HypoglycemiaWow what can I say about hypoglycemia, except when you have an episode that it's really bad! Since being diagnosed nine years ago I've had four episodes. When I had the first one shortly after being diagnosed I didn't know what to do. My sugar was really low, I couldn't think, my muscles didn't want to work, I was shaky and sweating. 
Luckily I knew a guy at work who was diabetic so I called him and he told me what to do. I got an apple and chowed it down like I was starving and I wasn't hungry. I guess my body just knew it had to have that sugar in the apple and fast. It took about ten minutes for me to start feeling good enough to be able to start working again. I knew from then on I didn't want that to happen again. But unfortunately most of us can't stop all of the episodes. Well enough about what happened to me I guess you want to know about hypoglycemia and its causes. That's why you are here, right? Most of us know that it takes the sugar from food for us to have energy. But a lot of people don't realize just how much our bodies depend on that sugar. It takes sugar to give energy to every part of your body. That means without it all of the organs in your body can't work right or not at all if hypoglycemia is severe enough. it takes energy for your lungs to suck in the air, for your kidneys to purify your blood, for your eyes to see something, for your muscles to operate so you can move any part of your body and especially for your brain. The brain is the worst when it comes to sugar depletion. Most of the cells in your body store some sugar and are able to function for awhile without sugar intake. Ah but the brain requires a constant supply of sugar coming in. The brain is the controlcenter and when it starts getting low watch out! But there are usually no lasting effects on your brain. Some signs of hypoglycemia are; There can be many different causes of hypoglycemia. I'll skim over those causes, but this site is about diabetes so I'll go a little more in depth about diabetic causes. We know that low blood sugar causes hypoglycemia, but what causes the low blood sugar in the first place? The normal range of blood sugar is 70-150 mg/dl for healthy humans. When the levels get to 60 to 70 mg/dl you are entering the low range and hypoglycemia will start occurring. But these ranges can vary among individuals and the speed of the drop can affect you more than level of the drop. The more often you have an episode the less you become aware of the symptoms. In infants it can happen due to extremely low birth weight or when they are born critically ill and other inborn defects. In young children it can also occur due to illness, fasting, hyperinsulinism, hypopituitarism and of course diabetes. In diabetics it is usually caused by the medications we take. In type 1 it is usually caused by too much insulin. In type 2 by too much of the anti resistance medications and/or insulin. But those are not always the cause. It can also be caused by a poor diet, a bad eating schedule or excess stress. Some ways to prevent low blood sugar are, always check your sugar level with your meter at regular intervals, calculate your carbohydrate intake correctly, eat meals at regular intervals and exercise regularly. Keeping tabs on your sugar level will let you know about any trends in those levels and what may cause rises and drops. When you calculate your carbs correctly, you won't inject too much or too little insulin. Eating on a regular schedule helps to maintain a steady sugar level and helps you not to eat too much at one sitting. And regular exercise reduces stress and uses up sugar in your body. When you eat, know what you are eating and eat the proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables. Also knowing the glycemic index of foods and how your body metabolizes carbs will help a lot. Not all carbs are the same; some metabolize fast and cause your sugar levels to spike. Some carbs metabolize slowly so sugar doesn't go into the blood very fast and maintains a steady rate of sugar. When you eat a correct amount of protein with your meal it slows down the digestion of carbs also. Even with these steps you can still have an episode. So what can you do about it? Always have some kind of easily metabolized sugar nearby! It doesn't take much to bring you back to normal. It only takes 10-20 grams of a carbohydrate to reverse it. Some things to take are, 4 ounces of some kind of fruit juice, Such as apple, grape or orange although fructose metabolizes slower than dextrose these still work well. Also 1 slice of bread, 4 crackers, a few hard candies, any fruit or one serving of any starchy food. Return to top of Hypoglycemia
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