The other big problem I had in recent weeks with my Lyme flare-up is blood sugar problems - namely hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). It has been very scary and sometimes resembled Lyme panic attacks (nervousnous, shaking, sweaty palms, extreme weakness).
Has anyone else experienced this? Ideas about the cause or how to fix it?
- A
Posts: 443 | From The Wild West | Registered: Jan 2002
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You are not alone in this one... I have found that there are some days that I have the same problem...and it does kind of resemble at least the beginning of a panic attack... What I have started doing when it happens is to eat something to bring my blood sugar up... If it goes away, then I know that's what it is... Make sure that you try to keep your blood sugar level, not alot of sweets, etc., so it doesn't keep yo-yoing... But know that you are not alone in this...
Posts: 50 | From Port Crane, NY | Registered: Apr 2007
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Yes, I think there must be some relationship.
When my husband got sick he had to eat breakfast, snack promptly at 10 a.m., and eat exactly at noon or he would, "go downhill" as he called it.
He never suffered this before his dx and with abx this symptom has improved GREATLY. Where now he is back to his old self in that regard.
Posts: 554 | From Naples, Italy | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I never had blood sugar issues until lyme, now I am hypoglycemic and I just found that out.
Posts: 413 | From nj | Registered: Nov 2005
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The thing is the low blood sugar usually strikes AFTER eating. I also sometimes get very thirsty after eating. I have been checking my blood with a friend's machine and it never goes very high (114 was the highest, usually 80-95 range) It does drop to low 70's and I usually feel terrible then.
Improver - what are you doing to manage the hypoglycemia?
- A
Posts: 443 | From The Wild West | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
I have had lyme almost all my life and have had hypoglycemia all my life also. I have to watch it or I will go into seizures.
I had a seizure just the other day and I "woke up" to my seven year old with a spoon of icing in my mouth. I'm glad he had the mind to do that.
It's a horrible thing to have. But I do remember reading an article saying Lyme and Hypoglycemia go hand and hand in most lyme cases.
Posts: 94 | From Greenville, Tx | Registered: Apr 2007
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Yes, I hypoglycemia too.... Never had it till lymes...
The best thing that works for me is, NO sugars
at all, not even fruits, they send me crashing
and only some low-starchy foods....no fried
foods either ... If your going to have a potato
than balance it with veggies and a salad to
bring down the glycemic index....
I eat LOTS of small meals throughout my day!!
Always have snacks handy if you are out of the
house, no matter how short you think you'll be
gone ...this takes more time & planning, but it
becomes second nature after awhile.... eat
before you feel like your starting to drop.....
snack, snack, snack
Mahalos~
fawne
-------------------- Energy flows where attention goes~ Posts: 302 | From Kauai | Registered: May 2007
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Marnie
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Bb is using your glucose for energy, depleting the cells.
The cells need glucose, so a backup system kicks into play.
Gluconeogenesis.
The liver makes glucose from non-carbon sources...including some amino acids.
This is exactly what Bb wants to happen.
Glucagon levels are up. This triggers insulin release, lowering sugar.
It is up for several reasons besides controlling sugar.
It also inactivates an enzyme called HMG CoA reductase which halts VLDL release...very low density lipoproteins...from the liver. These contain choline.
Protective mechanism. But...
We need cholesterol..myelin sheath (insulation around our nerves)+ need to make our own cell walls.
Bb's cell wall is similar to our own cholesterol.
Which is causing a lot of problems.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Anyone ever have BIAXIN cause a blood sugar problem? I see it listed as a possibility on prescribing information.
Marnie - you sound very informed on the process that is occuring. My question - is there anything I can take (supplement), eat or do that would help reverse this process? Anyone?
I'm already eating no sugar or simple carbs (except a little brown rice), having five meals per day...
- Andrew
Posts: 443 | From The Wild West | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Lyme and coinfection tx with abx has greatly helped me with this. It takes time though.
Follow a good diet and take plenty of probiotics.
Posts: 925 | From California | Registered: Sep 2004
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Marnie
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Andrew, it is a matter of the RIGHT sugar needed by the cells as well as the RIGHT acid.
NOT just a sugar!!! Do you know WHICH sugar I think is important? Posted recently.
The cells need sugar, for sure, but to rid the infection, we need the RIGHT acid.
Now...look closely at this:
"The results of this study also suggested that gelatin inhibits growth of B. burgdorferi CA4
and B. bissettii CA389 in BSK H and BSK II media and has no significant effect on the growth rate of B. corieaceae CA435 in BSK H."
Research gelatin and see which amino acid it is MOST high in...then research THAT amino acid!!!
Watch for the words "optically active".
Do you know about the Western Fence Lizard? This lizard hunts at NIGHT. It eats insects which use (blank) as a defense.
At night...at sunset...our body converts serotonin back to melatonin. It does this as our EYES sense "sunset". At sunrise, this reverses.
When people live in cloudy areas, they develop...SAD...seasonal affective disorder. Serotonin drops because melatonin is not converting back. Full spectrum LIGHTS are needed for the conversion.
There are reasons why I cannot spell this out exactly for you. Trust me and follow my "hints".
Andrew...our cells ...all of them...need glucose. If you think not eating sugar and doing low carbs will help...think again.
The body triggers the liver to MAKE glucose! From other non-carbon sources.
This is EXACTLY what Bb wants to happen.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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lymeHerx001
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But if we are eating glucose directlly then we are feeing Bb first.
If we are eating protein then we are feeding it second.
Isint the later more appropriate for our health?
Bb wants the liver to make glucose to survive, but whats the other option. It seems you give none. A case of damned if you do, damned if you dont. No?
By the way are you hinting on the inhibitory amino acid Glycine? Glycine always made me feel terrible.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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I found the link and tried to read the article. It is too much for me right now. Is there information in here I could use regarding what to eat/take? Anyone?
- Andrew
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Marnie
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posted
LymeHerx,
Did you take glycine with a sugar at the same time?
Not surprised if you did not...and felt lousy.
When we are TOO acidic, we feel really crummy. It is harmful to the kidneys.
Gotta balance with sugar (the RIGHT one). Doesn't take a lot.
Watch closely at the mention of chloride channels...when researching glycine.
We KNOW KCL can destroy Bb.
PERSONALLY...okay...sticking my neck out...
I'd try d-ribose, glycine, and Juvenon...for very, very specific reasons.
D-ribose I'd take with glycine...and Juvenon later in the day.
There is competition among the amino acids, so I would not do all 3 at one time.
Juvenon is already electromagnetically balanced.
Bb does not feed off protein! It uses sugars and fats to make its lipoprotein cell wall. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.
Without a steady supply of glucose, brain cells will DIE....for starters.
Do NOT go off carbs...complex carbs are better as they do not trigger an insulin release, but...they provide a much slower release of glucose. The cells in which Bb is attacking are using glucose pretty rapidly. Bb is depleting the cells of the glucose it needs to survive.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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lymeHerx001
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quote:Originally posted by Marnie: LymeHerx,
Bb does not feed off protein! It uses sugars and fats to make its lipoprotein cell wall. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.
I never implyed it fed off protein.
Without a steady supply of glucose, brain cells will DIE....for starters.
Doesnt the liver store glycogen for such a scenario? It was my understanding that this is very difficult unless we catabolize all of our muscles and fat reserves. Please correct me. Actually going off sugar clears my head.
Do NOT go off carbs...complex carbs are better as they do not trigger an insulin release, but...they provide a much slower release of glucose. The cells in which Bb is attacking are using glucose pretty rapidly. Bb is depleting the cells of the glucose it needs to survive.
Only carbs for me or the small amount in nuts and veggies. I still have a problem with starch and the sugars in fruit. So your implying that Bb will win over our own cells? It seems that the body would rather preserve our cells before it does Bb.
Glucagon, Epinephrine, Cortisol, and Growth hormone all cause Glycogen breakdown and stimulate conversion of Amino acids to glucose. Is this correct? I also thought that fatty acids are oxidized into glucose when glycogen becomes low.
Is this the same scare that I hear from antagonists of the attkins movement? That you will die if you go on the low carb route?
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Marnie
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The main fuel for our body is glucose.
We use sugars and carbs FIRST - before we use fats to supply additional glucose as needed.
Gluconeogenesis is the generation of glucose from non carbon substrates like pyruvate, lactate, glycerol and glucogenic amino acids (primarily, but not exclusively, alanine and glutamine).
This is what Bb wants to happen!
Yes, the body is trying to save the cells while at the same time trying to destroy the pathogen.
Not enough nutrients to do both.
The low carb/ no sugar route is playing with fire, IMO.
The body, to maintain the pH balance...besides triggering gluconeogenesis...will pull from storage, calcium - our most abundant mineral - right out of our bones.
If too acidic = kidneys at great risk.
Calcium will cause kidney stones! (Major OUCH).
I know this from personal experience. I had a friend who went on the original Atkins diet and she did indeed begin to go into kidney failure within a relatively short period of time!
It is bad enough for healthy people...you are at far greater risk for complications when this diet is followed if you have lyme.
It may not be the sugars in fruits that are triggering your response...more likely the acids...specifically malic acid.
"aluminum binds to transferrin"
Guess which pathogen has a transferrin protein?
Malic acid (in apples) chelates Al.
Al displaces Mg. Mn will sub for Mg in a pinch.
Guess which pathogen uses Mn.
Mg is needed to make enzymes...as well as to control them.
Sounds like some of your digestive enzyme levels have dropped.
Gluten intolerance. Lactose intolerance. Both do happen.
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lymeHerx001
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So then what do you suggest Marnie?
You already stated that it is your opinion and you dont know what to make of it.
Do you have any conclusions?
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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lymeHerx001
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Might I add that I have tried digestive enzymes with food with the same deleterious effects.
I stay away from sugars and fruits because I dont want the stabbing and burning pains and fatigue that I get from them.
If I feel better off them, isint this a better compromise then living with infamation and neuropathy every day because of my diet.
It seems like a no-brainer to me.
Ill say it again. Damned if you do damned if you dont.
Actually the other day I woke up had coffe and was fine untill about 1:00, Then I had a salad with a small amount of dressing and BAM. Stabbing burning pains in my feet, my eyes blood shot, so weak I could barelly move. I was ready for bead.
What the hell! Should I give up eating all together?
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Marnie
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Re-read my 1:49 post.
Digestive enzymes for gluten intolerance have not been developed (but are in the works).
Health food stores have a lot of gluten free products.
When off gluten for a few days...if this is the underlying cause (missing the enzymes to breakdown gluten), you WILL notice a difference...feel a little better.
Need B12 shot???
[ 12. May 2007, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: Marnie ]
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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One of the other things that would happen to me is that after I ate, I would get very thirsty.
Thirst is a sign of diabetes, when the sugar is HIGH.
The thing is, I would check my sugar and it would be normal or low. I don't see thirst listed as a symptom of hypoglycemia.
Could the thirst have to do with the fact that I wasn't eating carbs?
- Andrew
Posts: 443 | From The Wild West | Registered: Jan 2002
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
marnie stated,
"Sounds like some of your digestive enzyme levels have dropped.
Gluten intolerance. Lactose intolerance. Both do happen."
yes, i have lyme, diabetes, and dx with food alergies 4-06:
gluten ... wheat and rye
casein ... cow's milk, cheeses, egg whites, and garlic
talk aout having a hard time to eat right!!
when i was in hospital last week of march 07 for my hip surgery, diabetes wentwild! up to 279 at worst; down to 79 a lot eating CORRECT foods.
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Marnie
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Sugar ALWAYS rises post op.
It is part of the healing process.
Docs immediately think...diabetes.
My mom, post gall bladder surgery...became "diabetic".
The oral drugs = in the bathroom ALL DAY (very loose stools).
So...we went the "natural" route...
Gluco Reg by Solar Ray. It is chromium + acids.
(Not unlike the Perricone Prescription to "reverse aging" i.e., heal the mitochondria.
He, too, uses chromium (a particular kind) and acids (lots) and a low glycemic index diet to heal the mitochondria.
Bruce Ames' product Juvenon...same (heal the mitochondria), but different approach...calcium + very specific acids.
Aging and disease and oxidative stress = mitrochondrial damage.
Our astronauts...undergo oxidative stress. When they return to earth, they are ANEMIC and...get this...their PFK levels drop!
No...they don't catch lyme in space, but the same seems to happen.
Researchers are trying to figure out...get this...how to monitor MAGNESIUM levels and give more as needed to prevent this from happening.
Really.
In 3 months on Gluco Reg, mom's elevated blood sugar returned to within normal limits.
If the sugar (or blood pressure) drop too low in older folks -> more mental confusion.
Our brains NEED glucose.
We gotta be careful we don't let glucose OR blood pressure to go TOO low.
Balance...tricky!
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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lymeHerx001
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Im still not eating sugar.
You said that when we eat lots of veggies and protein that our bodies take calcium from bones so we dont die.
What if the veggies that im eating have calcium like that in broccoli. Does this count for anything? Im still not dead.
Sorry Marnie. Im being a cynic on this topic. I only have my life and physical health at stake.
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