Low blood pressure linked to low blood sugar - diet tips please!

[Enid]

My midwife has just pointed out that I have very low blood pressure and should eat little and often as blood sugar has a direct link to blood pressure. Anyone got any tips for foods that give you a steady release of energy? I know about bananas (I think) but not really up on this kind of thing. I suppose its better to have low bp than high (I'm 16 weeks pg), but I often feel very dizzy and have loads of headaches and generally tired so would appreciate any advice.

Hi Enid, hope you are feeling better and not so sick. I suffer from low sugar levels most of the time. Bananas are good, a good cereal for breakfast, a sugar in tea or coffee, non diet drinks, rich tea biscuits, fruit (anything with natural sugar). I often have some chocolate or sweets around in case I need to get some sugar in quick. Im eating lots of jacket potatoes and pasta at the moment to keep energy levels up. I am also eating Kiwi fruit as they are supposed to be good especially for Vitamin c. My midwife told me about Orange and banana fruit juice, sounds horrible but tastes lovely and Im drinking lots of that (I get it from Asda). My sickness has gone now and havnt got that exhausted feeling all the time anymore, just if I do too much then I collapse. Hope this helps. Hasnt the weeks zoomed by.

Good to hear from you Joe1 - how far on are you now?? Thanks very much for the tips, orange and banana juice sounds lovely - I've got a bit of a 'thing' about juices at the moment, current fave is M&S pineapple and lime. Considered buying a juicer but then decided that would be an act of madness as I'd get sick of it and never use it.

Feeling sick still in the morning but the real problem now is the almost constant headaches and dizziness that I get even in the middle of the night when I am lying down! Blood pressure has dropped from 110/60 to 90/50, hopefully it wont drop any more otherwise I think I'll be pretty much comatose. Hey ho, the joys of pregnancy.

Enid, I get (unpregnant!) attacks of low blood sugar sometimes and I have always found a peanut butter sandwich (on wholemeal, preferably) and a glass of milk helps...

I also have low BP and low BS, Enid, and I'm not pg! Sometimes I feel too bad to eat, even though I need the boost. I have to force myself to have a biscuit or a bowl of cereal and some milk, as Jan says. Little and often is the answer. You could keep some glucose tablets or sweets in your bag just to give yourself energy until you can get something proper to eat.

Try Jane Clarke's (a Nutritionist) Bodyfoods cookbook for a bit of inspiration and advice. Foods that give a steady release of energy tend to be carbohydrate based wrapped up with a bit of fibre so as your body breaks down the fibre it releases the energy. Oatmeal is very good as its fibre is water soluble and dried fruits are a good base for snacks as they give sugar without the instant high followed by the low that instant sugar sources give you.

I found if I got even slightly constipated, as you do in all the time in pregnancy, then I got awful headaches that went on for days. I have tried to be as nonchalant as possible in taking the fybogel and carrying a bottle of water rather then reaching for a can of diet coke helps.

You can snack on things like flapjacks with apricots, cheese with oatcake and an apple, a yogurt and banana, bowl of cereal or janh's peanut butter on toast. (There are some people who are advised to avoid peanut butter when pg ie if you have a history of nut allergies in your family but I think in the overall population they are quite rare still. I'm 10 weeks further into my second pg and would rather eat something I fancied occasionally then get paranoid and think about it the whole time.)

If you have lemon squeezer and a blender or one of those stick mixers you can make yourself smoothie style drinks without needing a juicer. You can use a banana as the base and then pop whatever fruit is around in the bowl, rougly chopped, skin on, and add some yogurt, orange juice from a carton, and sprinkling of porridge oats and a bit of root ginger for interest and whizz it all up.

Are you iron levels alright aswell? Hope you are feeling a bit perkier soon. Do be nice to yourself.

You may want to try reading The Insulin revolution by Dr Anthony Leeds. Its a diet bookbut will explain how your body responds to food by producing insulin. Or do an internet search on "glycaemic index". Its possible that if you have more complex carbohydrates that will help. Things like glucose tablets will give you a quick fix but then your blood sugar will drop more later in reaction.

Enid, chat on mums to be.

I was diagnosed as diabetic early in my pregnancy & I have to keep my sugars lower for the baby's sake but not too low.....So I would imagine you should go to the opposite advise I was given......I have been advised lots of starchy products push my levels up & that fruit is a slow release. Obviously sweet things are quick fixes & when I have a low blood drop even I have to panic eat a bar of chocolate but it only raises my sugars short-term so I have to follow it with a meal. So basically eat little & often but things like white bread, sugar coated cereals, lots of potatoes etc that I have to avoid would obviously be better for you. I have 4 small meals a day & fruit in between meals which keeps my sugar levels balanced quite well. Not much more advice than you aready appear to have had but you seem to have the right idea..

Thanks so much everyone, as usual very helpful advice. Malmomum, thanks especially for reminding me of that book, I've been meaning to buy it for ages. and wendym, I am very interested in the GI food index so I might buy that one too!

I love peanut butter so have been snacking on peanut butter sandwiches, but just realised that I haven't had a proper lunch today - must be more careful.

What are complex carbohydrates exactly? Things like potatoes and pasta? What I really need is a diet sheet that just tells me what to eat so I don't have to think about it all!!

So glad to hear that other people have low blood pressure and low blood sugar - thought I was the only one! Bananas are definitely a good thing. I used to be known for the fact that I always had one in my bag. A thought for the future (I know you're only 16 weeks!) - epidurals make your blood pressure drop so make sure they know you have low bp when you go in, if you plan to have one. I needed a bit of extra checking and adjusting with mine for that reason, to keep bp up and pain down. Sorry - you may already know all this!

Enid, I think the main thing for you is to avoid sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cake etc, things that give you a quick burst of sugar but then have a rebound effect so you end up with lower BS than you started with - which is why bananas and bread and peanut butter etc are better - not quite so instant but steady and long lasting when they do get going.

Anything without added sugars is probably OK - so fruit juice and fruit and milk are better than processed foods and drinks - a bag of crisps is probably better than sweets or biscuits. But as Suedonim says, little and often is the best thing, to try to keep your levels steady and avoid the dips that make you feel dizzy and low.

Malmomum's smoothie idea is good too, you can add (dairy) ice cream, flavoured if you prefer, to thicken and chill.

I am v impressed with your BP readings, BTW, mine was always v low while pregnant but stayed aroubd 100-110/50-60, 90/50 is amazing!

janh - the midwife did ask me if I was an athlete which made me laugh (and would you too if you knew me). I am feeling a bit better - eating little and often really seems to help, but I didnt realise how often 'often' needed to be - every hour really to avoid horrible low, dizzy, 'dragging' feeling.

Inkpen - I did know that about epidurals, I wasn't recommended for one with dd. It worries me now as I'd really like one this time (just to make labour less tiring). Its one of the reasons I'd like to get my bp up a bit if possible!

Dp has offered to stress me out as much as possible but I have declined!

Looked up the Jane Clarke book and it seems to reiterate all the good advice you have been given:

• no quick fixes of sugar as this stimulates your pancreas to produce insulin which reduces the blood sugar again. Fresh fruits are the best slow-release energy boost
• eat plenty of protein rich food, especially for lunch if you tend to have problems in the afternoon. These foods help your body control bs
• eat plenty of chromium rich foods, cheese, shellfish, baked beans and wholemeal products
• drink plenty of water
• something else about smoking and drinking which I don't want to tempt you with

I'm on similar bp's as I was first time around. I've certainly felt more lively these last few weeks, at 26 weeks I'm feeling pretty good (dh disagrees, he feels he gets nagged more or something).

Enid - don't worry about it. Your bp readings sound similar to mine and I had epidurals both times. As I say, it just meant that I made sure the midwives/anaesthestists knew - it was the only thing I wrote in my 'birth plan' notes! At one point, in my second labour (when I was more confident and knew what was what!) my bp began to drop. I got dizzy, called for help at once, they took the epidural down for a while till I felt OK again and then upped it a bit more when the pain began to break through. It just took managing but it was fine. In the event, I had a lovely delivery - sensation to push, no pain, just me and dh and midwife. No worries!

Complex carbohydrates means things like vegetables, fruit (apples and oranges, apricots, plums are better than bananas), beans, pulses, basmati rice, noodles, wholemeal or granary bread, fruit yogurt. My standard fix for hypoglycaemia is a couple of dried apricots - but they can be laxative so don't eat too many.

Wow thanks Inkpen! I take comfort in that.
Wendym - thanks very much for those tips. Have been starting the day with a homemade cereal made with porridge oats, bran, dried fruit and nuts, grated apple and banana and it seems to be working wonders during the morning

Enid, I have had low blood pressure all my life (80/50) is normal for me and no one has ever said anything to me ever about it having any link to blood sugar. Though I was once told that I should be in a coma according to my blood pressure. I've also never been told I had low blood sugar. Perhaps you should double check with your gp or a consultant before you get yourself too worried. Dizzyness is pretty normal when you have low blood pressure...just don't get up too fast and always prop your head up on a pillow when lying down. Headaches and tiredness are pretty normal during pregnancy. Rest and eat lots! Don't worry about the epidural. I had one for the last 5 hours of my labor (which ended in a c-section) and didn't feel any more lightheaded than normal.