Any help would be appreciated

Welcome to the forum Claireyt
Have a look here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/reactive-hypoglycemia.70/ it may give you some answers

Claireyt said:

Hi,

I have been struggling for over a year now with my blood sugar and hoped someone would be able to give me ideas.

Firstly, I have been told I don't have diabetes. My issue is hypoglycaemia. I am really battling with it. I have on average about six periods of it a day which is making me now lose some awareness till I either feel the poorly I pass out or I check my sugar and it's well in the 2s.

The doctors are still unsure what is causing it and keep telling me to eat all of the time

I keep getting quite a lot of pain in my liver which the doctor advised is probably because of the excessive hypos.

I have tried the low GI foods etc but still go hypo. They believe my pancreas is constantly secreting too much insulin so will do it no matter what I eat. It must do it through the night too as most nights I have a hypo too.

Any ideas how to manage it and what could be causing it would be great as its wearing me out?

Thanks

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Hi sorry to hear how you are struggling. I can really relate as I am having the same issues, although thankfully I don’t pass out. I have found an improvement with sticking to a LCHF diet and eating at least 6 small meals a day every 2/3 hours. However even after a fasting test for 72 hours there have been no real explanations. I have at 2/3 hypos every night and have done for the past 3+ years!
I think trying to keep blood sugars stable through the day has helped but I am still searching for what will help through the night too. The RH thread may be worth exploring if you haven’t already. I’m exhausted too but glad that this forum exists as knowing I am not alone brings me some comfort. Do hope you will find some answers soon, and if you do please share them!!!! All the best

Sorry you are having such a difficult time.I can't personally advise you as I don't have your condition but there are people on this site who have hypoglycaemia and can advise you using their experience and knowledge plus where to go for more information.Stay with us you will get lots of good support here.Hope things improve.

Just to reiterate cantina hats advice for the section of the forum to visit.You could also contact the moderator Brunneria who I believe has some knowledge of your condition.

Claireyt said:

Hi,

I have been struggling for over a year now with my blood sugar and hoped someone would be able to give me ideas.

Firstly, I have been told I don't have diabetes. My issue is hypoglycaemia. I am really battling with it. I have on average about six periods of it a day which is making me now lose some awareness till I either feel the poorly I pass out or I check my sugar and it's well in the 2s.

The doctors are still unsure what is causing it and keep telling me to eat all of the time

I keep getting quite a lot of pain in my liver which the doctor advised is probably because of the excessive hypos.

I have tried the low GI foods etc but still go hypo. They believe my pancreas is constantly secreting too much insulin so will do it no matter what I eat. It must do it through the night too as most nights I have a hypo too.

Any ideas how to manage it and what could be causing it would be great as its wearing me out?

Thanks

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Hi and welcome to the forum.
I have Hypoglycaemia and what you have posted is very similar to my condition, there is many types of hypoglycaemia and only hospital tests can diagnose you properly.
However, the answers you are looking for are here for you. There may not be the cause but the treatment for the condition is dietary.

It is your pancreas creating too much insulin for the amount of glucose when you eat.
The trick is not to trigger the insulin.

I cannot even eat low GI foods as they have the same effect as they do for you.
Only eating very low carb diet will stop the excess insulin and the symptoms.
Only constant blood glucose levels will you start getting your life back.

Please do read our forum and keep posting.
If you do hypo, take action, eat something and keep checking your blood glucose levels. I learned that having a biscuits a cuppa of tea, no milk, no sugar would push my blood glucose levels up back up into normal levels. This is where your body likes it. If you have too much glucose to correct the hypo levels, you will spike high again then hypo again. Eating regular meals every couple of hours does work but that is because you are triggering your insulin again and averting the hypo by eating again.
I found that this is unnecessary, because if you eat and don't go out of normal blood glucose range, you don't need to eat so often. As you have stopped the insulin response. No excess insulin, no hypo. No carbs, no spike. No hyper then no hypo!

You might want to check out the ketogenic diet forum, as this is the best way to treat the condition. I have been in ketosis for about three years and I have my life and health back.

I would ask for a referral to a specialist endocrinologist who has experience and knowledge of hypoglycaemia. I was lucky that I found one. Without him I would be in the same state as you are now, you need a definitive diagnosis. But you can start now by eating healthy foods that you can tolerate.
After all it is food that is causing the problems.
Your body is out of balance, through digestion, and you have too much insulin in your blood. Too much insulin will give you the symptoms and hypos you are experiencing.

Keep posting, keep asking, and let us know how you are.

The way you describe, I call it my hypo hell period!

Best wishes.

@Brunneria @Administrator can we move this thread to the RH forum please!

Hi and welcome @Claireyt !

No wonder you are worn out with that many hypos. It is exhausting.
Let me know if you would like this thread moved to the RH subforum you would probably get more responses if it goes there.
We have a few people who have been where you are, and can tell you what worked for them.

I hope you have a better experience than I did.
The fasting test wasn't a problem, it was the inmates!!!

Claireyt said:

Hi,

Thanks for the advice I will give it a try.

I'm due to have a 72 hour fasting in four weeks. Really nervous though as I've had to fast for a few hours recently for operations and both times I passed out and ended up on glucose drips

Yeah feel free to move it I wasn't sure where to post given I don't have a firm diagnosis!

Claire

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Can you remember how you reacted to the glucose drip?
I'm just intrigued why!


Because, a glucose test is intended to see how your blood glucose levels react to such quick acting fluids. I just wondered how a slow drip of glucose would exacerbate your symptoms and wether they kept testing your levels.

My first eOGTT, they couldn't work out how to get my blood levels back to normal. It just kept bouncing up and down all over the place and it took over five hours after my first hypo to get anywhere near normal. They wanted me to drink more glucose, have a sandwich, drink sweetened tea with milk in! In the end they sent me home, still in high numbers though it was dropping, they advised eating again before bed.
I woke up in normal range again! But I felt like I'd drank about ten pints!

The good thing about fasting is it lets your pancreas have a rest and rids your blood of the excess insulin, it starts reversing the insulin resistance as well. And the best thing is being in normal blood glucose levels constantly. Which helps you your body begin to get healthy.

Best wishes, let us know how you get on.

I have just remembered,
Do not have the diabetic low GI options on the hospital food list after the fast. I got offered weetabix, toast, and low fat yoghurt!!!!!! And orange juice.
I Couldn't believe it!
I ignored all the offers and went and had bacon, eggs, toms, mushrooms and a slice of black pudding in the hospital restaurant.
One of the best meals I have ever had!

Thats why it's called Hypoglycaemia.
Low blood sugar.

There could be other conditions that cause the Hypoglycaemia.

It is no good speculating, the 72 hours fasting test will not give a real diagnosis.
It is one in a string of tests that rule out other conditions.

Can't believe your doctor!
That is disgraceful, you should be advised to eat enough for you.
If you do eat, eat small meals as this will offset any insulin.
If you don't trigger the insulin then you won't hypo.

But the blood they take from those tests will help in diagnosis.

Claireyt said:

I certainly hope so. Don't really understand the whole thing to be honest.

They keep telling me to eat sugary biscuits and chocolate but seems crazy advice from a doctor.

I've been eating smaller meals with the odd snack between see how it goes. Guess there's not much I can do about the hypos during the night when I haven't eaten.

Hopefully they'll find us both a cure!

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Yeah, it is a bit weird thing, isn't it.
The sugary drink and biscuits is for those that hypo like T1s. They are advised rightly to be about to be above normal levels. We would only bounce too high then low again.

I was told many years ago to have some full fat yoghurt with some fruit, a couple of strawberries say, about an hour before bed. This will not only satiate you longer overnight but not raise your blood glucose levels up enough to cause a hyper.
If you have Hypoglycaemia, no hyper means no hypos.
But if you still hypo, have a plain biscuit, something like rich tea and a glass of water on your bedside cabinet in case you still do hypo during the night.

What you have to understand about doctors, is they are not trained to diagnose rarer metabolic conditions like Hypoglycaemia and are following ancient medical advice in the medical books, in other words, they haven't got a clue how to treat Hypoglycaemia.
The number of times I've been told to eat carbs because I need glucose for my health.
Well, no I don't!
I was told that going into ketosis would harm my health, well, the reverse happened!

I found out that my metabolism is better off without the food that was really killing me.
In the end, you have to find what foods are doing this to you.
And of course, a cure, would be great. But I'm not holding my breath!

But if the doctors are advising how food that is the reason you're ill.
I don't get it!

An endocrinologist who understands metabolic conditions is the best thing that can happen to you.

Best wishes

Lamont D said:

If you do eat, eat small meals as this will offset any insulin.
If you don't trigger the insulin then you won't hypo.

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That may be true for people with reactive hypoglycaemia but so far @Claireyt don't know what kind of hypoglycaemia she has. If it's something like an insulinoma then eating carbs may be the only option.

Totto said:

That may be true for people with reactive hypoglycaemia but so far @Claireyt don't know what kind of hypoglycaemia she has. If it's something like an insulinoma then eating carbs may be the only option.

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I have looked up the dietary advice for insulinoma, and the importance of normal blood glucose levels is paramount not to cause Hypoglycaemia is to eat every carbs every two to three hours. That is the common dietary advice for all forms of Hypoglycaemia. The reason is to ensure glucose is there for the brain to function.
I have discussed this with my endocrinologist and I have already posted that even though I'm on a very low carb diet, he still believes I should be eating every three hours and carbs, but he agrees that my very low carb is working for me and I only eat when I want. I have discussed this with other posters who have Hypoglycaemia and through it works for me, I wouldn't expect it to work for everyone else and it doesn't.
It is just an alternative dietary advice.
The idea is not to trigger the gut brain trigger for insulin response.
To keep eating carbs for higher glucose and insulin levels makes sense only when particular to certain conditions and control.

They are many drugs and surgical treatments for insulinoma, and dietary advice is the standard eat well plate for all types of metabolic conditions including Hypoglycaemia, Diabetes and other hormonal imbalance conditions.

Which is why this forum was established!

Thanks @Totto I do appreciate the post and your interest.

Lamont D said:

I have looked up the dietary advice for insulinoma, and the importance of normal blood glucose levels is paramount not to cause Hypoglycaemia is to eat every carbs every two to three hours. That is the common dietary advice for all forms of Hypoglycaemia. The reason is to ensure glucose is there for the brain to function.

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In the case of untreated insulinoma -- not that I say that Claire has one -- I would have thought the reason to eat carbs and to do so more or less continuously is to balance the constant output of unwanted insulin in order not to pass out from low blood sugar. So yes,in order to ensure that the brain has enough glucose to function it can be vital to stuff yourself with carbs. Going low carb would be a bad choice until the cause of the excess amount of insulin is dealt with.And remember that I am a convinced low carber since many years!