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Annual GTT and felt so ill after wards ( hypo)

C

celticmum6

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I always find myself feeling very nervous before I get the results from my annual GTT and hba1c blood test and my gut is telling me maybe I should be this time!

Wednesday I had my GTT and after I left I started to feel very lightheaded and dizzy could not concentrate and my vision went blurry and speech was affected, I felt hypo which caught me off guard as the only other times I felt like this after GTT was in pregnancy and I was always positive for Gestational Diabetes when I felt like this, I needed a lot of insulin to control my GD during pregnancy so I know what I experienced was not a true hypo. But anyone else ever feel like this and it meant nothing or does it mean something is not right.

Could I be worrying about nothing and the chances my GTT could and probably will come back ok but I could be prediabetic or early stages of type 2

I eat very healthy and have lost a lot of weight since having my son and I run a lot and walk every day so was hoping I had done enough to avoid type 2 diabetes as my endocrinologist told me my chances of developing type 2 where very high

Thanks for reading
 
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All I can give you is my personal experience.

I have only done one OGTT and I did it at home, testing myself every 15 minutes for 3 hours after the drink. Once my levels began to drop, they dropped very quickly. They dropped right down to under where I started before I had the drink, and may even have continued to drop further but I had a cup of tea with milk, which stabilised them. I didn't feel any symptoms, but hypo-type symptoms can occur if your levels are dropping or changing quickly, especially blurry eyes, and can also occur if your levels have dropped further than your body is used to (known as a false hypo)

Good luck with your results.
 
It's good that they are keeping an eye on you and looking out for the possiblity of your developing 'diabete' but I'm a little perplexed as to why they would want to repeat each year a OGTT on you.
Surely they would have most of the information they need already as to how well or otherwise your body can cope with a sudden defined Glucose loading. By going 'Hypo' during or following on from the OGTT would indicate if anythig that you might possible have a condition known as 'Rebound Hypoglycaemia' or 'Reactive Hypoglycaemia' where the body over compensates for the sudden glucose loading and as a consequence brings the blood/glucose level under too much control, bringing the blood/glucose level below a safe level (below 3.8 mmol/L) and shortly after this the control then allows the blood/glucose to once again rise upwards.
The better indicator as to your overall diabetic health is the HbA1c test which willl show your average blood/glucose level over the previous 12 weeks and also you fasting blood/glucose level (the initial readin of your OGTT) which if taken in the early part of the morning will show if you have an initial elevated blood/glucose level upon waking.
It might be worth while asking them why they are requesting ALL these various test and what exactly are they looking for.
Please let us all know how you get on.
 
I did have two OGTT years ago at the hospital first one was not conclusive so I had to have another one and that showed I had a glucose intolerance that was over ten years before I developed T2. Diabetes was diagnosed from my annual routine blood tests
 
Thanks for the replies, they took blood for my hba1c and checking my thyroid (I am on medication for hypothyroidism ) It was the hospital after they discharged me that sent a letter to my GP requesting yearly GTT.
 
Do you have a home meter so you can test if/when you experience these hypo symptoms in future?
And were your hypo symptoms tested at the time? By health care professionals?

I am VERY wary of dismissing anything as a false hypo, because i was told (for years) that ppl 'don't get hypos unless they are on strong meds'.
Only trouble was, when i got a meter and used it, it turned out my hypos were very real indeed...
 

I have a meter but not with me at the time and I had left the doctors when it started so it was not checked by them, I will mention it when I go back for my results in a weeks time.
 
Hi,
I have had quite a few OGTTs, mine have been the extended OGTT. Up to five hours rather than the two hour version usually used for finding glucose intolerance for T2s.

The symptoms you describe are synonymous with quick drops in blood glucose levels.

Did they take regular finger prick testing and record them? You need to find out what they were, so we can help.
Did they offer any treatment for the symptoms you describe at that time or offer advice on how to treat such symptoms?
Have they offered any explanation for what they are hoping to diagnose or rule out?

Best wishes

Best wishes.
 
No, they did not do any of that, I had left the surgery when it happened when I go back to get my results I will tell my doctor.
I have had this happen before but it was only ever when I was pregnant after an OGTT which I was always diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes when I felt ill after it. my insulin resistance during pregnancy is awful I needed insulin at 10 weeks on my last baby, ( I have had GD on every pregnancy) so very early and probably not very common for GD mine always started very early they actually told me they doubted it would go after I had my baby thankfully it did.

I have had these feelings before sometimes if I am late getting lunch and very busy but have never checked my blood sugars with my monitor as I guess I never knew about reactive hypoglycemia. I will check from now on!

I have been checking my fasting blood sugars and I am always over 6 close to 7 on doing some reading I think that is prediabetic ranges?
 

There is a tenuous connection between symptoms of hypoglycaemia and gestational diabetes.
If your fasting blood levels are just above normal, which is between 3.5 and 6mmols, that is where most doctors would prefer most diabetics to be and is no concern to be worried about.
It is what happens after food that causes your blood levels that most of us would be interested in and what you ate to get them results.
The symptoms you are getting, do they happen at any other time other than the glucose test? Do they happen regularly?
Testing and experimenting and recording in a food diary will help you and your doctor in so many ways. You can find out which foods are creating the symptoms as well as glucose. It is an important part of how you body is coping with the carbs and sugars that turn into glucose quickly, to give you the sudden drops in blood levels.
Probably caused by too much circulating insulin.

Keep asking questions, and get to know how to use your glucometer by testing pre meal, and then two hours after first bite. You can use it to find your spike later, by testing at the hour mark or in between those times. If you testing for Hypoglycaemia it usually happens after the two hour mark even up to four hours after eating.

I have Reactive Hypoglycaemia and if I don't eat to my meter and eat intolerant foods I will spike very quickly and hypo between three to five hours later depending on what the meal contained.

Best wishes
 

Thanks for the great reply, to answer your question on if I had similar symptoms before, yes I have I have noticed a pattern where it happens before lunch not as bad though and only if I do not have a mid-morning snack, it would not be every day but could to 2 to 3 days a week.
I will keep a diary over the next few days and see how I am. they were (5.4) 2hours after dinner tonight which I am happy with
 
Yep they're great numbers, but did you do a pre meal reading and what did you eat?

How long after breakfast did you feel awful before lunch?
I would always hypo before diagnosis.( Not saying you are hypoglycaemic of course). After breakfast if I had something like porridge or cereals.
But, yes it is a pattern.

However, (there is always one) I have read that some people with diabetes can't go too long without food. Especially if on certain types of meds.

Are you on any meds?

Best wishes
 

I was 5.2 before dinner so good as well and I has chicken curry with sagg aloo all homemade
I would eat breakfast at about 8.30 am so I say between 3 and 4 hours after breakfast. I do eat porridge 40g but not every morning and always try and have high protein yoghurt and low GI fruits with it I do not eat any other cereal. I think I need to keep a record of my blood sugars along with my food diary

No I am not on any meds
 

It wasn't until I got diagnosed and I read a list of symptoms from Wikipedia, which I copied and is a 'sticky' at the top of the Reactive Hypoglycaemia forum that I realised how many I had.
I would recommend for you to have a read of our forum and gain knowledge on how diet can have a real effect on your health.
People with conditions such as mine have to avoid certain foods to stop feeling awful and get their health back.

I learned so much from my diary, that is why I recommend it to everyone who cannot understand how 'healthy food' can be really bad for you.


Best wishes.
 
Had test over 5 hours and by the end of it had severe migraine, was being sick and they had to put me to bed in a ward!!
 
I will not be having another one. Really long two hours felt queasy and like skin covered in insects.
 
glucogirl6499 said:
Had test over 5 hours and by the end of it had severe migraine, was being sick and they had to put me to bed in a ward!!
Click to expand...

Hi,
Why did you have a five hours test (eOGTT)?

Did they inform you that those symptoms might indicate a hypo?

My first eOGTT, I had a similar experience, only because they didn't really have a clue what was going on!
 
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