enid (02/15/83)
I have reason to believe that I may be Hypoglycemic and was wondering if others on the net who have had a diagnosis of Hypoglycemia could offer ways of dealing with it and descriptions of symptoms. Also, can anyone suggest tests to ask one's GP for to determine if one is Hypoglycemic. I haven't got a GP at the moment but I feel I should be informed as to what to ask about this metabolic dysfunction. What are the genetics involved? Is it hereditary? Thank you, -enid@mit-ccc
jss (02/16/83)
you get a fasting glucose tolerance test (which is a bore; bring several books). i don't know anything about the genetics, etc. i have heard that it's a "popular" or "in" condition, with about 1 real case for every large N people who claim to have it. i was diagnosed as having a 'mild' case, but have not noticed any difference between the times i follow the diet and the times i don't, except that i'm bad-tempered when i feel like i'm on a diet. judith !decvax!brunix!jss
p500vax:bobbie (02/16/83)
I am hypoglycemic. It is very difficult to get diagnosed as most doctors refused to believe in it. It took me six months to get a correct diagnosis. The first step is getting the doctor to believe you really might have it. The symptoms are severe moodswings, shakes (if you haven't eaten recently), headaches, heavy urination, eating sugar usually causes a severe depression taking around 12 hours to go away, if you eat sugar and have a hour of athletic activity then there are no side affects from eating it. Lethargy is also a symptom. A five hour glucose tolerance test is a beginning step to getting a diagnosis--you drink glucose, then they take urine and blood samples 1/2 hour, then every hour after. It is a bore if you don't have hypoglycemia. However, if you do--that's another story. I had a migraine 1/2 hour after drinking the glucose, then passed out at the 5 hour mark. Doctors diagnose by the ending numbers i.e. if you fall below 40 they will diagnose you hypoglycemic. However, they then to ignore the symptoms so if you fall above those numbers they will tell you you are normal. After the diagnosis, I was put on a eating every two hours diet--and lost 5 pounds in 4 days, so then I was put on an every hour eating diet. No sugar, fruit juices, dried fruit, and by sugar they mean sucrose, fructose, honey, molasses--any sweetener other than artificial. I have been on my "diet" for 4 years and have had an amazing change by staying on it. But when I got off, it is very noticeable. bobbie lawson Megatest