Re: please comment on low blood sugar-reactive hypoglycemia-weight loss-glucophage
From: sally (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sat, 22 Feb 2003 04:23:48 -0600 (CST)
Hi,
glucophage is really not supposed to reduce your blood glucose. Maybe
the glucophage is not sufficient to stabilise your blood insulin and
hence your blood sugar is still low. I would recommend having a look at
your diet. I am currently reading a book on management of
hypoglycaemia. It says that traditionally people with hypoglycaemia
were put on high protein / low carb diets. However this book says that
instead should have moderate (and high quality) protein and then get
your carbs from complex and slowly digestible sources. This means no
sugar of any sort, and no white flour or processed foods. It also means
restricting fruit / keeping the serves small. I will post a summary of
what the book says in a few days for your info. I would not give up on
the glucophage yet - if you are losing weight (I agree with Sonnet) it
must be doing you some good.
My symptoms are coming back (despite glucophage) and am sure many of
them are due to reactive hypoglycaemia.
Did they do a glucose tolerance test on you yet? Perhaps they should.
FOr detecting hypoglycaemia, the test should be 5 or 6 hours, instread
of the three hours they use to detect diabetes - and should probably be
paired with insulin measurements. THe test is not fun, but it should
tell you if your insulin is out of wack. If your insulin were normal
and your blood glucose still went low, then maybe the glucophage is
implacated. But if you insulin is high still then that would explain
the low blood sugar. Just my theory - am not a doctor.
--
Sally
At Thu, 20 Feb 2003, Sonnet wrote:
>
>Do your blood sugars go up to normal when you're off the glucphage?
>That's so weird... Glucophage shouldn't be lowering your blood sugar at
>all. I too am hypoglycemia and my baily blood sugars went from
>constantly being in the 40's and 50's to solid 80's when I'm on it. It
>really helped me control the hypoglycemia, probably the best benefit
>from it for me. But Glucophage as a drug shouldn't lower your blood
>sugar, it's not meant to. That's interesting that your numbers are
>still so low!
>
>I would say that if you're actually losing weight on the gluc. (and
>that's a positive thing for you) that obviously it's doing SOMETHING to
>help the PCOS, so it's not entirely a waste of money. But if you're
>having that reaction to it it's possible you need to try a different
>medication?? Not sure. Hope you find some answers!
>
>At Thu, 20 Feb 2003, J.W.J. wrote:
>>
>>I would like to know your opinion of my situation. Some people say that
>>you can still be insulin resistant even without a high fasting
>>level--and that if you have hypoglycemic episodes a few hours after
>>eating that it still could mean you're insulin resistant because you're
>>producing too much insulin after you eat. They also say in PCOS our
>>bodies don't use insulin effectively, so our bodies think they need to
>>excrete more and more of it.
>>I had irregular periods and reactive hypoglycemia for years before being
>>diagnosed with PCOS. As each year went by, the reactive episodes became
>>more frequent and, occasionally, more severe. Then I started to gain
>>lots of weight, which I had never done before. In researching and going
>>to doctors, I found out I probably have PCOS (high LH/FSH ratio).
>>I was on glucophage for about a year. And, I'm a member of e-diets and
>>am finally losing weight slowly. I've lost about 14.5 pounds in two
>>months.
>>My doctor has done a couple of random blood glucose tests, and my
>>readings were 57 and 58, respectively. He says my blood sugar is too
>>low and I need to quit the glucophage. So, I did that, and after five
>>days my weight jumped five pounds overnight. This is just what happened
>>to me before I was on glucophage. They would tell me it was water and
>>that it would go away, but it never went away and it happened again two
>>or more times. Anyway, I immediately panicked and went back on the
>>glucophage. I was able to lose four of the five pounds within 24 hours.
>>So, I don't know what to do. Stay on the glucophage and constantly have
>>low blood sugar (which doesn't make me feel so great), or stay on it so
>>I can lose weight. How do I know if I really need the glucophage? I've
>>had at least three different doctors tell me I'm wasting my money on the
>>glucophage because my blood tests don't show that I need it. But I'm so
>>scared to go off of it now that I'm actually losing weight. However, I
>>do think I would feel better with my blood sugar in the normal range
>>(above 70) and wonder if the glucophage is making my level too low?
>>If this post is confusing, please ask whatever questions you need to.
>>Thank you very much. Jessica
>>
>>--
>>J.W.J.
>>
>--
>email always welcome: sonnet_fitz@hotmail.com
>
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