycemic symptoms and exhaustion that didn't improve after being diagnosed and going gluten free the traditional way. It wasn't until after I followed the high protein, higher fat, moderate carb and went completely grain free, sugar free, and caffeine free that I started feeling better. Now if I have candy or a coke, my body will make me pay a hefty price for DAYs!!!!!!!

Wow for "Days" Really? I have wondered about the bounce back time. I had "sugar free" chocolate candy yesterday, I should have realized dark chocolate has caffeine. If the sugar wont get you the caffeine will. I think in the early stages you have to just simply never go there and give your body some time to balance out. Whew this is tuff stuff to deal with, thats all I can say.

[SGRhapsodos]

It's been really tough. I had to quit my job because I was foggy. The thing is that my blood sugars are normal (high 80's low 90's fasting) and If I follow a moderate carb diet, they stay that way. The problems begin when I have something high in processed sugar. The coke spiked up my BG to 184 after an hour (was feeling really foggy) and within 8 minutes it was down to 140. Those 8 minutes were pure hell! Inwas shaking, my heart was beating so fast I thought it might stop. The whole episode left me weak for days. I didn't think that people were dealing with this. I thought I was the only one. My mom thinks I'm crazy but I have felt pretty bad. It's such a relief to find others like me!

[cmoore]

Its been what I call the trifecta from hell with gluten, blood sugar and candida. I even read where some forms of celiac can be kicked off by candida overgrowth. I think when your digestion gets ravaged buy this stuff it can cause issues people are not aware of AT ALL.

Yes even gluten free stuff can be way to packed with sugar and sugar is as evil as it can be for me anyway. I have some fantastic gluten free pancake mix that I love. What I do with that NOW is use home made almond flower, and a few table spoons of that other mix tossed in and Im good.

Blood sugar leveling out is really key in all of this and I think needs to be watched carefully no matter what. I am amazed at how one binge can trash you for days if your not careful and its clearly not worth it.

You really do have to experiment what works for you and hope the road to figuring that out does not land you in the ER.

[SGRhapsodos]

Lol yea. My hubs was so close to taking me to the ER that time. The funny thing is that doctors don't know what to do with this info. I wrote an extremely detailed and objective diary of my bg levels during 'experiment' and my normal grain free diet for 3 days. All that she said was 'don't measure your blood sugar so often'. I'm like, yea, in shaking and my heart's beating like I just ran a marathon, but I'm just supposed to ride it out like nothing with no data?' Finding support and having people, especially doctors, believe I do experience these symptoms has been

hard. Luckily I have a great hubs that has seen my reactions in those hard moments and he supports my new lifestyle.

[cmoore]

Dr's prefer something they can discover either very easily (in your 15 min . visit) or they freely spend tens of thousands on tests and on the other end RX's for some commercial drugs waiting for a patient. Its how medicine is run now and its very unfortunate.

This is an amazing book on the the state of healthcare in general, Id be you both would find it very interesting.

Its a book by Dr. Andrew Weil called; Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future

[ElitaSue]

It was actually an Endocrinologist that diagnosed my Celiacs Disease. I had been referred to him by my GP because of my hypoglycemia. Luckily for me he is a Mayo Clinic Doctor and very good. He placed me on a completely sugar free, grain free diet (that means NO rice, bran, barley, wheat, rye, oats, etc.), and told me to eat mostly leafy green vegetables, meat, and little bit of fruit (fruit has a lot of sugar), and to supplement with Pancreatic enzymes at every meal, 5,000 units of vitamin D, and Chromium Picolinate. I also monitor my blood sugar regularly. My poor exocrine pancreas and adrenal glands are pretty fried but on the diet I've been able to do pretty well. I've been sugar-free, grain-free now for about five years.

Good luck!

Sue

[Blue-eyed bandit]

I'm grain free too- but wondering what you do for breads and starches? I don't do anything but sweet potatoes and vegetables and sometimes white potatoes but rarely. Do you eat beans too?? Just really curious about your diet as I'm only less than 6 months into mine. I eat tons of fruit but im hungry and it's so convenient. .

[ElitaSue]

Welcome to what my kid calls the "it sucks to be you" diet. ; ) LOL

I eat a lot of beans, found a great health food store that has powdered hummus mix I practically live on, then there's a wonderful Gluten-free all purpose baking mix from Bob's Red Mill (make sure it's the one with Garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour and fava bean flour) that makes great pancakes, get sugar-free pancake syrup (when I first discovered that I sat down and ate pancakes til I was absolutely sick, missed them so much), for pizza I use tapioca flour a couple of eggs, oil and soy milk (works great). Also eat a lot of Quinoa, Millet and Buckwheat. Cooked Buckwheat groats are great for breakfast with a bit of milk, or milk sub, chopped nuts, few raisins and some stevia. You can make noodles from buckwheat flour also. I make some pretty good muffins using almond flour also. Experiment, you'll come up with your own great recipes that taste good to you.

My doc also told me just so long as its a mono-saccharides , or di-saccharides it was okay to eat - but no poly-saccharides (complex carbohydrates and sugars).

It's actually not to bad once you get the hang of it. ; )

[cmoore]

Welcome to what my kid calls the "it sucks to be you" diet. ; ) LOL

I eat a lot of beans, found a great health food store that has powdered hummus mix I practically live on, then there's a wonderful Gluten-free all purpose baking mix from Bob's Red Mill (make sure it's the one with Garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour and fava bean flour) that makes great pancakes, get sugar-free pancake syrup (when I first discovered that I sat down and ate pancakes til I was absolutely sick, missed them so much), for pizza I use tapioca flour a couple of eggs, oil and soy milk (works great). Also eat a lot of Quinoa, Millet and Buckwheat. Cooked Buckwheat groats are great for breakfast with a bit of milk, or milk sub, chopped nuts, few raisins and some stevia. You can make noodles from buckwheat flour also. I make some pretty good muffins using almond flour also. Experiment, you'll come up with your own great recipes that taste good to you.

My doc also told me just so long as its a mono-saccharides , or di-saccharides it was okay to eat - but no poly-saccharides (complex carbohydrates and sugars).

It's actually not to bad once you get the hang of it. ; )

Awesome ideas thanks for that. I love pancakes, I grew up on the old fashion buttermilk kind and Ive not had them for years. For me dyeing and going to heaven would be all the old fashion pancakes and sourdough bread ...I could eat...oh yea and smothered in whole fat butter.

Is anybody with me? "grin"

[Pac]

Welcome to what my kid calls the "it sucks to be you" diet. ; ) LOL

I eat a lot of beans, found a great health food store that has powdered hummus mix I practically live on, then there's a wonderful Gluten-free all purpose baking mix from Bob's Red Mill (make sure it's the one with Garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour and fava bean flour) that makes great pancakes, get sugar-free pancake syrup (when I first discovered that I sat down and ate pancakes til I was absolutely sick, missed them so much), for pizza I use tapioca flour a couple of eggs, oil and soy milk (works great). Also eat a lot of Quinoa, Millet and Buckwheat. Cooked Buckwheat groats are great for breakfast with a bit of milk, or milk sub, chopped nuts, few raisins and some stevia. You can make noodles from buckwheat flour also. I make some pretty good muffins using almond flour also. Experiment, you'll come up with your own great recipes that taste good to you.

My doc also told me just so long as its a mono-saccharides , or di-saccharides it was okay to eat - but no poly-saccharides (complex carbohydrates and sugars).

It's actually not to bad once you get the hang of it. ; )

You mention eating millet although it is a grain. Do you have any problems with that? I used to eat it a lot pre-glutenfree but now it seems I'm either getting ever more sensitive to contamination or I am slowly becoming intolerant to millet too.

I started eating millet for breakfast year ago because it kept my sugar level stable, which wasn't the case with any "normal" (=gluteny) breakfast food. Boiled millet with half an orange, cocoa powder and a bit of raw cane sugar. I miss that so much. I used to have trouble with hypoglycemia since I was a teenager. Funny I didn't even realize I don't have this problem any more until reading this thread.

[sister golden hair]

Hi, haven't been on this site for some time now but since I have been having the same issues as what I am reading here about everyone else, I guess I thought I would check it out. I see the posts are almost a year old but no big deal , I hope someone reads them and replys!  I also suffered for years with candida and found out it was related to dairy and corn products. Same with the rashes. I also would get UTI 's frequently and it was a vicous cycle of antibiotics, and creams and depression! Wow what a rollar coaster ride it has been.

  I have eliminated dairy, corn most sugars. I started by doing the Eat Right For Your Blood Type which really helped me get a handle on all the symptoms I have had along with the celiac.  I am now having low blood sugar attacks. I had the 3 hr. fasting glucose intolerance test in which the Dr. said after I drank the sugary liquid, my sugar went way down instead of spiking high first and then dropping. It continued to drop after that.  I was sick for 2 days after that test, had a hard time recovering from it. I now have to go to an Endocronologist next week for more testing.

   I have changed my diet so many times, and I guess this will be one more time, but like others I have been baking with the nut flowers and using Stevia if I have to sweeten anything. I hope we all get the diet under control...... Take care and write back if you get this! Sister Golden Hair

Is anyone dealing with a combination of Celiac and Hypoglycemia? Seems like a lethal combination to me. I was diagnosed with low blood sugar when I was 9 and Im struggling a bit with all of this.

[1desperateladysaved]

eliminated dairy, corn most sugars. I started by doing the Eat Right For Your Blood Type which really helped me get a handle on all the symptoms I have had along with the celiac.  I am now having low blood sugar attacks. I had the 3 hr. fasting glucose intolerance test in which the Dr. said after I drank the sugary liquid, my sugar went way down instead of spiking high first and then dropping. It continued to drop after that.  I was sick for 2 days after that test, had a hard time recovering from it. I now have to go to an Endocronologist next week for more testing.

   I have changed my diet so many times, and I guess this will be one more time, but like others I have been baking with the nut flowers and using Stevia if I have to sweeten anything. I hope we all get the diet under control...... Take care and write back if you get this! Sister Golden Hair

Coming from a supersensitive viewpoint.

 

Ugh, I have a memory of drinking "glucola".  My blood sugar was 80 one hour later.  That is low even for fasting the doctor said.    We thought I must have been handling sugar really well.  However, I was sick for at least a week and began to have pregnancy problems such as high blood pressure and low amniotic fluid after that.  I promised myself never to drink that again. 

 

I also watch sugar.  I just found out that my small intestine and pancreas are not working together as they should.  No wonder I had to be so stringent as to limit fruit and use bites instead of servings.  The villi of the small intestine are supposed to let the pancreas know when to give off enzymes.  If too damaged, the villi won't do it.  I am taking pancreatic enzymes to help break down my food until more healing takes place.

 

I think there may be several threads on this topic.  You might try searching hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, also reactive blood sugar.

 

It was the first time I noticed, hey this is an old post, and pondered still reading it.  It was a timely topic, so why not?

[sister golden hair]

Hi desparteladysaved, thanks for the quick response. It amazes me how many people have the same problems! Ha, right before I checked my e-mail I took a sip from some pineapple juice in the fridg, old habits die hard! Well got a little woozy in my head and felt strange so wasn't sure what to do so I took one of my glucose tablets and slowly but surely it worked, feeling better now. The doctor said to carry them everywhere I go.  I also made some almond muffins with almond flour. Used stevia for the sweetner, it replaced the agave nectar. I also added a tb. sp of rice milk to give it some moistness. They look and smell good so I hope they work as a protein rich and fiber snack without the sugar. I also have some hard boiled eggs ready for morning as I am finding out I need to eat at least within 15 min upon waking up. Lots of steamed veggies in the fridg and some frozen blueberries.

   I think I too may have to just have a couple of berries at a time instead of a nice portion that I am used to. I am going to start writing everything down, test my sugar and see what bothers me.....what we have to go through!!

   I have a tangled small intestine which gives me alot of problems if I am not careful about what I eat. I will get infection in it and then back on antibiotics.

   How long have you been diagnosed with Celiac? It was back in 2002 for me. I had misdiagnosed for over 20 years. That's a long time to be sick! Well if you feel like keeping in touch , just write.... I'm living in upstate N.Y.  Thanks for the feedback,