Hypoglycemia........

Today about 20 minutes after my lunch I started sweating, feeling weak, heart racing, etc. I checked my blood sugar and it was 71 after eating a chicken salad, salad. I checked it before eating and it was 77 so why would it go down after eating a salad and a few wheat crackers? 71 is normal but again I felt horrible, weak, shaky, anxiety, etc. Could this be something other than Hypoglycemia? Before I had lunch I ran 2.5 miles on the treatmill and felt fine so this is beginning to puzzle me.

[JDRF Volunteer RL]

Hi.  I'm not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with diabetes.  The symptoms you have are similar to hypoglycemia, but your blood sugars are in the perfectly normal range.  There is a simple check your doctor can do to test you for hypoglycemia.  To ease your concerns, I'd recommend making an appointment and getting checked.  Good luck.

[KevinHarney]

I beg to differ with JDRF on this one.  Low 70's is not really NORMAL levels.  That is a low level for most people.  Levels were probably on the way down from running prior to eating and as they continued to drop you did not eat enought to make up for the carbs used by running.  Reactions to eating and exercise are not instantaneous sometimes both effects can occur hours later.  I for one have to eat 28 g of fast acting sugars before my workouts to remain at normal levels when I am done.  What you experienced sounds very normal to me.

[JDRF Volunteer SG]

I agree that even though most endocrinologists I have talked to consider 70-126 "normal" levels, I can start to feel bad before it drops to 70. Sometimes even just below 80, I can experience symptoms of hypoglycemia. I believe this is usually when my levels are on the way down, dropping quickly. And exercise can cause levels to drop for over a day after the exercise... sometimes as long as 2 days.