blood sugar issues

[Man Beast]

Ok, so ever since I was a kid I would experience these symptoms (I'm 31 now, 5'9 265 pounds). I've never really looked into it or went for testing about it. But here is what happens.

Sometimes when I eat a assload of sugar like a couple cans of dew and a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, a 45 minutes to an hour later I guess I crash. I get very weak, and very shaky, sometimes I even feel sick to my stomach and if I don't eat something fast I would prolly pass out, although that has never happened. Once I eat something (has to be something like pizza, or pasta, a burger whatever) I immediately start to feel better. A sigh of relief.

Now this doesn't just happen when I eat a buttload of sugar, since I have been dieting more consciously to try and thin out this can occur if I say, a can of tuna, a salad with a tad of cheese, some fat free dressing and maybe some broccoli. So LOW carb. Then 30-45 minutes later same thing starts to happen, I get weak, shaky, sick etc.

So it happens either way, and some supplements I take like R ALA lower your blood sugar so I have to compensate with more carbs. And it just seems like I'm kinda stuck being 20-25 pounds over weight cuz I cant really cut my carbs without these symptoms affecting me. And its not that I want to cut my carbs out, but I am trying to lower them and take in more protein. I dunno, I will be scheduling a doctors appointment within the next week to see if I can shed some light on this and get some blood work done.

Any thoughts?

 

[CDB]

Could be insulin resistance. If your body becomes resistant to insulin your blood sugar doesn't clear out for a while, then your body basically supercompensates, puts out a ****load of insulin and your cells finally pull the sugar out of your blood but so rapidly it can cause a crash. I'd honestly stay away from the sugar if I were you, at least until a doc checks you out. If they test you for diabetes or IR you're going to have to fast for a while before the test anyway, so might as well get used to saying goodbye to the cinnamon toast crunch. The crash after the protein could just be a lack of low GI carbs leading to just plain old hypoglycemia later in the day, the good old afternoon slump which can be avoided by eating balanced meals throughout the day. If it is IR, the sugar you're eating is getting into your blood, staying there longer than it should, and then being pulled out at a rate faster than it should be, leaving you with low blood sugar which you'll generally start to feel in the early afternoon. Just another crash really, not from having your blood sugar cleared too rapidly but from having low blood sugar altogether due to a lack of intake.

 

[jonny21]

It could be rebound hypoglycemia. "No concentrated sweets" type of diet can be helpful.

You could also have low BP and the digestive process is taxing to your circulatory system.

Bloodwork is needed to make any sound judgements.

 

[Man Beast]

Yes, I do notice that when I balance my diet I can go days without these symptoms. I am still fighting the will to have sweets though. I don't have low BP, at one point I was borderline hypertension, but I believe that has subsided. At any rate I guess I will post my results after the doc visit. Not looking forward to a fasting if I really have to do that.

 

[CDB]

Yes, I do notice that when I balance my diet I can go days without these symptoms. I am still fighting the will to have sweets though. I don't have low BP, at one point I was borderline hypertension, but I believe that has subsided. At any rate I guess I will post my results after the doc visit. Not looking forward to a fasting if I really have to do that.

I think fruit or even dried fruit would help a bit. It's sugar, the dried fruit, especially the dried berry mix at Costco, tastes great, but the sugar in there shouldn't give you quite the same spike you'd get from downing candy. At least I don't think it would.