Can you be diabetic even if you eat very little sugar?

[Imzadi]

I snipped this from another thread I posted on a while ago. You mentioned you just pass out, but see if any of these symptoms happen to you before you pass out.

When a person is hypoglycemic, if their blood sugar drops excessively, a number of symptoms may happen. Usually, it starts off with crankiness, becoming real irritablility. Then for me, verbally I can't think of the right words I want to say. This is the first red flag to me. Because I may be cranky or irritable for a number of reasons. But, I am usually very articulate, so when the right words elude me consistently for a bit, I know I should get something to eat.

Then body tremors start. I feel them slightly inside first. Then it shifts to my hands. (Pres. Clinton was filmed a few months ago at a funeral with a trembling hand. The press went crazy saying he might have Parkinson's - when probably, it was only hypoglycemia. It's not like he could whip out a bag of peanuts and start chewing at a funeral for a head of a country, if they went crazy over a trembling hand. )

If don't get something to eat then, I start getting fuzzy or faint. I start getting a really bad headache.

By that point, my body is on high red alert. My body is in survival mode then. I have been unintentionally quite nasty to a McDonald's employee if they are a little too incompetent right then and take too long, because I NEED TO EAT!!! Every second counts.

(If you've ever seen a kid have an absolute meltdown for not being able to eat something right away, they are probably having a real blood sugar drop. People think, "Oh come on, you brat, you can't need to eat so badly that you can't wait another moment or two." Actually, it IS that bad if they have low blood sugar. Their bodies know they need to eat.

Some people then get to the point of being nauseous. They need to eat, but feel too nauseous to eat.

My dad was diabetic instead of hypoglycemic, at that point, he might become extremely confused, disoriented or incoherent, seeming like he was drunk or intoxicated. Diabetics may laspe into this state without realising it. Once, my dad was stopped on the road in this state, the officer made him take a sobriety test. If he was admitted into a hospital in this condition they would also do a sobriety test in addition to a glucose level test, even if he had a medic alert bracelet saying he was diabetic.

That's why a kid would scream to eat and/or get nauseous. They have to get the message across that they need food before they get into the incoherent/disoriented stage. The body is really about survival at that point.

After that, is the possibility of passing out, (like if you saw Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.) Then, lapsing into a diabetic coma.

 

[ogreenlee]

i was about to post about the Nuvaring! are you on BC?

 

[pixiewings71]

Definitely talk to your dr about hypoglycemia, sounds like something that runs in our family. My DD21 has this as does my cousin and all of my nieces. I watch my girls like crazy to make sure they don't have it, so far so good. I have it too tho, I have to eat regularly and eat well or I get the same feelings. It could be migraines but I don't get weak or pass out when I have those. Good luck OP!

 

[disykat]

I'm trying to find a way to say this without sounding negative about Drs., (I have always had great Drs. and have great respect for them) but don't let a Dr. tell you that you are fine if you know you aren't. YOU are the expert on how you feel, so don't be afraid to let them know that you have continued symptoms and want to continue searching for solutions until you feel better. You are a brief blip in a Drs. day and you need to continue to make noise or they won't know you still need help. Make appts., make follow up appts., start keeping a written log of health issues you can share with them. I think many times we deal with stuff so long that we don't make it dramatic enough to get attention when we get to the drs. office.

I learned a big lesson when, after visiting the dr. 4 times in two weeks, I was finally diagnosed with double pneumonia when I went in basically hysterical and they finally did a chest x-ray. The dr. actually said "I can't believe you had double pneumonia and weren't sick." I had assumed the fact I went in to the drs. office with the problem was enough to get that point across. What I realized is I tend to be stoic enough about my answers that when my temperature was okay and they couldn't hear it in my chest they just sent me home and I was off their radar. I was sick and miserable - but I hadn't adequately portrayed that to them.

The way insurance works now, they have to do one test, narrow it out, then do more. It involves more visits, etc. but that's the way it is. They did the blood work, narrowed it out, so it's time to explore further.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

You could very easily be experiencing reactive hypoglycemia (although your symptoms don't remind me much of hypoglycemia, but every body is different.) As Imzadi described: if you eat high carb (not just high sugar), your blood sugar spikes. In some people, the pancreas overreacts, kicking out too much insulin and then you have an episode of hypo.

The feeling of being hypo happens in two different circumstances: When your blood sugar dips too low, anything below 70 is generally considered hypo, however if you have diabetes and have had very high blood sugars, even normal blood sugars can feel hypo until you readjust. The other way is if you spike up and then drop too fast. The sudden drop, even if you don't go below 70, can make you feel hypo. Often, hypos are precursors to diabetes or a sign of prediabetes.

Ask for an oral glucose tolerance test, in the 3 or 5 hour. You will fast, they will check your blood sugar. You will then drink a sugary drink and they will check your blood sugar (depending on the lab) at the one and 2 hour mark. There are longer tests designed to induce hypos, those are the ones you are interested in.

If you do by a glucometer and test there are several things you should consider checkign:

Your fasting readings should be below 100. Your post meal readings at the two hour mark should be under 140. If you are going higher than those, it could be diabetes. If you feel like you are going low, then check your blood sugar. Anything under 70 is considered low. The standard for treatment is 15 grams of fast acting glucose, wait 15 minutes, then check again. Repeat until you are over 70. The best thing for this is glucose tabs or gel. You don't want something with fats or protein in it because that will slow down the absorption of the carbs.

If you feel better after consuming fast acting sugar, then chances are it is blood sugar related. If not, it is probably something else.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

As for the blood pressure tests:

The only one I know about is the tilt table. It's what my friend did. They put you completely flat on a table, then slowly raise it while checking your blood pressure. There's more to it than that, but that is the gist. I'm sure there are other tests, but this is the only one I'm familiar with.

 

[Sleepy]

I only skimmed the posts and while I did see mention of carbs processing as sugars, I did not see mention of fruits. Many of these are also processed in the body as sugar. Grapes are a good example.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Fruits are carbs. When we talk about carbs, we essentially talking about the carb content of any food. So everything but meat essentially will have carbs. it's that total count that you need to worry about. When a diabetic talks about carbs, they don't always mean bread or pasta.