low blood sugar

Hello,
  Has anyone had trouble with low blood sugar.  Mine goes as low as 40 then up to 300 when i eat and then back to normal.  My doctor says i may be pre diabetic.  No one mentioned this side effect.  I am trying to manage it with diet-protein(i am allergic to soy and wheat so whey and soy supplements are out), low carbs etc.  i am relatively successful but I have gained about 30 # three years out-much due to arthritis (replaced hips and two surgeries for spinal stenosis and two emergency sugeries for intestinal blockages affter the bypass).  I can't afford to go to the doctor and I have developed a doctor phobia as well.  .  I have only been told to go to an endrocrinologist which is a long wait where I live and I don't think it will do much good and will be a loss of $30 for the co pay.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks

It sounds to me like reactive hypoglycemia which many of us have.  Try googling it and see if it doesn't match you symptoms.  You'll find a lot of posts on OH on the subject as well.

Michele

Hi Michele,
  I am sure I do have reactive hypoglycemia.  It bothers me that the surgeons are not doing studies on this.  Low blood sugar can be dangerous and I don't know what these swings in blood sugar do to my body-Are there any studies that you know of?  I ended up in emergency with it but by the then they took my blood sugar it had returned to normal(which it always does) but the doctor knew NOTHING about gastric bypass and hypoglycemia and I was at a good, teaching hospital. My doctor ordered a fasting glucose but I haven't gone because I know my sugar levels will go up and the sick feeling is as terrible as the low blood sugar feelings.  I know what to do about low blood sugar but not high-Does anyone have any hints as to what to do-I've been trying some exercise and that seems to help some.  It is good to have people who know about this.  Thank you Debbie Adams

Hi, Debbie,

I'm one of those with the RH; just keep yourself going with 5 or 6 small meals per day, usually with a protein and some complex carbs.  I use a protein bar or some cashews, or some beef jerky, some Fage yoghurt, etc., as a small meal or a snack.

This does help to keep my blood sugars level, but I can really tell the difference if I miss a meal.  I get the "trembles" and cranky, and really feel awful.  Fortunately, a small snack does help.

It's not really so difficult to manage, I promise.

Best of luck,

I know there are different degrees of reactive hypoglycemia.  I too have this, however I'm able to manage it with diet alone.  I've learned to stay away from the "white" carbs and to focus on protein.  Veggie carbs are fine with me.  I've noticed if I do this, I have a lot fewer episodes where my sugar levels bottom out. 

I do realize that I'm one of the lucky ones...not everyone is able to control this with diet alone.  You're right...I wish they had told us more about this so we could have been more informed. 

Good luck!
~Lisa

Hi,
  I'm just glad I found a place where somebody else knows about it.  I think we are kind of guinea pigs in a way because they don't really know the long term effects since it's a fairly recent surgery.  I worry about young kids who have it done and have to live their whole lives with the after effects.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I had the surgery because I was totally disabled(couldn't walk fifty feet) because of severe osteo arthritisin my hips and back and they wouldn't replace my hips unless I lost a lot of weight so it became the only way back to a somewhat normal life for me.  So thanks for the repleis Debbie Adams

OMG!!!! I am soooooooo glad I came here today!  My dad has been screaming at me to go back to the doctor to find out what's wrong with me and I don't.  My blood sugar gets so low, I've passed out while grocery shopping in walmart only to awaken with the basket flipped over and al of my groceries having flown out of the basket.  My blood sugar gets as low as 19.  When I "feel it" getting low, it's usually in the 30's.  I start consuming sugar to get it up and it takes HOURS for it to get back up to the point that it's sky rocket high by the time it does get up and I literally go into an almost "diabetic coma".  I feel drained and literally just fall asleep only to wake up 30min to an hour later wondering what time it is, what day is it, and what was I doing before I fell asleep?!  My friend was laughing last night when she thought about a time where she had some mini nilla wafers (LOVE them!).  I'm like ok, I'll have a few, knowing that I MAJORLY dump (heart races, I sweat, get REALLY hot and dizzy). So I have some and must have ate TOO many to where she comes out to find me passed out on the couch.  I finally wake up dazed and confused and she's like, WTH?!!!!  I mean it happens ALL Of the time to where I am a single parent to 4 and 5 year old little girls.  When I finally wake up from my "diabetic coma", they will say "mom, we kept trying to wake you up but you wouldn't!".   I get scared they won't know whether to call for hel*****t because they are used to me passing out like that.  I've even tested them and pretended to be comatose, and they will come in and slap me around and call me and I just don't move and they're like, oh ok, she's sleeping and won't get up, we'll just wait till she gets up". That is NOT cool!!!!  I have explained this to the Dr. over and over.  I've also explained that I am so fatigued, I have no energy.  When I eat, I get SOOOO sleepy and feel like something is sucking the life out of me to where my BF and I will have plans to go out or work out, and I'll eat, sit on the couch, fall asleep and an hour or two later he's mad at me because I "went into a coma" and ruined our plans!  I LOVE to workout, but at times I am SOOOO fatigued and drained.  I feel like I'm carrying around a 400 pound body!  I am up 20 pounds from my lowest weight and I don't know WHAT the heck to do.  I don't understand what is going on!  I don't eat nearly as bad as I used to.  I don't drink sugary drinks.  I HAVE started becoming addicted to carbs again.........maybe that's it?  I mean I don't understand how I can consume 1000 to 1500 calories a day, then go workout and burn off 500 calories and STILL gain weight!  I took hoodia for two weeks last month and lost 15 pounds and I stopped taking them because I was getting addicted to the energy (I LOVED IT!).  Well, I gained those 15 pounds back!  I just don't know WHAT to do!  I never reached goal and I was only 18 pounds away from my goal, now I'm 28 pounds away?!  ARGGHHH!!! This is so frustrating!  That's why I haven't even posted or come to this site in a while because I feel like a failure!  But I've noticed that most people just don't say anything because noone else is.   Well, I'm going to say something!  I'm not a newbie.  So everything is not all gravy.  The weight is not just falling off.  I feel like I have OCD as far as dieting and exercising and weight are concerned.  I do WW, You on a diet, low carb, South Beach, Low fat.  I mean I'm doing every diet possible just to try to get back to where I was and the scale just moves up and up. 

Sorry for hijacking this post.  I will repost somewhere else! :)

Hi,
  You're not crazy-when I was taken to the emergency room they thought I had a stroke because I was so confused but it was low blood sugar.  My doctor and the emergency room doctor knew nothing about it.  The bypass office said this is happening to a lot of people and to go to an endrocrinologist- which I can't afford to do(and it takes months in Rochester to get an appt). My family physician also wants me to go to one but I don't need to go to see someone to find out what I already know I have.  The only solutions are diet and removal of your pancreas?? I am not up for any mor surgery. 
  The diet does work but it involves eating small amounts five or six  times a day.   To get my blood sugar back up I eat cottage cheese and drinK OJ-it seems the combination of sugar and protein seems to even things out.  I eat almonds or cashews, look for cereal with high protein amounts, yogurt,cheese, plain hamburgs,some lunch meat, eggs(esp in the morning), grits and cheese etc.  I've had to experiment with different foods.   
  It sounds like you are definately cycling between low and high blood sugar(I've had the same things happen and have measured it on a meter) and it's taken a while for me to get it figured out.  You do need to talk to your doctor-maybe if you print some of these comments out and go to the sites other people have cited about low blood sugar and bypass and maybe then  your doctor can help you more.  I think it's a pretty complicated problem and they don't know much about it and really don't want to deal with.         
  Talking to a dietician would probably help too.  I found if I wrote down  everyting I ate (and I was honest -if I ate a candy bar I wrote it down) helped me figure out what to eat and when.  The part I am trying to figure out now is the high blood sugar and how exercise can help to bring it down more quickly
   It's a shame that we're left to figure this stuff out by ourselves but that's the way it is-I wonder if bariatric surgeons will ever realize that we need help after they have completely changed our digestive system.  Right now I don't see that at all -I am just pushed off to another doctor.  However, I am glad I lost the weight as I was totally disabled by osteoarthritis and was becoming  homebound but I do wish I had been able to do it by diet and exercise.
  This forum has helped me to see that I'm not alone and that in itself has helped me be able to manage this.  Debbie Adams

Update:

I went to the Dr. yesterday and they did a glucose/insulin/c-peptide test.  I woke up and at 7:38 my blood sugar level was 90.  So it was fine.  Basically I had to fast and show up first thing in the morning and drink this big cup of EXTRA sugary kool-aid type of drink.  It was SOOOO sweet and I dump!!! They took my blood before the drink, then I lied down for 30 minutes, they took my blood again, lied down for another 30 minutes, took my blood again, got to leave for an hour, checked my blood sugar it was 92, returned to get blood drawn again.  Now, at this point, I was on the verge of passing out.  I was sweating, heart was racing, I was jittery, I just wasn't going to make it but I couldn't eat!!  I got back to the Dr.'s office and asked them to hurry and take my blood sugar because I was about to pass out!!  They took the last vile of blood and I took 4 pieces of candy and devoured them!!  I got to my car, checked my blood sugar and it was 42. 

I should get some of my results back today if not tomorrow.  My Dr. suggested that I try the anti-inflammatory diet.  So I went to the grocery store and bought the things that were on that list and I will try to follow James H's wagon plan diet also.