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Reactive hypoglycaemia

J

Jo912

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Hi new to this. Has anyone been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycaemia? Does this mean I will be a diabetic in the future? If so what type of diabetes would I expect to be?

thanks

jo
 
Jo912 said:
Hi new to this. Has anyone been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycaemia? Does this mean I will be a diabetic in the future? If so what type of diabetes would I expect to be?

thanks

jo
Click to expand...

Hi @Jo912
Welcome to our forum.
I have Reactive Hypoglycaemia and was diagnosed about eight years ago but I have probably had it maybe a decade before that.
My doctors didn't have a clue what was going on.

To answer your question, it all depends on how you tackle your food intake.
If you get control of your blood sugar levels and eat healthy for you. Then like me you won't progress to Type 2.
But if you don't, the amount of excess insulin in your blood will cause you symptoms and your health will decline and ultimately possibly type two.

If you want to ask questions, please do.
One of use is usually around.
Do read the threads on RH, you will get an idea of how to treat RH.

What tests have you had?
What dietary advice have you had?
Have you a glucometer?, because this will help you understand more about how your blood sugar levels react to food, namely carbs.

Again welcome, keep safe, I have been hypo free for most of the time since diagnosis.
 
Thank you for ur reply. My doctors didn’t seem to know what was going on either. I spoke with a diabetic nurse who has explained that I am RH. I’ve been told to do discovery sheets of what I eat and what my levels are 3-4 hours later which are typically 2.3-3.2. I have been struggling. They said eating 6 small meals a day!! I am working and find that really difficult to master?? Do u have any tips on daily diet?
 
Jo912 said:
Thank you for ur reply. My doctors didn’t seem to know what was going on either. I spoke with a diabetic nurse who has explained that I am RH. I’ve been told to do discovery sheets of what I eat and what my levels are 3-4 hours later which are typically 2.3-3.2. I have been struggling. They said eating 6 small meals a day!! I am working and find that really difficult to master?? Do u have any tips on daily diet?
Click to expand...

Hi again.
The doctors, nurses have probably no experience with RH, what they know has probably come out of a dusty bookshelf.
My endocrinologist was a bit more savvy and between us, we came to a solution that worked for me. Bear that in mind in the weeks ahead.
If I said to you, you are probably carbs and sugar intolerant, wether like me, all carbs or some that is what you have to find out.
So if you are RH, you will have to find your balance of protein, fats and vegetables.
Most of the food that we grew up with, the staple diet, so called healthy foods and all the treats will have to be avoided.
The only thing that works for me is a very low carb diet, or zero carbs or being in ketosis. They are much the same. Things like wholegrain, complex healthy carbs are definitely not healthy for me and I would expect you will be too.
There are so many ways to achieve this, and I would recommend reading up on what entails to go very low carb or being in Keto.
I cannot tell you what to eat, because your tastes and nutritional needs are different to me. I eat a lot of pork, chicken, steak, eggs, salad vegetables, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, small pieces of fruit.
You have what is called a discovery diary, it's the same as a food diary, this will help you find those favourites of yours which you can tolerate. And those carbs you can do without.
Okay, now what you do on that sheet is record your results from finger prick blood results is your pre breakfast fasting levels, then two hours after. If you are above normal levels, then something in the breakfast has pushed your blood sugar too high and will create too much insulin. Which will drive your blood sugar levels down into a hypoglycaemic episode.
The trick to stop this happening, is to stay in or just above normal blood sugar levels (4-6mmols) 7 and above will trigger the reaction.
So we avoid the foods that trigger the reaction.
RH is a food induced condition. You don't go hypo if you don't eat.
We have to eat, so treatment for it, is food related.
The six meals a day, or every three hours, is not going to work.
The reason why is that you are eating to stay hypo free, but you are still creating more insulin than you need.
For example, you have a bowl of corn flakes with semi skimmed milk. Lots of carbs.
So, you go hyper (high blood sugar levels), because of the carbs and insulin response.
This will trigger the insulin overshoot, the pancreas creates more insulin and drives blood sugar levels down, if you eat every three hours, the overshoot has already happened and you have a lot of insulin in your body going to waste, because of not being used. Too much insulin is not good, hence all the symptoms and how you feel.
So, because you started first thing, this will go on all day probably through the night as well. This rollercoaster ride of blood sugar levels is really bad for your health and if not corrected the likelihood is type two with RH symptoms.
Did you have a Hba1c test. A fasting test, or any other tests?
Back to the food diary, so test pre meal, two hours, three hours and if you need to four hours, if you are low carbing and at the two hours reading you are back in normal levels, then you don't need to check three or four hours.
What my day is like is fasting from 7pm the previous evening, to about 2pm in the afternoon, then I have a couple of small meals, before I start fasting at 7pm.
Not only am I not making myself ill, but improving my health and sleep and no hypos, no symptoms and getting my life back.
I was made redundant last July, but I have worked full time (and more) doing a very demanding job, and mostly on my feet. I would not have been able to do this, without eating sensibly and healthy for me.
I apologise for the long post but to understand all this and more.
Finding what and why is important and the knowledge you need to understand that, can help you.
Reading up on the RH forum will give you some idea of the madness going on.
We have a rare condition that has no magic pill to cure, there is not much research done and you will have to find out what foods are causing this. This will be a big change in your life. I hope to read that you can understand why you go hypo even though you are non diabetic.

Stay safe
 
Jo912 said:
Thank you for ur reply. My doctors didn’t seem to know what was going on either. I spoke with a diabetic nurse who has explained that I am RH. I’ve been told to do discovery sheets of what I eat and what my levels are 3-4 hours later which are typically 2.3-3.2. I have been struggling. They said eating 6 small meals a day!! I am working and find that really difficult to master?? Do u have any tips on daily diet?
Click to expand...

hi and welcome! :)

i strongly suggest that you have a good read of the RH section of the forum. You will see that the ‘eat every 2-3 hrs’ is astonishingly unsuccessful compared with low carbing (as low as YOU need to go, which may not be as low as either Lamont or myself need to go).

I tend to eat a couple of decent meals a day, and cheerfully forget about food the rest of the time - so long as my carbs stay extremely low, AND I avoid any gluten.

We are all so different that you will need to find out what works for you. :)
 
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