Hypoglycemia

[blueberries]

Does anyone here get bad hypoglycemic attacks for no apparent reason? I don't have diabetes and my glucose is normal when having fasting bloodwork (but I'm never symptomatic at those times). I've had attacks since I was little but only very infrequently. Now they are happening much more often and they come on so suddenly. When they happen I suddenly get extremely weak and shaky and can barely walk, I feel like I am trembling both inside and outside if that makes any sense. When it happens I need to get sugar in me asap. After having a couple of attacks last month I finally bought a monitor so I could see how low it actually goes. In my latest attack it went down to 56, so at least I know I'm not imagining it, I really do have hypoglycemia. I talked to my doctor about it in the past and he just said to take sugar when it happens. I can and do do that but I really need to know WHY it happens, as in is there something terribly wrong with me. And it doesn't only happen when I haven't eaten for a while. It can happen just an hour or 2 after eating; the heat wave we are in is making it so much worse. Is anyone else having or had similar issues. And it has nothing to do with anxiety so please don't even suggest that.

 

[Ms.Honey]

I have been having episodes like this too but have never measured my blood sugar. My blood work has always been ok for diabetes too. And same as you, it doesn’t seem to matter when I have eaten last. I don’t know what the answer is but following, hopefully someone has some advice.

 

[kivyt73]

Yes! I have the same thing and it used to be only between breakfast and lunch but now it is between lunch and dinner too. It's terrible, I always have to have something in my purse and can't miss meals. My fasting blood sugar is also always fine, no diabetes and I have also been told to have candy on hand by a doctor. It just isn't normal and it does affect my life. I don't have it in the morning after not eating all night and even go for a walk on an empty stomach in the morning with no issues. I believe it is reactive hypoglycemia. That is when you eat sugar and then your body over makes insulin which causes the drop in sugar. That is my guess and there is no real treatment for it other than having some sugar. The other frustrating thing is because the symptoms come on so quickly and they are so debilitating it causes me to over eat to make it go away and I can't seem to figure out how to manage this and not gain weight. I don't have any real answers but I feel ya.

 

[blueberries]

Thank you for your responses and understanding. This is greatly affecting my life. And why it is so much worse this summer, I don't know. I can't even go outside and work in my garden. After 5 minutes of that I can barely hobble into my kitchen to get juice. I sent an email to my doctor yesterday asking if he can refer me to someone to try to get at the cause of this. I don't want to have to depend on constantly dumping more sugar into my body.

 

[Wyattlove]

I know this is a couple weeks old but I can relate! I have hypoglycaemia and the biggest culprit other than waiting too long to eat is eating a meal with no protein and high sugar content. Eating pancakes for breakfast will often lead me into an attack but oatmeal with peanut butter and fruit-no problems. Don’t know if this is an issue for you but thought that it was worth mentioning. Also, I find drinking juice really helpful during an attack but sometimes it’s not enough and a full meal is needed to restore my blood sugars. Hope they get less frequent for you.

 

[blueberries]

I know this is a couple weeks old but I can relate! I have hypoglycemia and the biggest culprit other than waiting too long to eat is eating a meal with no protein and high sugar content. Eating pancakes for breakfast will often lead me into an attack but oatmeal with peanut butter and fruit-no problems. Don’t know if this is an issue for you but thought that it was worth mentioning. Also, I find drinking juice really helpful during an attack but sometimes it’s not enough and a full meal is needed to restore my blood sugars. Hope they get less frequent for you.

Waiting too long to eat can be a culprit for me but I've also found I can go hours without eating yet won't get hypoglycemia. When I was younger it was generally only going too long between meals would cause an attack but now I find that my biggest culprits are hot weather and exercise when on the hungry side. Just walking up and down the driveway a couple times when it's hot out can make my glucose levels plummet.

My doctor sent me for a bunch of blood work. I haven't hear from him re results but from what I can see in the portal everything came out pretty close to normal. However I wasn't experiencing hypoglycemia when the blood was drawn so that may have made a difference.

 

[Wyattlove]

Waiting too long to eat can be a culprit for me but I've also found I can go hours without eating yet won't get hypoglycemia. When I was younger it was generally only going too long between meals would cause an attack but now I find that my biggest culprits are hot weather and exercise when on the hungry side. Just walking up and down the driveway a couple times when it's hot out can make my glucose levels plummet.

My doctor sent me for a bunch of blood work. I haven't hear from him re results but from what I can see in the portal everything came out pretty close to normal. However I wasn't experiencing hypoglycemia when the blood was drawn so that may have made a difference.

I hope you get some answers for the change in frequency. I know in the past I’ve had blocks of time where I would crash more often without rhyme or reason. Sometimes these things just happen. It can be incredibly inconvenient though-especially if you aren’t home when it happens. I had an epic crash in Disneyland once that totally immobilized me. I couldn’t even walk and it took a large meal to get me back on track. Fun times!

 

[Mpapf]

I've only had it twice, but it is scary, I get anxious, I start to shake, my heart beats fast, and my vision gets blurry

 

[Wyattlove]

I've only had it twice, but it is scary, I get anxious, I start to shake, my heart beats fast, and my vision gets blurry

yes, it can be pretty unpleasant and downright unnerving when it’s really bad.

 

[Danny1001]

This happens to me for one reason I went to 2 endocrinologist and no answers the feel is horrible I feel like I’m going to faint I feel so mentally confused and disoriented. Then it takes me hours to feel normal


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