Hypoglycemia and Diet ( Non-Diabetic )

[CairnTrenz]

I hope this is the right section, as I do not have diabetes. I've been tested with multiple blood tests and everything comes back fine.. The reason I'm here, is partly due to my health anxiety playing havoc with me, and because I have had cases of what appears to be hypoglycemia. I've never been able to test during a full blown episode, but I think the lowest I've caught it at whilst feeling ****** was 3.5 or so..

So basically, my diet has been trash the whole of my life. I've never been able to put on weight, so I just consumed carbs, bread, and ate/drank whatever I wanted.. Every now and then, around once a year maybe even less, I'd get a random hypo and not think anything of it. I'd just eat and it'd go away...

However, 2 years ago I started noticing them becoming more frequent, and I have done nothing to my diet until 2 weeks ago ( starting to feel somewhat better, with supplements and eating much more veg etc )..

I'm rambling now, but basically my anxiety has told me that anything below 4.5 is BAD, and I'm going to go hypo, so I need to quickly eat something. This is disruptive to my everyday life.. I ate a good amount of soup 2 hours ago, and tested myself and I was 4.4, and felt FINE... But have tested myself at other points and felt ****** and it was 4.4 or 4.2... I'm starting to think allot of it is in my head, because this blood sugar levels check out as good and actually very normal

But my blood sugar is very often around 4.4-4.8.. But I test everyone else that I know, and they are between 5.0-5.8 whilst fasting.. My fasting is like 4.0 if I leave it around 4-5 hours..

I'm just trying to make sense of it all, as my anxiety is freaking me out with all this kinda stuff.. What could make my blood sugars always within the 4s? don't get me wrong, if I have a carby meal they'll go up to a late 5's to mid 6's, but will always come back down to the 4s

 

[jonathan183]

Your blood glucose should be in the 4's. You can get hypo like symptoms if your blood glucose drops quickly. You might want to take a look at the reactive hypoglycemia section

I suspect keeping carbs low may help stabilise blood glucose levels ...

 

[Antje77]

Your numbers sound healthy and normal to me!
Being below 4 isn't unusual in non diabetics, it's only the ones on medication like insulin and gliclazide who need to take action below 4, as we can drop dangerously low.
Without medication, your body will get your blood glucose up when you drop too much for comfort, although you might have hypo symptoms. Eating something when you feel rubbish and hungry helps.

I'm rambling now, but basically my anxiety has told me that anything below 4.5 is BAD

It isn't, it's a perfectly healthy number!
Have you contacted your GP on your anxiety? Anxiety can focus on all sorts of things, and I know from experience it can make your life unnecessary hard.

You might want to take a look at the reactive hypoglycemia section

With RH you'll see a quick rise, followed by a steep drop after eating carbs. Having hypo-like symptoms once in a while doesn't sound like RH.

 

[CairnTrenz]

I just had a very strange moment.. I felt fine, and my diet seems to be paying off.. However, I decided to check my blood sugars randomly, and it gave me 3.4..... I was feeling fine, but then started to panic.. I checked again.. 3.4.. I then checked for a third time and got 3.2... But still felt fine.. None the less, I still ate a banana, and an orange.. Had abit of a panic attack about it.. Could someone please explain this?

Edit: I checked my gf at the time, and she was 4.7 which is low for her as she is normally 5.5-5.8 etc... I'm baffled

 

[Lamont D]

Hi, I have Reactive Hypoglycaemia, and truthfully I don't know, simply because you need diagnostic tests to find out what happening with you.
You gave details of your bg levels at a point in time and it was good you repeated the finger prick readings. The circumstances of when you had the episode of hypoglycaemia, how long after eating, what did you eat, are you allergic or intolerant to food or something else, do you still have an episode of hypoglycaemia while fasting, do you have a food diary.
I say all this because of the range of conditions, even if you are non diabetic, are many which will cause Hypoglycaemia.
Ask your GP for a referral to a specialist endocrinologist, that is the best advice I can give you. Episodes of hypoglycaemia can cause serious health problems.

Do have a read of the reactive hypoglycaemia forum, it is for similar conditions to RH as well as other hypoglycaemic conditions.

Continue with the diet until you discover the cause.

My best wishes. Let us know how you get on.

 

[zand]

As a diet controlled T2 my BGs have dropped to the mid 3s several times, usually late afternoon. I feel fine and don't view it as a problem at all.

 

[CairnTrenz]

Hi, I have Reactive Hypoglycaemia, and truthfully I don't know, simply because you need diagnostic tests to find out what happening with you.
You gave details of your bg levels at a point in time and it was good you repeated the finger prick readings. The circumstances of when you had the episode of hypoglycaemia, how long after eating, what did you eat, are you allergic or intolerant to food or something else, do you still have an episode of hypoglycaemia while fasting, do you have a food diary.
I say all this because of the range of conditions, even if you are non diabetic, are many which will cause Hypoglycaemia.
Ask your GP for a referral to a specialist endocrinologist, that is the best advice I can give you. Episodes of hypoglycaemia can cause serious health problems.

Do have a read of the reactive hypoglycaemia forum, it is for similar conditions to RH as well as other hypoglycaemic conditions.

Continue with the diet until you discover the cause.

My best wishes. Let us know how you get on.

It seems to be almost randomly between 2-4 hours, sometimes I can push further.. I think allot of it is to do with my stress levels and previously very bad diet, I may have created a gut dysbiosis, as my morning spit test shows signs of it, but currently trying to correct that with supplements etc..

Blood tests for everything came back fine, including cortisol, liver function etc.. My blood plasma glucoze fasting was a little lower than normal, but still within the normal range. I used to eat ALLOT of bread, pasta, grains, and preservative foods like freezer food. Sometimes I'd exchange whole meals for a packet of biscuits around the time I saw it get worse..

I mean, typing it out loud makes it clear that I've most likely created a blood sugar imbalance that needs to be corrected before it could possibly turn into something else. But again, I'm in the process of that with a nutritionist

 

[bulkbiker]

I just had a very strange moment.. I felt fine, and my diet seems to be paying off.. However, I decided to check my blood sugars randomly, and it gave me 3.4..... I was feeling fine, but then started to panic.. I checked again.. 3.4.. I then checked for a third time and got 3.2... But still felt fine..

That's because you were fine... it takes me 3 days of fasting to get into the 3's but have never had a problem with being there.
The first time maybe fell a bit "odd" but after that always fine but never stayed there for long.
If it wasn't induced by drugs or exogenous insulin you would be fine.