low blood sugar?

April 18, 2012

Dear Group,

Maybe some of you have had this problem in the past, and have gotten over it

with some special method that I do not yet know about. I get up in the morning

quite early because I have a lot of cats who wake me up at 5 am or 6 am. I have

breakfast between 6 am and 7 am, which consists of Polish rye bread with

tomatoes. I have herbal tea with this since I usually cannot tolerate the

regular kind of tea because I can have heart palpitations afterwards. At about

11 am I am so dizzy and weak, because either my sugar is low or I am then very

hungry. So I have a roll with a small bottle of juice. I often have a candy bar

instead of the roll and that keeps me steady for another hour or so. Then I have

lunch with consists of pasta with spinach or kasha with a vegetable. Now that is

really upsetting is that I once I have lunch, I have to wolf down a whole

chocolate bar to finish off the lunch. I just need the chocolate right after the

lunch or at 11 am when my sugar goes down. If I do not have the chocolate after

lunch I feel weak and I have to go bed for a few hours. For my evening meal I

have bread and my soy spread. Before that I have fruit either oranges, apples

or bananas right now. I can have the chocolate cravings throughout the day, but

I try to control those.

As you all aware by now I am almost a vegan. I do eat eggs a few times a week,

but I cannot tolerate milk or milk products. After seeing a homeopathic doctor I

developed an allergy to milk! I used to eat cheese, yogurt and all of those good

things, but now they make my sinuses swell up which can lead up to a sinus

infection and the use of more antibiotics.

As I am typing this, I am becoming aware that perhaps I am not eating enough

fruit. I have asked my doctor in New York City if it makes a difference to my

CFS is I am almost a vegan, he said that at this point it makes no difference at

all. So please do not write back and say that I am not taking care of myself

when I am not eating meat. I will not be a part of the industry that hurts

animals and that is all that I can say about it. I half Indian and as an adult

in my forties I decided to practice Hinduism, which was the religion of my

father.

I moved back to Poland about 6 years ago after living 35 years in the US. My

mother was Polish and I was born here. I live on the edge of a Polish village

with a farm on the other side of the woods across my street. The air and the

environment are still very clean and it is very quiet.

I have had blood sugar tests here in Poland. I had both tests done, that is, the

one where the sugar is tested without having breakfast and the one that tests

the sugar before after breakfast. All came out to be quite good. There are not

that many medical tests available in Poland as are available in the US. So I am

looking for a way to manage my problem on my own.

I wish that I could stop myself from wolfing down that chocolate bar every day

after lunch. The problem with the craving for sweets right after a main meal

started before I had CFS but now they have become quite pronounced. I have

gained about 15 lbs or more, because of this and many of my clothes do not fit

right now. When I lived in the US I used to take Chromium three times a day and

this used to control my sugar cravings. Now when I use Chromium I feel much

weaker and my CFS seems to get worse. I am getting worried because I have a very

serious heart attack history in my father's family and most of the fat is now

located around my waist which means that my heart can be at danger.

I have had CFS for the past 21 years. Did any of you have this problem with

chocolate cravings and how did you deal with it?

Mira S. Ghoshal

April 22, 2012

Dear Mira,

I also notice that there is very little protein in your diet. I have found that

having protein at breakfast (in my case, 2 soft-boiled eggs) helps a great deal.

If you avoid meat products for philosophical reasons, then you can try the

vegetarian combinations such as beans + rice (many traditional recipes) which

will give you a complete protein. If for digestive reasons, maybe you could try

very small amounts of various types to see if you can tolerate something.

The other thing I've been doing is trying to get in as much probiotics as

possible, which helps digestive health. Yogurt, kefir, live-culture sauerkraut,

creme fraiche, kombucha, etc. Any of that may help you digest other foods

better.

Good luck, I hope this gets better for you.

Marcia on

in Salem, Massachusetts

On Apr 19, 2012, at 12:05 AM, Mira Ghoshal wrote:

>

> Dear Group,

>

> Maybe some of you have had this problem in the past, and have gotten over it