Hypolycemia Attacks
 

Hi,

I started again following low carb very strict. I lost 10 lbs pretty fast but now my weight is stalled for the last 3 weeks and I'm having hypoglycemic attacks, dizziness, migraines, tired, weak, spacey and blurred vision. I know I can't do intermittent fasting for that reason but I thought hypoglycemia is supposed to get better on low carb? Well it got worse for me on low carb. I'm researching and not finding anything by the low carb doctors anywhere talking about managing hypoglycemia with low carb. They all say "Oh, it gets better and is reversed on low carb" I'm at a loss here. Anyone else with this problem and how do you handle it?

Just a thought..... http://paleoforwomen.com/8-signs-yo...e-carbohydrate/

Do you have a glucometer, and have you been testing for these hypos? I get them here and there, but there have also been times I feel crappy/weak/dizzy like that, and my BG is normal. Low blood pressure can make me feel like that, too. Maybe I should get a home blood pressure monitor, too. :P

Are you on any meds that could contribute to either of these? They might need readjusted.

I agree on the blood pressure thing, I've had the same issues. Less if I keep up on electrolytes.

What's your eating pattern? If fasting gives you hypos, maybe you'd be better off with five or six meals?

Reactive hypoglycemia from excess carbs is probably the most common form, so it's not surprising if low carb doctors play the odds and say that low carb will probably make things better. There are various things that can be going on, some people are hyperresponsive to amino acids that are insulinogenic. Mostly this gets studied in extreme cases where children can experience seizures etc. Or there are people with genetically decreased levels of the enzyme in the liver that transports long chain fatty acids into mitochondria, without this ketosis can be compromised and fasting or carbohydrate restriction can result in hypoketonic hypoglycemia. It occurs in the majority of Inuit, though, in a milder form, so it doesn't necessarily mean that it involves a true carbohydrate requirement, except in children young enough to nurse, the adults fast just fine.

If these more extreme examples can happen, I don't think it's much of a stretch that some people might have milder forms.

Very interesting thanks! You gave me more info that what I could find online from Low Carb docs. I was basically not eating if I wasn't hungry but I was eating 3 meals per day, and on weekends breakfast and a large lunch with a snack or very small dinner. It seemed the more towards keto I went, the more my symptoms where occurring. I wonder if its blood pressure related? The last time it happened, I was on WW and I was hungry all the time and I started getting migraines and dizziness. This is the first time I lasted more than a month on low carb and I wasn't expecting those symptoms to occur again. When my BP was low, I'd get tired but never dizzy or migraine.

No, I don't have one. I am going to a GI on August 14th so I'm going to be asking some questions. I hope the doc isn't old school low fat.

Thanks. I wonder if I'd do better on Paleo than low carb sometimes.

1. Dr Atkins regularly talks about maximizing the amount of carbs the body can handle before hitting the CCLL ceiling.

2. In my own experience, the lower the carb, the more sensiative my body is to reactive hypoglycemia. Having had a few many naps right after eating, I really try to keep OP, as the tell tale nap screams carb count error.

IMO I also think the longer I eat low carb and losing weight, so clearly into ketosis and dropping body weight--my body is better at making the sugars it needs thru converting fats. To make all this biochemistry work, I have started eating better quality foods to get the vitamins and minerals that are required to make the energy system work correctly.

The last time I had really bad dizziness I thought it was low BS. I was super LC, well below 20 grams every single day and dropped 30 lbs. in just 4 months. When I began taking prescription potassium and the dizziness all stopped.
That's what worked for me.

I agree with the low BP possibility; another is dehydration and lack of electrolytes - potassium, sodium & magnesium, which causes headaches, dizziness, weakness & fatigue. My BG was always normal when I tested it while feeling like this, so I am glad I did not use it as an excuse to eat more carbs and blow the only diet that works for me.

Atkins also mentioned that some people's maximum number of carbs to lose (CCLL) or maintain (CCLM) may never rise above 35-45.

What does it mean when you have a nap after eating?

I can crash after eating--- tired and sleepy and just cant resist laying down, and sleeping for about 20 minutes. Wake up, totally functional again. I have always blamed hypoglycemia.

A few too many carbs that spiked an over realease of insulin, then crash. When I eat for a few days at very low carb, the number of carbs to cause this is pretty small, but much more thann I have been consuming the last few days.


THis has happened many times to me. Still trying to understand the situation.

Thanks for answering, Arielle. I have had that happen often too, but not nearly as much now that I am fasting and eating low carb. However, sometimes I would go to sleep for much longer than 20 minutes. I didn't like doing it, but I couldn't help it.

Very interesting. I have Lite salt which is potassium and also supplements. I'll start them up again. I actually was taking the potassium and using the lite salt and stopped and this is coinciding with my dizziness. I also heard back from the nutritionist on Atkins who said she came to low carb because she had very bad hypoglycemia and was eating every 2 hours and snacking with a little fruit and nuts. She said the pancreas needs to adapt to low carb and its like its expecting a sugar load and I don't eat it so its not used to that. She said it would take a few months and to keep eating frequently and it should clear up. So today I am trying to eat every 2-3 hours and I also ate first thing when I got up this morning which another doctor said to do, so I hope a few days of this will show improvement.

There's sort of a tendency to promote less rather than more meals with low carb these days. Studies looking at meal frequency generally aren't low carb. Gary Taubes wrote about high meal frequency only showing benefits at crazy lengths, seventeen meals a day. Lots of reason not to assume this applies to low carb diets as well--for one, low carb is already way less insulinogenic. Maybe you don't have to split low carb into meals as small to start seeing a benefit.