Hypoglycemia

Hi everyone,

 I am currently in recovery for anorexia, but in the past few months have suffered a minor relapse, taking my BMI from around 17.5 to 16.5. (Which I am trying to rectify now)  I got a blood test today, though, and the doctors have just told me my blood sugar level is very low. (2.3 i think, if that means anything??)

I was an IP last year, and my weight has been much lower; however I never experienced this when I had blood tests then, so I have no knowledge of how to deal with it. The doctor basically told me to eat more (which I'm working on anyway, of course) and more often - will this be enough, then? I tried doing some research online but got a lot of conflicting information - some things said low blood sugar was a result of too many refined carbohydrates, some things said to split the food groups, some thing said to eat apples after a meal.... ?!!

Any advice would be much appreciated :)

xx

2.3 is pretty low, it should be between 4 and 9. I also have anorexia however my weight is currently in a safe range. I also suffer badly from low blood sugar to a point that it is almost never above 4. Its serious and dangerous, it can lead to ketoacidosis, coma and death.

It doesnt matter what your weight is and whether youve been at a lower weight or not. Ive never been underweight as such but ive had this problem with hypoglycemia for quite a while and it began when i was in the overweight range. 

The only way to correct it is to eat regular meals and snacks. Often it helps to eat something every hour or so. Dont eat things that have a high glycemic index, such as sweets of chocolate. Yes this will make your blood sugars rise, but they will rise too quickly and sharply and will crash again within an hour or so. It is best to eat at regular intervals and eat things that have a low glycemic index. 

Are you seeing a dietician?? If not then i suggest you do find one who can help you in your recovery from anorexia (weight gain) and also advise you on how to best deal with your hypoglycemia.

i have hypoglycemia and this is my standard eating schedule. 

breakfast - 7:30 am

snack - 9:00 am

lunch - 11:00 am

snack - 2:30 pm

snack - 4:00 pm

dinner - 6:30 pm

since i eat rather slowly it can occasionally feel like i'm always eating.  on the up side, i pretty much get to eat all the time.   filling the gaps between large meals with snacks not only prevents my blood sugar from going too low between meals but also prevents too high of an upswing at the next meal.  the goal is to keep even-keeled at all times rather than swinging wildly up and down.   

i generally try to stay away from highly processed foods because i tend to find them very unfilling and they also tend be the foods that cause spikes & crashes.  i definitely try to stay away from the obvious things like chips, soda and candy but other culprits (for me, at least) include white bread & pasta, baked goods and commercially prepared soups. 

your main goals should be to eat every couple of hours and to stay away from foods with a high glycemic index.

eating reguarly and consistently is the key plenty of complex carb try to avoid to much sugary snacks imnot saying thisis bad because hell you need whatever you can get but this can cause problems with blood sugar cauaing it to rise initally but then dip very low . i have had a lw blood sugar for some time caused me to feel faintvand shaky but since montoring this it has improved. better to eat carbs like browm bread brown rice ans pasta etc they will keep the blood sugar level for longer h x

Thanks everyone for your advice :)

I'm going to try and keep to a regular eating pattern. Over the past two days I have started feeling really cold and shivering quite violently AFTER i eat something - is this a common symptom? I'm hoping it will correct itself soon, because its not a nice feeling! 

Thanks again 

xx