severe reactive hypoglycemia,test results please help

[bnstmf1984]

Hi,im new here and really hoping to get advice and help. Im 27 and i have been getting reactive hypoglycemia since i was young. had 2 pregnancies where it became progressivly worse. I also have pcos. Im very slim,underweight.
My symptoms are
-blurred vision,fatigue,aching arms,excessive drowsyness,cant concentrate after most meals if containing carbohydrate
-fatigue,angry irritable 2-3 hours post prandial

this is massivly effecting my life,i measure my bloodglucose daily- here is an example:

2 large eggs with small 30 g bowl poridge with ground flaxseed
Fasting- 4.4
30 min postprandial- 6.7mmol
1 hour postprandial - 8.2
1hr30 postprandial- 5.3
2 hour pp- 4.2
2hr 30 pp - 3.5
3 hr pp- 2.9

Crunchynut cornflakes
Fasting- 3.8mmol
30 pp- 5.8
1hr pp- 9.8
1.30 pp- 8.2
2pp- 6.6
2.30pp- 4.3
3 pp- 3.1

Glucose tollerance tests october 2010

0hr-bg4.4mmol- insulin 2.2mu/l - c peptide 323pmol/l

30min- bg5.4- insulin 14.9-

60- bg10 - insulin 37.2- cpep 2088

90- bg8.9- insulin 30.8-

120-bg7.3- insulin30.6- cpep-2109

150-bg7.2-

180-bg5.5- insulin 24.2- cpep 2177

2009
hs C reactive protein 2.16 (above 1.70 mg/l high)

2011
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate 24mm/h ( should be bekow 15)(shows high inflamation)

I have so many more results if you need anything you feel can help.

I have 2 young children and finding it very hard and just want answers.

If you have any questions or advice it will be very much apreciated.

Thankyou

[Tracey69]

Hi
Welcome to the site. I was wondering whether you have a thyroid problem, as you mention your weight, and these can cause fatique.
But i will look over the site for you.
This is only my own experience.
Please keep in touch.
Tracey

[daisy3174]

Hello I am pretty new here too, sorry you are going through this and it must be horrendous with 2 little ones.I have been having similar experiences for a while which worsened, to cut a long story short, I bought a glucose monitor as I knew something was going on.I have been to a doctor, who suspects Type 2 diabetes, but I have a feeling it is Reactive Hypoglycemia (which my doc said he would research as he has never heard of it!) as my symptoms are extreme and so are my blood sugars.The highest I have caught my blood sugar is 14.2mmol,after 1/2 an hour, to drop to 7.2mmol, after an hour, then 3.8mmol after 2 hours.This is crazy and so are my symptoms, I go from feeling slightly drunk when I am high to shaking, anxious, dizzy when I am around 5mmol now,when I am under 4mmol I have to sit down, jaw & legs shaking etc.It is the most terrible feeling, especially when you have small children to look after when all this is going on.I have to test all the time because it happens so often, yesterday 5 times and it wiped me out and I am getting to the point that I feel so sick I dont want anything for it and my boyfriend has to force me.I really do hope you feel better soon xxx Dont know if this helps but I believe there is a drug called Diazoxide here is a link-:
http://www.lef.org/protocols/metabolic_ ... mia_01.htm

[leanne1]

Hi I'm new here as well and suffer with reactive hypoglycemia, I was diagnosed a few months ago after a glucose tolerance test.... I'm finding it very hard i am rarely able to keep my levels above 5mmol and am getting drops to 1mmol. I'm pretty scared most of the time that im going to fall asleep at night and not wake up. i have a dietitian that i see every two months but im not managing to controll this at all. I feel tired and tearful most of the time and feel very alone with this. any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[daisy3174]

Hi there do u get High blood sugar results too? Or just the lows.Your doctor has to do something for you, as it says in the link above,Diazoxide can be used to treat this, so mention it to your doctor.The lowest I have ever been is 2.7mmol, I think as I dont always measure, but you feel like your dying, its dreadful, I also feel that you do not recover for at least a few hours with every Hypo you have.I have also noticed that the more Hypos I am getting, I am starting to get shaky at 4.5mmol, its strange.A no Carb, no Sugar diet is recommended, but when you are that low you need some form of one or the other to boost it back up again.Also I find I still have these Highs, then Hypos regardless of what I have to eat, I have always been a healthy eater and jogged 2-3 mile, 5 days a week since the age of 15.I also find that you cant control it, because you take something for the Hypo, then it goes up, only to crash again, and its a viscious circle.I am going to try not eating anything until teatime tomorrow, and see what happens (unless I have a Hypo).I do hope you feel better soon as I know how you feel.

[leanne1]

Hi daisy
thanks for your post last week.... i have recently spoken to my consultant about Diazoxide and he has agreed a two week trile in the new year!!!

I have found the same thing with the shaking when i'm under 4.5 my doc also told me that if i feel like this at 4.3 its still a hypo and should be medicated with glucose but i have found that if they are not too low a glass of milk will do the trick.

[daisy3174]

Hi Leanne, oh I am so glad, I really hope it helps you, so you can get your life back on track as I know how dreadful you must feel.I have since been diagnosed with diabetes, mine not only goes low but also high, I have got to the point where I am getting the dreadful symptoms under 5mmol.I am just glad I know what I am dealing with.Dont know about you but I have discovered that if I get stressed it knocks my blood sugar down quickly too! Have a lovely Christmas!x

[moonstone]

Crikey! What happens if you eat really slowly, does it help or hinder the situation, have you tried it? I don't suppose any diabetics are going to have any useful ideas because we get hypos for different reasons than you, and they're sorted out by eating, whereas with you it seems eating will sort it out then drop you down again. My cousin had gestational diabetes and she swore that eating a plate of veg before proper dinner would stabilise her sugars, I have no idea whether or not that would help with your issue though. I once read somewhere that there are two different types of insulin release when eating, perhaps that line of inquiry might turn up something useful? Also your liver is meant to give out a form of glucose if you go too low, I wonder why yours doesn't do that? I think that has something to do with (and this may be wrong) something called alpha cells, whereas insulin comes from beta cells. Clearly some messages between important cells aren't getting through.

Reactive hypoglycaemia sounds like the opposite of diabetes. Without medication, we have high blood sugars, so it's only once the diabetes gets treated that hypos come into play. One of you said your sugars have gone down to 1 - that's extraordinarily low. Do you carry glucagon injections in case of emergency? They're available to type 1s, have you heard of them? You might have a case for getting hold of one. Mind you it might make things worse afterwards, send you crashing again. I suppose it's worth enquiring about though. Hypos are often manageable but sometimes truly dreadful and everything you describe is normal for hypos. When you treat the hypos, how much carbs and what type (high GI or low GI) are you using? Do you eat loads because you feel so hypo or do you manage to contain yourselves to a set limit? Or does it make no difference at all? What a conundrum to be in, it does seem though as if low-carbing might be interesting to try out, one of you mentioned it above, because you release insulin in response to carb intake so in theory it might help even things out a bit? As with all things to do with sugars and insulin though, it always ends up being a lot more complicated than it seems. I wish you all well with it, I'd hate to be swinging up + down like a yoyo like that all the time, it's very wearing.

I read an article in Practical Diabetes once about this type of thing and there are several little-known reasons for people dropping low after meals (I think I counted 13), so getting past the GP level and to a specialist in the area may prove a useful move, eg a diabetologist or endocrinologist.

[daisy3174]

Hi there Moonstone thanks for your concern.This low blood sugar thing is terrible, my nurse has told me to eat every 2 hours (there really is no way I can do this, unless I want to have constant Hypos).I have had enough of it now but thankfully they have referred me to a specialist as I do not think this is diabetes even though I have been diagnosed with it.My doctor told me not to test??? Just treat the hypoglycemia by my symptoms, my nurse told me to test and carry Lucozade wherever I go.It does not matter what I eat, I always have been low carb, my nurse told me to eat bananas, they are one of the worst things I can eat.The condition is getting worse, has gone from one Hypo a day, to around 5 plus one in the middle of the night and its exhausting, how I go running every night I dont know!The only treatment I can find for treating low blood sugar (not caused by insulin or medication) is Diazoxide, so I am going to ask my doctor after Christmas.I really would not wish this on anyone x

[moonstone]

I'm going out now but I'll try to dig out that issue of Practical Diabetes later, it's got a lot of info in it on this very subject. I take it you're not on insulin?

[daisy3174]

Hi thanks no not on any medication at the moment until I see a specialist x

[daisy3174]

Hi Leanne1, hope you had a great Chrstmas, have you been started on the Diazoxide yet? x

[dragonfly5465]

Hi, I’m new here too. I came looking for and answer to my non-diabetic ‘hypoglycaemic episodes’ (that’s what my doctor called it). I have most of the same symptoms, light headed, shakes on the inside but not visibly shaking, cant think clear. But my doctor doesn't think reactive hypoglycaemia is a real thing, or that I could have non-diabetic hypoglycaemia or insulin resistance because I’m not overweight.

Have you ever been tested for any vitamin deficiencies?

The reason I ask is because I have a condition called pernicious anaemia, which causes a Vit B12 deficiency. When I started receiving B12 injection most of the diabetic-like symptoms went away or didn’t happen as often.

I'm also calcium deficient, which can apparently affect blood sugar

Calcium - Recent research suggests calcium is also important for blood sugar control. A calcium deficiency can affect the transport of essential nutrients into cells and prevent insulin from working efficiently3

http://www.ei-resource.org/illness-information/related-conditions/hypoglycemia-&-insulin-resistance/

And having my B6 tested

Vitamin B6 also plays a role in gluconeogenesis. Pyridoxal phosphate can catalyze transamination reactions that are essential for providing amino acids as a substrate for gluconeogenesis. Also, vitamin B6 is a required coenzyme of glycogen phosphorylase (Combs 2008), the enzyme that is necessary for glycogenolysis to occur.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Vitamin_B6#Gluconeogenesis

I don't know if any of this can help you, but its food for thought, and it's only a simple blood test to find out.