Reactive Hypoglycemia - How Do I Deal w/o Gaining?

Hello my wonderful fellow WLS buddies!  Since my RNY I have developed reactive hypoglycemia.  I was not diabetic previously.  Sometimes I realize it might happen, because I get a little carb-zealous... but other times it hits me out of the blue.  My sugar level has gone from 125, just after eating, to 55 in 20 minutes.  So here's the deal... I have been eating about every 2 hours, which keeps it in check most of the time.  But now, I am seeing the scale creep.  I guess the cilla are growing back, and I have a much nicer appetite than I did in the first year.  My high weight was 252, my lowest weight was 151, and I am sitting at 157 right now.  I am scared to death of regaining.  I was wondering what others, who experience RHG, do to keep their blood sugar, and weight, in check?  Because I know that when I go low - sometimes I have to eat more than I had planned to get my sugar leveled.  And then, I am starving!  I could, like, suck the paint off the table leg... LOL... Any suggestions of what you are doing to keep things under control would be greatly appreciated.

Also - how, if at all, does STRESS impact your RHG?  I am under some extremely heavy stress right now.  Senior citizen + accelerated program grad school = serious STRESS.

I just eat small amounts every three hours or so.  I would try eating less at a time, since you'll be eating again soon.

When you eat your small meals, what do they look like? 

For breakfast I have a shake (Premier Protein), about 1-2 hours later I have a protein bar (Nugo GoSlim), about 2 hours later lunch (today was a tossed salad with about 3 oz of turkey), about 2 hours after that I had a peach and Kay's Naturals protein snacks, dinner will be a pizza on FlatOut bread with chicken, evening snack will probably be peanut (roasted in the shell) and probably a yogurt.  But then sometimes... I get these late night, I-ain't-sleeping-til-I-put-something-in-there, munchies... they make me crazy!

A protein shake or bar, some cheese, some yogurt, half a bagel with cream cheese (not often), a cup of soup or chili, a handful of nuts or roasted chickpeas, some raw veggies with hummus, half of a six-inch sub, a slice of pizza, occasionally just some fresh fruit but most of the time I try to include some protein with each meal/snack.

Ok - thanks... that gives me some other ideas...

I have regular (rather than reactive) hypoglycemia, but like Kelly, I eat something every 2-3 hours.  I have discovered, by trial and error, that I don't need to eat much (i adtally oly need anout half of what I atarted out eating).  It does need to be a  combination of protein, carbs, and fat, though, for best rwuskts for me.  Cheese, Greek yogurt, and nuts are my "go-to" snacks.  Even just an ounce of cheese , a half serving of Greek yogurt, or half a serving of nuts is enough to keep my blood sugar up.  So is half a glass of 2% milk.  Then I eat a bit more at my three main meals.

Lora

(6 years out... Woo hoo!)

Hi Lora - thanks for sharing... I keep a little tupperware container with a serving of nuts, a protein bar, and glucose tabs with me all of the time.  When I do go low, it seems to take more to get the levels back up, than it does to keep them level.  Congrats on the 6 years! 

I have RHG, sometimes it is extremely bad if I eat a plain carb without a protein mixed in.  I don't eat during the day, I wake up with bloodsugar at 80ish and I drink lemon iced tea during the day, I don't eat until dinner time.  I have lost weight recently due to stress but it never impacted my RHG, I just was eating less. 

The problem with all those small meals is they make you hungry and want to keep eating, that is counterproductive to keeping a stable blood sugar.  One nice balance dinner and I don't have spikes and crashes.  I eat a snack or two before bed, my normal weekly calorie total is 1000-1100 calories to stay at goal.  I eat more on the weekends because I am home with my boyfriend and we typically have breakfast.