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Repeated Hypoglycemia During the Night

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August 10th, 2009
I'm a 38-year old woman, and for almost 14 years, I've been having hypoglycemic episodes every 2 to 3 hours, every day and every night. With every episode, I have a headache, and I become hot and sweaty and flushed. I also usually experience brain fog and have shakiness or trembling. The only thing I've found to treat myself and end the episodes is to immediately eat a small, healthy, balanced meal (usually lean protein like chicken or fish, whole raw almonds, and vegetables). If I don't eat right away, my symptoms can worsen, and I begin to have trouble speaking, mixing up words and phrases, slurring words. I also feel very tired with each episode. After I eat (usually about 20 minutes after I eat), I feel remarkably better.

So I've learned, through trial and error, how to treat myself during the daytime, although I'm still only treating the symptoms and not getting to the root of the problem (whatever it is). During all of these years, I've never found anything that helps me sleep more than 2 or 2 and 1/2 hours at a time. I've tried a very high-protein meal right before bedtime; I've tried prescription sleeping pills. Nothing works. After repeatedly increasing the dosage for my sleeping pills, my doctor told me that he didn't feel comfortable increasing it any more; he said that if my body is waking me up, it's for a reason, and it would be dangerous (i.e., I could slip into a coma) to over-ride my body's instinct.

Still, not being able to sleep more than for about 2 hours at a time leaves me feeling pretty exhausted. It has a tremendous (negative) impact on my life.

Has anyone out there experienced anything similar and found anything that works? Many thanks in advance for any suggestions or ideas you could give me. I currently maintain a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free (except for small pieces of fruit) diet. I also try to remain active and walk several miles a day at a slow to moderate pace. I don't smoke or drink; I try to be very healthy, and I feel very frustrated that even though I'm trying very hard, I still experience these hypoglycemic episodes every 2 to 3 hours. Thanks again for any advice you can offer.
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Dutchmann2
replied August 18th, 2009
I eat a very megger diet myself and have not had and problems other than loosing allot of wieght on my current diet.

Gluten Free
No dairy andmore
No refined sugars in any way
No soy products or foods containing soy

My diet keeps me alive but and that is all it does. My blood sugar levels will drop drastically over a four hour period of time and keeps on dropping if I do not eat a handful of food at one time. Yet, my weight has dropped from 195 lbs. all the way down to 130 lbs. and I hope to God it does not go any lower than that. I look like shin and bones now. I ride my peddle bike for exercise but, my muscles still keep on shinking all the same. No muscle tome anymore.
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Joybd
replied August 19th, 2009
Hi, Dutchmann2,

Thanks for responding. It sounds like you eat an extremely healthy diet. If you're able to tolerate nuts, maybe the calories in them would help you stop losing weight? Plus, they're good for you, especially whole raw almonds.

Have you ever had a problem with waking up during the night? If so, I wonder how you handled it. Good luck with what you're dealing with!
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xxxx
replied August 19th, 2009
hi,i am sorry your not sleeping well.i have been having hypoglycemic syptoms for years it took me ages to figure out what was up with me.I do not have your problems with not sleeping properly but find that if i make sure i eat low glycemic foods every couple of hours BEFORE i feel hungry i can feel normal.No need to not eat much,maybe if you eat plenty in the day it may help you not to wake up,i try to have a bit of protien with every meal i sugest you read about low glycemic diets if you havent already,Foods such as white bread,white rice act in the same way as sugar giving you blood sugar problems,smoking is also bad because it makes your body go into stress mode releasing glucose from the liver.i have also found that drinking more than one coffee or diet cola drink also makes me go weird this is also something to do with the liver releasing glucose when you have caffine.i think my problems are related to an hormonal imbalance,looking back i began with problems when i came off the pill which gave me enough problems when i took it.I will never put hormones in my body again i think its asking for trouble.I am now taking maca root powder to try and balance my hormones i also take a multivitamin especially for women containing amongst other things magnesium,B6,Folic acid,vitamin D,and Zinc.I am gradually finding with eating well, making sure i get good fats protien and complex carbs,eating small meals very often, finally getting my hormones balanced and also doing regular moderate exercice not too much though,i am begining to feel quite normal,though i am still having a bit of trouble the week before my period hopefully this will go when i have got my hormones fully back to how they are supposed to be,i hope this is of some use to you,good luck
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Joybd
replied September 6th, 2009
xxxx,

Thank you for your many helpful suggestions. I will try to fine-tune my diet further, and I especially like the idea of eating more during the daytime with the possibility that it could help me sleep better during the night. Thanks again for taking the time to post. Smile Good luck to you with what you're struggling with too.
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filly264
replied September 7th, 2009
Hi there,

Have you tried acupuncture, by any chance? You sound like you have really done quite a bit diet-wise, and what you said about not really getting to the root of the problem, (just responding to the symptoms) makes me think that it might be time to have someone help you look more closely at those roots. I have found acupuncture to be really helpful in those underlying issues. I still use diet for my hypoglycemia, but acupuncture and chinese herbs help with the other issues that western medicine hasn't really had an answer for.

Good luck!
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xxxx
replied September 8th, 2009
hi
i agree with filly264 i think going for acupuncture is a great idea if you are already been really healthy it might just give your body a kick start into being back in balance ive read that it is usefull for many things i plan on going for some myself i just dont have the money at the moment if you try it please let us know on here if it works
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filly264
replied September 8th, 2009
Acupuncture has helped me a good deal. Chinese medicine views health through a different lens than western medicine and I've found it has helped me integrate all my health issues well. I'm fortunate in that my husband is an acupuncturist and I'm able to receive frequent treatments from him. Diet is still essential, but beyond that acupuncture has helped me feel for the first time that I have a general understanding of my health issues as a whole.

By the way, I told my husband about my mentioning acupuncture here and he said that if anyone has any questions about chinese medicine, he is happy to respond through me. So, I thought I'd offer that.

Good luck.
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racheldarcy
replied September 23rd, 2009
My son wakes up in the night with low blood sugar and I find that if he has eaten potatoes rather than brown rice or wholewheat pasta as the carbohydrate in his main evening meal he will wake that night or the night after. Luckily I can give him a bowl of cereal and he normally goes back to sleep. Unfortunately I normally stay awake as I do not like to eat in the night as I put on weight but once up, my blood sugar seems to drop just enough to stop me sleeping. I can therefore sympathise on the lack of sleep but do not have any brilliant solutions, sorry
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karmacounselor
replied December 5th, 2009
This is for a suggestion not a diagnosis
My recommendation is to have some hard boiled eggs ready in the fridge, eat one before bed, (no carbs) and then if you awaken in the night, again a dose of protein, an egg if you like them (I know a 90+ person that eats 3 a day, so don't be afraid of eggs)...dropped blood sugar levels is called the new french disease...carbs spike and drop, but dosing with small amts of protein every 2-4 hours gives a steady energy. Also vit D and maca and chromium will help, but not if you don't get the protein...when your carb diet drops your energy you cannot make the brain connection to tie together effects of the "low blood sugar" so, you can have bouts of amnesia, time distortion etc which lead to relationship problems and study problems if you are a student. Also, if you dont have the energy most often people use anger to up their adrenals for energy instead of the food, which also impacts life, work, etc. Hope this helps.
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jdien
replied January 7th, 2010
I'm hypoglycemic and also diabetic type 2. I did the 12 hour fasting test and the results came back normal, but when I did the 3-hr glucose tolerance test, it clearly showed that my body could not utilize the sugars my body was getting from foods--hence diabetes. Therefore I lost 20 pounds of weight because my body was breaking down my muscle and fat for energy. I suspect that because my cells can't utilize sugars, my body over-produces insulin, therefore I get sugars lows a few hours after I eat. I feel a little better since taking diabetic medication, and have stabilized my weight (though I'm unable to gain weight) but I'm still affected by dizziness, sweaty hands, and/or brain fog a few hours after I eat. I would suggest that everyone take the glucose tolerance test to see if there's something wrong with their body's ability to utilize sugar, i.e. lack of insulin or insulin resistance.
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