Blood Sugar Levels
 

Have read bits and pieces in posts but wondered if anyone could give me a little bit of info, this query has come about after a disastorous day at work full of dread panic trembling and tearfullness and one of my colleagues commented that her dad feels very panicy and teary when his blood sugar levels start to drop., and he has to get out of crowded areas

So my question I suppose is could I have F*cked up my bodys blood sugar regulation system with a few years of heavy drinking every night. I would usually have a 75cl bottle of wine roughly 12.5% alcohol, and 2 or 3 500ml cans of 4% lager and on occasion 2 or 3 vodkas and coke. I did usually still have 3 meals a day, maybe not always the most healthy but I did eat breakfast lunch and tea. Now I have stopped drinking alcohol, I am drinking far more water and fruit juice and still trying to have 3 meals a day eg yesterday i had bacon on toast for breakfast, chicken and peppers and pasta with a honey and mustard sauce for lunch and a fillet of salmon in sweet chilli glaze for tea. A litre of freshly pressed apple juice and 1/2 litre of pommegranate and acacia berry juice. Got up this morning had muesli and yogurt and pommegranate juice at 8ish but felt really Cr*p until about 10, then started to feel less anxious and panicy.

Then was having a late lunch as meeting B/f for moral support for lunch but by 12.30 I started to feel really tearful and panicy (had to hang the phone up mid way through a call) then had a packet of salt and vinegar crisps which I "borrowed" from my colleague who told me about her dad. Felt really sick when eating them , but felt a bit better after until 2ish(i was due to meet him at 2.30) and then panic REALLY set in, trembling sweating irrational thoughts like I have to get home (I will leave car in car park over night at a cost of £12.40 and get a taxi up the road at the cost of £8 just so I don't have to walk through shopping centre - where the f*cks the logic in that)

Anyway came up the road and B/F went for burger chips and coke for me and I have to admit feeling a bit better(except for the sore head) Is there any link that anyone knows of and if so what can I do about it - any advice welcome I just want to stop feeling like this

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
 

CW,

This information pertains to low blood sugar in people without diabetes
Hope it's helpful


Hypoglycemia in People Who Do Not Have Diabetes
Two types of hypoglycemia can occur in people who do not have diabetes: reactive (postprandial, or after meals) and fasting (postabsorptive). Reactive hypoglycemia is not usually related to any underlying disease; fasting hypoglycemia often is.

Symptoms
Symptoms of both types resemble the symptoms that people with diabetes and hypoglycemia experience: hunger, nervousness, perspiration, shakiness, dizziness, light-headedness, sleepiness, confusion, difficulty speaking, and feeling anxious or weak.

If you are diagnosed with hypoglycemia, your doctor will try to find the cause by using laboratory tests to measure blood glucose, insulin, and other chemicals that play a part in the body's use of energy.

Reactive Hypoglycemia
In reactive hypoglycemia, symptoms appear within 4 hours after you eat a meal.

Diagnosis
To diagnose reactive hypoglycemia, your doctor may

ask you about signs and symptoms

test your blood glucose while you are having symptoms (The doctor will take a blood sample from your arm and send it to a laboratory for analysis. A personal blood glucose monitor cannot be used to diagnose reactive hypoglycemia.)

check to see whether your symptoms ease after your blood glucose returns to 70 or above (after eating or drinking)
A blood glucose level of less than 70 mg/dL at the time of symptoms and relief after eating will confirm the diagnosis.

The oral glucose tolerance test is no longer used to diagnose hypoglycemia; experts now know that the test can actually trigger hypoglycemic symptoms.

Causes and Treatment
The causes of most cases of reactive hypoglycemia are still open to debate. Some researchers suggest that certain people may be more sensitive to the body's normal release of the hormone epinephrine, which causes many of the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Others believe that deficiencies in glucagon secretion might lead to hypoglycemia.

A few causes of reactive hypoglycemia are certain, but they are uncommon. Gastric (stomach) surgery, for instance, can cause hypoglycemia because of the rapid passage of food into the small intestine. Also, rare enzyme deficiencies diagnosed early in life, such as hereditary fructose intolerance, may cause reactive hypoglycemia.

To relieve reactive hypoglycemia, some health professionals recommend taking the following steps:

eat small meals and snacks about every 3 hours

exercise regularly

eat a variety of foods, including meat, poultry, fish, or nonmeat sources of protein; starchy foods such as whole-grain bread, rice, and potatoes; fruits; vegetables; and dairy products

choose high-fiber foods

avoid or limit foods high in sugar, especially on an empty stomach
Your doctor can refer you to a registered dietitian for personalized meal planning advice. Although some health professionals recommend a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates, studies have not proven the effectiveness of this kind of diet for reactive hypoglycemia.

Fasting Hypoglycemia
Diagnosis
Fasting hypoglycemia is diagnosed from a blood sample that shows a blood glucose level of less than 50 mg/dL after an overnight fast, between meals, or after exercise.

Causes and Treatment
Causes include certain medications, alcohol, critical illnesses, hormonal deficiencies, some kinds of tumors, and certain conditions occurring in infancy and childhood.

Medications
Medications, including some used to treat diabetes, are the most common cause of hypoglycemia. Other medications that can cause hypoglycemia include

salicylates, including aspirin, when taken in large doses

sulfa medicines, which are used to treat infections

pentamidine, which treats a very serious kind of pneumonia

quinine, which is used to treat malaria
If using any of these medications causes your blood glucose to drop, your doctor may advise you to stop using the drug or change the dosage.

Alcohol
Drinking, especially binge drinking, can cause hypoglycemia because your body's breakdown of alcohol interferes with your liver's efforts to raise blood glucose. Hypoglycemia caused by excessive drinking can be very serious and even fatal.

Critical Illnesses
Some illnesses that affect the liver, heart, or kidneys can cause hypoglycemia. Sepsis (overwhelming infection) and starvation are other causes of hypoglycemia. In these cases, treatment targets the underlying cause.

Hormonal Deficiencies
Hormonal deficiencies may cause hypoglycemia in very young children, but usually not in adults. Shortages of cortisol, growth hormone, glucagon, or epinephrine can lead to fasting hypoglycemia. Laboratory tests for hormone levels will determine a diagnosis and treatment. Hormone replacement therapy may be advised.

Tumors
Insulinomas, insulin-producing tumors, can cause hypoglycemia by raising your insulin levels too high in relation to your blood glucose level. These tumors are very rare and do not normally spread to other parts of the body. Laboratory tests can pinpoint the exact cause. Treatment involves both short-term steps to correct the hypoglycemia and medical or surgical measures to remove the tumor.

Thanks alot toomutch, do you, or does anyone know if the comment about alcohol refers to whilst someone is still binge drinking? ie now that I have stopped should my liver be able to raise blood sugar levels again ( I realise it will take years to reapair, but what I mean is as long as I don't drink, could this be the case)


Some of the symptoms are so accurate, nervous, anxious, sweating, trembling, lethargic - but then I guess they can all be associated with stopping drinking too?

Just wish whatever it is would STOP!!!

Yep, those things can all happen when one first stops drinking.

Regarding the blood sugar stuff, I read an excellent book a while back called "Potatoes- Not Prozac" which talked a lot about this. I don't know if the author has a website, or if you can get hold of a copy, but I'd recommend it! (Oh, the author is Kathleen DesMaison, Ph.D. specializing in "Addictive Nutrition").

Take care!
Jane

Hi -

The good news is that what you are feeling is probably NOT due to any actual low blood sugar. Non-diabetic hypoglycemia is really pretty rare - even the fasting kind. Our bodies need glucose to function and so you can bet we are pretty good at regulating it, storing it, and whatnot. So it would take a hell of a long fast to truly deplete your body of glucose to the point where you would become hypoglycemic (if you are a healthy normal adult that is). 3 or 4 hours certainly won't do it. :)

However, alcohol is a fantastic source of energy for your body's cells. In chronic alcoholism, it has been shown that the cells of the body develop a preference for alcohol based carbon energy rather than glucose. This is one of the reasons alcoholics go for days without eating - their body doesn't signal that they are hungry because they have all the energy they need in the form of the now preferred alcohol.

Obviously when the energy source (alcohol) gets cut off, the cells have to go back to processing glucose as an energy source. This will happen, but in the meantime your cells are holding out what what they really want. If you took your blood sugar during one of these "shaky episodes" you would probably have a perfectly normal result.

By the way - though your liver stores and releases "glycogen" (the storage form of glucose), it is really your pancreas that regulates your blood sugar levels by releasing insulin.

So, the advice about exercising, eating complex carbohydrates (like whole grains), and regular small meals is very valid and will help your body adjust back by giving it plenty of the nutrients it craves. When you feel shaky and weird, grab something with a simple sugar in it like fruit juice. And give it time - your cells learned to use alcohol for energy - they can relearn to use glucose just as easily.

:)
~SK~

Hi wolfie, I dont know the truth of it all but it seems like your body takes up carbs from alcohol, and when you stop drinking you need to keep those carbs up. I eat chocolate. It works for me.
Go to bed and eat chocolate! ;)

There is a website but was unsure if I am allowed to post links, very interesting talks about alcoholism aswell as regulating sugar levels.

Thanks Jane.

If anyone else has info/advice please keep posting. The more I read the better. - I have even stopped feeling quite so tearful now!!

Thanks St Kurt and Stone.

I really appreciate your replies, I being in my anxious state had decided that I had developed chronic diabetis, would need to inject insulin every day, would lose by driving licence because i was daibetic (don't even know if that happens) and therefore lose my job!! And all that because someone told me about their dad (who come to think of it drives a car!!!)

I think tomorrow I will try eating something every 3 hours to see if that helps even just a ryvita wiuth cheese spread (yeuch!!) and have fruit juice and chocolate on hand and see if it even marginally reduces the shakiness, panic, weirdness.

Thanks guys

yeah you can ...i mess up my body with drugs and alcohol abuse.
I have low bloode suger level problem.

You get irriated faster and yeap you get shakes and sweats and you
hearts go pumping all wrong..racing and you loose all energy.
it feels you're going to die.

I remember being on the road with my gf coming home from
disneyland..i just strarted going off on her and had road rage.
screaming and everybody...i told her i was hungery..but no...
we had to wait tell we get into SD
i felt better after i eat...that's when we first found out..lol
I had low bloode suger problems..

Just start eating right.
I have a candy bar or slim jim or whatever just in case I get an attack.
Try not to drink so much suger in your coffee in the morning and tea for lunch.
And for god sake stay away from those energy drinks

Eating breakfast is better and fruits is better than a candi bar.

i havn't had an attacks for a while..been eating better and taking care
of my body better.


well yeah ..alcohol has plenty of suger in it.

LOL..you can loose you job by having an attack and start going off and people.
i told my boss i have this problem...so did he..

Please remember we are not medical professionals. The very best thing to do is to talk to your dr.

It could be anxiety/panic attacks that you are feeling or it could be blood-sugar levels or maybe something else entirely.

For what it's worth, I had moderate problems with low blood-sugar for years and didn't realize that it made me more suceptible to becoming an alcoholic because my body loved the sugar in the alcohol. If I had known then...

Alcoholism can cause diabetes I think. What you are going through sounds like basic withdrawals. Body craving sugar is normal. Eat some Galaxy. :)

Hi Anna yes, I know that you guys are not professionals but sometimes for me its just important to hear that these things are "normal" like yourself and Satit experiencing similar problems. I will talk to doc tomorrow. I just had no idea that such a thing happened unless you had diabetis(sp)

Thanks for the advice though

Somewhere in my collection of books i have one on Hypolglycemia and alcoholism. I will try to find it and give you the name of it. From what I remember it was a good book.

First thing my GP did was a Blood Test, to look for any damage I had done. He checked liver, blood sugar levels, cholestorol(sp?), etc........

By the way I don't have a sweet tooth and I'm scoffing down chocolate and sweets like there is no tomorrow. Oh and cake, I love a bit of cake!!!!

Sorry St. Kurt..I beg to differ.

Any alcoholic in early recovery is prone to sugar awings...

I was diagnosed with severe hypoglycemia at 22 after fainting at work.

Did the fasting 6 hour test. Fainted at 2 1/2 hours.

I was also treated for severe hypothyroidism...well..I decided when my

thyroid levels were stabilized (after all I felt great by then) that I was

cured. My doctor not so willingly agreed to a second test.

I passed out completely at 2 1/2 hours again......doctor could not help

saying i told you so.....

And, like Anna..I firmly belive it contributed to my alcoholism.

Love,

IO

Thanks IO you say your doc couldnt help do you still suffer and how do you control it? I went to bed really early last night and slept pretty much till 06.30 except for waking up about 1ish covered in sweat (like sheets soaking) when I got up this morning i decided I wiould try to monitor what I eat and how it makes me feel. Woke up feeling sick and very "wobbly" and therefore anxious. Decided galaxy at 7am wasnt a good idea Stone lol, so have just had half a carton of pommegranate juice and 2 slices of toast with honey on it - still feel quite sick(no I am not pregnant!!¬ lol) ( as I did eating it) but will see how I feel when my body starts to digest it. I just feel really detatched like stuff is happening around me but I am not really part of it if that makes sense, kind of like I have just woken from a really deep sleep and am "groggy"

Thanks guys

OK, I'm one of those damn'd colonials...Galaxy's a chocolate thing right ?
:)
D

Hi Dee
That made me smile! Yes its a creamy milk chocolate kind of velvety in texture - mad thing is though I feel like sugar might help (eg coca cola, and sports energy drinks - prob v bad for me, I don't really like chocolate)

No worries. You're not differing, you're agreeing. :)

Read what I wrote again:
"Non-diabetic hypoglycemia is really pretty rare - even the fasting kind. Our bodies need glucose to function and so you can bet we are pretty good at regulating it, storing it, and whatnot. So it would take a hell of a long fast to truly deplete your body of glucose to the point where you would become hypoglycemic (if you are a healthy normal adult that is)"

The emphasises are mine. Rare doesn't mean "never happens" - it means it can happen, but it's not the most common thing that happens. In your case, it happened.

And I added "healthy normal adult" - meaning one who is not suffering from a condition that would cause hypoglycemia or other blood sugar abnormalities.

This doesn't change the fact that hypoglycemia is most commonly a condition secondary to some other primary problem (be it with the liver, pancreas, or what have you). It really is rare to just have it by itself, but like you've demonstrated, "rare" doesn't mean "impossible". :)


It should always go without saying that any advice given on the internet, particularly medical advice, should be followed up by visits to real doctors and who can examine you, do lab tests, and actually talk to you.

I say I'm in vet school, but do you really know that for sure? What if I just sound like I know what I'm talking about, but I'm like really just someone who likes to read textbooks or something? Advice in a forum, especially when it's in regards to medical conditions, should always be followed up on. It's just a smart thing to do.

Good luck -
~SK~

Hi again SK,

I will speak to doc today about it all, Im maybe just looking for answers to questions that don't even affect me, it was just that my colleague saying that and then me feeling a bit better after eating seemed to fit in with what I was experiencing. I just want to stop feeling like this and see what i can do to make it go away. It just feels like when I was drinking I never felt this bad not even with a hangover. Having eaten and drank fruit juice I still feel detatched and shaky. So who knows what is going on with my complicated body. Thanks for your input and info