Try eating something that is high in protein (a spoonful of peanut butter, a handful of peanuts, cheese, etc.) That always seems to help me within 10-15 minutes.

Watch peanut butter, it is fairly high in carbohydrates for what it is and in fact peanuts are not nuts, they're beans. Better off to try almond butter if you can find it or tahini, though the latter tastes like hot dogs.

I have tried almost everything: pure protein, mostly fat (macademia nuts) some whole-wheat crackers, water.

Nothing seems to work at all. The only thing which works, it to eat nothing, lie down and wait for it to pass. But this usually takes hours and really screws up my day (life).

I think part of my problem -which I realized during the GTT- is that my symptoms start long before my sugar actually drops (I wish someone could explain why this is):

I drank the goop at 8:55-ish. By 9:15 I was nauseous; 9:21 my hands got colld; 9:32 my whole self was freezing. Then the shaking and feeling like I neded to sleep started. By then it was 10am and they tested my sugay. It was 100!

The next hour I still felt crappy and exhausted. Sugar was 93.

Then I started to feel a bit better, although my face and feet became numb/tingly. Sugar was 47. Palpitations started shortly thereafter, while they were trying to get my sugar leves back up. The doc said my body was only just then responding to the sugar drop.

So I think I start the 'rescue remedy' long before my sugar drops which is probably inappropriate.

But I need a rescue remedy!

I guess I will know more mext week, when I have the rest of the bloodwork from the GTT in.

Does anyone have any ideas about this kind of response pattern?

-Paula

The numbers only show you the level at that particular moment. When the drop starts to happen, the symptoms begin. Remember it's the speed of the drop, not the numbers. If you want to try something, look for an unflavored whey protein powder by Jay Robb. Half a scoop of that should do the trick. Here it is:

http://www.jayrobb.com/cat_proteinWheyUnfl av_24.asp

Thanks Stan,

I'll try it. I'll also try the almond butter. I went to Trader Joes today to pick up some things and I bought some while I was there.

-Paula

I have hypoclycemia as does my Mom so I learned about it when I was a child. She worked in medicine so was diagnosed early on and we have found what works. First things first, if you are having symptoms from a mild attack:

- lethargy
- pallor
- shakes
- irritability
- nausea

you need to get GLUCOSE into your system immediately. This means juice, soda (non-diet), spoonfuls sugar, candy, etc. If you try to start out with something that has protein/fat as your first treatment, you may throw it back up (it has happened to me). Milk often works wonders because it has sugars and protein and fat; but, I have also thrown it right back up. With pure glucose, that seems to stay down and get digested immediately.

You want to start out with pure glucose. At first, take 10 - 15 grams of glucose (2 teaspoonfuls of table sugar) or a half-can/glass of juice or soda. You should start to feel better almost immediately. Wait 5 or 10 minutes and if you get no relief, take 10 - 15 grams more.

--
A note of warning: If you must do this more than 3 times, you may need to go to the emergency room because your glucose has dropped too much. If you pass out or go unconscious, get to the emergency room immediately.
--

After this initial glucose treatment, you will start to feel much relief and begin to feel ravenous. Now is the time to eat something with fats and protein (healthy) like half a turkey and swiss cheese sandwich on good bread (not white bread which has simple carbs - it's better to eat complex carbs). From here on make sure all your (frequent and small) meals contain both healthy fats and protein. A meal with only carbs. is not handled well by hypoglycemics.

Another thing to make sure you do is figure out what is causing your hypoglycemia. There are many causes. If you are not diabetic, then rarely a tumor can cause it. Also, liver problems or stomach surgery. Food allergies or fasting/diet changes can cause it too.

If it is food caused then you will usually react with an attack, also called "low blood sugar" or "insulin shock", within 24 (rarely up to 48 ) hours after eating the trigger food. You will need to determine what is the trigger food. It is different for everybody. For me it appears to be chocolate and alcohol and just eating too little for many hours before eating sweets or after a carb-only meal (like cheese enchiladas).

Trigger foods can be alcohol, coffee, sodas, chocolate, citrus fruits, vegetables, chemicals like msg, caffeine, aspartame, etc. You need to pay attention to your diet (keep a food diary) and once you see a pattern with your attacks, do a food challenge. This means you take the food culprit out of your diet for 10 days and then, if you have been free of attacks from the removal, re-enter the culprit food back into your diet and note your body's reaction. Give it at least 24 hours. If you don't get the reaction, try another food. Good luck!

Oh, also, Doctors seemed to be unaware of this condition sometimes so don't get frustrated if you need to see more than one doctor. Just trust your instincts and your body.

Terrible advice. Sugar should NEVER be used to treat this. Keep doing that and you're going to end up with diabetes later or one day, suddenly, your symptoms are going to become so severe you won't believe. There was a woman on here awhile ago who had that happen to her because she was taking your approach. She was relying on glucose tabs, and then one day... Look for her thread, it has something about hypoglycemia while driving I believe. Read it.

Glucose is only an option for a diabetc, not for a hypoglycemic. For this 'food challenge' you mention you should be waiting at least 3 days to see a reaction. It takes about 5-7 days for a food to leave your system and show any effects.

Stan,

I said to wait for 10 days on the food challenge (that's longer than the 5 - 7 you suggest).

Also, I said that the glucose should be used during an attack, NOT as an ongoing treatment. Perhaps I didn't make that clear enough. I am only saying you should use glucose if you are having an attack...seeing spots, on the verge of vomiting, shaking, etc.

I agree that you should not be using glucose as a routine. As I said,

" From here on make sure all your (frequent and small) meals contain both healthy fats and protein. A meal with only carbs. is not handled well by hypoglycemics. "

Ongoing treatment should be determined after discovery of underlying cause of Hypoglycemia.

You shouldn't be using glucose tabs at all. If anything, an orange would do the trick real quick. You did say less than 5 days, you said 24 hours. You must not only avoid the food, when you add it back in you must give it up to 5 days or so to see if it causes a reaction. 24 hours is too short.

Oh, I see where you mean about the 5 days. I was quoting an article (source was given) which said that you should usually have a reaction by 48 hours at the outside. If you have evidence saying that a reaction can happen a week after a meal, then that's fine. Do you have that link?

I don't have a link, but Geraldine Saunders mentions in her book 'Hypoglycemia' that a reaction typically occurs 2-3 days after eating the problem food. Somewhere else, I don't remember where, I think the book 'The Maker's Diet', I read that food takes about a full 5-7 days to totally leave the system. Ever eat corn or peanuts and find some coming out a few days later? That's why. It just means so ALL of it is out, not most of it. Best to take it slow and be careful with what you're testing to be abolutely certain it's the problem. In the early stages it's sometimes impossible to tell what's the wrong thing, so it's best to follow a general plan consistently for an extended period of time and then start to mess around.