Dr Hive: Parents of diabetic or hypoglycemic children..... ? for you...

[mommytobees]

I am *really* hoping there is someone on here you might give me some feedback.

 

My DD15 has been having some physical problems lately and I've been pursuing it with the medical clinic (military) and have been running into walls right and left.

She has been formally dx'ed with Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and Juvenile Fibromyalgia. 

 

When they Rheumatologist ran blood work at the beginning of the month, she ran for just about everything they could think of...including normal stuff like blood glucose.

 

Her glucose was 59 with a "normal" of 65-99 with this lab.

 

However, between 45-60 minutes prior, she ate 17 chicken nuggets, a Frosty, and a lemonade from Wendy's. It was a treat (eating out) and I indulged her with two drinks (if you want to call a Frosty a drink).

 

 

My question, that I can't seem to figure out via Dr. Google, is: is that a bad low? As I understand blood glucose, shouldn't it be much higher with the amount of sugar I had just given her?? If that was about an hour after she had eaten, what was the number before she ate? Am I overreacting? 

 

Kris

 

P.S. I already have a call into the Rheumy, although she isn't an endocrinologist.

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't really know and I don't think they'd conclude that with one reading.  Did she feel lousy at that point in time?

 

My blood sugar crashes if I eat too much sugar/carbs especially if it is the first meal of the day.  I never drink sugary beverages because it makes my blood sugar go down.  Odd, but true.  I have diabetics in my family and it's not quite like that for them.  Their blood sugar goes up with that.  With high blood sugar you often don't feel lousy and don't really notice like you do with low blood sugar.

 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

It would be interesting to see how she felt overall on a lower carb diet.  I keep things well controlled and never have the crashes when on lower carb.

 

But I admit, it's not easy sometimes and I'm not always great about it.  The other day I was eying the box of Special K and ended up having a big bowl of it and it was great while eating it, but I felt horrid later on and my blood sugar crashed.

 

 

[mommytobees]

It would be interesting to see how she felt overall on a lower carb diet.  I keep things well controlled and never have the crashes when on lower carb.

 

But I admit, it's not easy sometimes and I'm not always great about it.  The other day I was eying the box of Special K and ended up having a big bowl of it and it was great while eating it, but I felt horrid later on and my blood sugar crashed.

 

Ya, I"m focusing on that with her now...but I want to figure out what's up.

 

Thanks!

Kris

[Greta]

I hope someone will be able to give you better insights than I can, but I have reactive hypoglycemia myself, and I know how not fun it is.  It's possible that her blood sugar spiked high and then dropped again within an hour, but that is pretty fast.  The general definition of reactive hypoglycemia, I believe, is that you become hypoglycemic "within four hours" after a meal.  For me, it generally occurs between two and three hours, but maybe for her it is different.  I don't know, and it probably would be helpful to talk to her doctor about that.

 

Is 59 a "bad" low?  That's a good question.  For me, it feels absolutely awful, but people seem to tolerate it to varying degrees.  I don't believe she's in any danger at that level, but if she dropped into the 40's that could be bad (confusion, disorientation, possibly even fainting), and below that it gets super dangerous.  At 59, I think most people would still be able to function, but would feel weak, shaky, sweaty.  At least, that's the way it affects me.  Drinking some orange juice is a pretty quick way to bring it back up to normal range.  But I feel wiped out for the rest of the day when it happens, even after my BG is stabilized again.

 

Do you have a home blood glucose monitor?  If she doesn't mind the finger prick too badly, it is an excellent way to get a clearer picture of what's going on.  They're pretty affordable, and some medical insurance plans will provide them, though I have no idea if that's true for the military.  

 

Low-carb dieting controlled my reactive hypoglycemia *extremely* well for a number of years.  But eventually it caused me some (unrelated) problems, and I had to go back to eating carbs.  What I'm doing now is:

 

1.  Protein (and a little healthy fat) with EVERY meal and snack.  No exceptions.  NEVER eat carbs alone.

 

2.  NEVER skip meals, and have a snack if it's going to be more than four hours or so until the next meal. 

 

3.  No white flours or refined sugars.

 

And that seems to be working beautifully.  It's a lot less restrictive than low carb, but sadly, it does still mean no cookies, cake, or brownies.  :)  But I can eat all the fruit and whole grains that I want, and as long as I do it within those parameters, it doesn't hurt me.

 

I hope you find the answers that you're looking for.  I'm really curious how she felt when that reading was taken.

[mum]

I second the protein with every meal or snack, and to eat meals & snacks on a schedule. Dd was in ER with blood sugar of 40. She was unresponsive. They had us monitor her blood sugar over some weeks and she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. She doesn't have any give in her eating habits. All meals are always eaten at same time. Snacks too. She's now teen in public school and has a 504 (like an IEP but for a medical condition). She can eat in class, can leave class for stash of food in office. She has an administrator who is her advocate. Stress tends to worsen symptoms. Hope you get some answers. Ours came when they were looking for something else, so keep on having them look. I know it's not as easy in military.

[Lawana]

As you probably guessed, 59 after recently eating is not normal. It is not a bad low, as previously mentioned. My dd with diabetes would feel that, and feel awful, but would recover pretty quickly. She has been in the 20's before and still cognitive and cooperative. I don't think that is normal either. Lol.

 

It does sound like reactive hypoglycemia may be something to consider.

 

Hope you are able to get some answers. And my thoughts are with you and her. It is so hard to be young and not typically healthy. It is also hard to be that young persons mother.