Low and a little higher blood sugar then normal in non-diabetic?

[Kay_T]

Hi,

Im an adult woman from the US and I have no idea what to do in the situation I'm in now. Its been happening for many weeks on and off.

I've been having on and off symptoms of being tired, feeling faint, slow, weight loss, no appetite, lethargic, sick, weak, shaky, and sleeping 16 hours a day. Ive been so out that I dont hear the alarm or my boyfriend when he knocks on the door and thats not a typical thing since I hear everything. People said I have been looking pale and my eyes are glassy. Every time, I've noticed that eating sugar seems to help. People have been giving it to me.

On the other hand, I can have nothing but an absolute craving for sugar and eating tons and drinking 80ozs of apple juice in a single night and finishing off half a gallon of milk. And getting up  multiple times in the night and peeing a lot. I felt rather confused and just weird and nauseated at these times. I even ran to the gas station at 3am to get more sugar. I sweat a lot too be it at work, or my hair is drenched in the morning or my clothes.

I went to the doctor 4 weeks ago and they did two regular blood tests and I was normal.
I bought a glucometer and started testing yesterday.
Dinner yesterday- 76 before, 88 after.
Bedtime I ate a whole ton of sugar again and it flew up to 143 and then, to 134.
This morning I woke up and tested and I was at a 61 for a level. I felt the symptoms again of low blood sugar and ate oatmeal (maple brown sugar) and drank juice and shot up to 129.
Then, 100 to 97 and down to 83.
My Grandpa had diabetes and im worried I may. Help..KT

[moses7]

for a year now i was diagnosed being diabetic i do not take any medication and my glucose in the mornings have been about 110 every morning and i have been eating the foods i want in moderation and it has been ok with no problems.  this is the problem now i am facing .i have quit smoking cigareetes for 3 months after i stopped smoking cigarettes my glucose levels have been going up i have not gain any way i have lost 7 pounds since i quit smoking. why is my glucose level going higher now after i stop smoking.

[JDRF Team SGG]

Oops, two more things that I forgot to write about...

1. In my 36 years with diabetes, I have noticed that sometimes I can FEEL the drop in glucose before my glucose levels get below normal. The symptoms that you describe can happen even when the actual number is normal at the time. In my case, when this happens it ALWAYS means that my glucose is on the way down towards hypoglycemia even if when i test it, my glucose is normal. If I test again in a half hour (and do not eat or drink any carbohydrates), the glucose will be low. My point is that I do believe that many of us can actually feel a quick drop in glucose long before the numbers drop before normal. In my case, the feeling is always correct, and so I know to drink some juice or eat something if the feeling hits me even if my glucose numbers are still in the normal range. You may be one who can feel the drop happening also. You may wish to test this by testing when symptoms appear, and if the number is normal, test again in a half hour to see if the glucose levels dropped or stayed the same.

2. I did not give you a complete list of symptoms of hypoglycemia. Below are symptoms that can mean that your glucose is low. You may not feel all of them, and may experience only one of them. Furthermore, the symptoms are not the same from episode to episode, so it is helpful to know all of the possible symptoms so you are likely to recognize any one of them:
fatigue
dry mouth
dry eyes
hot (sweaty)
cold (unexplained chill)
hungry
nauseated
confused
seeing double
unexplained yawning
tremors
seeing colors looking unexpectedly bright and images start to look distorted
any aches and pains from other problems are worse when your glucose is low
inability to concentrate

I think this is all of them. I wish you the best.

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

We are not physicians, so please check anything we write with your own physician. Your symptoms could be either high or low glucose, and the purchase of the glucometer is the best way to find out if abnormal glucose levels are the cause of your symptoms. The normal non-diabetic's glucose ranges from 70-126 when fasting. I have read that after meals, glucose levels can go up to about 146 before a person is considered in the diabetic range. So your glucose readings thus far sound like they would be considered in the normal range of values except for the on at 61. As a diabetic, I know that I can actually start to feel bad when glucose is in the lower 70's even though 70 is considered the lowest level of normal. So you CAN feel a glucose drop even when still in the normal range, although usually you don't have severe symptoms at that level, but may just feel slightly tired at that point. The severe symptoms don't usually display until the glucose levels drop lower than 70, and at 61 you could be feeling pretty crummy.

So testing when you feel bad is a good way to find out exactly what your body is doing as far as glucose levels are concerned. The craving for sugar could mean that your body is either high or low, but the numbers you are giving us here are pretty normal. I would suggest that you continue testing when you are thirsty or feeling bad or craving foods. I would also suggest that you ask your doctor to test for other endocrine disorders such as thyroid malfunction, which could be a cause for fatigue.

The symptoms you describe do sound like hypoglycemia except for the thirst (which is more a symptom of high glucose), but you should do a glucometer test when you feel them just to see what the numbers are compared to the normal range. If in the 70's or below, you may want to eat some carbohydrates or drink some juice (it doesn't take much to ease the symptoms). People who suffer from hypoglycemia tend to do better grazing all day on small multiple meals rather than 3 large meals per day. But hypoglycemia is not dangerous to you as long as your glucose levels do not drop dangerously low (by this, I mean low enough to put you in a daze or cause unconsciousness -- the levels whereby this occurs is different for different people, but i am not incapacitated personally unless glucose levels are in the 40's or below). You may just want to always have some snack foods with you, or perhaps keep small 6-oz cans of juice in your purse at all times, for they digest quickly and you can stave off feeling horrible while waiting for solid foods to digest.

As for the thirst, test when you feel that thirsty feeling. I do know that a dry mouth is a symptom of low glucose also, but it is a slightly different feeling from the thirst that accompanies high sugar levels. But you may not be able to tell the difference.

If your readings continue to be pretty normal, you may want to take a hard look at what you are eating. Some food allergies cause cravings, for the body reacts to those foods. Wheat gluten is a particularly prevalent food in US diets and many people do have intolerance for wheat gluten. You may want to try omitting wheat products for a few days to see if you see any improvements, and instead eat fruits for your carbohydrates.