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Reactive Hypoglycaemia

Hello all

I feel like I have found my new family having read all the posts!

I have been unwell recently and had an episode at work where I had become very hungry and then eaten two wholemeal cobs and a pea and mint soup in record time! I was talking to a colleague and suddenly developed a bit of a stutter which passed after about five minutes. I felt very tired anxious clammy and like my eyes were blurred.

I went to the doctors a few days later and they sent me to a and e saying from what I had said they thought I had had a stroke! I certainly didn't feel like I had and am very concerned they have jumped to the wrong diagnosis.

I had a CT scan a Doppler of my arterial veins and ecg all of which were clear. I have an Eeg a 24 hour ecg and an MRI on 6th November and had a fasting blood and hpb thingy test on Friday. Next week I have a 24 hour blood pressure test.

I am hypothyroid and have been treating using an natural desiccated hormone with good levels for twenty years. My GP prescribes this and I am checked regularly. I have a person I see for this and he has said that he is certain I also have an adrenal insufficiency .

I visited him last week to try and get my head round what was happening and he said he truly couldn't see it being a stroke. I have low to normal bp. And all the indications were that this was a sugar problem.

On the way back from his appt we stopped at a pub and in relief I ate more than I had been since the hospital. I had a chicken ceasar salad with fries and my mum and I shared a bowl of peanuts.

Within ten mins of eating I collapsed from a drop in blood pressure and had all the hypo symptoms. Paramedics were called as my lips had gone blue and as soon as it had started it stopped. I started to feel better just tired fragile and emotional. My bloods though did not show a spike. They were 6.7 and 7.4 tested ten and twenty mins after the episode which would have been about 1.5 hours after we stared eating.

My doctor has said she does not think it is sugar related and that I have dumping syndrome which is a postprandial drop in blood pressure.

Since seeing her I have tested the theory and i have sugar problems only after carbs. I haven't collapsed again as I have not consumed in such quantities but I do have muscle twitches dizzy spells and blurry eyes and sometimes a strong tremor again with normal blood sugar. I have tonight had a carb free meal with honey dressing and my sugar was 6.4 at 2 hours post meal.

Sorry for long post just had a lot to say. Look forward to hearing from you all.
 
Hiya @Linagirl
Welcome to the forum.
I believe you are the first ' dumping someone's patient that has posted. There have been others that believe they have a glucose (sugar) problem, which is a carb problem as well.
That have probably the syndrome but doctors are never sure with conditions like ours!
It is only tests that eliminates other conditions can they get to what we know is going on.
It can be difficult to get your head around, what to eat
There is no cure, just what you eat, that will make you feel good! (Normal ish)

Have a good read around especially the low carb forum.

Also have a look at Wikipedia under Reactive Hypoglycaemia.

Welcome to our unique club!
 
Hi @Kicevski91

I moved the question to this thread.

If you look under this post you can see the links in red below.

If you still can't see them click on search for reactive hypoglycaemia or nosher8355 blog no 31.

Hope this helps!
 
Hi Nosher good to hear your well and fit. Had blood tests done. A other specialist will be involved about my swellings in face and joints. Got a other appointment in 3 months to go back! It probably depends on the blood result! A body is fascinating how it works or if something doesn't work what the effects are!!! All of u's have a nice long weekend
 
Hi @Joey
Hope you get sorted soon, let us know what your blood results are!
 
Linagirl said:
Thanks Nosher that is great
Click to expand...

As we are all unique in this club of ours, it's always interesting to discover the journey, the battle to get diagnosed, what treatment the medical people have told you to eat and if you've had problems with your care providers misdiagnosing or mistreatment that you have.
Could you give us an insight into your story, please?
Thanks
Nosher.
 
Hi and welcome!

Have read your post twice to get my head round it! Lots going on there. And hopefully your docs will follow up on everything. I will be very interested to hear if you have bp drops connected to carb intake!

Please pop back and keep us informed on how things go.
 
Hiya I definitely have bp drops related to carb intake and i have blood sugar surges if I eat carbs. I have not been officially diagnosed at the moment and my doctor is calling it dumping syndrome not rh. I think she will be reluctant to agree it is carb related but I am sure of it. I also think I have s problem with nuts at the moment.

There is a great doctor (Dr Mac) on another forum i am on for my thyroid who has indicated that I should check out a forum called the rising Phoenix which is connected with metabolisation of glucose something called methylation - has anyone heard of this?

Can I ask does anyone get tremors with their reactive hypog? Speech difficulties? Spinning rooms? Blurred vision and a drop in postural blood pressure?

I am trying to work out if I have it or not as I don't want to battle the doc if I am wrong.

Can anyone recommend anyone in the NHS that I could see that accepts this is a condition so that I could get a diagnoses.
 
If i have a hypo when i am not in ketosis, i get the following:
Numb cheekbones
Hand tremors/shakes
Wobbly knees
White face
Lost words
Slow/incoherent thinking
Slow reaction times
Odd reactions/irrational decisions
Foul mood and vicious anger

If i am in ketosis, my hypo symptoms are much milder, and usually just a bit of feeling hollow, hungry, slightly spacey, floppy. I'm less likely to notice that my bg is low, and i can usually trundle on til my next meal - unless i have to do something physical, like walk up several flights of stairs, or run for a bus. At that point i would need food fast.

I'm always tired and lethargic and a bit emotional afterwards.

I try and stay in ketosis all the time.
My whole life is better that way!
 
That sounds very much like me. So to stay in ketosis do you stay away from carbs full stop including bananas and sweet potatoes etc? I've decided to try and follow paleo to see if it helps
 


Hi @Linagirl (again!)

I first read about 'dumping syndrome' on Wikipedia, when I was researching ' reactive hypoglycaemia'. It is a 'type' of RH!
The doctors, GPS and dsns, as well as some (most) consultants (endocrinologists) wouldn't know about these conditions even if they were given the information.

As Brun has said being in ketosis doesn't give you the symptoms, any type of carb or sugar seems to trigger the reaction. If you know that carbs do cause you problems, your docs should believe you.
Having other problems don't help, they muddy the waters. And if a doctor thinks that's what's causing your symptoms, tests will be the only way to find out, what is actually going on!

When I was in hypo hell, symptoms piled up on top of one another, I had some extreme ones.
Anxiety, loss of confidence, memory loss, sweats, shakes, anger, rage, even a form of depression and my mind was really befuddled, couldn't think clearly! There was some symptoms that I didn't even know I had, but was obvious to my family and friends, forgetting things, the list is endless. And all the ones you mentioned!
I have just read something about methylism, not too sure how this relates to glucose metabolism. All RH ers metabolize glucose very quickly, so subsequent digestive actions are different to diabetics and normal digestive processes.
We spike quickly and we use all our other enzymes and hormones in different ways including insulin, which because I am still producing insulin after it is needed, then that's why I hypo,!
That's why me and Brun and the others stay in ketosis, because if we don't hyper then we don't hypo! Logical!

I have to travel to see my consultant, he is modern, up to date on blood glucose disorders and he is in Manchester.

Hope this helps.

Nosher
 
Linagirl said:
That sounds very much like me. So to stay in ketosis do you stay away from carbs full stop including bananas and sweet potatoes etc? I've decided to try and follow paleo to see if it helps
Click to expand...

Yes!

Paleolithic is just meat and seeds etc.

You have to find your own balance that you need.
I am mainly meat and salad vegetables. A few pulses, odd bits of fruit through the day and full fat.
So for example, my breakfast is full fat Greek yoghurt (the only dairy I can eat, cos I'm fussy!), a few berries and tea, black no sugar.
Mid morning a piece of fruit., a small or half an Apple.
An omelette or bacon and eggs for lunch.
Ham sandwich (Bergen bread)
Meat with salad for afternoon
More bits of fruit
Homemade soup
Then more yoghurt, berries and chocolate(85% lids dark, not many g of carbs) for supper.

Yes I eat up to eight bite size meals a day, meat has fat left on and eaten.
You can eat butter, cream, and other full fat stuff.

This is all and other recipes and ideas in the low carb forum.

You do need to learn how to eat very low carb, cos like me, I feel really good and live normal life because of being in ketosis.
 
Thanks Nosher that's a great help. I can already say I am starting to feel better since dropping carbs completely and I have also dropped caffeine and dairy except butter. Had a cracking headache today which I suspect is the lost caffeine. I drink a lot of tea usually. I went gluten free a few years ago and felt much better but got hooked again when pregnant.

If you could pm me your consultants name I would be so grateful. I am in Shropshire so it's not too far for me.

Has anyone ever connected adrenal function with this condition as my adrenals are considered to be functioning in sufficiently and my thyroid doc who is anti establishment is saying he thinks once my adrenals are back on track my blood sugars will stabilise as they assist. I'm
Not that clear on it all yet but it kind of makes sense.
 
Hey @Joey

So you know what blood tests they are doing? So far my doc is testing hp1 thingy and fasting glucose neither of which in my humble opinion will tell her much!
 

Yes it does make a kind of sense, as with thyroid and other hormonal problems, it could be one or all or none that's messing you about.
I will pm you, with his name and hospital!
I drink copious amounts of tea! The caffeine doesn't bother me!
As I said you can have dairy as long as it's full fat.
Don't do the no, reduced or low fat stuff as they are full of sugars.
It will take a while to get use to all this.
Learn all you can, we are here to help.
The craving or feeling a bit rough could be your reducing carbs, this will bother you for a couple of weeks. It might not be the caffeine, but I'm only guessing.
 
Thansk Nosher thank god I found you all. I've spent two weeks thinking I had had a stroke!
 
@Linagirl

My understanding is that Paleo isn't necessarily low enough carb to get into ketosis. Although it is usually lowish carb, and lower carb than a 'normal' diet.

We all get into ketosis at slightly different points.

As a very rough guideline, limiting carbs to 50g or less a day will get you there - or at least well on the way.

Have a look at the www.dietdoctor.com website.
It describes a very easy to follow ketogenic diet
There is no reason why you couldn't create a way of eating that incorporates the aspects of Paleo and keto that you like.

The most important things about designing a RH way of eating for yourself is that it should be sustainable and enjoyable.

(By the way, i drink coffee, and it adds 5points to my bp (for a couple of hours), and nothing to my blood glucose. I drink it with cream and no sugar)
 
Hi Guys,
Have any of you developed loose bowels with a low carb diet?
The extra veg and suggested fruit seem to 'work' me more!
regards
Derek
 
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