Are glucose tablets effective for sever fasting hypoglycemia?

[Jcrow28]

I' am not a diabetic; I' am a hypoglycemic and everyday I experience fasting hypoglycemia upon waking. My morning blood glucose is between 25-30mg/dL and I always feel like crap, I only experience reactive adrenergic symptoms like, moderate hypertension, sweating, arrhythmia, headache, lightheadedness, shaking and nausea during the episode. My doctors recommendations have always been to eat a high calorie/high carbohydrate meal and a glass of fruit juice with-in a half hour of getting out of bed, but that works too slow; it takes at least two hours to get my blood sugar up to around 80-90mg/dL and I can't stand it. I was going to talk to my doctor about glucose tablets to see if they would work faster but I'd like to get the opinions of other people who've experienced hypoglycemia.

[WaveRider]

"I' am not a diabetic; I' am a hypoglycemic"
Hypoglycemia - low blood sugar - is considered type 1 diabetes. I think in the back of your mind you realize this or you wouldn't be posting on a diabetes forum.

Are you on insulin? If not its time you changed doctors and sought advice from an Endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in diabetes care and treatment. He/she can recommend a bolus regimen which best suites your lifestyle. Living with constant low blood sugars creates hypoglycemic unawareness, you're no longer sensitive to the feelings of hypoglycemia making it dangerous and life threatening.

Things you should be aware of:
• Learn when to test and test your glucose [blood sugar] often. Check, check, check, check
• Never delay treatment. Treat a low as soon as you recognize it.
• Always carry quick carbs like glucose tablets or simple sugar candies to eat when a low occurs or when  
  you have any reason to suspect a low. Use only for emergency situations. Too much may cause a  
  hyperglycemic episode.
• Unusual upper body activity or exercise often leads to a low blood sugar. Eat extra carbs before    
  digging, raking, moving boxes, washing your car, or playing tennis, and other such activities you
  do not routinely do. Test often during and after this activity. Good luck

[WaveRider]

Apologize for the 'fractured' post. I copy/pasted from a converted .doc to .docx document. Something in the original translation got haywire and needs fixin'.

[allmymarbles]

Now hold on there. Dabetics, both type 1 and type 2 can have hypoglycemic episodes. This is not the same thing as having diabetes. Granted it is a disfunction of the spleen, but diabetes refers specifically to a disfunction that causes high-blood sugar.

[allmymarbles]

IMy reply was not clear so I will repeat it with corrections.

Now hold on there. Dabetics, both type 1 and type 2, can have hypoglycemic episodes. But hypoglycemics do not have diabetic episodes. Granted they have a disfunction of the spleen, but diabetes refers specifically to a disfunction that causes high-blood sugar.

[allmymarbles]

I don't see why you can't take a glucose pill. It's just a sugar after all, and that is what you need as soon as possible.

[WaveRider]

Here are the facts, you missed two of them. Diabetes does NOT "refers specifically to a disfunction that causes high-blood sugar."

There are three class types of diabetes:
Type 1 - Hypoglycemia [low glucose]
Type 2 - Hyperglycemia [high glucose]
Type 1.5 - aka LADA [Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults]

"Dabetics, both type 1 and type 2 can have hypoglycemic episodes."
Another fact, when t2 Diabetics [note sp] experience hypoglycemic episodes they are usually caused by an outside influence; too much medication or insulin. Bottom line, hypoglycemia does not occur on its own with t2'ers.

"Granted it is a disfunction of the spleen"
Huh? Diabetes is known to cause an enlarged spleen in rare cases. There is not enough evidence to correlate a dysfunction [note sp] of the spleen to diabetes. [If you have a clinical human trial/study provide the name and link. I'm not interested in rodent or animal studies] There is, however, proof of liver or thyroid or pancreas dysfunction causing both t1 or t2 diabetes. Only lately has medicine started to include obesity as a cause for t2 diabetes.

[Jcrow28]

Thank you for all your responses.

It was late when I wrote this post and I should clarify the reason I said I' am not a diabetic is because I wasn't born with type 1 diabetes and I have never had an episode of high blood sugar (that I know of). I developed fasting hypoglycemia three years ago for currently unknown reasons. I' am being evaluated for insulinoma again in two weeks and I' am having more tests to check for pheochromocytoma, lyme disease, nesidioblastosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, pituitary tumor and autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome. I' am glad to know I should be able to take the glucose tablets without a problem, I don't really want to take diazoxide unless nothing else works.

[WaveRider]

Jcrow - Check the glucose tablet bottle to see how much each tablet contains. Some bottles are sold at 5 grams per and up to 15 grams per tablet. When your glucose level dips below 60 mg/dl take one 'chewable' 15 gram tablet [or three if 5 grams], then test your glucose 15-20 minutes later. Repeat dosage ONLY if necessary and recheck your levels. If your levels remain unchanged or low do not take anymore tablets, instead go to ER for proper care. Ask to have your thyroid [TSH, T3 & T4] and pancreas insulin production tested too. Good luck

[allmymarbles]

I repeat: Hypoglycemics are not diabetics. They can, of course, become diabetics.

[WaveRider]

This is an Diabetes Adult Type II forum and we are discussing hypoglycemia in diabetic patients. Yes, there are very rare instances where it occurs in non-diabetic people. This forum does not address non-diabetic people nor should one create confusion to forum diabetic readers. Thank you

[allmymarbles]

I feel it is incumbent on me to clarify a misstatement concerning diabetes.That would make it the province of this forum.

[WaveRider]

To prevent further thread hijacking, I believe a cease-and-desist is in order. If the need for continuing to express an argument which strays from the original posters intent please feel free to open your own thread or use PM. end :-)

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

to address the low blood sugar you may also look into some of the gels which are sold for use by athletes during extended exercise.  These are highly concentrated sugars and formulated for rapid absorption.  

There are various brands of these - but a good selection should be available in health food shops or  sports stores.  GU is one brand.

Make sure you eat a meal with plenty of fat / protein in it at night to help keep your sugar steady overnight.

Am glad you are being evaluated further, as this must be very unpleasant and is not healthy.

You may also just wish to buy dextrose powder or straight glucose powder and mix a teaspoon or two with water / flavouring and take it when you wake up.   The liquid form should be even more quickly available than dry (in a tablet). You'd need to experiment just how much you need to bring you up appropriately.  If your blood sugar was 20 and assuming 1 gram of sugar would bring you up 5 points and you want to be at 80 then you'd need 12 grams of pure sugar.

As an athlete I've also found that the sugar in soft drinks is very readily available.  Though the acid isn't good for teeth.  Anyway, you may try this too.

[Jadeland]

Goodness!!!  If her blood glucose levels are 25 to 30 recommending insulin to her would kill her!!!!  That is extremely low.  She said she is NOT diabetic.  Insulin is used to treat HIGH blood sugar not LOW.  She does need to see an endocrinologist though to see why she is experiencing severe fasting hypoglycemia in the absence of diabetes & insulin therapy.

[NV36]

I have been hypoglycemic my whole life. It's common in my family. I used to follow the doctor's suggestion of just using sugar and carbs to increase my blood sugar on waking. At that time, I experienced episodes almost daily, and had to be very careful to have meals regularly, and to keep candy nearby. Then, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which makes taking in carbs a bit more problematic.

Now, I increase my protein intake before bed, and increase my morning protein intake, along with natural sugars, i.e. quinoa flakes or oatmeal in the mornings, with a scoop of raisins or blueberries, omelets, protein and fruit smoothies, etc. This sustains my blood sugar much better than before, and I very rarely experience the crashes associated with my condition. However, I also keep fruits in the bag that I take to my desk, and eat regularly. I avoid carbs for the most part, and have found that I feel better than ever before.

[JuneBuhg]

Why are you spewing misinformation?
I'm not a diabetic, I don't have type 1 diabetes... but I DO have non-diabetic hypoglycemia (as diagnosed by my endocrinologist after nearly a year of testing).
Apparently we are a very rare group, and so it's not unusual for non-diabetic hypoglycemics to end up here via an online search. Maybe you want to ban us all, but please do not cause confusion by giving misleading information.
Non-Diabetic Hypoglycemia is NOT NOT NOT Type 1 diabetes. Please check your facts before posting misleading information.

[allenuk]

Well, as being very cross is a sure sign of being a diabetic, there aint much doubt that WaveRider is one...