Hypoglycemia Feeling But Normal To High Sigar Levels

[giftcreations123]

Hello..

I often feel I am having hypoglycemic feeling, all the symptoms, fast hert rate etc...but when I test my blood levels they are either normal or even high. My endocrinologist has no clue and thinks my cortisol might have the answer. My cortisol was slightly high during the day and going to do the dexamethasone suppression test which I am sure will be normal ( my siste's was and we have same thing )

Any thoughts or has anyone experienced this?

Thank you

[EarthMother]

By the time I use to feel the adrenaline surges from my reactive hypoglycemia my blood sugar was already on the way up. It was only by taking my blood sugar at random times during the day that I was able to see it often dropped down in the 60's.

Are you following a hypoglycemic diet? (frequent small meals every 2-3 hours?) It took me about 6 months of strict diet changes and adherence before my blood sugar stablized from the wicked lows and spikes I was getting last year.

Good luck finding answers that work for your body.

[erik]

There does seem to be decent evidence that simply a "rapid drop" in sugar levels can precipitate symptoms... even if the absolute numbers stay normal. I've measured this in myself with a glucose meter and a little "provocation"... Coincidentally I fell into a sudden involuntary nap ("food coma"), had a bout of "myoclonus" which I hadn't had in a while, awoke with an intense transient anxiety (I call these my "moments of terror") almost seizure-like, and needless to say a chaser of lasting fatigue... all while staying within "normal" absolute glucose numbers but having a rapid drop from "max post-meal normal" to "min normal".

I'm an "experimenter" type... the proper thing to do is keep your sugars steady with "fibrous foods" and "frequent small meals". Oh yeah, our old friend "dehydration" is said to exacerbate hypoglycemic issues too... throw in some low blood flow (especially to the brain), and you have a potent mix so it's no surprise they say POTS people are more likely to suffer hypoglycemic issues than averagers.

It's a tough balance because in some ways and for some things you want to minimize spikes and dips... but the body also relies on these spikes and dips to trigger helpful things and "pump" nutrients back in to muscles and stuff... I personally feel stuck between things that make symptoms worse and those that give some better energy & recovery. Some research fronts seem to implicate things like NADH... perhaps that will pan out some day. I don't know if it's valid/safe or overrated to supplement those things.

[ramakentesh]

Varieties of POTS that result in sympathetic excess - such as b-receptor antibodies or any etiology where sympathetic activity is potentiated could result in sensitivity to normal adrenal fluctuations as a result of normal blood pressure regulation. Sympo-excitation would leave a patient subject to symptoms from even minor excitorary stimuli:

Result would be psuedo hypoglycemia with normal blood sugar levels.

[vemee]

I was told once that my body over reacts to changes in my blood sugar. Even though the sugar stays in the proper limits it if it starts to rise the body starts to dump it into the urine. When it starts to fall it starts pumping adrenalin. Case in point, other week on the way to the doctors I stopped and got a sausage biscuit after getting to the doctors about 30 minutes later they found sugar in my urine and my blood sugar level was at the same level it is when I fast ( I did not know they were going to take my sugar level otherwise I wouldn't have eaten anything). I have caught my sugar level as low as 38 but this is rare since I do not test it anymore.

[ramakentesh]

I would bet you $10 that you wouldnt get this symptom if you lay in bed all day - its orthostatic - orthostatic sympathetic overactivity making you more sensitive to the adrenal response to normal blood sugar fluctuations

[Sophia3]

start getting all blood work drawn after you have lay down for 5 minutes, or longer if possible but often it is not. Since doing this, i've no more high sugar levels or high cortisol. After one false reading of 125 glucose when fasting I was given monitor to check my blood several times after diff types of meals, high carb, normal carb/protein/fat ratio. ALL NORMAL.

My endocrinologist has checked over the years and now they draw blood at his office after my visit when I am calm and lying down. Just tell them you black out and they will let you lie down if the phlebot hassles you. If going to a new lab or hospital, call ahead to see if they have a bed or recliner for you to lie in to get blood drawn. That's what I have done in the past.

Also the sausage biscuit probably did not cause the elevated sugar due to fact that the fat content in that would make it LOW on the glycemic index. A fat free ice cream or snack would elevate blood sugar it quicker, thus I am guessing your upright posture triggered the high readings.

I can eat whatever I want though I DO have hypoglycemia but it's triggered by caffeine on empty stomach or low fat/no fat snacks. I do better eating pizza with pepperoni & cheese than say, a vegan low fat pizza. I get TERRIBLE reactions from high glycemic foods.

Watermelon is another trigger even though it's 'natural' it's all sugar.

The longer I am upright the catecholamines go crazy thus can spike different hormones in many of us (coritsol, glucose, etc)

just my two pennies

[erik]

start getting all blood work drawn after you have lay down for 5 minutes,

.... snip ....

just my two pennies

Your pennies are gold. I had identical experience of mysterious and un-reproduced lab "spot checks" and I think your explanation makes it quite clear!

It also hints at yet another factor that can exacerbate relative-hypoglycemic dips during our daily life (where the relief of going supine can also provoke an extra dip in basic energy supplies).

[It'sMyLife]

Varieties of POTS that result in sympathetic excess - such as b-receptor antibodies or any etiology where sympathetic activity is potentiated could result in sensitivity to normal adrenal fluctuations as a result of normal blood pressure regulation. Sympo-excitation would leave a patient subject to symptoms from even minor excitorary stimuli:

Result would be psuedo hypoglycemia with normal blood sugar levels.

This HAS to be what is going on with me. I have sworn I have hypoglycemia for years, but when I finally got tested it was totally normal. And, I actually didn't feel too awful during drinking all that glucose for the test. But, I swear, if I go too long without eating a FULL meal I crash and then, no matter how much I eat, I feel like crap for a quite a while after. ramakentesh- would you happen to have a source for this info that I can take to my doc?

[MomtoGiuliana]

Result would be psuedo hypoglycemia with normal blood sugar levels

This is exactly what my POTS specialist told me. He said I am not experiencing reactive hypoglycemia. And the tests I have had seem to support that.

[erik]

These symptoms seem to cross over with POTS symptoms nicely:

Hypoglycemia Symptoms

I am a bit sad/frustrated because I "whined" as a kid that I felt hypoglycemic at times... but of course when the test came up negative I learned to stop complaining about my symptoms.

Since it is not actual low blood sugar, what does one do to avoid these symptoms?

[MomtoGiuliana]

To avoid the symptoms I eat as if I have reactive hypoglycemia--high protein, low sugar, small meals, a little more fat. Apparently my body reacts to even small dips and rises in blood glucose. I've never really understood the phenomenon. I realize some people here on DINET actually do have reactive hypoglycemia. I've had glucose tolerance tests, etc and my blood sugar is generally stable, yet I have the hypoglycemic symptoms.