Hypoglycemia For Dummies

Cheryl Chow has been a writer, editor, and journalist for more than 20 years. James Chow, MD, is a member of the American Academy of Family Medicine.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2What You’re Not to Read 2Icons Used in This Book 3Foolish Assumptions 3How This Book Is Organized 3Part I: Addressing Your Ups and Downs: Could This Be Hypoglycemia? 4Part II: Diagnosing and Treating Your Hypoglycemia 4Part III: Emulating Lifestyles of the Well and Healthy 4Part IV: Spinning a Network of Support for Yourself (and Others) 4Part V: The Part of Tens 4Where to Go from Here 5Part I: Addressing Your Ups and Downs: Could This Be Hypoglycemia? 7Chapter 1: Riding the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster Isn’t Any Fun 9Defining Hypoglycemia 9Organic 10Relative 10Reactive 11Like a Greased Pig: Easy to Define, Tough to Pin Down 11Identifying key symptoms 13Arriving at a diagnosis 13Knowing Who’s Prone 15Prevailing problem: The pudge! 15Like a couple of hooligans: Linking hypoglycemia and diabetes 16Heading Toward Better Health 16Chapter 2: Digesting Hypoglycemia: Your Body’s Role 19Absorbing Some Physical Food 19Breaking down proteins 20Pancreas plays its part 21Insulin gone awry 23Tracing Cause and Effect 24Multiple causes 24Exhausting your adrenals 25Ravaging your health: The couch and the potato 26Sugar, sugar, everywhere — except where you need it 27Addressing Addictions: The Link to Low Blood Sugar 28Chapter 3: Symptoms without a Cause 31Jumping on Stage: No, You’re Not Faking It 31Eying the Physical Symptoms 32Identifying the Emotional Symptoms 33Unmasking Hypoglycemia’s Hidden Faces 35Reactions to food 36Overlapping syndromes 39Haggling with hypothyroidism 41Joining the hypo bandwagon: Hypoadrenalism 42Hypoglycemia and Diabetes — Flip Sides of the Same Coin? 43Looking at the syndrome flowchart 43Identifying the types of diabetes 44Nailing Down Hypoglycemia: Symptoms throughout the Ages 46Hypoglycemia and newborns 46Hypoglycemia and children 47Hypoglycemia and pregnant women 47Hypoglycemia and menopausal women 48Hypoglycemia and older people 48Part II: Diagnosing and Treating Your Hypoglycemia 49Chapter 4: Matching Up with the Right Doc 51Why Seeing a Doc on a Regular Basis Is Important 51Paging Dr. Perfection 52Knowing what to look for in a doc 53Finding the right doc 54Dealing with doubters 56Choosing a Specialist 56Internists and family doctors 57Endocrinologists 57Preparing Shows You’re Caring (About Yourself) 58What to take to your appointment 58Following up after the appointment 61Putting Some Ohhhhmm into It: Alternative Medicine 62Defining your alternatives 62Considering your alternatives 63Working in tandem 65Chapter 5: Getting the Lowdown on Low Blood Sugar. 69Poking and Prodding Yourself 69Filling in the circles: A questionnaire 70Eating by trial 72Getting the 411 on Hypoglycemia Testing 73The pros and cons of these tests 74What to expect from the tests 75How your doc interprets the results 78Graphing your own results 80Chapter 6: Gorging on Good Health 85Of Food Pyramids and Healthy Eating 86Re-designing the familiar pyramid 86Building a hypoglycemic pyramid 87Keeping your diet in balance 89Shunning problematic foods 90The World’s Your Oyster and Your Pear — Foods to Eat 91Life’s a bowl of cherries: Fruits 92Vegging out isn’t a bad thing 94The squeaky hypoglycemic gets the grease: Fats 96Powering up with proteins 98Doing dairy 99Breaking the proverbial camel’s back: Breads and grains 99Eating the Right Way 101Starting off on the right foot 101Eating six meals — or more — a day 103The most important meal 103Sizing up your servings 104Getting back on the wagon if you’ve fallen off 105Adding helpful food substitutes 106Hypoglycemia in Vegetarians: What Can You Eat? 107Chewing on a Food Journal 108Knowing what to record 108A food journal isn’t just for food 109Tracking your progress 110Chapter 7: Hanging with Herb and His Buddies Vitamin and Supplement. 111Getting Acquainted with Herb 111Saying Hello to Supplements and Vitamins 112Vitamins and minerals 112Supplements 113Taking the Hypoglycemia Mix 114Matching Supplements to Ails: Which Makes You Feel Better? 119Anxiety 120Asthma 121Chronic fatigue syndrome 122Constipation 122Depression/mood swings 123Digestive problems 125Fatigue and energy drain 127Fibromyalgia 128Headaches 128Insomnia 129Low sex drive 130Memory problems/poor concentration 131Midafternoon slump 132Nausea 133Poor circulation 133Stress 134Water retention 135Table of Contents ixTaking a Whiff: Aromatherapy 135Rocking Bach’s Flower Remedies 136Part III: Emulating Lifestyles of the Well and Healthy 137Chapter 8: Easing Symptoms and Energizing with Exercise 139Why Exercise Is Important When Battling Hypoglycemia 139Easing Your Way into Exercise 141Modifying your behavior 141Finding the time to exercise 142Timing Your Carbs 142Improving Insulin and Feeling the Burn: Aerobics 143Strut your stuff and work that walk 144What’s the difference, you ask? Running and jogging 146Shaking your groove thang: Dancing 147Regulating Blood Sugar with Yoga and T’ai Chi 148Going yoga 148Taking T’ai Chi 149Kicking Weakness with Weights 150Building endurance with bodyweight workouts 150Easing into free weights with body weights 152Incorporating free weights intoyour exercise regimen 152Clearing Brain Fog with Qigong 153Chapter 9: All Stressed Out and Nowhere to Go. 155How Stress Impacts Your Hypoglycemia 155Determining Your Stress Level 156Knotting Off: Relaxing Your Tight Muscles 157Taking a Deep Breath to Relax 159Breathing helps regulate your blood sugar 159Trying some deep-breathing exercises to relax 160Surfing the Alpha Wave with Meditation 161Balancing your blood and body 162Energizing with EFT 164Kicking food cravings in the gut 168Making the Ultimate Smoothie: Hypno-Soothing 171Chapter 10: Defanging the Depression Demons 173Revealing Another Epidemic 174Knowing What (Gray) Matters 175Getting Comfy on the Couch 176Mastering new thinking skills 177Thinking healthy 178Easing through the transition 179Beating the Low Blood Sugar Blues 180Stop being so SAD 180Taking a swing at your mood 181Discussing dietary plans 182Feeling Out Antidepressants 184Identifying the different drugs 184Considering antidepressants? Know both sides of the story 186Working with a psychiatrist 187Chapter 11: Making It through Your Day at Work 189No Rings around Either: Blue and White Collar Workers 190Hard hat area 191Tie required 191Addressing Your Boss and Co-Workers 192Knowing when (and how) to tell your boss and co-workers 192Knowing when not to tell 193Flying with the legal eagles 194Finding practical solutions 195Framing your condition positively 196Putting Up a Cot in the Cubicle?Managing Long Work Hours 197Gettin’ in the groove with work 197Breaking up your work day 198Preparing for those long hours when you’re away from the office 199Diffusing Work-Related Stress 200Evaluating your life: Does this job impede your health? 201Passing up the caffeine 202Creating a cozy cubicle 203Part IV: Spinning a Network of Support for Yourself (and Others) 205Chapter 12: Jockeying for Support 207Grasping the Link between Support and Hypoglycemia 207Getting Yourself Out There 208Getting to Know Me 209Joining the In-Crowd 212Netting some help 213Doing the 12-step 215Buddying Up 218Matching up with a buddy 218Starting off on the right foot with your buddy 219Chapter 13: Dealing with Friends and Family: Eat and Let Eat. 221How Hypoglycemia Can Affect Your Relationships 221Explaining to Your Significant Other 222Starting with open dialog 222Helping your significant other cope 223Talking to Your Children about Hypoglycemia 224Keep it simple 224Be prepared for questions 225Reiterate that they didn’t make you sick 225Involving the Whole Family 226Can we talk? 226Helping your loved ones help you 227When can we eat? 228Dealing with the Doubting Thomases 230Staying clear of negativity 230Avoiding conflict 231Maintaining your boundaries 232Sabotaging the saboteurs 233Chapter 14: Suffering Along with Your Sweetie? 235Introducing Mr. (or Ms.) Hyde 236Understanding Hyde’s condition 236Identifying Hyde’s symptoms 237Talking It Over 237Starting with the four Rs 238Giving these words the green light 239Stopping negative talk 240Offering Your Offspring Support 241Jumping In with Both Feet (and 2.5 Kids, a Dog, and a Cat) 242You Be Betty Crocker and I’ll Be Julia Child 243Part V: The Part of Tens 245Chapter 15: Ten Myths about Hypoglycemia 247Hypoglycemia Doesn’t Exist 247Hypoglycemics Lack Willpower 248Eating Sugar Is a Quick Fix 248One Diet Fits All 249Eliminating the “Bad” Foods Is All You Have to Do 249You Can’t Be a Vegetarian if You’re Hypoglycemic 250Having a “Cheat Day” Is Okay 250Sugar Can Be Part of a Healthful Diet 251Hypoglycemics Should Eat Low-Fat Diets 251Blood Glucose Levels Remain the Same throughout the Day 252Chapter 16: Ten Hints for Helping Hypoglycemics 253Acting Practically at Home 253Testing for Sugar 254Controlling Blood Sugar 254Dining Out: The Do’s and Don’ts 255Food Facts for Tasty Health 257Noshing on Nourishment 258Eating Brainy Foods 259Banishing Brain Fog 259Remembering How to Deal with Short-Term Memory Loss 261Changing Successfully 262Index 263