Hypo's, but not diabetic???

[SmileyB4]

Hi All,

I have type 1 diabetes, but a friend of mine keeps claiming she has severe hypo's (her words, not mine!). Sorry to sound not very nice, but it is getting a bit on my nerves? She doesn't have diabetes, but yesterday we had a days outing with the children and she needed to sit down, told me she was shaking and sweaty and said she couldn't think properly. She got some sweets out and told me it happens a lot? I asked if she had seen the doctor, but she said she knew it was a hypo and that all she needed to do was have sugar? She knows I have type 1, and I asked her what she think might happen if she didn't get any sugar and she said she would pass out. I asked her if this had happened before and she said 'no'.

I wanted to ask if anyone knows more about this? I have heard about people with low blood sugars, but I've heard they can't eat sugar because their pancreas over compensates, so they have to be careful???? I don't know if this is true, but it's what I've heard.

I suppose it irritates me because I know how serious a hypo can be and if my sugar drops, I know it can make me feel tired for at least an hour plus afterwards... depending on how low it was? My friend seemed absolutely fine... and I didn't appreciate her dismissing my interest when I questioned her about it?
She has also in the past told me I shouldn't have any problems with my diabetes because I have a pump, it's like a cure???? :yawn:
So, basically, I've clearly forgotten what it feels like to have a hypo!!!!

Sorry to moan, but I wouldn't wish bad hypo's on anyone!!!! So please don't make them up!

Thanks xxx

 

[hale710]

I have 2 friends who do suffer from this, diagnosed by a doctor. They need to eat more regularly than the rest of us. BG seems to just drop of its own accord but luckily neither has passed out...... Yet.

Tell your friend she should be seeing a doctor to have it diagnosed. Doctor just tells you to have more snacks but that's not the point, it should be on her record "just in case" etc

 

[carebear]

My partner suffered from the same thing for quite a while and was diagnosed as not being diabetic. A few years later he became Type 2 diabetic and now uses tablets . Was this a pre diabetic state?? I have been diagnosed for 20 years and 10 years before this I was investigated for diabetes because I was always thirsty and had hypo type problems. There is such a thing as a pre diabetic state and as such these people should be fully investigated and watched in the future.

 

[SmileyB4]

Thanks for your comments.

I know I sound like an awful friend by moaning! But I think you could be right with the 'pre diabetes'. I suppose I got frustrated because all the children wanted to do was go off and play, but we had to sit down all the time so she could eat. She is a large person and I wondered if she was making excuses because she was tired. I was also amazed how much she managed to eat yesterday.... and still claimed her blood sugar was low and she needed sugar?

My husband also says he feels low sometimes, but it's usually when he hasn't eaten anything for a while. I can understand that and support him by making sure he has something..... but then he is very supportive of my hypo's and never tries to compare in any way!

Thanks again :wave:

 

[martwolves]

You don't sound a bad friend. Perhaps she has diabetes-envy and feels left out? She should definitely visit a doctor, especially being a big girl. Stuffing your face full of sweets when you're overweight doesn't sound very clever to me. Perhaps she's sweating and out of breath because of her physical condition. I think she needs marching off for a medical exam of some sort at the very least. I had a load of buffet sandwiches today and a packet of crisps, I'm not overweight, but feel so, so tired now, I could go to bed!

 

[phoenix]

She really needs to talk to a doctor if it is affecting her that much rather than self diagnosis. (I think there are a few rare conditions that can have hypos as a symptom but they would also have other symptoms)

I found lots of answers about ways to manage hypoglycaemia/reactive hypoglycaemia on an American dietitian's website.*

She says that reactive hypoglycaemia is thought to be a prediabetic condition ie an overproduction of insulin in response to simple sugars.
Interestingly she says not to eat sugar in this situation but eating protein.

Unlike a diabetic who eats something sweet when having an insulin reaction, you should eat protein. Try eating cheese, luncheon meat or a hot dog with or without the bun. If you were to eat sweets to get your blood sugar back up, you would experience hypoglycemia again within another 2 hours or less

* http://www.dietitian.com/hypoglyc.html#.UWblZppBvmQ

(though you'd have to explain to her why your hypos are different ie your body can't stop the action of the insulin you have injected)

 

[SmileyB4]

Thanks again for your comments! I'll give her the website you've found Phoenix, thank you!

Cheers xxx

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I have a sister with a similar problem. Occasionally she goes wobbly and a few times she has passed out. Since she did it in the toilet once I wondered if it was connected to blood pressure at all but I have no clear idea.

When she was young my Mother took her to see a doctor and was told to "put sugar in her tea". My Mother was confused about that because my sister had as much sugar as anyone else and no-one was keeping it from her.

I still don't know what the cause is but I am aware that this sort of condition does happen to some people,

 

[Barrie Smith]

A customer at our Garage suffered like this , and also had night hypo`s , he worked on a farming estate quite a heavy job .
He struggled with it for about 4yrs , but unfotunatly was diagnosed too late with pancreatic cancer , aparently the cancer was creating more Ilets of langerhern .
Get it seen to without delay, hope I am wrong , good luck .

 

[jayney99]

hi

I too have the same problem as your friend feel shaky, sweaty, confused and sometimes even passed out after the feelings have passed am really tired for around an hour after which I was told are all classic signs as having an 'hypo'
Yet my doctor told me there was nothing wrong just a virus (every-time it happened!?!) as I am on the 'large side' he told me this didn't help me and I couldn't be diabetic as I would lose a lot of weight rapidly and if I felt 'funny' just drink some fresh ornage juice I will feel better in no time. This has been going on for over 18 months yet when I visited another GP within the practice who said I was showing signs and symptoms of being diabetic or at least pre-diabetic. I underwent tests which came back as me being a pre-diabetic and they would keep a watch on me. I lost weight did everything they told me 'was a good girl' yet have just been re-diagnosed as diabetic type 2 and I had been showing signs of this for 3 years before hand.

 

[liz_m]

I suspect your friend is quite unfit as well as overweight. if this is the case its likely the large demand for insulin when she exercises can sometimes cause too much insulin to be produced so you get a dip. She is possibly preD. It would be interesting on your next walk if you had your glucose metre with you. she really does need to find out what's going on. It could be bull though!

 

[LittleWolf]

From the perspective of someone not yet officially diagnosed and who has a partner with T1, it can be hard to maintain the balance between emotional and medical needs.

My T1 friend can eat pretty much any thing he wants (fast food etc) and stays skinny, as long as he doses his insulin correctly and is easy on the booze. He tries to make me eat more like him actually :/ The difference with me is I am in and out of hospital with severe reactions (plus a bunch of longstanding side effects) and fluctuations on blood sugar because whatever is going on with me, it's uncontrolled. I feel SO guilty if he finds out I've been in hospital or passed out again, or I want to whine about feeling sick when he is supposed to be the sick one!

Hypoglycaemia is the opposite of diabetes yet a precursor, because it shows you're either overshooting, undershooting or resistant to whatever levels of insulin your pancreas is pumping out but there's all sorts of criteria to look at too. My BG levels are much higher than my T1 friend or diagnostic criteria but I still have hypos, which most diabetics will only have if they over inject insulin as far as I know.

If your friend goes to the doctor she can found out if she has chronic hypoglycaemia, or maybe she has false hypos, or maybe she keeps having reactive hypos going up and down with spikes and drops in blood sugar.

I'm honestly no expert but there could be anything going on! Tell her to go get tested. Wish I could take my own advise though. With the other complications I hate being a nuisance in the doctor's office.

I worry your friend might have false hypos and just keep loading with the sugar and she'll end up a full blown diabetic. Hypo, hyper, whatever, she could stand to cut back and lose weight a bit from what you said. *shrugs*


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[lwells2783]

I have been having hypos for so long, my gp sent me for tests, it's taken 2 years to find out I have reactive hypoglycaemia, there is medication available but it causes diarrhoea and bloating, which is bad as I also have colitis so I have to eat little and often. I think your friend should see her gp for a referral to a diabetic centre and get the proper checks

 

[Stormylady]

It is now almost 3 years since my diabetic diagnosis. However 29 years ago, (I know that, as my son was only a couple of month old) I had my first, what I've always termed as low blood sugar episode's. Then I was in pretty good condition, lol. Two little one's a dog to walk, didn't have a car, so walked or cycled everywhere, maybe a little overweight, but not a lot. This has persisted for all these years, I have told Dr's on many occasion's but none have ever made anything of it, and I genuinely felt terrible each time it happened Sweating, very vague, total lack of concentration, nauseous, headache, extreme tiredness, shaking, irritable. Then as I said 3 years ago eventually diagnosed as type 2, on Metformin, and guess what I still get this!! I've told the diabetic nurse, she says good it's my body getting used to when I need sugar, the Dr told me (as it more often than not happen's mid morning), eat another breakfast! Yes that really helps for weight loss. I'm not a big fruit eater, never have been, but did for a while make myself have a piece of fruit that was not enough, I was still feeling horrendous! The only thing I have found to help is sugar, ie, a mars bar, a few biscuits, even bread and jam! I had this only yesterday I have read recently that this could indicate pre diabetic condition, and guess what -- my son suffers with it, he went to the Dr's once and was told it was a virus! He still keeps getting it, I nag him to return to the Dr's, but typical man! So please do not dismiss your friends symptoms as jealousy or such, encourage her to seek medical help, and even accompany her, and give your opinion if need be to get the Dr to listen, because if they're like most I've seen they won't.

 

[Giverny]

I've actually suffered hypos myself and I'm not diabetic either. One of them was so bad that I had a seizure and was unconscious for a few hours. It can and does happen. Thankfully, it doesn't happen to me often - only 3 or 4 times in my life.

 

[xAoifex]

How about next time she complains that her sugars are low offer to test them for her! If they come back as low then at least you know she's telling the truth, if they come back as normal then it probably is down to her "constitution" another problem all together or just attention seeking. (I have had a friend who used to attention seek in this way, it has made me very sceptical when anyone complains of low blood sugar she used to "faint" and come round just as the paramedics arrived. It makes it very difficult to trust people. Heard of the boy who cried wolf???!)

 

[hanadr]

There is a condition called "Reactive Hypoglycaemia", which causes hypos. In fact anyone can get a hypo, theoretically, if their blood glucose drops It's not likely with a slow drop, because the liver compenstates. Anyway some doctors won't diagnose reactive hypoglycaemia unless they see a blood glucose reading below 2.
Hana

 

[hanadr]

Smiley
serious hypo can be danerous to an insulin user, because even after symptoms show, the level can keep fallin under the influence of the insulin.
that danger isn't there without the medication..
Hana

 

[christina101]

Diabetes is not the only condition that produces hypos. There is a condition called INSULINOMA where the main symptom is a hypo. It is the exact opposite to being a diabetic. A tumor, typically on the pancreas, produces insulin, which causes blood sugars to drop and produce hypos. The symptoms are alleviated by eating, often undiagnosed people will instinctively eat something sweet or sugary. An insulinoma can easily be diagnosed by a simple fasting blood test, for glucose, insulin, and c-peptide. Your friend should see her GP and ask for insulinoma to be ruled out as the cause of her hypos.

 

[NaomiTurner]

I have suffered with hypos for years, im neither diabetic nor overweight. I am very fit and exercise 5 days a week. ive been tested for diabetes a few times always coming up negative. i can go months without a hypo or have 3 in a week. my thinking is i need to eat more frequently? whilst my diet is 90% healthy im the first to admit that if im busy i can and do go all day without eating because im genuinely not hungry, then stuff down a man size meal in the evening. what confuses me though is that i can do this say 100 times but only one time my blood sugar will drop so low that im left sweating, shaking, confused etc. i have naturally low blood pressure too, right at bottom of 'normal' range if not slightly below and now and again for reasons unknown this will drop and i will pass out. i wonder if theres any relationship? though the 2 concerns have never happened at same time. i recognise the feeling for both now and if its b.p. i lay down and put my legs up and am fine within 5 mins, if its blood sugar i eat whatever is available wherever i am at the time and it takes longer but am okay again within the hour. whilst doc has done relevant tests i never receive any further advice once the tests show negative. would like to know if there are reasons so i can tackle them.