Dr. Hive: Is this what low blood sugar acts like?

[Adrienne_in_TX]

Lately, I've been having episodes that come on very quickly where I get queasy, extremely hot and sweaty, shaky, and weak. This is accompanied by hunger, and, by the time I get to the kitchen, I want to eat everything in sight as fast as possible.

 

I'm sure I looked ridiculous today. This happened around lunchtime; there was a box of cereal left on the counter. I just grabbed a handful and was stuffing it in as fast as it would go. Ridiculous, but I felt panicked. I was too weak to stand and make food, so my daughter heated up some leftovers for me and after twenty minutes or so all was well.

 

I'm guessing this is a blood sugar issue. Both of my grandparents were insulin-dependent diabetics. I also have a fairly severe hypothyroid condition that has been difficult to regulate lately and have an ovarian cyst (and I suspect endo) that causes a lot of pain at various times of the month.

 

Anyone have experience with this? Is there a medical solution, or is it just to eat more frequently? Any info would be appreciated.

[justLisa]

That sounds about right. There have been some good recent low carb threads. It's all about protein and fat. When you eat sugar your insulin spikes, and since our bodies hate that much insulin, you crash hard, and then eat everything in sight. ANd by sugar I mean lots of carby stuff, not just white sugar.

[Jean in Newcastle]

You need to be checked out by a doctor. While yes, that sounds like low blood sugar, you could be having high blood sugar episodes too which can be harder to notice.

[Soror]

Yep. Feeling like your ready chew your own arm off!

[BlessedMom]

Yes, that does sound like low blood sugar.

[AK_Mom4]

That is exactly what low blood sugar feels like for me (I'm on insulin).

 

You need to PLAN IN ADVANCE what to eat when you feel like that. Eating too much sugary-carb stuff (like cereal) will spike you up in the other direction too high and then you end up with what I like to call the "double-crash hangover" - too low, then too high, then you feel rotten and tired for hours.

 

I keep a granola bar and a very small juice box (toddler size) in my own personal emergency stash. One set in the kitchen cupboard and one upstairs in my bedroom (because my lows often happen at night). When my sugar goes low, I eat those and then I WAIT 30 minutes before I eat anything else.

 

And the short-term fix is to eat more frequently. Small snacks every couple of hours, nothing too high-carb (you don't want a spike-and-crash). Eat a snack before you exercise and something first thing when you get up in the morning.

[Parrothead]

Sounds exactly like when mine drops due to my hyperthyroid.

[Tiramisu]

I went through a period of having blood sugar crashes. It's better now for some reason. I think it got better when I started taking a different probiotic. Since I gained weight with it, it seemed to help my absorbtion. I've also been taking more B vitamins lately (B12 for deficiency, but now folate and B6). Do you take a probiotic and vitamins?

 

When things were bad, I would watch the clock. At the three hour mark, I would make sure to eat something because I knew I could have an episode if I went longer than that. I was careful to eat protein and fat. And I kept emergency food with me when I went out.

 

FWIW, I never had extensive tests, but my fasting glucose levels and hemoglobin AIC levels were normal. If you haven't had yours tested lately, it couldn't hurt.

[justamouse]

Yep. That's it. And you have to know that it is *dangerous*. You can land in a coma from it.

 

I was crashing all the time-at least once a week which is unacceptable to me. I went on a very low carb diet (think Atkins/Paleo) and I haven't had one crash since. I can go all day without eating, and push myself by hiking or swimming and STILL not crash. I love life. *g*

 

Prior to that, I was managing it with vit B, but even that eventually stopped working.

[Adrienne_in_TX]

I figured that was what was going on. I forgot to mention that lately when I eat sugary/high carb foods I feel like crud afterwards--naseous and my head feels . . . well, weird.

 

I'm not taking any kind of supplements, and I'm struggling with so much fatigue/joint pain/pelvic issues that I haven't been eating well at all--it's like everything takes overwhelming effort, even when I know it shouldn't. I need to lose about 70 lbs. I've had a struggle getting thyroid meds regulated and we're trying a new one, but I can't tell if my fatigue and joint pain is from too much or too little.

 

I've been just trying to power through and get life done anyway, but if you look at my house it's obvious that I'm not accomplishing much. I hate always having to use how I feel as an excuse for not being able to do things, but that's the reality right now.

 

AND, I hate going to the doctor, but I guess I'm just going to have to get over that. It just seems like there are never really any definitive answers.

 

Okay, done whining. Thanks for the info and encouragement.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I figured that was what was going on. I forgot to mention that lately when I eat sugary/high carb foods I feel like crud afterwards--naseous and my head feels . . . well, weird.

 

 

 

Umm. You're not going to want to hear this but that is exactly how I feel when my blood sugar is too high.

[ErinE]

I would get in checked out. If you have a family history of diabetes, you should probably have a doctor do a work up. I had similar episodes in the past and my GP specifically ruled out diabetes before diagnosing low blood sugar.

[Momof3littles]

I'm on the insulin resistant side of things and I feel like that once in a while, although I'm not diabetic. I get episodes of what is sometimes called "reactive hypoglycemia." For example, if I overdo sugar or carbs, my blood sugar goes high enough that my body dumps out a lot of insulin to compensate. That can cause your blood sugar to then drop too quickly.

[AdventureMoms]

Yup, that's what it is like. That does sound like a pretty strong low-sugar reaction too. I'd be getting to a doctor ASAP and keeping my carbs super low until I got there.

 

I have a few relatives with crashes like that and they had pre-diabetes or full blown diabetes. I had crashes like that and I do not have diabetes (my blood sugar numbers are actually pretty good). At least two of the relatives (a pre-diabetic and a diabetic) have treated it very successfully with diet and weight loss to the point where they don't take any meds, so it does not have to be so horrible! Mine went away with a low carb diet, even though I'm not diabetic.

[Lawana]

Yes, that's low blood sugar. Given your follow-up posts, I would consider going to the doctor and requesting an A1c test. That will give a picture of what your blood sugar has been doing for the past 3 months. If appropriate, the doctor may give you a blood glucose meter to test you blood sugar throughout the day.

[Katy]

I'm a little more concerned about how you feel after having eaten a lot of sugar. You could probably go to a pharmacy or something like Walmart right now and get a free blood sugar monitor to test. Though I'd recommend actually spending a little more money and buying one that has CHEAP test strips.

 

Then, when you feel strange, test your blood sugar.

 

Sometimes, when people feel shaky and weak their sugar is actually normal, it's just falling quickly and they're having a hard time transitioning to burning fat. If that's the case, and you're not diabetic, the way to fix that is to exercise. Long, slow exercise. Work your way up to walking 3 hours a day and within 2 weeks of doing so you'll be a lot better. Any amount of exercise will help, though.

[LittleIzumi]

Yup. Protein and food planning well in advance (plus stashing protein sources around) are your friends. :grouphug:

[Adrienne_in_TX]

Okay, hubby works for a health insurance company and says employees can get free glucose meters, so he'll tend to that on Monday. I'm going to monitor at home, clean out the pantry a bit, and think through some better eating strategies. If that helps, I'll wait until my thyroid checkup in a couple of months and talk to my doc about the sugar crashes. If the diet and exercise changes don't seem to help, I'll go sooner.

 

Thank you all so much for offering your wisdom. I've had other health problems for so long that I'm not sure what normal feels like anymore. This will force me to make health choices that I've needed to make for a long time. I've been in the giving up zone for a while, but I've got too much to do and too many people depending on me to put up with this any longer! Thank you, again.

[Denisemomof4]

That is exacty how I get. I have had hypoglycemia since I was a very, very young child.

 

You really need to be checked by.a doctor. You could be diabetic.

 

To control sugar issues, it is best to eat six smaller meals per day, OR eat three meals with a snack 1.5 to 2 hours in between. You can NOT go too long without eating or else your blood sugar will crash. Also, no high carb/high sugar foods. Sticking to a low glycemic index diet is best. It IS possible to reverse diabetes, if you have that now or ever get it.

[Sandra in FL]

Get to your doc and ask for an OGTT (glucose tolerance test) - it'll test your reaction to carbs. I don't trust the fasting glucose or A1c - mine was always in the 80's and 5.x and I ended up with full-blown diabetes. It's what happens after you eat carbs that matter - not what your fasting glucose or a1c (misleading if you eat a low-carb diet) are.

[Laura Corin]

I used to get this when I was younger. I found that eating regularly was key (not necessarily browsing, but not leaving too long between meals). Strangely, I found that increased protein helped to lessen the frequency of the episodes.

 

Laura

[JumpyTheFrog]

My understanding is that the A1C test measures the average blood glucose level for the last three months. So if you have bg spikes and then crashes, it sounds like your A1C could look normal, even though your bg is a roller coaster.

 

Get a meter and write down what you eat with the time every day for a week. Test every 1/2 hour for 2-3 hours after meals and graph the results. This will make spikes and crashes easier to spot. If you feel weird, test your bg and write it down. After enough days of this, you will start to figure out what foods to avoid.

 

I am not diabetic, but it runs in the family. I noticed I feel best if my bg stays below 115-120 at all times, as in never letting it get higher than that even post-meal. This number is far below what most doctors allow, but obviously my body is different (or their numbers are wrong).

 

Bring your graphs with you to the doctor. If you have enough data, you may not have to take a glucose tolerance test.

[Katy]

My understanding is that the A1C test measures the average blood glucose level for the last three months. So if you have bg spikes and then crashes, it sounds like your A1C could look normal, even though your bg is a roller coaster.

 

Get a meter and write down what you eat with the time every day for a week. Test every 1/2 hour for 2-3 hours after meals and graph the results. This will make spikes and crashes easier to spot. If you feel weird, test your bg and write it down. After enough days of this, you will start to figure out what foods to avoid.

 

I am not diabetic, but it runs in the family. I noticed I feel best if my bg stays below 115-120 at all times, as in never letting it get higher than that even post-meal. This number is far below what most doctors allow, but obviously my body is different (or their numbers are wrong).

 

Bring your graphs with you to the doctor. If you have enough data, you may not have to take a glucose tolerance test.

 

:iagree: Also, people can respond differently to real foods than they do to glucose solution. Sometimes people find that combining high fat foods with carbs makes their sugar more reactive, not worse. Most people are the opposite, but... I just think a food journal is a more accurate representation of your life.