Is this reactive hypoglycemia?

sweetnsuga123

Member
Messages
7
Hi,
I am a 19 year old female. Im 179 cm and weigh about 170 lbs. Lately I have been getting a dry mouth/thirst and I was worried that this could be diabetes. I purchased a blood sugar monitor in order to test this. On the saturday morning my fasting blood sugar was 5.3. I ate two pieces of brown toast with butter and tested my blood sugar three hours later and it was 4.3. I've done some reading and apparently this is reactive hypoglycemia when your body produces too much insulin to counteract the carbs that you have eaten. I was wondering if my results are reflective of this. Today my morning fasting blood sugar was 4.5. I am going to see the GP tomorrow anyway but I was just wondering how these results look to you?
Thankyou
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
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21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Hi and welcome.

Those readings all look very normal and healthy to me :)

Dry mouth is one (of many) symptoms of diabetes, but it is also a symptom of several other things, from sleeping with the mouth open, to having a cold, or a number of other things. I would suggest that a doctor would look for several symptoms, not just one, before suspecting the patient had a form of glucose intolerance.

Regarding your blood glucose readings, those are definitely in the normal/healthy/non diabetic and non RH range. :)
Everyone's blood glucose varies throughout the day, with food, exercise, activity, rest, etc. so a variation of 1 mmol/l over several hours is nothing to be worried about.

In order for someone to have hypoglycaemia their readings would have to be significantly lower.

I am glad you are going to your doctor, and please discuss all your concerns with them, but I am sure they will be able to put your fears to rest.
 
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catapillar

Well-Known Member
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3,390
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Reactive hypoglycaemia involves actually experiencing hypoglycaemia. That's is defined as under 4 for someone on blood sugar lowering medication and more like less than 3.5 for someone on no medication.

None of the readings you are reporting are hypoglycaemic. So they don't suggest reactive hypoglycaemia.

Nor do they suggest diabetes.

Readings from 4.3-5.3 are all perfectly normal blood sugars. Or simply perfect blood sugars.
 
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azure

Expert
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9,780
Type of diabetes
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Pump
Hi,
I am a 19 year old female. Im 179 cm and weigh about 170 lbs. Lately I have been getting a dry mouth/thirst and I was worried that this could be diabetes. I purchased a blood sugar monitor in order to test this. On the saturday morning my fasting blood sugar was 5.3. I ate two pieces of brown toast with butter and tested my blood sugar three hours later and it was 4.3. I've done some reading and apparently this is reactive hypoglycemia when your body produces too much insulin to counteract the carbs that you have eaten. I was wondering if my results are reflective of this. Today my morning fasting blood sugar was 4.5. I am going to see the GP tomorrow anyway but I was just wondering how these results look to you?
Thankyou

They look absolultely fine to me :)

In someone without diabetes, it's prefectly normal for blood sugar to fluctuate like that :)
 

kokhongw

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi,
I am a 19 year old female. Im 179 cm and weigh about 170 lbs. Lately I have been getting a dry mouth/thirst and I was worried that this could be diabetes. I purchased a blood sugar monitor in order to test this. On the saturday morning my fasting blood sugar was 5.3. I ate two pieces of brown toast with butter and tested my blood sugar three hours later and it was 4.3. I've done some reading and apparently this is reactive hypoglycemia when your body produces too much insulin to counteract the carbs that you have eaten. I was wondering if my results are reflective of this. Today my morning fasting blood sugar was 4.5. I am going to see the GP tomorrow anyway but I was just wondering how these results look to you?
Thankyou

These results looks very good as the glucose levels still remains within a very tight range. Do remember that glucose meters are not 100% accurate. So the difference may just be reflective of the margin of error...

Typically we would be a little concerned if after the two pieces of brown toast glucose level goes over 8 and then quickly dropped to 4 or lower...
 

Emile_the_rat

Well-Known Member
Messages
246
Type of diabetes
Type 1.5
Treatment type
Insulin
Will mention that 3 hours would be an awful long if you were hypoglycemic.

In reactive hypoglycemics rapid blood sugar loss are "normal". Anyting below 4 mmol are considered a mild hypo, and can often happen shortly after eating. So 4.3 after 3 hours seem pretty normal to me :)
 

Aestire

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Yeah, I think it's usually more severe. You could have a mild case, but most of us exhibit much more serious issues besides dry mouth. My drops go from almost 120 down to 34 in under two hours, that's what happened the day I did my blood glucose tolerance test. So that's on a body that was fasting and had sugar. It's a complicated disease, I hope you find out soon though, hope you have better luck than I did!

Sent from my LGLS991 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 

Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,910
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Yeah, I think it's usually more severe. You could have a mild case, but most of us exhibit much more serious issues besides dry mouth. My drops go from almost 120 down to 34 in under two hours, that's what happened the day I did my blood glucose tolerance test. So that's on a body that was fasting and had sugar. It's a complicated disease, I hope you find out soon though, hope you have better luck than I did!

Sent from my LGLS991 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

I don't think that the condition (not a disease!) Is only complicated by those who believe that you can treat it in a normal way.
This condition is rare, and it's unusual for a pancreas to behave this way.
The bodies mechanism to switch off the overshoot is not there.
The glucagon/glycogen imbalance is unusual but not to complicated to understand.

It is the insistence that medics come out with because we have normal fasting levels that we can still eat carbs with every meal even though that is the trigger for the hyper then the hypo that follows.
Having an intolerance to certain foods should be enough to persuade you to stay away from them.
Eating carbs means you are ill
Not eating carbs makes you healthy!
Simples!

There is no cure!
Only dietary control!

Best wishes.