Is this a phenomenon anyone has? (caffeine-reactive hypoglycaemia)

Ellenor2000

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Patient description: 19, AMAB, non-diabetic (ex-obese, so working under the assumption of remitted type 2 pre-prediabetes), health-obsessed semi-sedentary carnivoroid.

For background: if I eat carbs (which I normally don't) the blood (and ISF) sugar reaction is as expected if a shade exaggerated - I go high (7s and 8s doesn't feel good when you're using to running 3s, 4s and 5s!), and then I return to baseline. However, if I drink two cups of coffee made in a cafetiere/French press with the count of grounds you'd use for twelve to eighteen cups, I'll go as low as the high 2s mM.EBG (unit explained later in this post). What would the not-a-doctors of DCUK diagnose me as having? Caffeine-reactive hypoglycaemia?

So I've had this problem for nearly a year now where if I consume coffee, but not tea or Truvia-sweetened hot chocolate (though I've since figured out that they do the same thing, just less to the point where I'm still compos mentis enough to drive an automobile), I could, around a half hour to an hour after, jitter like hell, become cold, sometimes sweat sometimes don't, and can become disorientated (rare).

While experiencing a pretty severe episode of what I now call "glycaemic caffeinism" (though I'm not sure it was brought on directly by caffeine that time), I told a type 1 diabetic friend of mine what my symptoms were and he said something to the effect of "sounds like a hypo to me". I wasn't worried because I do always end up recovering without any apparent consequences, but I figured the guy knows of what he speaks, so I scanned my Libre and my interstitial fluid glucose showed low, pointing to that my blood glucose could be low (the symptoms added up for low blood glucose, as well). I always recover from these episodes without needing to ingest carbohydrate (although I likely should have) and never lose consciousness. Given the danger of that, though, I will from now be ceasing coffee usage because of my tendency to severely overuse it, and all of my caffeine will come from tea and chocolate, whose hypoglycemic effects are much more controlled (but still extant).

During the worst such episode I've recorded (which was within the last 7 days as of writing), I showed an ISF glucose of 2.7 millimoles.ebg (EBG stands for "estimated blood glucose" and should be assumed whenever someone gives a reading from Libre or Dexcom without saying they crosschecked it against a fingerstick from 20min before) and dropping. I have to suspect my nadir was 2.6 mM.ebg.

Since Erowid has a drug experience vault for caffeine, should I submit a story to them in the hopes they may publish it, titled "Hypoglycaemia"?
 

DCUKMod

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Could I perhaps be suffering an Addisonian crisis, since you speak of glucocorticoid?

I wouldn't like to speculate on anything, but a feeling of being low can be a reation to a cortisone whoosh - a bit like a stress whooosh.

You could try giving caffiene a miss for a few weeks and see how you get along.
 

Ellenor2000

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I wouldn't like to speculate on anything, but a feeling of being low can be a reation to a cortisone whoosh - a bit like a stress whooosh.

You could try giving caffiene a miss for a few weeks and see how you get along.

I hate to insult a moderator but, did you even read the post? I've provided data backing up the hypothesis of it actually being hypoglycaemia.
 

Guzzler

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I hate to insult a moderator but, did you even read the post? I've provided data backing up the hypothesis of it actually being hypoglycaemia.
Omitting caffeine in any form will therefore test your hypothesis.
 
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Ellenor2000

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Got to agree with DC on this one if you think coffee is affecting you then stop taking it.
:bag:
Well obviously. I'm going to cut back to just the tea and chocolate, on which I can be relatively compos mentis.

Sorry if I seem cranky, I've been at 3.4 mMebg (going off what Libre says; I should probably do a strip test) for at least an hour.

I wonder what DCUKMod's hypothesis is on what glucocorticoid has to do with caffeine-related hypoglycemia.
 

Ellenor2000

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Omitting caffeine in any form will therefore test your hypothesis.
The numbers are less bad when I use less caffeine (from tea and chocolate), to the point where I'm actually functional and not obviously symptomatic (though clearly moderately more cranky).

I'm also pulling an all nighter so that confounds things a ton (I sometimes read lower through an all nighter without it being a pathology).
 

Ellenor2000

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But you appear to be basing your own self diagnosis on them?
Not trying to be difficult but....
The numbers are lining up with the symptoms and the last time I did a strip test the numbers lined up with the Libre numbers so... I'm considering the inaccuracy to be presently minimal. And I lost my lancing device - is it safe to, idk, do a test with a bare lancet?
 

Ellenor2000

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I found where I put my strips & poker. Apparently hypoglycemia does frazzle your brain!

3.7mM on a FreeStyle Precision strip.

The sensor is reading lower but that's to be expected. The trend line displayed by the Libre sensor comports with symptoms.
 

bulkbiker

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I found where I put my strips & poker. Apparently hypoglycemia does frazzle your brain!

3.7mM on a FreeStyle Precision strip.
And you are currently following a carnivore regime?
3.7 sounds pretty perfect to me..
 

Guzzler

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So you perceive a negative glycaemic affect and hypothesise that it may be the amount of caffeine in your diet but are unwilling to perform the simplest of tests (elimination) to test your hypothesis. You, instead, use cgm and test strips though you have not been diagnosed with RH or Diabetes.

Have I got this clear?