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Can anybody shed any light?

daisydoo

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I'm hoping that someone may be able to shed so light on what is happening to me.

I am not diagnosed with diabetes and am not high risk however I have for the last 25 years on and off had a problem with low blood sugar. The last three years I have been very ill after having swine flu. I now have regular 'funny turns'. A friend suggested getting a meter to test blood glucose. I have been doing this over the last few days and have noticed that the 'funny turns' coincide with low blood glucose i.e. 3.4 mmo/L ish. I have also noticed that they do not usually go above 6mmo/L however I have had a couple of other 'funny turns' and have tested my blood to find it at approx. 8.5mmo/L. Does anyone have an idea as to what is happening? How to control this best with diet? and whether hormones affect this (I think I am Perimenopausal, I also have high Prolactin levels and Gilberts Syndrome)?

Thank you.
 
Depending on where you were in an eating cycle (before, just after, a couple of hours after testing, or morning fasting), none of those numbers would immediately start alarm bells.

Paraphrasing in the extreme; your bloods will rise and fall, depending on food consumption (also varies by food; carb low or free versus carby starch, or fat), your activity, stress, sleep patterns, your body's own rhythms, and other health factors - just to mention a few variables.

A number of people on here appear to have tight blood glucose tolerance levels, whereby the feel a bit off if they rise higher or dip lower than quite a tight range, but peaks are quite usual. The difference between "normal" (don't you just hate that useless word?) folks and those with diabetes type issues is their ability to deal with the peaks, and troughs. A "normal" persons body will bring their levels back into their personal range promptly, whereas for diabetics and hypoglycaemica, their bodies struggle to keep their bodies in that "normal" range.

I wouldn't be too concerned at this stage, although if you are concerned you should make an appointment to discuss with your medics. In the meantime, in your shoes, I would make a detailed diary of everything I ate, and drank, including timings. If you continue to test, record all tests you do, including times, and finally, record and of these episodes you find worrying. Only by doing this will you really be presenting yourself, and the medics, with data on which you and they might begin to build an hypothesis.

I know that probably sounds a bit of a pain, but metabolic/hormonal disorders are very personal and can be tricky to pin down, especially when there are other health issues and medications in the mix.

But, for now, try not to worry too much. That never made anything better, or go away.
 
For a home test you could do a 5hr gtt sugar drink test
But your bg looks ok if the 8.5 was after a high carb meal
3.4 is within the normal range
 
Thank you for your help. I am keeping a diary. I started to try to discover why I felt so ill and had these 'funny turns'. There is definitely a correlation between feeling ill and blood glucose levels.
 
There is a correlation ... Too much carb and not eating often enough makes you feel crook
Are you eating enough fat
Have snacks and don't have meals with more than 60g of carbs
Eat healthy fat/oils, cut down on grain fats/oils, throw away your margarine
Eat a 20%protein, 40%fat, 40% carb for a start and see how you feel ( myfitnesspal or similar to work out intake)
 
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Do you suffer from stress? Hub had similar over last couple of yrs they threw every test at him and found nothing l think due to what he had been through was stress and think gluten as he has pretty much cut that out...not coeliac but intollerant no the drs didnt pick it up. Also lactose intolerant again no l picked the 2 up not the drs.
He even had a 72hr fasting in hosp. with lot blood thankfully stayed stable. lf he hadnt would have been pretty positive for a nasty little "gem"
The end decision was he wasnt absorbing food properly....*** dr speak for ermmmm dunno.
Any how since feb last yr and 72hr fast has had no more "hypos" But the importaint thing is every test was clear so not worrying about what if.
My advice is go to the dr and get them to start doing a lot of tests hell is only blood they going to suck out ok a lot of blood but the vampires always leave you some ...and a camera up your ...ok colonoscopy and if worse came to it a 72hr fast (modern guidelines say 48 but l think they worry that if it missed anything by a smidgen l would rip them apart given my record dealing with them)
 
Hmmm, probably don't eat enough fat and eat too much carb. I'm vegetarian (mainly). Probably need more protein? Bit confused.
 
it will be worth mentioning it your gp or see how things go over the next few vdays
 

Interestingly I have had all the tests too. I can tolerate gluten as long as it's organic and I am allergic to dairy. This all started during a very stressful period in my life however things are getting better now but I still feel awful. So do you know what stopped the hypos? Change in diet?
 
Clarified butter/ghee is a good dairy fat that shouldn't trigger you because the sugars and solids are removed.
Olive oil coconut oil and ghee are good fats to add
 
He just started to settle as life settled when he moved in with me. l took his diet in hand didnt know low carb then but fresh food all alcohol stopped all caffene stopped (got him onto roibus)
Milk choice of soy or goat he tried goat milk is fine no obvious problems...l understand the molecules are smaller this enables the gut to deal with it.
The 72 hr was final thing that seemed to settle it whether it was a sort of forced body detox not sure but l wouldnt reccommend any fasting unless under supervision.
He still has emotional problems now getting those sorted. His stress was at that point mostly physical l think.
He had moved from hertfordshire to stoke about 10 train journeys in 3 weeks with bundles of his stuff...refused my help and car (at that point not met facebook friends) and over did it. Along with loss of his mum and lot other things.
 
Hi,

I started off with funny turns with low blood glucose, over time I developed less glucose tolerance, then pre diabetes, then diabetes.

Eating a low carb diet has made a massive difference with both the highs and the lows, and I am convinced that it dramatically slowed my development of diabetes (it took decades instead of years).

I also have excess prolactin and hormones further screwed up by polycystic ovary syndrome (both of which increase your odds of type 2 diabetes).

I think you can make major improvements with the way you feel, and definitely get control of your BG levels which will have a massive impact on whether you develop diabetes, or not.
 
jack412 said:
Clarified butter/ghee is a good dairy fat that shouldn't trigger you because the sugars and solids are removed.
Olive oil coconut oil and ghee are good fats to add
Click to expand...
Thank you. I was thinking of trying the coconut oil & I use olive oil. Ghee no good for me as I am allergic to all dairy. I am not just lactose intolerant.
 
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