mikefreak

All I know is that I have to watch myself at work after I eat- I get extremely lightheaded & dizzy for about 1/2 an hour while my ( I guess), blood sugar drops. Never heard that theory, but it would'nt surprise me if it were true- wonder if it has anything to do with my system finally being clean? Does it make the body more sensitive as far as blood pressure/blood sugar is concerned? After ALL the drugs & booze I have put into myself, ONE Benadryl KICKS MY BUTT.l I am SUCH a lightweight now......

mle-sober

I'm hypoglycemic too. Interesting to know the connection to alcoholism.

Question: Does the hypoglycemia get better when you stop drinking? It doesn't seem that way to me (sober for a little over a year) but theoretically, to me, it seems like it should.

dancinggirl

Can drinking have caused the hypoglycemia??

rhnorment

Absolutely, drinking could cause your hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is one of the more serious conditions of heavy drinking, along with liver and kidney damage.

In many patients, hypoglycemia is a condition that leads to Type II diabetes. It happened to me.

I read a lot of threads on this board, and many people in recovery write about craving sweats and eating ice cream when they quit drinking. This is not good. High protein, low carbs will eventually re-stabilize your blood sugar levels.

My best friend is an endocrinologist, and he explained to me the science behind alcohol-induced hypoglycemia. Let me know if you are interested in knowing more and I will post it.

Good luck!

/rhn

sobergirl77

Yes!! I was hypoglycemic for the first 10 months that I tried to stop/stopped drinking. I tried doing a low carb/high fat diet to solve it but I got really bad candida that way.

I have completely cleared up hypoglycemia - confirmed by a doctor recently - by adopting a mostly raw foods/low fat diet. The funny thing is that I eat fruit almost all day long and never get that sugar crash anymore. It turns out it was the fat causing the sugar crashes - fat supposedly absorbs too much sugar, leaving too little in our blood stream. However, mainstream health news hasn't yet caught up with this - they are still advising people to eat more fat to stabilize blood sugar.

Hilltopper1972

Interesting thread here. I was just researching hypoglycemia. Do any of you have tired eyes frequently throughout the day? I thought it was fatigue, but not likely, maybe being on the computer all day, doubtful. I've been drinking white wine mixed with OJ at night to cut down on my alcohol consumption which has worked actually. But, by doing so, usually 5 of them some nights which is like 2-3 glasses on wine total, I'm also dumping massive amounts of sugar in my body from the OJ. I feel sluggish the rest of the day. When I go back to a healthy diet and exercise which by theory is Sunday through Friday(Sat is my one free day), I feel pretty great. The sugar part is what I'd like to explore.

Hill

sfgirl

I think I was tested for "real" hypoglycemia a long time ago and I didn't have it but I definitely have all the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia. I have to watch my sugar/carb intake or I get shaky. I definitely do way better on the 6 meal plan too. But I seem to remember being this way ever since I was a little, little girl, before I drank. My mom is like this too and she definitely drinks her fair share

Hilltopper1972

So I read about alcoholics and hypoglycemia and I'm now fairly certain most of us suffer from this on different levels. Our bodies, especially livers, don't process sugar(alcohol) and alcohol the same as when they did the first part of our drunken lives. Not sure about you, but if I drink a lot, I blackout and get obliterated much more easily than I did a few years back. My hangovers got worse. I attribute this to the fact that my liver and body couldn't process the alcohol and get rid of it like a normal person. On top of it I filled my body up with sugar which caused a whole host of other problems. I drank moderately on Sat and I felt drowsy and tired for 2 days.
On a good note I started eating 6 meals a day, complex carbs only(whole wheat, brown rice, etc), protein every meal, especially a cup of cottage cheese before bed and I feel none of those things at all now. I have energy, my mood is better, more motivated, etc. The best part is I lost 7 lbs in those 4 days as well. Part of it is water loss, but I can feel and see my midsection is smaller. Gym is consistent with weight lifting. Talk about awesome and something to be somewhat excited about.

Goat

I wanted to give this thread a bump, since it seems like so many of the posters here have had quite the same experience I have, and it might help others like me who have not seen it before.

In my case, my sugar has always been "funny" since I was a kid.

Since I quit drinking, my sugar has gone somewhat more out of whack. My heart races (adrenaline response due to low blood sugar), I feel shaky but sluggish and really clumsy. Sometimes there are palpitations as well.

Also, my blood pressure has been high and I think (hope!) it is related to alcohol and tobacco use and will drop over time.

In my own case, I have a bit of GERD, too. It's quite distressing, since I'm a young-middle-aged male, and the pain is from the center of my chest to my left elbow! I'm taking a prescription antacid (a proton-pump inhibitor) but it does not always help.

You know what does help? Prune juice. Dunno why.

-Goat

Dee74

I get a bit of GERD too. I think I'd rather the GERD than prune juice tho LOL. ew.

D

Mattcake

I can relate to so many posts in this thread. My glycemic index has been tested several times over the years, and the results have always been fine, even back when I was drinking heavily. It was tested again several months into recovery, same thing.

I started craving sweets quite heavily soon after withdrawal, especially sodas. However, I soon noticed that I couldn't tolerate high amounts of sugar - the sugar rush was very unpleasant, and I got a "sugar hangover" the next day... So I switched to diet/sugar-free stuff.

Ironically, at the moment my diet is much worse than it used to be in the past... I've always actually enjoyed boring healthy foods (salad, legumes, veggies, etc), but no longer go out of my way to get a balanced diet - there's definitely room for improvemnt, hmm New Year's resolution maybe.

Mattcake

I used to get GERD when I was drinking - so of course I whined my way to the doctor, who promptly put me on yet another med In my case, the GERD cleared up soon after I quit drinking.

thirtybubba

Funny, I haven't been following this thread, cause I'd never been diagnosed with hypoglycema... but then I never really went to the doctor much either.

But, although I only know I was apparently "undernourished" (school records) before I started drinking, I do know that my whole life I have eaten lots of little meals. And I would get shaky/dizzy/see "stars" and reach for something to prop me up if I was too hungry, and I was hungry fairly frequently. I figured something was different about me, 'cause most people get by on three large meals a day, but I never gave it much thought because I lived alone and could do as I pleased.

So, maybe I am? And I'll never know what caused it, but I am pleased to know that lots of little meals is a way to control it... 'cause I still eat like that.

Also, like Matt, I always actually liked healthy foods... anything processed would just leave me hungry even quicker. Although, I never considered them boring... lots of things you can do with fresh vegetables and meat and any exotic ingredients that I might find wherever I happened to live.

Hmmm. Learn something on a very lonesome Christmas day. Thank you all for all y'all answers. Sometimes you get answers for questions you never thought of asking here, that's why I love SR.

Take care,
TB

Goat

I have always liked prune juice.

And every time I drink a glass I quote Worf from STTNG... "A Warrior's drink!"

hehe

-Goat