blood glucose of 2.9 an hour after breakfast - what might this be?

[anothersoddingnamechange]

All I could get from Dr Google is that I must secretly be stealing someone's insulin. I'm not.

Basically, I gave birth two months ago and have been feeling ill ever since, and have had endless blood tests done. Unless now, all that came back was a bit of anaemia. Throughout pregnancy, all my bloods were fine, I didn't develop any symptoms of GD apart from being thirsty and my baby was a healthy weight. I don't know exactly what I weigh but I've always been a size 8-10.

Could I be developing diabetes? Or merely hypochondria??

Glad you're home!

I'm sure they would have done a test for GAD antibodies - they show up as a result of auto-immune damage with type 1 diabetes and presumably that was negative. Whilst it is worth keeping a check on your blood sugars I do wonder if that 2.9 was a freak/error? Your 4s are fine. If you were/are feeling bad ALL the time, even when blood sugar is fine I don't think diabetes is the answer.

It wouldn't be any food in particular "causing hypo" if that is what is happening - anything with high levels of quick release sugar will prompt an insulin response and if your insulin response is faulty it might sometimes work fine and other times not. It won't be that you can eat sugar cubes but not jelly beans.

I do hope you get to the bottom of it soon and start feeling better.

That makes sense. But I'd had another 2.9 result when tested by the GP the second time when I was feeling at my worst - so I suspect that my levels might be lower at home than in hospital. But equally, I made sure that I was eating the same amount in hospital as I normally would have at home, so it's hard to know why that might be the case. Unless of course food which actually tastes of something has an inherent tendency to cause hypos - the hospital food really was vile!

Whereas I was very glad to get out of the place, I'm still a bit scared about getting into the same situation again. The doctor who discharged me said I should just ring OOH or go to A&E. But given that there doesn't seem to be anything medically wrong with me, would I be taken seriously?

it is possible that you are insulin resistant. Your blood glucose levels may not respond normally to food but shoot up and then collapse again. This webpage gives you an idea of what is normal hypoglykemie.nl/gtt.htm

To deal with low blood sugar you need to eat foods with a low glycaemic index rather than things like grapes and milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is OK though, you don't have to be totally deprived. Wine and cream are also OK in moderation. There are various lists on the net e.g. healthyeatingclub.com/info/articles/diseases/glycaemic-table.htm

That's the third time on this thread you've recommended dark chocolate. I might have to send DH out for a bar of Green&Blacks just to shut you up

Seriously, tough, thanks for the links. I was going to have a GTT on the ward but then they changed their minds and I didn't really understand what they said as to why. Perhaps because, as dilbertina also noticed, higher levels didn't make me feel much better?

it was the mention of chocolate biscuits that did it, plus free samples (for me, not you but it was on my mind) in Sainburys.

Although it may not be what is making you feel ill you'll need to ensure that your blood sugar doesn't go very low again and that you carry an emergency ration of something sweet to bump it up if needed. They may have decided a GTT was too risky at the moment, I'd be wary of trying one at home unless you have someone around to watch you. As they know your blood sugar has been low twice there shouldn't be any problem with going to A&E.

Hopefully whatever it is will be a post pregnancy problem that goes away with time.

I wouldn't attempt a DIY GTT. I'd feel too much of a prize tit if it came up with anything that would require me to tell a doctor what I'd done. I can just imagine the whole medical team sitting in the pub taking the mick out of me.

Really, though, altough I've felt much worse since giving birth, I have felt this ill on and off for years, and even before having children. What I'm not sure now is whether I should push the GP for further tests, and if so, what.

Anyone got any ideas?

Can I ask a slightly personal question - are you ultra slim, heavier than you should be or about right for weight?

The way I see this is you are getting low sugars for some reason - either failure to eat enough, (unlikely from what you say) failure to absorb enough, failure to mobilise stored reserves properly when needed (a hormone called glucagon needed to do this) or a problem with processing the glucose to storage too quickly when your levels go up (excess insulin) - all of the above can be complicated by other chemical processes in the body too though especially things that interfere with insulin action.

I would personally push for an endocrinology referral and ask for every last thing to be tested on your bloods that can have an impact on insulin and glucose levels. Things like oestrogen and progesterone certainly can affect this..is your problem a cyclical one??

Glad you are home, sorry you don't have all the answers (yet!)

That's really helpful. I think pushing for endocrinology is probably a good plan.

Am I ultra-slim? Hmmm. I didn't think I was, but the hospital recorded my BMI as 18.2, so possibly. I struggled a lot with eating disorders in my teens and 20s (am 35 now), so am probably still a bit lacking in the ability to judge. That said, I usually eat a lot more than the food provided in the hospital, and had to ask the nurses for extra toast once or twice.

Cyclical? Again, I don't know. Certainly I had my period whilst I in hospital (though not when the two really low tests were taken), but I've been continually pregnant and/or breastfeeding for most of the last three years, and haven't had regular cycles at all during that time. But I'll wait for next time, and look out for feeling worse.

I wonder if you are absorbing properly/burning it off really fast then with that BMI which is just a bit low? You probably don't have huge reserves to call on when your blood levels drop a bit either which may not help. Definately start making noises about endocrinologist seeing you and checking out everything from the start.

Good luck - keep a note of readings from your glucometer of how things are going. Worth keeping a detailed food diary too with times/amounts etc so they can maybe use it to see if there is a pattern with it at all.