Cause for Concern? Non-diabetic

[MikeyH85]

Hi,

I'm not diabetic, as far as I am aware.

I have started to check my blood glucose levels, as I struggle with fatigue / agitation related to eating and failing to eat.

Within a few hours of having last eaten my blood glucose level with drop to as low as 3.0, where I feel very tired and shaky, and then about half hour or so after eating a fairly balanced lunch, carbs and protein, my glucose level will go to about 10, where I feel wired and light-headed. This lasts for about an hour or so, upon which I feel completely wiped out again.

Does this sound normal for a non-diabetic with no diagnosis of anything related?

I try to eat sensible proportions of protein and carbs, but cannot maintain good energy levels or a steady blood glucose level, regardless what I try.

Thanks for advice
Mike

 

[noblehead]

Mike, unfortunately no one on the forum can diagnose the problem as we are not qualified to do so, you should book an appointment with your gp and discuss matters with them.

 

[Lamont D]

Only blood tests will answer your questions. If you are concerned, go the GPs. Sorry but other than that it's purely guesswork!
Let us know how you get on.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Something sounds out of kilter. How high does your blood glucose get after eating? Or is the peak a 1/2 hour after you eat?

Do you eat any fat? Not eating any fat could be causing problems.

Any other symptoms? High/low blood pressure? Weight gain/loss? Thirsty? Frequent urination? Fast/slow heart rate?

Usually, diabetes is characterized by elevated blood glucose (much higher than 10), not low blood glucose.

 

[douglas99]

Something sounds out of kilter. How high does your blood glucose get after eating? Or is the peak a 1/2 hour after you eat?

Do you eat any fat? Not eating any fat could be causing problems.

Any other symptoms? High/low blood pressure? Weight gain/loss? Thirsty? Frequent urination? Fast/slow heart rate?

Usually, diabetes is characterized by elevated blood glucose (much higher than 10), not low blood glucose.

Lots of people eat a balanced diet, such as the op has said they're eating, without issue.
How do you believe eating fat would make a major change to them, instead of his balanced diet?
Particularly to low BS?

Personally, if I was the op, I'd go to the GP, as others suggested, before piling in the fat.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Well, it seems odd that he described a balanced meal of carbs and protein, but no mention of fat. I wasn't suggesting any changes to their diet, especially not "piling in the fat" - not sure where you got that from my post. I was just wondering how much fat there was in this balanced diet. A level of 10 a half hour after eating does seem high for a non-diabitic eating a fairly balanced meal. I'm a diabetic and even if I eat a carb loaded meal I won't be that high after half an hour.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Well, it seems odd that he described a balanced meal of carbs and protein, but no mention of fat. I wasn't suggesting any changes to their diet, especially not "piling in the fat" - not sure where you got that from my post. I was just wondering how much fat there was in this balanced diet. A level of 10 a half hour after eating does seem high for a non-diabitic eating a fairly balanced meal. I'm a diabetic and even if I eat a carb loaded meal I won't be that high after half an hour.

Very low fat in my diet with good carb and protein intake (healthy non processed food) caused me huge problems....
Not anything to do with probs of the OP BUT definitely not having enough fat CAN cause health problems.
I think it was a reasonable question...

 

[douglas99]

Very low fat (for a year) lost me 1/4 of my body mas, and caused me no problem at all.
I also took the op's post at face value, when they said it was a balanced diet, not a low fat/no fat diet.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Very low fat (for a year) lost me 1/4 of my body mas, and caused me no problem at all.
I also took the op's post at face value, when they said it was a balanced diet, not a low fat/no fat diet.

Well, I didn't assume anything. With the official government line that fat is evil and will kill you, some people consider a very low fat diet to be balanced. Anyway, I only asked a few questions, I did not suggest they change their diet, since I don't think it's clear what it is.

 

[douglas99]

Well, I didn't assume anything. With the official government line that fat is evil and will kill you, some people consider a very low fat diet to be balanced. Anyway, I only asked a few questions, I did not suggest they change their diet, since I don't think it's clear what it is.

Fair enough.
I have to agree with you, low fat worked very, very well for me.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. A blood test after 1/2 hour isn't very useful so do test around 2 hours after a meal. Low blood sugar down to 3'ish would not be connected with diabetes but could be related to your diet or some other health issue. Although feeling tired can be one of many diabetes symptoms it would be likely to have other causes. Only extremes of blood sugar, high and low, would normally cause tiredness. I can see the point querying fat. It would be useful if the OP could confirm that there is some fat in the diet as NHS guidance on fats has been outdated.

 

[douglas99]

Hi. A blood test after 1/2 hour isn't very useful so do test around 2 hours after a meal. Low blood sugar down to 3'ish would not be connected with diabetes but could be related to your diet or some other health issue. Although feeling tired can be one of many diabetes symptoms it would be likely to have other causes. Only extremes of blood sugar, high and low, would normally cause tiredness. I can see the point querying fat. It would be useful if the OP could confirm that there is some fat in the diet as NHS guidance on fats has been outdated.

Or not, from experience. Low calorie, low fat, no problem.

 

[MikeyH85]

Thanks for your replies and advice.

I would consider that there is a 'healthy' amount of fat in my diet. I certainly don't avoid it and am aware the government recommendations are disregarded by newer studies.

I was tested a couple of years ago, among other things, for diabetes, and it came back negative. I was suffering from many of the associated symptoms, including constant thirst, urination, fatigue etc, but the test was conclusive, and has been ruled out. The GP is definitely the the best way to go ultimately, I agree, but would just prefer to see them with an inkling of what the problem might be, and have the relevant test done.

Is there any sort of derivative issue of diabetes or something connected that people have seen?

 

[Brunneria]

Hi Mikey,

Have you ever heard of something called Reactive Hypoglycaemia?

Again, I'm not suggesting any kind of diagnosis, but it might be worth you have a google search
and if it rings any bells with you, there are some threads on here that you could do a search for, which you might find interesting.

 

[AnnieC]

I think you should really see your doctor don't just assume because of your symptoms that you have diabetes., I think by testing your blood you are just worrying yourself wait until you have an official diagnosis and if you are diabetic or prediabetic then you can start testing

 

[Lamont D]

I have tried not to make a guess on what you are suffering from as @Brunneria says have a google at reactive hypoglycaemia.
This why I was interested, as I have that condition.
The condition does mimic T2 diabetes and the treatment is similar. Except for having more smaller meals without a lot of carbs and sugars.
As a sort of explanation, your consumption of carbs reacts by spiking and then crashing into a hypo. (Low blood glucose level.) you control it by low carbs and eating very often so you don't hypo. It is called late post prandial reactive hypoglycaemia. If you don't eat after around three hours you start to have a hypo.
Please see your GP, I was reluctant to specify your condition. You should get your GP to refer you to an endo. You should get the following tests. Oral glucose tolerance test and a mixed meal test also you may have to have a long term fasting test. Mine was 72 hours! In hospital.
Let us know how you get on. See your GP and get yourself sorted.

Best wishes