Is this reactive hypoglycemia or pre-diabetes? (buy, blood, Walmart, diet)

[sunshinelove0000]

So for as long as I can remember I've always had symptoms of hypoglycemia. It turns out I have several complex medical conditions, in my symptoms tend to overlap with those of hypoglycemia or even pre-diabetes.


I often get shaky, fatigued, and what I call "hangry" (hungry and angry). Sometimes just having a snack to tide me over, some electrolyte drink (not Gatorade- too much sugar), and then I feel better for an hour and then I need to eat more. One of the medical conditions I have is small fiber peripheral neuropathy.

My neurologist suggested I get a full endocrinology work up. I saw an endocrinologist who noticed I was wasn't feeling well (I was lightheaded from one of my medical conditions), she took my blood sugar (finger prick) and it was 79. I had eaten a larabar about an hour and 20 minutes prior). She had me drink a little container of orange juice. Then I went to the lab to do bloodwork and my blood sugar was checked again. It was 112.

Few questions:

Is it normal that just about an hour and a half after eating my blood sugar dropped to 79?
Then after drinking orange juice it went back up to 112?
The fact that I have small fiber nejropathy and get low blood sugar even when I am not fasting (sometimes it's been in the 60's even though I ate an hour or two before), should that be cause for concern?
I also have early onset of non-alcohol fatty liver disease though my labs have been in the normal range recently (yay!). Could this be affecting things??

[sunshinelove0000]

.... Anyone?

[BellaDL]

Newenglander0000,

What did the neurologist and endocrinologist say about your test results? Have your doctors advised you what to do about your medical conditions? Is your hypoglycemia condition confirmed by your doctor? If not, you should ask to have a blood glucose meter to monitor your blood sugar level throughout the day & to confirm that low blood sugar is the cause of your 'hangry' condition. With doctor's prescription, you can get a free meter with many insurance or you can just buy one yourself.
One of cheapest meter is Walmart Relion Micro (about $15) and the test strips are also the cheapest ($9 for 50 - you can get them on ebay or other places for even lower prices).
IMO, this is a medical issue and it is best to be directly addressed by your doctors.
This webpage may help to answer some of your questions

http://www.healthline.com/health/hypoglycemia#Overview1

[tickyul]

I used to eat a low fat/high carb diet and had all sorts of problems.........many of them occurred after a meal. One of the most irritating problems was a lot of drowsiness after a meal. Another problem was getting REALLY jittery and irritable if I was late for a meal.

I have a hereditary form of peripheral neuropathy.........I really doubt that it has anything to do with my poor reaction to a low fat/high carb diet.

[Vectorhead]

If your blood sugar is low, it's not diabetes. Unmedicated diabetics never have problems with low blood sugar. People associate low blood sugar problems with diabetes because if diabetics don't properly balance their medication with the food they're eating, they can suffer severe blood sugar swings, both high and low. Both extremes can be extremely dangerous, even fatal. But an unmedicated diabetic will never have low blood sugar.

[sholomar]

79 isn't particularly low and going to cause any problems.. that's a good fasting blood sugar to have.. my blood sugar will briefly dip into the 80's after the meal but in general my fasting blood sugar after a night's sleep 8 hours after eating will be around 100 mg/dl and large high carb meals can send me into the 200's.. I'm not officially prediabetic because I keep carb consumption under relative control but had I not had the smarts to test one day I might have kept poisoning my body with excess carbs for years which is what happens with most people until they wake up one day and they are type 2 diabetics from sugar spiking all those years.

Doctors only test fasting blood sugar which is the last to fail.. a glucose tolerance test and A1C test are much better tests for early detection of problems from modern high carb lifestyles.

Sounds like your blood sugar is well controlled... 79 is a great fasting number and 112 after a high carb item like Orange Juice is again very good of course we don't know how much you drank and how long after you drank your sugar was tested. Truly healthy people should have fasting levels under 90 mg/dl.. between 90 and 100 should be a warning sign to get a A1C and/or glucose tolerance test. 80 mg/dl is a GREAT fasting blood sugar.

[jambo101]

Not to sound like an echo but Your endocrinologist should have you do an A1C blood test A1C test Definition - Tests and Procedures - Mayo Clinic
Low blood sugar doesnt sound like a diabetic condition if you arent taking any of the usual diabetic medications..

Other Causes of Low Blood Sugar

You don’t have to have diabetes to experience low blood sugar. Some other causes of low blood sugar include:

• certain medications, such as quinine
• drinking too much alcohol
• some medical conditions, such as hepatitis or kidney disorders
• a tumor that produces excess insulin
• endocrine disorders, such as adrenal gland deficiency

[Elusive Enchantment]

Hey!
Like above posters have stated, have your endo perform an A1C test which shows you your average blood glucose over the past 2-3 months.
I have reactive hypoglycemia and it's very difficult to get it right with what to eat and when to eat it. I typically get shaky, sweaty, very moody and snappy, hungry, disoriented and the lower it goes for me the worse it gets. I usually wake up in the 70s and 80s in the morning and by lunch I'll be a wreck if I don't eat a mid-day snack. Try to eat a mid-day snack to ensure that your sugar doesn't drop dramatically. Nuts are good to help balance your sugar and keep it at a decent state. I would also recommend that you get a glucose meter and take your sugar when these episodes occur. The lowest I've been in a while is 56, and let me tell you, it won't feel good--you'll know when to check.

Hope all goes well.

[jambo101]

My Glucose meter reads a different scale where 5-7 is considered normal blood sugar levels,if i can keep it under 10 i'm happy. on those occasions it goes into the low 4s i'm in big trouble,major sweating,light headed,shaky,within a few minutes i'm on the floor with no idea whats happening,fortunately on the few times its happened some one has fed me sugar, not sure where it would go if left untreated,i'd imagine it wouldnt be good.
Low blood sugar is something to take very seriously.