Hypoglycemia - The Symptoms and the Diabetes Connection

Hypoglycemia is a medical term. It simply means low blood sugar. Cells fuel themselves with glucose, the simplest form of sugar. The main purpose of digestion is to turn everything we eat into this high power fuel so the cells can do their job.

So what happens if the supply in your blood runs low because it's been too long since you ate, or you went swimming or jogging and didn't prepare for the extra exercise by eating something first? Hypoglycemia.

What Should You Watch For?

The symptoms are clear. You get tired and lose focus easily. You might feel shaky and anxious. And you feel hungry or thirsty. If you ignore these symptoms you will begin to sweat and get blurred vision.

What's the worst that could happen if a diabetic ignores hypoglycemia and tries to push past it? Seizures, coma and even death. But that is the extreme, and it happens most often in people who have untreated type 1 diabetes. It can also happen when a type 2 diabetic takes too much insulin.

The possibility of hypoglycemia is the biggest reason diabetics wear special jewelry, necklaces or bracelets to alert people around them of their condition.

The Grouch Factor

But most of the time hypoglycemia just makes you a grouch. You wake up in the morning grouchy because it's been a long time since you ate. That's why it's called breakfast; you've been fasting, which is something hypoglycemics do not tolerate well.

Then about an hour before lunch, or in the middle of the afternoon you have another spell of the grouchies, or you get tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate.

The worst part of hypoglycemia is how quickly it affects the brain. Your brain does not store or make glucose, so it is sensitive and reacts to low blood sugar faster than any other part of you.

What Causes Hypoglycemia in People Who Don't Have Diabetes?

Nobody knows for sure. It comes and goes, and it's often hard to convince your doctor that you have it. Many doctors will only consider hypoglycemia with a blood sugar consistently below 50. They use criteria from something called the Whipple Triad.

But many who suffer from the symptoms of hypoglycemia do not fit the doctors' criteria. So they are left undiagnosed. From my own experience with a glucose monitor, the effects of hypoglycemia can show up with a blood sugar closer to 70.

But not many people who don't have diabetes happen to have a glucose monitor lying around when they get the shakes. That makes it difficult to prove hypoglycemia.

In non-diabetics hypoglycemia seems to be caused by an overreaction of the pancreas to eating sugar and carbs. If the beta cells release too much insulin into the blood stream, the glucose gets transferred out, leaving the blood sugar too low. That's when the symptoms appear. There is more going on but that is the short version.

Does It Mean You Are Borderline Diabetic?

The symptoms of shaking, tiredness and irritability in a non-diabetic are the same as those in diabetics. but that does not mean you are diabetic or even borderline. Many people who have hypoglycemia never become diabetic. And some people are not hypoglycemic at all.

You might have symptoms that look like low blood sugar, but the cause is not hypoglycemia. The list of possible conditions is very long. There are at least 50 possibilities and they include anemia. That's why it's crucial to go to your doctor and get yourself checked out before you decide you have hypoglycemia. Don't self diagnose.

But if your doctors can't find any reason for your symptoms, then you might try the things others have used to help them with hypoglycemia. If those things help you, you may have found the problem.

Some of the Things You Can Do

The good news is that there are lots of people who have hypoglycemia and found ways to feel better. Here are a few of the do's and don'ts from the hypoglycemia forums.

Do eat smaller, more frequent meals. That keeps the pancreas from putting out too much insulin at once, and it smooths the lows that make you grouchy.Don't eat carbohydrate snacks by themselves. Add some fiber, protein and/or fats (like nuts) to slow down the digestion of the carbs.Do eat a healthy snack with carbs and protein before you exercise.Don't drink high sugar sodas. Hypoglycemics say they are the worst for causing highs and then crashes. They are packed with sugar and many have caffeine, and some hypoglycemics say caffeine make things worse.Do get your blood sugar checked to see if you are borderline diabetic.

One friend of mine suffered with grouchies every morning. She learned to keep a plate of cheese by her bed so in the morning before her feet hit the floor she could grab a quick snack. It kept her on an even keel while she got her kids ready for school. She never had diabetes, but she did have hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia in Diabetics

Diabetics on insulin watch for low blood sugar as much as for high blood sugar, because we are artificially managing insulin levels. The diabetes symptoms you need to watch for include sugar lows, and it's good to know the way your body reacts to them as part of your journey with the disease.

If you get weak and sweaty and begin to see spots before your eyes, your blood sugar has probably dropped close to or below 50 and it's time to do something. Orange juice, milk or a quick bowl of cereal brings blood sugar up quickly.

Hypoglycemia is dangerous for a type 1 or type 2 diabetic. It can happen fast, and it is always unexpected. If you get a stomach virus, if for some reason your insulin level rises during the night, or if you exercised more than usual and did not adjust your medication to account for it - there are many factors to consider if you are taking insulin.

It helps to have family around at a time like that. You're not always thinking clearly and it's good to have someone else there to take you to the emergency room if things don't normalize. Don't be shy about asking for help. And make sure you wear a diabetic identification bracelet or necklace all the time.

If you are hypoglycemic but not diabetic, there are hypoglycemia groups ready to welcome you and sympathize with the problems you are facing. Sometimes my hypoglycemic friends felt left out in the cold because they were not taken seriously by the medical community.

But there are people who have been helped and want to pay it forward. They will share the things that have helped them, and they'll support and encourage you when nothing seems to be working. Find a hypoglycemia forum online and join it. Reach out.