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Newbie with hypos but no diabetes

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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Bosie

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Hello,
Weird one this but I thought diabetics would have the best advice for me.
I have just found out that I don't have an insulinoma - hurrah!! But have no idea how to deal with the hypo's I keep having, my partner is Type 2 and he recognised what was happening to me.
Apparently my hypos may be a late complication of my gastric bypass (8 years ago) but the consultant doesn't really know. I haven't worked out what causes them although they are usually a few hours AFTER I've eaten and not usually related to sugar or alcohol intake.
So I shall be hanging out here for a while and looking for a few pointers. Hope you guys don't mind.
Cheers
 
Hi Bosie, welcome to the forum 🙂 Good to hear that an insulinoma has been ruled out, but sounds like a bit of a puzzle! When you have the hypos, what sort of levels does your blood sugar drop to - are you able to test? The only thing I can think of is possibly reactive hypoglycaemia, where your pancreas over-compensates for a rise in levels after eating, producing more insulin than needed and dropping you low. How many hours after eating do they occur?
 
Hi Northerner, thank you for such a quick reply. Yes good news indeed. My partner has the testing stuff which was how we worked out what was happening and my levels drop to 3.6 and 3.2 on the occasions that the testing kit has been to hand. I had 2 fasting bloods in the last 2 weeks and levels were 4.6 and 4.8 which apparently rules out the insulinoma.
This makes sense to me as I'm fine as long as I don't eat which is not good really as I'm eating very little during the day and then pigging out in the evening as I then go to sleep and don't have to worry about feeling dizzy etc. Not very healthy at all which is why I thought I'd take a look at what the experts on here do about blood sugar probs.
 
Bosie said:
Hi Northerner, thank you for such a quick reply. Yes good news indeed. My partner has the testing stuff which was how we worked out what was happening and my levels drop to 3.6 and 3.2 on the occasions that the testing kit has been to hand. I had 2 fasting bloods in the last 2 weeks and levels were 4.6 and 4.8 which apparently rules out the insulinoma.
This makes sense to me as I'm fine as long as I don't eat which is not good really as I'm eating very little during the day and then pigging out in the evening as I then go to sleep and don't have to worry about feeling dizzy etc. Not very healthy at all which is why I thought I'd take a look at what the experts on here do about blood sugar probs.
Click to expand...

Levels of around 3.3 are low, but actually at the low end of the normal range for non-diabetics, so as long as you don't drop too far below this (bearing in mind that meters aren't entirely accurate) then you shouldn't be in any danger to your health 🙂 How long has it been happening for? Some people drop lower if under stress (although most experience a rise in levels). Are you eating anything in particular when you experience the lows, and how frequent are they? Reducing carb content of meals and adding more fat and protein might help if it is reactive hypoglycaemia.
 
The suggestion you make is interesting because I've been trying to lower my carb intake. I decided to give Atkins a go to lose a few pounds before hols and found by accident that I have been feeling much better. I think that a food diary and regular testing may be they way to go to try and establish pattern as I really have no idea what really causes the hypos. I do know for certain that I always have them on holiday when I eat a much bigger breakfast than usual and then go off doing tourist things and walking lots. By around 11am I'm shaking, dizzy, confused, light headed, sweating - all the usual hypo stuff. This low carb stuff will be tricky long term though as I'm veggie!!!!! thank you for advice as it will all be useful in trying to work this out. 🙂
 
One of my past colleagues was diagnosed with something called "Reactive Hypoglycemia" which sounds similar to what you describe.
 
Hi Mark T. Just googled "Reactive Hypoglycemia" and now have a lot of reading to do as it does sound like what I experience. I'm also looking through past posts on here for help too. thank you
 
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