is this hypoglycemia

Baso

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2010

Posts : 49

Posted 8/5/2016 5:08 PM (GMT 0)

hi,
today after eating carb food in the morning within 2 hours i started to feel fatigue but i thought its anxiety then went to swim i found my self get tired easily with pounding heart then sit down for rest then i started to get more fatigued easily with more racing heart.
then started to develop numbness in hands and feet after standing and then the numbness increased very fast I thought my blood sugar was low as it happened 1 month before same symptoms but worse as i didn't realise about low sugar it was around 55 that time.
so i dissolved three small sugar paper bags the one for tea in cup of water, after 3 minutes the numbness went away but i still have the fatigue feeling.
after 15 minutes i drove to the ER and tested for glucose it was 105 and i didn't eat to check if its related to hypo after 2 hours i tested again and was 84 but was having the symptoms of fatigue and heart race for small activities like climbing 10 steps.
was this hypoglycemia and it went from low to 105 that fast?
thank you..

Lanie G

Forum Moderator

Joined : Nov 2006

Posts : 7019

Posted 8/5/2016 7:00 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Baso and welcome to the Diabetes Forum. Yes, if your blood sugar was 55, I'm sure you were having the side effects of low blood sugar/hypoglycemia. (See the Mayo Clinic's site: www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypoglycemia/basics/symptoms/con-20021103).

To counteract that, you could drink pure orange juice or chew a glucose tablet (available in any pharmacy) or suck on candy. The juice and glucose tab would probably act more quickly.

Have you have problems with blood sugar before? I'm asking because it seems you tested your blood sugar.

In any case, if you've had other episodes of this, you should really inform your doctor. In the meantime, the best way to help keep your blood sugar more level is to eat regularly, not skip meals, maybe eat smaller meals but several times a day and do not eat a lot of heavy carbs at one time. For example pancakes with regular syrup, a big slice of birthday cake with icing on an empty stomach, a bagel with jelly/jam. Those have so many carbs that your blood sugar will spike high at first and then drop low.

Do you have any family members with diabetes?

Chaul22

Regular Member

Joined : May 2010

Posts : 218

Posted 8/5/2016 8:10 PM (GMT 0)

It's very subjective. At least if I've ever had a hypo, it takes a while to recover even after the blood glucose levels have already returned to normal. Soo, I end up overdoing the emergency glucose and my blood glucose levels shoot up and beyond the other extreme in 15 minutes.

For me a hypo starts with feeling hot, then I get sweaty at which point I usually already take a couple of glucose pills and recover without much of the drama after. If it got lower than that I would feel it in my throat, and also have some of that racing heart drama I suppose. But since I'm already hot and drenching my shirt in sweat, trying to exercise or be worried about muscle fatigue would be the last thing in my mind, I'd already be racing for that glucose tab, or any source of sugar. If it got lower than that, I'd have trouble thinking straight, may talk funny if in company, and I might wonder is this a low, should I be eating, and then I snap out of it and figure out that yes, I indeed should.

The last time I hit a low was on Wednesday when I met my new nurse the first time. I didn't have a meter, but I was sweating like a pig 10 minutes before the appointment. Took a couple of tabs and measured my blood glucose during the meeting and it read 12.8 mmol/l. Well, that's just great with me trying to explain "but it was a low just 15 minutes ago... really".

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply