Hello. I was wondering if anyone else has a sugar intolerance...especially refined/concentrated sugars. If I eat sugar, I feel drugged and tired within 10 minutes. If I check my blood sugar (I'm a nurse), it will be on the low side, even though I've eaten something with very high sugar content. Anyone know anything about this? I did see an article somewhere that said there MAY be a correlation between ADD and hypoglycemia, but I'd like more specific info.

thanks!

I feel the same way after eating processed sugars and flour. A lot of the book that I have read about AD/HD and Nutrition suggest eating a higher protien and "better carb" diet. There are some suggestions that we may actually be alergic to processed sugar and flour. I know I alway feel a lot better when I do something similar to the Atkins Diet.

Yeah, I was actually (trying) to follow the Atkins diet even before I knew about my ADD and I really do feel better when I follow it faithfully. I do have my compulsive days though;)

Thank you so much!

at the risk of repeating myself, i think this is the best thread to comment that i also have observed that im this way... over the last month that ive realy noticed, and the last week that ive realy paid attention

i get very very tired (ready for bedtime sort of tired!) after i drink a softdrink, and after i eat some silly foods like a caramel slice, im hyperactiv for 30 mins to up to an hour, then im very very tired.

the soft drink thing concerns me more than the caramel slice/ donut thing.

could i have hypoglycemia in its early stages?

Saw your post with respect to a reaction to sugar. Have had similar reactions, past 30 years, to all forms of sugar & sugar substitutes. Most of the sugar substitutes are very bad actors. I can ingest a small amount of sugar, no problem, but if I get into a position where I am exposed over several days, I lose all interest in working, sleeping, eating, exercising and doing anything. Become very tired, can not sleep, no stamina. My sinuses also become very sensitive to any particulate or gases in the air, nose runs most of the time when I get careless about sugar. Usually when something tastes really good, I stop eating, because it usually has sugar or sugar substitutes.
When I did not know what was going on, I limited eating to only lean beef and green beans untill I got some energy. Then I started adding foods. After several years of experiments, I discovered that when I ate natural surgars or sugar substitutes, my energy level would go down. I can handle potatoes, sour dough breads, almost any foods that do not have sugar. Fruits and some vegies are not allowed.
Have been tested for hypoglycemia & diabetes, all normal. Since I do not eat anything sugar, my cholesterol is the lowest my doctor has ever seen.
Do not believe that I have any signs of ADD, at least my wife does not think so.

some sugar makes me sleepy, but some makes me hyper. if i drink a mountain dew after not having soda for a couple days i am of the walls. no matter what time of the day it is if i eat chocolate you might as well get me a blanket and pillow. so i have pretty much given up on the chocolate thing. i will eat some once in a blue moon but otherwise i steer clear. i dont know if other sugar effects me, ill have to do some test although i am tired alot.....hmmmm. ill get back on that.

From my health care provider, I get the idea that the problem is a sweetness intolerance, since sugar and sugar substitutes are chemically different, therefore reacting differently in the body. That narrows the search a bit, but still nothing comes up when I search the internet. I use the search site "dogpile.com" which is a combination of most of the popular search engines.
JoeHI

This is entirely based on speculation, but it may be possible, that artificial sweeteners elicit a similar response to actual sugar simply by means of conditioning. Say you eat sugar, start bouncing off the walls or falling asleep, and make the connection between sweet stimuli and your behaviour. The next time, your tongue registers something sweet, even if it isn't sugar, you get the same automatic reaction.
I remember reading about an experiment where rats were given a substance along with saccharin and subsequently became ill. They displayed all the same symptoms the next time when they where given saccharin alone. You can even extend the same principles to immune responses - try running a search for "conditioned immune response".

Most of my downers with sugar & sugar substitutes begin before I understand what is happening. When I recognize my body response, I go back to determine what I ate so that I do not let that happen again. So if it is a conditioned response, my body is operating beyond my mind control. I suspose that is possible, just like the rats and sacchrin.

When I eat something with alot of sugar or carbs I get nausea and I feel light headed, and it's worse the next day.....If I eat less than 25 carbs, and no more than 5g of sugar a day I feel okay....Does anyone else have this problem?

My oldest son and me both have adhd and must keep away from refined carbs if we want to feel good.

The crash after a sugar high only causes your body to want to continue to need sugar consumption. I believe people with adhd may be drawn to sugar and caffiene for the stimulating effects they can have on your body. It starts a little "break up and make up" kind of cycle. Meds have helped me tremendously in keeping away from those habits.

My oldest son and I :rolleyes:

For myself, there does seem to be a connection with sugar control and symtoms of inattentive ADD. I am very sensitive to simple carbs, especially on an empty stomach; they seem to amplify inattention and create extra-low energy levels. This effect is greatly amplified with caffeine. If I have a cup of coffee in the middle of the afternoon between meals, it is sometimes difficult to speak clearly. I've always gone into a brain fog with high amounts of sugar; I even get a flushing feeling above and below my eyes when I taste something very sweet.

You might think that my ADD symptoms are caused by hypoglycemia, but my blood glucose checks out in the normal range, even after a glucose tolerance test (although the sugar drops after ingesting dextrose). I have noticed that both Ritalin and Strattera tend to level off large swings in energy level; my thinking and concentration are sustained past 3:30 in the afternoon. I can go to the store after work without feeling that I'm viewing everything with periferal vision.

I'm interested if anyone else who has similar experiences.

Me too! Sugar = snooze time for me. However, I have no problems with artificial sugar. I only drink Diet sodas, sugar-free Kool-Aid, water, and unsweetened tea. I limit my sugar (and carbs, too) to nighttime when I know I'm about to go to sleep.

On a slightly different note: Does anyone else get *extremely* moody when they're hungry? I find that I become hungry much more quickly after eating refined carbs...heck...even potatoes. Sometimes, eating doesn't fix the problem until I've had vast amounts of fruit in addition to my normal meal.

Yes, this might be due to hypoglycemia (very low blood glucose levels). People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGC), a pre-diabetic condition, sometimes experience this. Other symptoms include cold sweats, hand tremors, fast palpitations and dizzieness. Simple carbohydrate avoidance, combined with increased protein (and even fat) intake can regulate glucose levels in the blood. When eating carbs, make sure to mix them with proteins to slow glucose absoption into the blood.

Have you considered in using Stevia? It's a sugar substitute but natural - no chemicals added. I use it too.

What is STEVIA?
* Natural Herb
* Calorie Fee
* Saccharin Free
* Aspartame Free

"Stevia rebaudiana is a small shrub native to Paraquay and Brazil, where it has a long history of use among the Guarani Paraguayan Indians. Stevioside is the component of stevia that has been attributed to the unique qualities of this traditional herbal product."

hi. i guess i haven't read any of the posts here (and just as a lame excuse, i'll note that it's about 4 hours after my med has worn off). : P

in any case.. i've learned (the hard way) that it's almost impossible to survive during the day if i eat anything high in sugar. within 20 minutes i feel sluggish, and even more scattered and impulsive. whenever i had a final or a term paper to write my senior year of college, i could only eat protein snacks and sugar free drinks (most likely with caffeine)... otherwise, i would run a very real risk of falling asleep or staring into space for the rest of the day.

i tried the atkins diet for about half a year & was surprised with how calm & settled i could feel. i think this is how i started to realize that doses of sugary foods throughout the day were actually detrimental to my daily functioning.

so yeah. i would definitely say i have a sugar intolerance. and i've pretty much made it a habit to avoid sugary foods during the daytime.

Have you considered trying Stevia? It's a great natural sugar substitute without the side effects. It also curbs sugar cravings and is good for your teeth .. imagine that! :)

i was wondering the same thing just last week
i ate one little bag of skittles and i got really dizzy and lightheaded and then it resulted in a headache...i was wondering that i might be intolerant to sugar or maybe a mild case of diabetes...can someone help me out...like now i only eat one sweet once a year...because of this i am not able to eat sweets like i would like to...but cannot....

You should talk to your doctor. It could be a problem with diabetes.

Me :D

hi, i am new here.
I have just been reading up on sugar intolerence on the web, and found some interesting and informative sites. I will post links here for anyone interested.
http://www.longnaturalhealth.com/library2.asp?A=75
http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/enzymes.htm

and the moody feeling comes from becoming hypoglycaemic after carb or sugar intake. I have suffered from this in the past, now unfortunately because i did not know what I do now, I have sugar intolerence. Eating will not fix the problem because you then start the up and down cycle again. One needs to reduce sugar and bad carbs in the diet. If you do this you will see a marked increase in energy and wellbeing.

Do some reading about GMO High Fructose Corn Syrup and its production methods.

Not the same as the old Fructose (sugar from eating real fruits.) In fact, it's made from concentrated corn starch!

And it acts more like a FAT than a SUGAR.

It's a 'Frankenfood'. (Which is why I like to avoid commercial fruit drinks and pop.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?language=printer

Sugar reacts very badly with my adderall and makes me really jumpy. I tend to get addicted to it really easily so it's best for me to leave it alone.

Aspartame caused me to have seizures for 10 years until I figured it out, so now it's completely out of my diet.

Queen's U, isn't HFCS from GM corn? Yuck. That's weird about acting more like a fat.

And I've tried stevia, and read great things about it, but it just has such a one dimensional taste. I don't much care for it. I guess i just need to leave the sweet taste alone.