Missing Puzzle Piece

[Jodi is Purely Nourished]


Today was a good day. A revelation even.

I collapsed yesterday about 20 mins after eating. Legs started to shake and then went weak, my vision got tunnelled and blurry and next thing I knew I was holding myself off the floor by holding the counter- barely but with all my might. My legs were shaking like a character out of a cartoon.

I was going down.

Luckily, Rich saw me and got me in time to help me get to the other room before I passed out. But before I did, I was dreaming while still awake! Never done that before. I woke up 12 hrs later. Very frightened and found Rich especially so. I was still in a fog, very groggy and weak. My usual CFS state on waking.

This wasn't the first time. This has been going on for a while these last few years. As a matter of fact I remember the embarrassment of school assemblies and pageants where I woke up in the school office. They always blamed me for not eating breakfast- but I did and the kids in my class would wait greedily for the next show. At summer camp one year, I was the girl "in heat" because I fainted on a hot day in the sun in front of everyone- after breakfast.

My dad was a doctor. My step father was a doctor. They tested me for Hypoglycemia but nothing.

But never for
 Reactive Hypoglycemia.
 This is what I have!

I'm not pre-diabetic as most doctors want to tell me. My sugars are in range. I have a rare situation that often goes undiagnosed.

After eating food, usually high in sugar or carbs the insulin rushes in to lower the blood sugar but does it too quickly and too much. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hrs for this reaction to occur. Like a diabetic overdosing with an insulin shot it leaves the blood sugar levels too low and needing more sugar, to the point where you can't even think, the brain is literally starving for sugar. It can slur your speech, blur your vision, mess up your thinking and slip you into a coma. It also can be fatal. It mimics all the other symptoms of CFS. And fatigue and adrenal weakness are the precursor to FM, which many people with RH also have. 

Could it be? I'm trying not to get my hopes up. This is much easier to manage and resolve.

This makes so much sense in retrospect. Before I became ill, I worked long hours and went without food until I felt too sick not to eat. Then I ate almost in a frenzy as if I would die if I didn't ( and I could have) and went more long hours until the next time. When I first became really ill, I slept almost full days at a time and could not eat because I was so sick and weak. When I'm nauseous or tired, I can't eat. I go to sleep for long periods of time and wake up nauseous and exhausted again. Cortisol spikes, heart palpitations, adrenals kick in. If I eat, I just feel sick but the body is screaming for carbs, which starts the cycle again.

This explains why I have never felt well after juicing. I never understood before. Now it makes sense. Also explains the disaster that was the Master Cleanse. I did the same thing: felt ill, couldn't drink the juice and went long sleeping periods between "meals," until I collapsed and quit with processed carbs.

So this I can mananage. I need to transition slowly to food every 3 or 4 hours and keep the fiber and some minimal fats in play until I get better adjusted. I'm going to need to set an alarm! No juicing yet. But I'm excited!!

This is the perfect time to get going on detoxing and rebuilding!

 

[Mae Jardine]

Thank you for this education, Jodi.  I'll be digging into this subject futher.  It could solve some mysteries for me also and I would not have had a clue without your post.  Thank You  : )

[Robin T.]

Thank you so much Jodi! i really appreciate all the helpful information. I wish you all the best!

[Jodi is Purely Nourished]

@Robin Thompson. I am just learning how to manage but the main things I have read is to not eat foods high in sugar and carbs (mostly processed seems to be the worst offenders) and to keep the blood sugar somewhat constant so making sure to eat every 2-3 hrs. Not have large meals. They say a sign that your blood sugar is dropping is sweaty palms. I have now put these two together- it's true for me. If it does drop, eat something like a piece of fruit or juice. I have made little snack size bags of trail mix, dried fruit, nuts and seeds to have on me at all times just in case. The main thing for me is to eat something regularly even if I don't feel like it. Eventually I think the body will relearn not to over compensate with insulin, once I do a better job of keeping blood sugar steady.

Another thing is they say it happens most when someone who normally eats a high carb diet suddenly goes low carb. The body is used to pumping out large quantities of insulin for the usual high carb ( processed) meal and then suddenly you are juicing or go raw. Your insulin response is preset so to speak and then you get this overdose. Better to taper down off one diet and then ramp up on the good.

Hope this helps. I'm really amazed I never learned this connection before.

[Janet Carol Ryan]

ah Jodi, I am so grateful that loving support and help was at hand in the moment that you needed it - and that the right next piece of the puzzle is presenting itself. You are awesome and we love having you around - so follow your perfect path of health and well-being so we can celebrate!  love you

[Robin T.]

What an ordeal you have gone through but i know there is a peace in knowing what is wrong with you and that there is a name and cure for it. Hope you feel better soon. I could really relate to it because it sounds a lot like what my daughter is describing she feels like. Although she has never actually passed out she seems to have all the other symptoms you described. Can you tell me how you manage with this condition? What foods should you be eating and which ones are bad for you?

[Susan : )]

Take gooood care of YOU!

Huggggggggggggs,

Susan : )

[Bette Bliss Shaw]

I am sorry you are going through this! Yes, the perfect balance of proper foods, at the right intervals, for a long period of time, will bring balance and hopefully solve these issues.

I may be a huge wishful thinker but I have seen raw turn the most stubborn diseases around. <3

[Sally R]

Jodi, I am so glad you the might have found the answer to your situation. I know how frustrating it can be. Is there tests can tell you for sure if this is what's going on? Keep us posted.