Do I have Hypoglycemia?

[smiley876]

Hi,
I'm a 14 year old girl, otherwise healthy.

Ever since about mid last year, i started 'almost passing out' after being in the heat for too long, or after having to stand for a long time, and have also been faced with feeling very disorientated, shaky and dizzy in the morning. We had been to the doctors several times about the 'almost passing out' issue, and they told me to 'put it to bed' and refused to do further testing after an ECG and a bloodtest, which both came back as normal. They all said that this was due to a lack of exercise (i suffer from extremely cold hands and feet) and sleep, even though i find it very hard getting to sleep at an average time (too early, and i wake up in the middle of night)..they also said that it was all in my head!
I am often faced with random waves of nausea, and lightheadedness/dizzyness when i go without eating for a while, and start shaking slightly, feeling very sweaty and 'out of it' too. My mum has since refused to take me back, as she believes that the doctors are right, but after doing all the research i've done, id really want to come to a conclusion, as this is extremely embarrassing when you're almost fainting for no reason, and are feeling and looking very, very giddy all the time.

Any advice on what you may think this could be?

Thanks so much, all answers are appreciated!:)

I also suffer from afternoon headaches, and feel sleepy after eating. I also get really bed headaches after eating lots of sugar

[allmymarbles]

I suffered from hypoglycemia. I took one of those long, fasting-bloood-sugar tests. They work like this: They test your blood-sugar level to develop a base line. Then they feed you some terrible sugary glop. After about an hour they test your blood sugar again. In a normal person this rises. Mine fell because the sugary drink triggered an insulin surge. They tested me once an hour. It was only after about four hours that my sugar level began to rise. The treatment for me was to give up sugar and to have small, frequent meals, preferably including some protein.

Although your symptoms are similar to mine, they occur under different circumstances. I only suffered low-blood sugar after I ate. You suffer it when you don't eat. I don't know enough about the condition to know what this means.

[Barb135]

This is a thyroid forum, but since I have blood sugar issues, as well, I'll try to answer your question.

So you know what blood tests were done?

It's unlikely that you have hypoglycemia, per se, but if you eat a lot of sugar you could be putting your body through a lot of stress, but spiking your blood sugars, then letting them drop too low.

What happens is that you eat something with a lot of sugar, your blood sugar spikes, then after an hour or so, the bottom drops out, causing the symptoms you describe, including headaches and being sleepy after eating.  If you eat more sugar, those feelings go away, because your blood sugar spikes once again, only to have the bottom drop out.  Essentially, you're keeping your body on a roller coaster of high/low blood sugar.

You should try to eat something every 3-4 hours, but it should not be anything with sugar, such as candies, cookies, pastries, etc.  Make sure that every snack and meal contains protein and plenty of fiber that will counteract/slow down the absorption of any sugar you've eaten and will keep from spiking your blood sugar levels.