Insulinoma/hypoglycemia???

Hi Everyone!

I am 30 years old and I had RNY 9/2008.  I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant back in 2007 and was pre-diabetic right up until I had my RNY.  After surgery, my sugars were normal for quite some time.  In  2010, I noticed that I was starting to have low sugar episodes and my GP got me back to checking my blood sugar levels.  I had an a1c test and it was 5.9, so she said I was pre-diabetic again and need to try altering my diet again.  

For a while, I wasn't having problems with keeping my low sugar crashes at bay, as long as I didn't stray from the diet, within the past couple months I am having more and more low blood sugar crashes.  Within the past week, I am going all day every day struggling to keep them up in the normal range.  The lowest I have ever been is 20 for my blood sugar levels and it is not uncommon at all for me to be in the 20-40 range.  I have never gone unconscious or had a seizure, surprisingly.  Though, I feel that at my lowest levels, I was mere moments from passing out.

I have an appt today to meet back with my GP because I am at my wits end with this.  I feel like crap all day long from this roller coaster ride of sugar levels, it is mentally and physically draining.  I have been on google lately searching for answers (which i know is never good to do lol) and I am seeing stuff about insulinoma and I seem to have all the symptoms, except for I don't have any abdominal pain.  Does anyone know anything about this and what route I need to take.  

Thanks,
Cindy

My Endocrinologist thought I had an insulinoma many years ago when I was suffering from severe hypoglycemia. My sugars would drop to the 30's and 40's and I had to eat every 2-3 hours around the clock to keep them from dropping further. It was very dangerous.

The test to diagnose an insulinoma is an Octreotide scan which tests for all endocrine tumors. IT is a nuclear scan taking 2-3 days.

You need to see an Endocrinologist ASAP and get the Octreotide scan NOW!!!!!!!!! dont' put it off. These tumors usually aren't cancerous but they produce too much insulin and cause your sugars to bottom out - if this is your problem, you need to have it out, they are dangerous. if your sugar goes too low, you can go into a coma. I don't mean to scare you but it is that serious

make sure you have food with you all the time and avoid carbs as much as possible. If you are going to eat any carbs, have protein with them. Eat protein as much as possible and again eat every 2 to 3 hours, even over night - I had to set my alarm clock

A fellow roux en y friend of mine suffered with this. She finally went to an endocrinologist who treated her with Metformin, a diabetic drug.The low sugar near passing out episodes stopped immediately. The endo told her they are seeing this in roux en y patients 1.5 years or more out. She explained it that over time we can eat more and our body gets used to the food. With thebypass portion by the time our pancreas (which shoots out insulin in response to food) realized we have had food the food is already gone into the small intestine. It shoots out insulin too late for the food intake so your blood sugar drops and there is no food there to cover it. The metformin keeps the blood sugar stable and prevents the spikes and lows. Just a thought that might help you. Her endo told her surgery on the pancreas is only a last resort 

Have your Vitamin D tested.....   My original surgery was in Nov/2009.  For a long time now, I had been feeling those sugar crash like symptoms, so I've been having everything tested.  We discovered that I was severely defficient in Vitamin D.  I was at an 8, and we went back to realize that two years ago it was only at 31.  The 'normal' range is 30-100 and they prefer us to be at 50 or above.  Anyway, in researching, my GP discovered that Vitamin D deficiency can cause extreme sensitivity to sugars, causing our bodies to overreact.  After nearly 4 weeks of high dose Vitamin D (along with magnesium and potasium, too).  I am not having near the sensitivity that I was. Other signs of Vitamin D deficiency include, tiredness, muscles soreness, bone 'pain', and sometimes depression. It's another one of those things that we forget to have checked... and sometimes, it's the simplest things to fix.  Best wishes to you!!