Reactive Hypoglycemia

Hi there and welcome to the forum. I don't know much about this except what I've read. Some people have experienced this after a really large meal like during the holidays according to some sources but other sources say that technically to be called 'reactive hypoglycemia' there must be other criteria related to how our body chemistry is working at the time.

In any case, the Wikipedia article has one of the clearest explanations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_hypoglycemia

I think this happens a lot at Thanksgiving for some people.  If you think about a plate of mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes or yams with marshmallow topping (all carbs) and some turkey and then apple pie (probably a la mode), etc. - then you can see why some people feel like taking a nap after eating.  I noticed this effect when I would eat oatmeal with brown sugar years ago for lunch in the winter.  An hour later I had to take a nap.  Before being diagnosed as diabetic (excuse me prediabetic - a term my doctor used but now I don't think is a correct description), my blood sugar was probably all over the charts but I didn't know it.

Hi Debsoap :),

I'm new here so this is my first post so I hope it gets to you!

I was diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia (apologies is the spelling is wrong!) 2 years ago after a glucose intolerance (or tolerance, not sure which way round) test. You have to fast for 12 hours before had, then drink 2 pints of warm glucose syrup (it tasted awful!) and then my blood was tested every 30 minutes across 4 hours to see the effect on my body.

In my case, they found it spikes up dangerously high then drops down low and my body takes too long to stabilise itself back to normal - something which a standard blood sugar test would not spot.

To give you a bit of background info, i kept suffering "seizures" and blacking out episodes. This mainly happened after i consumed alcohol, first time being when I was 16 and i had a seizure and was taken to hospital. This happened several times over the years sometimes caused by alcohol other times after large meals (i now know large meals are a trigger), however it wasn't until i was 22 (i am now 24) that the route cause was found. I was treated for epilepsy, ME, and on one occasion was accused of consuming drugs! Main reason being as i would have an episode, but by the time an ambulance was called and i was in hospital, my blood sugar levels had already started to stabilise themselves and my episodes only happen between the time it spikes high to low (within 30 minutes).

I also suffer with a variety of other conditions which aggravates my Reactive Hypoglycemia but the best treatment i have found is to always eat little and often and not eat large 3 course dinners as i usually end up asleep in bed an hour later! I'm also careful to never have too many fizzy drinks and if i do i make sure they are diet. If i do feel a bit wobbly, i find the lucazade sports really help me as they re-hydrate you and something to do with electrolytes! But it always seems to help me :)

Sorry if i've given you a bit of a life story, but it's nice to have a forum like this to be able to discuss as i am the only person i know with this condition!

Loulabelle x