Clare

Westy, just will power hun, I dont believe in all these nicotine aids, altho I do know people that have used them to quit. Quite a few people have quit using the Allan Carr book, Stu is one of them and look how well he has done!

Jen.......... you're an angel, think i'll be making a trip there soon

Not long got home from work and had a weak moment when I saw the pack in my kitchen, then my phone goes and its Julie my Best mate, first time today she desperately wanted a fag so she rang me instead bless her, i'll admit im now gagging for a ciggy but thats cos I normally have one while I wait for my dinner to cook............... hence I am now on here to keep my mind busy

Gonna have food, then got for a stroll round the lake and try not to stop for chocolate on the way What is it with me and chocolate, I never used to this bad with it, im proper addicted to it now

Keith B

I agree with what someone else said - wouldnt ever considering going out with a smoker.

Here's my advice for what its worth:

You friends that smoke wont want you to quit because it brings it to their attention that they should quit. Hanging around with them in the short term will I'm sure bring on the sympathy cravings. If you go out for a beer then dont go with the smokers - the beer will weeken your will and before you know it you'll be back on the express train to lung cancer and wrinkled skin.

Something to consider regarding your health - some smokers end up amputees as the restricted blood flow can get to the point where you have to lose your extremities.

My own opinion: Its f*ckin disgusting - get some will power and self respect!

Katie

What they say is true though, one addiction is replaced by another....
Chocolate won't kill you Clare....well, it's not been proven yet...lol

Good luck!

Clare

lol @ Katie, but im addicted to BOTH!!!!!!!

Keith B, slightly harsh considering im trying to do something about it

Katie

lol, then your buggered my lovely
only by smoking could you curb your chocolate problem....now it's free to take over your life

Clare

Katie

least we won't have to look for you at any shows eh, it'll be the girl who's arse is still coming in the gate at national day whilst her face has been in 5 hours

Im only joking sweetie
Bit of exercise babe, swimming etc will stop you needing to resist the chocolate...just find a cure instead of a prevention...its too hard that way
Smoking is one thing but giving up chocolate is a step too far for anyone

Clare

Im properly addicted I tell thee!!! lol When I first found out I was hypoglycemic I didnt touch any chocolate for about 2 years, then I discovered I could get away with having some after a main meal............. and now I get a bit carried away, eating too much in one go and making myself ill.............. I really need a new addiction, one that wont make me put on weight, wont kill me and give me exercise............ oh I know....... sex!

Katie

or ironing?
I can bring mine round anytime you need a hit

Clare

LMAO!!! Have you SEEEEN my attempt at ironing???

Katie

well it can't be worse than mine....leaving the stuff in the basket gathering dust

Clare

I need a fag............. grrrrr need to keep busy, think i'll go out for a drive.

Katie

lol....just don't go in any pubs in order to inhale other peoples cigarette smoke....

Keith B

My comments were merely to push you in the right direction

I'm a bit hypoglycemic too. Its the rate of absorbtion of sugar that you have to watch. If you avoid fizzy drinks (CO2 speeds the absorbtion rate) and caffeine then you'll be doing yourself alot of favours. I find that as long as you line your stomach with a good healthy stuff first then you can get away with eating quite a bit of choc

Clare

Healthy food isnt really the best thing to control mine unfortunately, im supposed to eat a lot of carbs to compensate for not eating sugar. I can only safely eat a small amount of chocolate after a main meal that has included carbs of some sort, being vegetarian aswell means I have quite a poor diet of mainly processed foods, something im trying to change.

Eating regular meals within set time frames is also very difficult with my lifetyle and im often ill from leaving it too late to eat a meal, car shows are the worst, im trying to get into the habit of taking a packed lunch with me or I end up being poorly before the show finishes

All that aside...... I still would kill for a fag!!!

Katie

Do nuts do much for you clare?
I don't know much about it but a friend I know who has it and doesn't eat much meat (isnt veggie just never does) is always eating peanuts and stuff ?? any good?

CharlieSaff

Hi Clare hope all goes well not smoked for a year now
after smoking for 35 years ,30-35 a day
Get today out the way and each day should easier
All the best

Keith B

Healthy food isnt necessarily what you need to control hypoglycemia. Who ever told you to eat carbs to compensate for sugar is sorely mistaken. The body will process anything it takes in to produce energy. Some carbs are very easily broken down into sugar and some arent. You need to make sure you stay away from refined carbs. A balanced meal is what its all about. Some other veggies I know tend to eat alot of sweet stuff to compensate for the lack of interesting food (Sorry but IMO veggie diet is dull) I'm not sure why you say being a veggie means you have a poor diet of mainly processed food - its usually the opposite!

There are plenty of snacks you can eat that are relatively low in sugar. Just have some to hand with you incase of hunger. Being hypoglycemic you should aim for smaller meals and small snacks between meals.

Stay away from alcohol too as its stacked with sugar and things that are very easily converted to sugar.

I used to get clobbered by my diet but now I'm A1 all the time - jsut takes some time to get used to it. Lots of exercise will help too espeically once you give up the death sticks.

Clare

Katie,
Ive never been a big fan of nuts, but the girls at work insisted I tried what they eat, sunflower seeds are ok but a bit boring (and get in the gaps of my keyboard ) Salted cashew nuts are a hit with me, defo stem the choc craving for a while anyway, not really enough carbs in them on their own tho.

Thanks Charlie, congrats on you making it a year!!!! This evening has been much harder than I expected but ive stuck with it, even better still my friend Julie has stuck with it too, she smoked more than me and I thought she'd find it harder than me but if anything im the one ready to pull my hair out, almost gone 24 hours now, that is my personal goal cos I think once you can do 24 hours there's no excuse to ever have one again.

Keith,
It was my doctor who told me how to control it and in all honesty providing I follow the rules he gave me im usually 100% bang on, it just on the odd occasion when I stray from my pattern of eating that I get caught out and get poorly. I eat a lot of bread, chips, potatoes etc..... high carb foods but also quite heavy fat foods, so im going for a complete change but at the same time trying to find alternative foods for the carbs. Its proving difficult but I must be borderline getting it right as I havn't collapsed yet or lost my temper, just felt a bit groggy the last few days.

Alcohol is another weakness in me, I dont drink often but when I do its usually excessivly and I tend to have numb toes the next day Usually a high carb breakfast the morning after soon gets my body back to normal.

Its interesting how many people suffer with it these days, when I was first diagnosed no one knew what the hell it was, shame it took so long for the Docs to find out what was wrong with me but it was the best thing they ever did

Keith B

Clare - I hope your quack made the right distinction in his carbs. Some are good and some are too easily processed to sugar.
Potatoes arent too good as the starch is very easily converted to sugar. Bread - stick to brown and not white.
I used to lose my temper BIG time - and I had no idea why! LOL! Conversely if I had way too much sugar I'd be groggy and moody. Sometimes I'd get really dizzy too and my eyes would be all over the place. Can't say my toes ever went numb!!!! that sounds pretty mental. If I eat something really sugary I get like traces off my hands and dont sleep well as I tend to get very hot and get night sweats too. Another thing that can happen is that you get all bunged up (in your nose) as your body makes more mucus to slow down the absorbtion of sugar. Nice!

I read something that said its becoming alot more prevalent along with diabetes due to the poor diets people have these days.

I usually have a starter with a meal rather than a dessert or if I do go for the dessert then I'll share it with someone.

Clare

It affects my sleep slightly differently to yours Keith, it tends to give me similar effects to being comatosed if ive had too much sugar also in mild cases I get an instant 'high', then dizziness, feeling like I am drunk or drugged but that generally only lasts for around 15 mins then I hit rock bottom, cannot keep my eyes open, head starts to bang, mood goes totally out of control and nothing can pull it back once its got to that stage, all I can do is eat some toast and go to bed for a few hours, when I wake up im usually right as rain again.

I have discovered something that brings it on instantly, without fail, Skittles!!! lol If I eat a packet of skittles I might as well go home from work sick for the rest of the day cos they totally knock me sideways, fook knows what they put it them things

Keith B

I hear you on the comatosed thing. I get a massive energy rush then can't keep my eyes open and I'm like a zombie. That lasts for as long as it takes my body to burn it off - If I have time and I get like that I go out on my bike to burn off all the fuel I jsut put on board.
One thing guaranteed to set me off is anything sugary in combination with diet pepsi - I jsut lurvvvvvvve diet pepsi but it sends me hyper. I read up on it and apparently its the combination of the caffeine increasing the metabolic rate that sugar is absorbed at combined with the CO2 in the drink which allows stuff through the stomach wall faster.
The thing I find best to eat from a balance point of view is (its better than it sounds......) a brown bread sandwich with peanut butter and blackcurrant jam The Yanks introduced me to it and it has some of everything in it and does the trick every time
Skittles are soooooooooo loaded with sugar - wouldnt surprise me if there was caffeine in them too!

I tend to get very cold sometimes as well. Soon as my blood sugar drops down I get cold - even out here where is been close to 100 fahrenheit for a week!!

Until I realised what was going on I used to think I was a right miserable git - oh the wasted years! LOL!

RichardPON

Right, I wondered about that

Clare

I know EXACTLY where you're coming from! lol

I have the same love for Diet Coke, again tho its almost like an addiction as if I dont have any by around 10.30am I start to feel quite groggy but this is probably down to the caffine content, I dont drink tea or coffee either.

I do suffer from feeling cold, so much so I wear jumpers to work in the summer but I never knew this might be linked to my hypoglycemia, I guess it takes over most aspects of my life so it shouldnt really come as much of a surprise.

I do now know why I suffer with food cravings eg currently the chocolate thing, apparently this is a big side effect, something my doctor neglected to tell me, explains a lot

Keith B

I used to take a packed lunch to my old job back in the UK and by 10 o clock I'd be starving hungry and my entire lunch would be gone by 11am !!

If you think diet coke is bad you should try diet pepsi. Either there's more caffeine it or something but its a harder hit than diet coke.

I'll send you a sample day of what I eat and what I avoid so you can compare it yours. I recon I've got some word documents somewhere on all this stuff so I'll try and dig them out too.

I've found that eating fresh veggies and working out alot have helped no end. Cutting back on the booze would have been hard in the UK - espeically with my booze hound friends but out here not many people drink anyway. God help me on my UK holiday!

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Interesting...
Its taken me years to realise that my mood swings are related to food.. ive discovered it this year and am still trying to figure out just wich foods are causing it.

VERY interesting discussion, good to read, thanks.

CossieRich

iTrader: (1)

Good luck Clare. Hope you manage it. I need to stop smoking as well

rsnissan

iTrader: (9)

have you got passed the morning ciggy urge yet?

Clare

Hi Andy

Yep, this morning has been a piece of piss compared to last night, thanks for everyones support

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Dont give in please Clare.

Mike C

iTrader: (1)

Anonymous

Women as old as you shouldnt still be having sex, do something useful and follow Katie's suggestion to do more ironing instead.

Katie

Oi you, cheeky, don't bring me into your sexist joke

RichardPON

I actually found that drinking water helped.

Everytime the craving was bad, a small glass of water sipped seemed to help a little.

Keep occupied too - it's not the fag breaks that are the problem - it's the post meal fags, post sex-fags, or just having a fag cos you're bored.........

Clare

Just been out with Julie for lunch, im really feeling the strain now but amazingly she is coping fine, she used to smoke way more than me but according to her book it is harder for casual smokers to quit than hardened smokers, when she explained the logic behind it, it made sense.

We both agreed last night was very difficult and we're not looking forward to this evening, her book states that tomorrow will be the hardest day as the 3rd day is when the final traces of nicotine leave your body, Julie normally fails on the 3rd day so we're both gonna have to be very supportive of each other........... my work collegues have been pre-warned for tomorrows mood

Anonymous

sounds like you need more than just ironing to do, ill bring round my car for you to clean as well

Clare

You can come round Chip, but I aint washing your car, i'll wash the Fiesta before I wash someone elses car...................... and like thats ever gonna happen!

Anonymous

You can have the choice Clare, anal sex or wash the car.

Same choice cally gets every weekend, but the car hasnt been cleaned for ages

Clare

And wouldn't you love to know which of the two i'd prefer

Anonymous

Not really, i prefer "forced love" anyway

Sex is no fun if the girl isnt screaming "no please stop" IMHO