Low Blood Sugar? Looking For Input!
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Low Blood Sugar? Looking For Input!
| Tue, 04-11-2006 - 3:47am |
My question is spurred by Vixen1974's most recent thread in her post,
Manners when dining out
Thoughts guys? Is this a guy thing? Really a low blood sugar problem or just an excuse to throw tantrums?
"Experience is what you get
when you don't get what you want."
~ Author unknown
Manners when dining out
Does anybody know about low blood sugar? If you read my response to her post, you know I had a boyfriend who made that claim, but the only "symptom" I ever saw was that it gave him permission to get cranky when he was hungry. My ex-husband didn't claim low blood sugar but also was a jerk when he was hungry. I mean really, I've been plenty hungry on lots of occasions but it never made me a jerk. However, I have known several men who have become total jerks when they're hungry. Personally, it always left me disgusted with them.
Thoughts guys? Is this a guy thing? Really a low blood sugar problem or just an excuse to throw tantrums?
"Experience is what you get
when you don't get what you want."
~ Author unknown

Can't comment on low blood sugar specifically, but I can comment on being hungry and the resulting mood swings.
My son is a case in point. When he's hungry, he does tend to be far more prone to getting upset. Add hunger to his autism, and the result will be an extremely on-edge child. Just this afternoon, his mood was heading towards a full-on meltdown and my only thought was to get some food and drink into him ASAP. And yes, having him eat and drink calmed him right down.
Now I realise that a grown man should be able to control his moods far better than an autistic child - but at a base physiological level, I think that hunger does effect one's mood. When I think of my own moods I'm definately more calm after a meal.
Actually, I know a couple who never argue on empty stomachs. If they have an issue that needs addressing, they eat first and discuss it afterwards!
>>Is this a guy thing? Really a low blood sugar problem or just an excuse to throw tantrums? <<
Hey, do you realise this is the reverse of the standard male question about women? Really a PMS problem or just an excuse to throw tantrums? LOL.
Edited 4/11/2006 5:46 am ET by iv_aisha2004
My husband is diabetic, and when his blood sugar goes down, he can feel it. He begins saying things like, "I don't feel well. My blood sugar is low. I need something to eat." I have never seen him behave rudely to waiters or waitresses, although he is sometimes abrupt--and if the service is slow, he may make a few caustic comments to others at the table.
I have low blood sugar on occasion, and it can be a problem when it sneaks up on me. Then I feel nauseated, weak, and disoriented, and my behavior may be petulant and irritable (cranky--yeah!). I try to avoid this by carrying a pack of peanuts with me and eating them if a meal is going to be delayed and I feel the symptoms coming on.
For people who have this problem regularly when they go out to eat, some things that may help would be not dining at a fashionably late hour (keep food coming at regular intervals, in other words) and saying to the waiter as he seats you, "I have low blood sugar. Please bring the bread NOW." It doesn't matter if you are the one with the low blood sugar or not--the point is, you need food right away, and your male companion probably won't ask for it.
I suppose it all goes back to the basics. Recognise that one has the problem and be pro-active in doing something about it. Taking your own snacks or nicely asking for some bread is far more sensible (and nicer) than blaming others for your problems.
It's a little different, but I remember being pregnant and nauseous at a friend's wedding. Instead of worrying about when dinner would be served, I simply took some biscuits in my purse. And yes, I did need to skulk around in the shadows eating them :-P
Hypoglycemia is very real. :)
When I'm pg I get what one previous poster described in her diabetic husband, my blood sugar DROPS and I can FEEL it coming. I usually have a windown of about 5-10 minutes, TOPS before I can't stand and feel like I'm going to vomit. Proteins work the best for raising your blood sugar back up and maintaining it. Candy is a temporary fix that only buys you a couple more minutes. Same with processed carbs. They don't buy you near as much time. I usually kept peanut butter crackers with me. Raised me quick and would maintain me a little longer.
My DH is hypoglycemic. And yes, when he's been without food for X amount of time, I'm ready to kill him. He gets very cranky, irritable, and VERY tired. He eats and then he crashes for a couple of hours to return him to some sembalance of normal. We work very hard to make sure he doesn't miss a meal and that he eats decently at the meals he has. HOWEVER, it takes work from me too. For some reason he's not old enough to realize he needs to eat and take care of it. (I'm saying that sarcastically.) Some times he gets busy and forgets to eat, some times he doesn't bother. I've since told him that if he doesn't eat, fine, but not getting grouchy because of it. And it's worked fairly well. The incidents of his being "overly grouchy" have dropped.
I do think it's easy to be grouchy because you have low blood sugar, but I also think they can control it if they really want to. My DH has never told me he acts this way because he has low blood sugar. I would view that as an excuse. Valid to a degree, but an excuse. And in a restuarant.... well, you get a soda right away so there is NO REASON to be so low on blood sugar that you can't be polite. The soda should more than bring you back up while you wait for your food. Unless your food takes forever to get to you.
Jen
"Ignoring the facts
does not change the facts"
Jen, as I was reading your reply about how your husband's hypoglycemic, the first thing that struck me was that you answered Vixen's post about her boyfriend's restaurant behavior and hadn't connected it with a hypoglycemic problem at all.
"Ignoring the facts
does not change the facts"
"I have low blood sugar on occasion, and it can be a problem when it sneaks up on me. Then I feel nauseated, weak, and disoriented, and my behavior may be petulant and irritable (cranky--yeah!). I try to avoid this by carrying a pack of peanuts with me and eating them if a meal is going to be delayed and I feel the symptoms coming on."
See, now that's a proactive, adult response to what you know could be an issue.
"Ignoring the facts
does not change the facts"
Well, I think that an adult always has control over his or her actions, but I also think that the person's partner needs to be considerate to his condition. That is, know that when he has low blood sugar, that he needs to eat before he'll be able to engage you again.
I know that if I haven't eaten in time, I start to get light headed, nauseous and it takes all of my energy to focus and not get cranky. If someone keeps peppering me with questions or wanting to discuss a serious topic, I'm not going to handle it well. I won't snap on the person because of course I control my actions, but it's not someone I'm going to stay around.
Fyi, I'm not saying the OP was contributing to the problem.
I'm just pointing out that the one has to control his actions and not take out his physiological feelings on his SO, and the SO has to be sensitive to her partner's needs and know when to give some space.