Bad glucose test results - on the LOW end

littlemaybaby

Diagnosis: Hypoglycemia.

My doctor said that my glucose test results (55 mg/dl) would be considered low for someone who had been fasting for 12 hours but that they were the lowest she had seen in years for someone who had eaten a full breakfast and had the glucose drink.

The good news:

• There isn't a big risk to the baby assuming I don't fall into a dangerously low level
  
• It explains why I have been feeling like total and complete sh!t lately (anxiety, severe dizziness, and extreme irritability) - and I was starting to feel like I was just crazy
  

The bad news:

• At levels below 50 mg/dl the chance are greatly increased that I will start having more serious neurological responses (disorientation, passing out, etc)
  

My doctor said that she sees this so rarely that she was able to give me some very helpful tips for the immediate treatment of hypoglycemia (quick jolt of simple sugar), but also referred me to a nutritional specialist to help me devise a plan to prevent my blood sugar levels from getting so frightening low in the first place.  The problem - the nutritionist's first appointment isn't for two weeks!  So for now, I feel kinda stuck in a waiting game.  I am going to call my doctor back this morning and see if she has any one else she could refer me to - because I really don't want to wait that long.

Anyone else out there with similar results?  How are you doing managing your low blood sugar?

ETA:  Sorry for the horrendous formatting making this diffcult to read.  It looks fine the way I type it, but the bump doesn't seem to like my return key when it comes time to post it!

woolgathered

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when I was a teenager. I got into the habit of eating a snack every 2 to 3 hours. Is that what he told you to do? All it is would be like a bunch of grapes, or a cup of yogurt, or whatever. That helps stabilize me, so I don't get sluggish or foggy.

littlemaybaby

woolgathered:

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when I was a teenager. I got into the habit of eating a snack every 2 to 3 hours. Is that what he told you to do? All it is would be like a bunch of grapes, or a cup of yogurt, or whatever. That helps stabilize me, so I don't get sluggish or foggy.

Yes, she told me to make sure I was eating every couple of hours or more frequently if I felt like I needed it.  So that's my game plan between now and going to the nutritionist - which I had been trying to do anyway, but obviously I need to be more rigorous about.  Her bigger concern was that my blood sugar levels were so low after I had eaten (and chugged straight sugar) - which is why she wants me to see the specialist - because she wasn't really comfortable with those results.

Samantha82

My results were around 55.  However I had my blood taken late in the day and didn't really eat much all day.  Still they diagnosed me with hypoglycemia.  I've had episodes where if I don't eat for awhile I get really shaky and sick.

Doctor told me to eat smaller, more frequent meals.  And make sure you're getting enough protein, especially in the morning.  What has really helped is that I usually make a smoothie (yogurt, frozen fruit, & a little juice) after my bowl of cereal and I'm sipping on that all morning.  Then in the afternoon I have a bowl of grapes, berries or nuts w/ dried fruit in front of me that I munch on slowly.

Hope that helps.

Mee83shell

Keep in mind that when you blood sugar gets low you want something to jump you quickly (a simple carb/sugar); and then a complex carb and a protein with it.  So keeping some hard candies or some fruit with you along with a package of peanut butter crackers would be a good idea :-)  If you just eat a simple sugar, you will go up but crash down harder and that's even more dangerous--rebound hypoglycemia is wicked.

littlemaybaby

Mee83shell:

Keep in mind that when you blood sugar gets low you want something to jump you quickly (a simple carb/sugar); and then a complex carb and a protein with it.  So keeping some hard candies or some fruit with you along with a package of peanut butter crackers would be a good idea :-)  If you just eat a simple sugar, you will go up but crash down harder and that's even more dangerous--rebound hypoglycemia is wicked.

Thanks for the advice.  I had already noticed on my own that sugar by itself to fix my dizziness situation was making me feel infinitely worse - so that definitely makes sense.

whitdog23

The same thing happened to me even though I went right after eating lunch.  I saw a nutritionist last week who said the most important thing was to eat frequently to keep my blood sugar from crashing lower.  However, these snacks should be high in protein and natural sugars (like an apple and peanut butter or a Clif bar).  I definitely snack more and have felt SOOO much better for the last week - not nearly as dizzy and loopy and no more seeing spots!