Hypoglycemia? Thoughts- suggestions.

[Cherebitte]

As a child I could go whole days without eating if I wanted to but around the age of 16, I started to *need* food regularly. And it has been the same ever since- I am 31 now. I've always just called it hypoglycemia but I haven't ever been diagnosed specifically as such.

I have had my blood sugar checked (as part of an assessment for other illnesses at different times in my life) and nothing was amiss. Likewise I saw an endocrinologist privately a few years ago and had all of my thyroid levels checked, cortisol etc... and all was normal apparently.

If I go too long without eating I become really unwell- the early feelings are just along the lines of an instinct, that I could really do with some food, if I don't eat it goes progressively downhill. In the worst case scenario I get the shakes, I feel unbelievably awful, I can hardly speak or function at all. It is an extreme state of physical agitation. I don't know what would happen if I let it go further than that but I can't imagine it would be positive!

All food has a certain amount of time it "lasts". But by and large I won't get beyond 3-4 hours. The ultimate long last meal for me is a big fry up. No matter what I eat though I wouldn't be able to skip a meal like a normal person. In general it does vary in intensity- some days I get a really short time between eating and other days it just seems better... for no particularly obvious reason but even at its best it's still far from how people without this issue live. To be honest I don't notice a massively marked difference with refined sugars- I ate a ridiculously sugary cake recently and although the time I got out of it was poorer than average it wasn't appallingly short. I did feel a bit jittery immediately after eating it though.

Hard exercise- proper cardio, oddly seems to improve the time I can last without food. I have no idea why this is- gentle stuff like walking seems to make me "run out" a bit faster than normal. I walk everyday and swim twice a week.

My diet is OK, not the best but not atrocious- I avoid sweets and sugary drinks entirely. Loads of water, not much caffeine. Lots of protein sources with most meals etc... But I do still eat cakes, crisps and things like that as snacks. I take Eskimo fish oils and a Vit C + Zinc supplement.

I have obviously mentioned all of this to doctors numerous times over the course of my life but none ever seem that interested or even consider it much of a problem. I am of a very slight built, fast metabolism and struggle to hold on to weight (always have my whole life).

I am on the combined pill - and have been for 12 years now- for troublesome periods. I also experience migraine with aura (rarely, sometimes I have gone years without and at its worst it is 3 times a year). I do have noticeably thin hair on top but it has been that way since I was in my late teens and hasn't appeared to get worse (but as a child my hair was beautiful, super thick and there is no thinning in my family). All of these things started at the same time for me (the hypoglycemia, the periods, the migraines, the hair....)

I'm really just after anyone's thoughts on all of this.... I've lived with it for so long and it has become a way of life. Most of the time I just accept it as one of those things but occasionally it really gets me down and does interfere with quality of life. Any suggestions of supplements or anything at all would be very gladly appreciated. Thanks to anyone who actually read through all of this and I hope I have posted in the right place!

[Hidden]

Hi Cherebitte

Wow that sounded just like me I did it for years and years, the strange thing is in the last 4 months I have been cutting down on my food intake because like you I eat to stop the hypoglycaemia so I stopped eating breakfast and lunch I know you shouldn't but I lost 2 stone, the strange thing is I DON'T get hypoglycaemic anymore unless I have a little nibble during the day I'm not telling you not to eat but it's worked for me x

[bluebug in reply to Hidden]

That's not exactly healthy especially if you have ended up suffering from vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

[bluebug]

The reason fry ups are filling is because they are full of fat and it is now recognised - not by most doctors as they aren't trained in nutrition - that fat keeps you full up for longer than food made of refined carbs like cakes, crisps, pasta, bread etc.

I actually was like you as a child and luckily enough found people to speak to about why I had hypoglycaemia. I was pointed to the high fat low carb diet and told to snack on things like nuts and biltong instead of crisps, cake and biscuits. Plus to eat more fats e.g. avocado, fish, chicken, eggs, red meat with loads of vegetables and have very little or no bread, pasta, normal potatoes etc in my meal.

[Cherebitte]

Thanks for your replies guys. I really appreciate it- it is a comfort to me that other people experience this, not that I am happy that they do obviously but I hope you know what I mean!

I think I will make more of an effort to re-evaluate my diet- I'm Irish so potatoes are a way of life. I think I would find it very hard to give up the things I really love but at the same time I did it for fizzy drinks and I used to never imagine that I'd be able to do that either.

I don't think not eating would help me personally as I am underweight as it is, even with eating loads. I'm not sure I could even do it, I feel like I'd just expire or end up in the A&E or something.

I wonder if I will be like this forever. I also sometimes wonder how times of big hormonal shifts will impact on it ie: if I get pregnant. Somehow, I have an instinctive suspicion that my sensitivity to female hormones and the problems I have had with that is connected in some way. I should also mention that my mother has the exact same problems with blood sugar (and periods) as me although she is probably affected a bit less.