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Hypoglycemic Drop?

Dear Doctor,

I recently had a 5 hour glucose test. I ate normally  all week prior to the fast, and then fasted for 13 hours. (My normal diet is relatively low carb, but at least 150 to 200 carbs  a day.)

There were six blood draws. My first blood draw at 9AM was 106;  then I drank the glucose. The second draw  was 193;  third was 138. After the fourth at Noon,  at around 12:15, I  suddenly became dizzy and disoriented. I was shaking uncontrollably;  sweating profusely.  I bought water, and drank most of the bottle. As soon as I sat down, I fell asleep. I managed to wake up before my 1:00 test, and was no longer trembling so severely. I did not feel well at the 1:00 blood drawing.  It turns out that at 12:00 just before this episode, the glucose level was 65, and at 1:00, after the episode, it was 64. ( By 2 PM  it was at 79.)

I know that those levels of 65 and 64 are borderline hypoglycemic, and I feel that I was having a hypoglycemic reaction after 12:15 and before 1 PM. Is this normal?  I have often had similar reactions three to four hours after eating. This is why I lowered my carb intake in 2004.  However, I have never had a reaction this severe, with the profuse sweating, etc.

Could you tell me what this means in terms of the test?


Sherrye
2 Responses
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Avatar universal
Dr. Ramsetty,

Thank you for your reply. It's good of you to devote your time to helping at this forum. My own doctor hasn't been available to explain these things.

Just to note-- I mean to say that I did not carboload before my tests, and ate normally according to my own relatively low carb diet. No one advised me as what to eat before the fast.

I'm glad to know that my glucose drop was not alarming. I also tend to be slightly hypothyroid with very high antibodies, so that might have affected my reaction, as I wasn't stressed or anything.( I'm not on medication for it.)

You don't have to respond to this post --just wanted to thank you for taking time with people who have nowhere else to go for answers.

Sherrye
Helpful - 0
291531 tn?1193610693
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi Sherrye,

Your test values are not seriously low, which is very good news--this means that you are not at risk for brain injury from low blood sugar levels. I have had patients who had post-eating glucoses down to the 30's, and that was very worrisome.

The symptoms you described are consistent with a hypoglycemic reaction but may also have been some anxiety secondary  to the glucose loading(which does make many people feel ill). One of the criticisms of the GTT is that this degree of glucose loading is much more than people usually eat and is an artificial stress on the system, so that may explain why your reaction this time was worse then when you eat regular foods.
Even though the values were not very low, you had a concerning reaction, so I think dietary changes including low carb and low concentrated sweets should be your plan.  In addition, your test may need to be repeated in future because there is some suggestion that people who have reactive hypoglycemia are at risk for diabetes in the future. So working on your diet and getting exercise is very proactive and will help tremendously.
Good luck and take care.
Helpful - 0

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