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Reactive Hypoglycemia And Vitamin D

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ohmybaby

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
I was diagnosed with pcos when I was a teenager,and put on metformin but never committed to taking it due to stomach aches.
2010 my mom past away due to complications of diabetes, and I was put on metformin again but committed to taking it because of my pcos and fear of diabetes,I lost a significant amount of weight but again this could have been stress.

I started to bruise easily,get confused sweaty and shakey and sweaty. I decided to stop metformin all together and gained all the weight back and more and but still remained to have symptoms of confusion,sweating,feeling the need for sugar,brain fog and tired all the time.
2014 I decided to give metformin another shot because I didn’t have much luck loosing weight but because I changed my doctor instead of the one tablet of 500mg a day she put me on 3 a day making it 1,500 I did not loose weight but was left unable to walk and felt like I was dying all the time and confused and hungry.

2017 I was diagnosed with a severe vitamin d deficiency and the doctors ignored my symptoms of what appears to me some form of hypoglycemia or insulin issues.

Now, I’m left struggling day to day unable to walk,concentrate,confused,sweaty and shakey and always craving carbs and sugar and extremely overweight and depressed. I had my bloods taken for diabetes and they are not showing any sign of diabetes.
When I asked about reactive hypoglycaemia the doctors had no clue what I was talking about nor how to test for it.

I’m basically at my whits end, I have no idea if it is the metformin that’s causing me adverse side affects even though I’m no longer taking it and it’s caused some damage. Or if I have reactive hypoglycaemia or if I have insulin resistance due to pcos or my vitamin d deficiency causes some reactive hypoglycaemia effects.

I feel like I’ve tried everything from intermittent fasting,to water fasting, to eating every two hours to keto you name it I’ve tried it. And guaranteed everyday I will have a drop where my head feels like it’s filled with cotton wool, I get extremely sweaty and shakey and eating is the only thing that helps me get through it but then a couple of hours later I get the same shakey sweaty confused unable to focus feeling again.

Any ideas what this could be or what is happening to me? I know obviously no ones a doctor on here but considering it’s taken years to figure out what’s wrong with me I figure the doctors haven’t a clue either.
 
Craving carbs is a sign of having too many (just like being diagnosed with T2 diabetes). If you reduce the carbs so you are not producing as much insulin you will reduce your hunger and lose weight.

Here is a video I find very informative!
 
Remember our doctors take their advice from the pharmaceutical industry who make their gazillions from treating the complications of diabetes. Lower your carbs until your meter readings are normal! It sounds like you are having tons of carbs at the moment.. stick to a low carb diet for a couple of weeks and you will feel so much better and lose a load of weight! And please sign my petition in my signature to have the carb value put on the front of packaging to make this easier for every diabetic!
 
Hi and welcome @ohmybaby

Sounds like you have been through some really bad times.
Can I ask if you have got a blood glucose meter, and have any proof of hypos that you can show your doc and push for an endocrinology referral? I wouldn’t like to assume that an endo will know much about RH, but it would be a step forwards.
You can always ask for a referral whether your doc agrees or not. If you are uncomfortable with a face to face discussion about it, you can always write a letter and send it to the practice.

You mentioned not being able to walk, and a variety of other symptoms. Are they intermittent, or steady?
Have you ever been tested for Vit B12 deficiency?

The reason I ask is that long term use of metformin has been shown to cause Vit B12 deficiency, in some patients, after long term use. And some of your symptoms are on the list of B12 deficiency symptoms.

Obviously, none of us can offer diagnosis or medical advice!
But you may be interested to do some reading on the subject, and if it rings any bells for you, and if you haven’t had a recent B12 test showing your levels are good, then you could ask for a test.

Here are some links that may help you to see what I mean.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamin-b12-deficiency-symptoms-causes#1


https://www.endocrineweb.com/news/d...m-metformin-use-linked-vitamin-b12-deficiency

I hope this helps!

Please do not give up. Keep pushing, your doc, your (soon to be endo) and if necessary, you can arrange to have private tests for vitamin deficiencies. I did this for Vit D, and have felt MUCH better since I got my Vit D back up to normal.
 
Thankyou
 
Thankyou! I will read up and watch the videos so so so kind! I feel so happy that someone is taking the time to provide information I come from a family of nurses who all think it’s all in my head :-(
 
ohmybaby said:
Thankyou! I will read up and watch the videos so so so kind! I feel so happy that someone is taking the time to provide information I come from a family of nurses who all think it’s all in my head :-(
Click to expand...

Many, many of us RHers have been told ‘it is all in your head’.
Nowadays, it just makes me put my boxing gloves on.
 
I've heard and read about a lot of doctors assuming that our health problems are to do with being psychological rather than getting the tests that can give you a true diagnosis. For this, you need an endocrinologist who specialises in these types of conditions that you describe. It is probably all symptomatic of what is happening.
I believe that you are not great at diets, and at one time or another, you have tried them all.
I did all that! None of them worked, and I just put on more weight and felt really awful!

Reducing your carbs, your plate size and doing as much as you can to be more mobile will help tremendously.
How did you find out about reactive hypoglycaemia?
 
Thankyou so,so,so much everyone! It basically took a few minutes on this forum to find a solution of go to an endocrinologist! It all makes perfect sense now ! I literally went to every different specialist other then a endocrinologist!

It is pretty funny half the stuff I’ve gone through with doctors. Most the time they don’t believe I have some sort of blood sugar or insulin or reactive hypoglycaemic issues when it is known that in some circumstances women with pcos have insulin issues! The sweating,confusion,brain fog,the shakey ness oh and I’ve been getting pins and needles in my feet everyday recently all made me think I had diabetes.
I had to even give up learning to drive because of these strange symptoms. I believe it is reactive Hypoglycemia but I think doctors are not well versed in this.

I really hope I get the answers I need from the doctor and be referred to an endocrinologist because I feel like my life’s been put on hold
 
Please get a blood glucose meter and start testing. It seems like there are a lot of possibilities for what is causing these symptoms, but, as Brunneria mentioned, the data from a meter could prove what you suspect and help get an appropriate referral.
 
I had symptoms of RH in my 20s, and again when pushing back my diabetes, but using a blood glucose meter I could see that - for instance, my levels were much more stable when I ate every 12 hours than when I had lunch and dinner - I am sure that for others fasting is beneficial, but I suspect all the diets I have been on over the years cause my metabolism to panic at the first sign of restriction.
You can get a cheap meter and supplies for it mail order, so no need to pay an arm and a leg for what you need. I am sure that details will be provided for you.
I went back to a low carb high(er) fat way of eating from the moment of diagnosis, and was eating the same way I used to control my weight for decades to get back to normal.
 
Yes, I’m a bit at loss with all of this. As per usual my normal instinct is to “ignore the symptoms” as well as just go “oh,ok so my doctor tested for diabetes and There’s no indication that I have diabetes”.
When I was on metformin,I found that my daily symptoms where even worse forehand sweaty and confusion and needing to eat immediately,when I asked my doctor if metformin could cause this or cause hypos she said “no” but research tells me otherwise and also when I mentioned reactive hypoglycaemia she had no idea what that was and suggested I go to the hospital to get my blood tested when I think a “attack” is about to happen.. which makes no sense because I can’t predict when it is going to happen as I don’t quite understand it myself.

I will most definitely invest in a glucometer, I’m still not sure how to use one or how to get rid of sharps even though my mom was a diabetic.

Honestly, I just feel super depressed because of this like I can’t even function properly and it’s basically affecting my life I just want to be able to figure out what the root of the problem is so I can cure or manage it. Thanks everyone for your advice, it really does help a lot because I don’t think I would have come up with a solution otherwise... blood glucometer and push for an endocrinologist.
 
Omg girl! I came across this post in a Google search.. I created an account just to respond. I live in Canada and I don't have diabetes or pre-diabetes.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with obesity and the hypoglycemia.. I was over 300lbs I was constantly weak sweating shaking exhausted confused unsteady on my feet unable to walk more then short distances due to shortness of breath.. I knew it was blood sugar related the doctors said I was crazy and kept prescribing anti-anxiety meds. It was such a roller coaster.. I went through 3 family doctors and 3 endocrinologists... I got to the point where I became unable to leave my house and developed agoraphobia.. what a disaster! ... I followed the Canada food guide and cut out all processed foods and sugar.. I only eat veggies meat fish chicken.. I have 6 small meals a day about 2.5 to 3 hours apart.. and it's all balanced out .. each meal has a carb protein and fat. Well balanced.. the protein slows down the carb and my sugar is on an even keel..
. I had reactive hypoglycemia bad!!! And insulin resistance.. doctors don't recognize it and call you crazy.. you can gave a low sugar episode from an actual low sugar or the falling of a sugar and mine was constantly falling from the insulin resistance... I literally helped myself by Google searches.. doctors didn't help me.. when I started my journey to health I could barely walk the parameter of my house .. I couldn't use my treadmill the slowest speed was way too fast .. now I'm on the treadmill for 65 mins 7 days a week..cutting out all sugar is important.. I only do half an apple or half a banana no other fruit and no sweet drinks or any boxed snacks or sweets or cake or anything.. I thought I'd die trapped in my house at the age of 28.. it was that bad .. there is a light at the end of the tunnel I promise!

Xx

 

Well done! Like you, I had to work it all out myself.

And welcome to the forum!
 
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