Hello, confused about my results and symptoms?

[Hopscotch123]

Hello all,

New to the forum but just wanted to ask a few questions if it’s ok.

Back story, I had a gastric bypass I was 23, was fit and healthy till I did my knee in playing rugby and put on loads of weight. Anyhow, went down to a very good weight for the last 10 years but started to suffer from alcohol problems on and off over the last 5 years mainly due to suffering from anxiety and self medicating.

Some times I have had wired episodes (while being sober) but not for a longer time where I start to shake etc and having sugar helps me out.

I have detoxed from drinking multiple times with the help of diazepam from my GP. I started drinking heavily at the start of lockdown and quit about 4 weeks ago but this time detoxing for the first time I’m always thirsty and hungry. I have also put on weight around my upper body and I cannot shake the anxiety away.

I have also had lack of bowel movements, even with oral laxatives. I spoke to my GP on Friday and she said it’s all just down to my stomach being stretched. I wasn’t convinced so I bought a Sinocare blood sugar test monitor and it said my levels where LO being below 20 mg/dL or 1.1 mil/L.

I don’t feel shaky or weird like I have done in the past like I mentioned before. It’s just the weight gain, thirst and hunger that worries me.

I cannot speak to my GP till tomorrow and my anxiety is terrible making it difficult for me to even see them if needed.

I just wanted to know if it’s possible to have low blood sugar without diabetes or it’s something else like my body adjusting to the lack of alcohol maybe? I am also very stressed at the moment due to this lockdown and trying to have my tenants pay my rent from my properties so I don’t know if that effects it?

I just hate this constant hunger and thirst.

Many thanks all.

 

[Hopscotch123]

Just to add, I have been eating mainly fish, lean meat, veg, not to much carbs and been taking b complex, liver complex.

My diet after my last detox was last summer and I ate loads of c**p like pizza, ready meals etc for the first few weeks and never put weight on.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @Hopscothc12
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your 'back story' with us.
You certainly have some complex and difficult issues to deal with. It sounds as if you are working very hard to try and deal with them.
It is not surprising that you have some anxiety and stress.
I hope that you manage to get some help from your GP this morning.
If you can't then a call to the Diabetes UK help line
0345 123 2399 may be able to help.

 

[ColinUK]

Hi Hopscotch. And thank you for sharing your experiences and your hurdles here.
We’re quite an open bunch so hopefully someone with directly relevant experience can comment but I’d have thought the alcohol may have impacted liver function and therefore insulin production. My understanding is that alcohol will reduces insulin production and also stopping alcohol can further reduce it temporarily (until the liver recovers somewhat).
Have you asked your GP to refer you for a full blood test which includes checking liver function?

Can I also say that you’re taking great strides in making your health better so kudos for that. I also have a ticket to ride the mental ill health rollercoaster (depression and anxiety) and I’m sure we’re not the only ones here who do so never be concerned about sharing stuff here or asking what you might fear are stupid questions. There aren’t any.

And we’re here to support you

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Hopscotch123

Thanks for sharing your story with us - having anxiety added into the mix of your other challenges sounds like it is making things particularly difficult.

I really think you do need to speak to a medical professional about your concerns. All anyone here can offer is snippets of information from their own experience - but your complex and overlapping circumstances need more careful and qualified attention.

It is possible to experience hypoglycaemia without glucose-lowering medication, but it is quite rare.

I haven‘t heard much about Sinocare meters, but all BG meters have a degree of allowable variation, and 5% of strips can read anything and the meter stills meets the ISO accuracy requirements. It would be extremely unlikely to have a reading of 1.1 without profound symptoms and possible collapse/unconsciousness. All meters suggest that if your BG meter gives a reading that doesnt match how you are feeling you should re-check with another strip.

Hope you manage to speak to your GP today, and get to the bottom of this. Be kind to yourself, and well done for getting sober.

 

[ColinUK]

Is there a bottle of test fluid that came with the monitor? Mine came with a little sealed bottle of test solution to use if I wanted to check the calibration I think.
But as Mike said, speak to your GP

 

[Hopscotch123]

Thanks everyone for the support.

Like Colin mentioned regarding the liver and insulin might be a cause is what I read up about but I wanted to rule out anything that might be diabetes related.

I have some food and did another test around 30 min later and it went to 15.7 which is quite a lot I think?!

it didn’t come with any solution but will contact the doctor today and hopefully have my bloods done ASAP.

 

[ColinUK]

Let us know what the GP says.

Have you ever kept a food diary and noted BG levels before and after eating? It might shine a light on whether anything specific you are eating or drinking is causing the fluctuations.

 

[Hopscotch123]

I only got the kit yesterday so not yet really. I had salmon and potatoes before the test last night if that helps?!

Just going to have some porridge with berry’s etc now and see if that makes a difference, will let you know.

Im not tired really, just thirsty and hungry although I haven’t eaten since 7pm last night.

Just did a test not and again it said LO so not really sure what it is but I have 100% had weird feelings a few years ago where I had extreme anxiety, palpitations, sweating etc until I had some sugar but that could be down to my surgery. They call it ‘dumping syndrome’.

 

[Inka]

If the meter is reading correctly, then you definitely need to speak to your doctor. Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) after gastric surgery is a recognised side effect for some. Possibly the alcohol could have exacerbated this, if that’s what it was?

If it was me, I’d read up a little on the gastric bypass effects, and do a few more blood tests, guided by the hypo info with regard to gastric surgery - ie when it’s most likely to occur.

 

[Docb]

Hi Hopscotch. Echo the above. Use us to get some background and ideas but you need a pro you can trust and work with to get things properly sorted out.

Also, insulin is made in the pancreas, not the liver. This does not mean you can forget liver function because it also dumps glucose into your blood alongside the digestive system. You have got to look at the system as a whole when you have got a history, and that is where the pros come in.

A couple of other points....

The LO reading means your blood glucose was too low for the instrument to measure. Could be real, could be a poor sample. If you get it again the best thing is to repeat the test on a different finger. If you get another LO then there is a higher possibility that it might be real and you need to speak to your GP urgently.

Mid teens after eating is high.

By the way, have you had a formal diagnosis of diabetes based on a lab result from a blood test?

 

[ColinUK]

I only got the kit yesterday so not yet really. I had salmon and potatoes before the test last night if that helps?!

Just going to have some porridge with berry’s etc now and see if that makes a difference, will let you know.

Im not tired really, just thirsty and hungry although I haven’t eaten since 7pm last night.

Just did a test not and again it said LO so not really sure what it is but I have 100% had weird feelings a few years ago where I had extreme anxiety, palpitations, sweating etc until I had some sugar but that could be down to my surgery. They call it ‘dumping syndrome’.

Not eating since 7pm isn’t an issue for most as it’s inching towards one of the intermittent fasting profiles.
What might not be too helpful are things like potatoes and porridge oats. I know that flies in the face of what we’re most frequently told but diabetics often find we have to severely restrict carbohydrate consumption (bread, rice, pasta, porridge oats, potatoes, root veg, cakes, biscuits, tropical fruits etc) because our bodies have difficulty producing the insulin which enables the body to use the carbs as fuel. So instead of that they get laid down as fat. And fat gets stored in the liver and pancreas further impeding their ability to produce insulin.
I know it’s an awful lot to deal with at once but you can do this and we are here to help.

 

[ColinUK]

If the meter is reading correctly, then you definitely need to speak to your doctor. Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) after gastric surgery is a recognised side effect for some. Possibly the alcohol could have exacerbated this, if that’s what it was?

If it was me, I’d read up a little on the gastric bypass effects, and do a few more blood tests, guided by the hypo info with regard to gastric surgery - ie when it’s most likely to occur.

It might be worth speaking to the consultant who did the original surgery to see if they can offer any more support or guidance but it’s been 15 years since surgery so I’m guessing you’ve been discharged from their care and may need a referral from the GP?

 

[Inka]

It might be worth speaking to the consultant who did the original surgery to see if they can offer any more support or guidance but it’s been 15 years since surgery so I’m guessing you’ve been discharged from their care and may need a referral from the GP?

Or the GP could get advice from the consultant themselves on behalf of the OP maybe. I’m not sure what services are available at the moment but that might be quickest.

 

[KARNAK]

Hello @Hopscotch123 welcome to the forum.

Thankyou for sharing your journey with the forum, as you have already gathered we are people who care.
I think you have enough to cope with at the moment, you have been given advice from members who have
done their research and also given you advice from their own individual circumstances.

Please contact your Dr with your readings asap and come back to the forum, take care stay safe.

 

[Hopscotch123]

Thank you everyone.

Im waiting a call back from the GP later today which is good at least.

I have been discharged from my surgeon but the bypass can infect reverse type 2 apparently...I never had any problems before.

Ive has some ready break and a spot of honey this morning and I feel ok. I’m not hungry this now so maybe it was due to being in lockdown at my friends house who eat c**p (fried stuff) most of the time could contribute to the weight gain?

Thirst is slightly better, had a couple of cups of tea and that is quenching my thirst better than tea, is that normal? I haven’t been drinking tea as the caffeine spikes my anxiety but it’s a lot better today. After lunch I shall do another test thing and see what it says, any tips on what to eat? Was thinking sardines or something fish like?

Again, thanks for your help everyone.

PS I know this is a diabetic forum and I have more complications such as alcohol and gastric so it’s not the easiest thing for people to understand!

 

[ColinUK]

We are all human and are not just our diabetes so threads on here don’t have to just be diabetes related either 🙂

You said you were drinking tea rather than tea so a pesky typo crept in there somewhere!

I can’t touch caffeine as it really aggravates my depressive mood so I only ever have decaf tea or coffee but mainly I drink water.

How long were you hunkered down at your friends? I’m sure that wouldn’t have been easy with them eating c**p all the time. Peer pressure is a tough thing to deal with anyone but even more so with food and alcohol.

 

[Hopscotch123]

haha, yes, I meant to say water! Oops! I’ve had a glass of water though as it’s so nice and warm!

I don’t touch caffeine while going through a detox as it makes my anxiety worse so if I’m able to drink it and not have anxiety I always find it’s a good sign, to me anyhow. Over the years I have worked out what works best for me regarding anxiety etc.

I was there around 3 months! They have a small two bed bungalow in a town so I didn’t get much sleep either. My house is in the countryside (Lake District) so I’m now able to venture outside without being worried/anxious etc as I’m pretty much in the middle of know where! I’m a little embarrassed about the weight gain though but it’s far more manageable to go out for a walk now than before. Also my friend who lives with me doesn’t drink which helps but I only drank to stop the anxiety until this time even with alcohol I still had it so that another reason I stopped.

GP is calling me at 5:15 so will be able to let you know how that goes. My GP is extremely good, I changed doctors Surgery around five years ago as my previous one would not let me do a home detox, my current one would and is very understanding. My last GP wanted me to go to the local drug/alcohol place to do it in a hospital environment or under supervision but that meant weeks of group sessions etc which I wouldn’t be able to go to due to my anxiety and it’s very dangerous to just quit cold turkey without diazepam or Librium etc.

 

[Hopscotch123]

Hello all,

Spoke to my GP and he said for me to book in for bloods, will have to do it tomorrow as it was the last call of the day at the surgery. He thinks that my liver might be a little inflamed.

Regarding the meter, he thinks it might not be calibrated correctly or something as below 1.1 I should be very unwell or not even conscious.

Diet today has been:

Breakfast: Ready Brek

Lunch: Poached eggs on a slice of brown bread and some tinned tomatoes.

Dinner: Shellfish, rice, broccoli and some baby salad.

Im full still which is good! No pizza and c**p!