Droile & Suedonim , and anyone with Hypoglycemia or suspected

[melsy]

Suedonim , I just noticed that you & Lisa both had low BP(reading the other thread on other subjects). I also suffered badly with that in pregnancy, it affetced the birth with all the drugs they plied me with. I wonder is that due to hypoglycemia?? Is it connected , I wonder why it happens??

[melsy]

It is scary how far Hypoglycemia can go in a diabetic Survivour, I am learning so much about both conditions. I wonder if you are not diabetic, (I have been tested several times),how serious it would be?? I have friends who had Hypoglycemia for years and then proceeeded to get diabetes type 2. I was hoping to find a reason for my fitting and spasms , as I have never had it before.

If I fast for a normal one off glucose test and only go if I get the symptoms , would it show up ???

[hoxtonchick]

It's a real pain isn't it, survivour, filling those wretched forms in. Just sent mine off too. And I had a dilemna, 'cos I do have a few mild hypos but always deal with them & have never had a bad one, let alone when driving, but if you put that (ie tell the truth) will they still give you a licence? When I did it last time I'd only just gone onto insulin so it didn't really matter.

Melsy, I'm not sure what kind of glucose test your doctor's suggesting. If it's a one-off blood sugar test it will only show up hypoglycaemia if your blood sugar's low at that particular point. Another option would be to do something called an HbA1c test which is one that looks at long term blood sugar control in people with diabetes (high blood sugar over the past 3 months = high HbA1c) - I guess if you were hypoglycaemic lots of the time your HbA1c would be correspondingly lower. You can buy blood sugar monitors pretty cheaply from places like Superdrug now, so that might be the way forward, though you'll need test strips. These are available on prescription if you have diabetes so you'll probably be ok if your gp is sympathetic.

I think this had turned into rather an essay. Sorry!

[hoxtonchick]

Forgot something....

Hypoglycaemia can be a precursor to diabetes in that the pancreas doesn't respond entirely appropriately to sugar (produces too much insulin rather than too little), but not necessarily.

[gingernut]

Yes, I know diabetic hypo is much more serious - it's because you sometimes inject too much insulin in relation to the amount of food you've eaten and your body can't respond quickly enough by the normal routes. I think you would still secrete glucagon though, it just wouldn't be enough.

That's interesting about hypoglycaemia being a precursor to diabetes. My dh showed hypo symptoms for years before his diabetes was diagnosed.

Also had another thought overnight - maybe people who suffer from hypoglycaemia (not insulin-injecting diabetics) are also more susceptible to the effects of low blood sugar than others (i.e. it's not that their bodies don't respond to low blood sugar properly, just that they feel worse when blood sugar levels drop). So, 2 hypotheses, both probably wrong but it is fun to surmise.

Melsy, I agree that a normal glucose test isn't necessarily going to show anything. It's usually used as a means of diagnosing high blood sugar (which would usually indicate Type II diabetes). But I'm not sure what else would work.

BTW, I occasionally test my blood sugar using my dh's monitor, particularly if I feel my blood sugar is dropping a bit. It usually turns out to be around 4 which is the lower end of the normal range.

[melsy]

That is something like 70mg ??? What is considered low , what is a normal blood sugar level at fasting???

I found this glucose measurement conversion chart on another site.

[melsy]

Suedonim et al, below are some useful sites on Hypo G.

hypo support & quiz .
symptoms .
Martin Budd natropath & specialist .
doctors paper on hypo .
forum . Many of the links on this last one dont work but there is some helpful stuff.

[gingernut]

IIRC, normal is between 4 and 7 mmol/l so about 70-125 mg/dl. Blood sugar levels should fall within this range most of the time in non-diabetics (even after fasting because of the secretion of glucagon which should keep the body within normal range) (this is why I'm not sure a fasting glucose test is going to shed any light on your problem). It may go higher after eating but the level should quickly be brought back within normal range (because of the secretion of insulin).

So, basically in a normal person this blood sugar level should be maintained most of the time by the body's natural feedback system.

Sorry, I don't really know any more.

[melsy]

I suppose what I am thinking is that if you have a HYPO condition, not diebetic related (yet), may be it does go lower than normal if fasted??? I have never had this tested so I am wanting to find out. I plan on not eating for about 17 hrs, which normally brings on severe symptoms.

[gingernut]

melsy, I know that's what you want to know but I'm sorry I really don't know the answer. But at least you know what the normal range is. Hope you find some answers somehow.

[pie]

sorry if you've already answered this melsy....but why are you going 17 hours without food? I mean how do you already know that 17 hours brings on severe symptoms? Do you regularly not eat? You could be causing an electrolyte imbalance, this is well known to cause fitting & spasms.

[melsy]

Sorreee girls , I didnt mean to frutrate you. especially ginger nut. Pie I just thought it might help to showa below average normal fasting glucose.

[melsy]

It would be mainly overnight from the 7pm to lunch time the next day.

[Lisa78]

Well, I've started something here!!!

I was diagnosed hypoglycaemic in my teens after a stay in hospital; I had been having hypo's since I was 11 or so but it wasn't until these became almost daily that my parents took me to the GP. I'm not sure that the condition can be accurately diagnosed by one off tests - I recall having blood samples every hour or so. Low blood pressure exacerbates hypo but isn't part of the condition per se - for me, it just increases my tendency to faint!

Treatment is guided by cause - in my case, my islet (?) cells in the pancreas over produce insulin, tho they are unsure if they produce too much in one go, or produce it too long in response to sugar intake. I rarely have full blown hypo's now as I eat plenty of low GI foods and always eat them if I have something sugary. The worst hypo's are when I haven't had enough to eat (there have been the odd "Casualty" inspired ambulance dashes, sirens and all - would be very exciting if I'd been with it!!!) but I can have them from too much of the wrong food. I have a lot of sugar, insulin production goes mad and I crash - these are the ones that make me feel crap for days!
When I weigh less than 8 stone (distant memory ) I have loads of hypo's so if my weight does dip, I get a prescription high calorie drink - its supposed to taste of peach but its disgusting, every time I see something on liposuction, I worry what i am drinking !!

However, altho a bad hypo can be dangerous, the condition is nowhere near as serious as diabetes and I am no more likely to develop it than anyone else. My son is also hypo tho not as badly - but he is still learning whats okay to eat and fighting every step of the way - he has some grand old battles with his dietician!

Hope this is of some help

[Lisa78]

oh and sugar should be given to someone having a hypo - I remember my GP rubbing chocolate on my gums!!! But then followed by carbos - bread, pasta etc. Bread and jam and OJ are my preferred hypo alert foods

[melsy]

Thank you for that Lisa78,I am sorry u have had to suffer too. You are now the 4th person to have told me they have had the same as me , this too me is evidence that I am not going MMMAAAAD.

I am soooooo frustrated as been to the doc today. see my other thread and she still DOESNT seem to take my Hypo seriously.She wont send me for GTT until I have had a RANDOM glucose , But I told it wont show anything).She said that anyone whow hasnt eaten will get low blood sugar, but I said but there must be some abnormality that shows up.

The Low GI with sugary foods is a good idea. I read in a link by Ginger, I think, that this is what sportsmen do for extra energy.

[gingernut]

melsy, it is OK, I wasn't frustrated (except about not knowing the answer - I hate that!). Glad Lisa has been able to help.

[Lisa78]

don't know about sportsmen!
Follow what your GP is doing, generally they don't know that much about hypo as an ongoing condition, only as a symptom of more serious disorders such as diabetes or pancreatic cancer (don't worry, you'd know about it if you had that!)
She's right, anyone who hasn't eaten will have low blood sugar, ie be hypoglycaemic, but what you are talking about is hypo as a general condition, not as a result of missing the odd meal. People are hypo all the time without having the symptoms I describe - its a matter of how low your blood sugar goes and how your body responds to that. In my case, its always low cos of the excess insulin, so a sugar hit or too few carbos takes me over the edge, combined with low BP and I am off.
Random glucose test won't show anything re hypo as a condition but it will, I think, rule out the more serious conditions that hypo can be a symptom of and thats where she needs to start.
You will almost certainly be referred then, to learn to manage the condition, so I would go with what she said
I wouldn't recommend deliberately not eating to lower it though - think they can identify this by your ketones or something!
does this help at all?

[melsy]

Yes thank you Lisa78, so how do I get the gps to take it seriously as a condition I have all the time, I even get it sometimes after eating a meal. In the USA it seems much more widely recognised as a condition in its own right.

[melsy]

Sorrreee going a bit nutty have 2 threads going now as so many other things being thrown at me, its all about me me me : me and that test, me and this test, this therapist, that physchiatrist , see this specialist, that specialist. Had enufff of that really. Weres a hill I can scream on. I want my life back.

SORRRRRREEE RANT SORT OF OVER

[Clarinet60]

It makes you feel like that, melsy, when your GP is being unsupportive. I know how you feel. I'll be going back to my GP next week for the results of anaemia and thyroid tests. She thinks the reason I get my weird symptoms when excercising is that I'm light, and don't take in as much food as I expend on energy. I eat like a horse and don't exercise much at all. I keep trying to tell her that, but she patently doesn't believe me. It's hard pushing rocks up hill, isn't it?

[melsy]

I finally have been sent for a fasting glucose test by another GP. Oh my what a nightmare it was , I drove myself , I know very silly. I was ok for the first half hour waiting in the que at the blood bank . As the time went on I started to feel worse and worse . By the time it was my turn , I was feeling very spaced out. It was over 14 hours by this time. The guy taking the blood told me not to leave for half hour and go and get a 2 sugar tea and some breakfast which I did. I also drove there , but there was no way I was gonna drive for a while. Half an hour later I promplty ended up in an examination room with 3 nurses all over me as had a full blown hypo right there in the middle of the hospital.I was so upset I burst into tears sobbing. Typically when they took my BS again it was normal about 6mmol / 110 mg , but they had just made me drink about a pint of tea with 4 tablespoons of sugar!!! lets hope the fasting blood test shows something up, otherwise I am gonna get nowere with being believed I have Hypoglycemia and I am not making this up.

My mum luckily came to the rescue as I couldnt drive back home, so she drove me home in my car. It is embarressing and upsetting , as you feel so helpless , Im nearly 32 have my own child and have to have my mum rescue me ! I wanted to be so independant and brave, as I have been in and out of examination rooms with blood tests for the last year and half with being pregnant and then having panic attacks/ Hypos . My mum said she was glad that they saw what happens to me with fasting , and it may go on my notes and my gp might then see it , as you all know I have been sent to a phsychiatric unit for the same!! I was fitting and convulsing the last time so they didnt know what else to do. Typical that all my obs were normal.

I went home feeling fed up, upset, shaky and knackered.I dont feel great today either. Oh well at least I can eat now , Im so glad it is over for the time being. I know not to drive myself there for another one.

How is everyone else doing with this, any similar experiences??

[suedonim]

That sounds such a horrible experience, Melsy, no wonder you still feel shaky and upset. Don't worry about needing your mum. If we're ill, we all need someone and who better than your mum? What happens next - do you have to go back to the hospital or await more results? Take care.

[Clarinet60]

Sorry to hear this, Melsy. Hopefully, now they have seen you 'in action', they might do more investigations. I'm still awaiting the results of blood tests from my very laid back GP. Good luck.

[Kayleigh]

Melsy, so sorry you had to go through all that yesterday.
Just posted to send you a big hug {{{x{}}}}

[melsy]

Thank you girls for your messages.

I will have to go in to see the doctor for results, they are not due for 7-10 days though. If it comes out at normal range, (4-7 mmol), though Im not sure what the next step is, as it cant be normal to have what happened happen !!Although to be at 6 after a huge sugar intake , it had to be fairly low before eating.Who knows !!!Shame I dont have a bm meter kit I could have done it myself and may be not had to go to hospital. Although I dont fancy much having to puncture my fingers to do it.