What happened to me?

OOOPPPSSS! Looking back at this post now - I'm one embarrassed RN!. Had you come into my ER - stroke probably would have been one of the first few things I would have thought about for you - along with hypoglcemia, and alcohol or drug use (assuming I didn't know you). But - I guess - reading your symptoms here - and getting in the "groove" of speaking with weight loss surgery people - I automatically thought of causes that could be related to WLS. So - my apologies - and glad you are feeling better - and - if in doubt - for anyone - no problem posting here and asking for opinions and thoughts - but the ER is always open! My bad Maggie - you are feeling better now - but BOY - would I feel like **** if you weren't and something else was on the go!

Mary as a fellow RN my first thought was low sugars not stroke so there you go :)

Not to worry Mary. If I had been in your Er you would have gotten it right away. Once I started to feel better I realized I had no other symptoms of a TIA or stroke. No headache, no tunnel vision no facial paralysis or one sided weakness, The only thing at all similar was the confusion and trouble making sense. I was talking but making little sense. You would have nailed that right away.
 
Thank you Charline, I get hot flashes frequently anyway. I had menopause 17  years ago and now with the weight loss it is back with a vengeance. I had never suffered low blood sugar before. next time I will know better and have some honey nearby.

I was fine after I woke up. You'd never know there ever was anything wrong. I'll know the next time.

I am not a medical professional, but a reaction like that is not normal. True lows, meaning a blood sugar of less than 4, should not happen without taking insulin. Your liver should have kicked in and made / released sugar. I also remember feeling low before I was on insulin. They felt almost as bad as the real thing. So explain the mechanics of this happening. Could you have passed out? It sure sounds like it. are you diabetic?  If this was caused by too many carbs/ simple sugars, can more be a good thing? Sorry for the questions, but I am as curious as a 5 year old.

Well, I am no expert on post bariatric diabetes but this is what I have gleaned so far. When you ingest too many carbs, sweets or in some cases fats you experience "dumping". This is when these foods are dumped into the intestine. The body reacts to this onslaught of sugars by releasing a large dose of insulin. The insulin causes the sugar levels to drop quickly and you end up with reactive hypoglycemia. This is different than real diabetic hypoglycemia which has a slow onset with several symptoms so you can correct the hypoglycemia before you get to the confusion, aphasic stage. With normal hypoglycemia you get warnings like thirst, urination, sweating , fatigue and mild confusion. You have time to catch it. With reactive hypoglycemia, it happen quickly with no real warnings to catch it. Hope I explained this in some sort of understandable fashion.  This is how I understood it when I read it. Way more detailed and more medical terminology. I could be wrong and I stand to be corrected by someone else with more knowledge. From what I read it is nearly impossible to detect because by the time you get to the hospital (if you were going) it would have worn off and then is undetectable. I don't know if a HbA1C would detect it or not.