Hypoglycemia & pancreas tumor

Has anyone heard of weight loss surgery patients becoming hypoglycemic after surgery because of a tumor on the pancreas?
I am 1 year out and started having hypoglycemic episodes about 3 weeks ago.
I had pre-diabetes with my first child 11 years ago and had gestational diabetes with my 2nd child in 2007. I haven't had any problems blood sugar-wise since surgery and all of a sudden now I'm dipping down to 60-70 3 hours or so after meals and having to eat or drink something to bring it up again.
I wouldn't imagine that I have a tumor, but has anyone else had this problem and know why/what is causing it?
Thanks,
Tammy

Hello Tammy,

I'm 5 years out and have done pretty good. lost 125 pounds. then about 3 years out started to gain alittle which my doctor had said would happen. leveled off at 15 pounds gained. didn't like it missed the smaller sizes and got stupid. took laxatives daily for a month.
that was almost a year ago. i've paid for that stupidity let me tell ya!
i'd always been alittle hypogloximic even when i was heavy. nothing major i'd get alittle shakey and eat something it would then work it self out. of course back when i was heavy i ate all the time so it was only when i would diet. after surgry for some reason even though i wasn't eating hardly anything i didn't have any problems
but dtupid me messed up my pancreas.
i wasn't happy with what my surgeon was saying. he had a kind of blase aditutide when i went to him. i explained what i had done he said don't do that again you'll get better. i said should i go to another tyep of doctor he said no just eat you'll be fine. he set up a meeting with his dietician who put me on a 1200 calorie a day diet when i couldn't go longer than 20 minutes without having to eat something or i'd have a full blown attack.
it wasn't fun i was scared to death. i said to her thats not enough for me to eat righ tnow and sarcasticvaly she said to me you want to lose weight don't you?"
sorry but at that time i was doing somethin gtotally wrong. i was bulimic and you just do not say something like that to someone messed up like i was!
to try to make  along story short i went to a homeopathic doctor who has done wonders for me. i will always have to fight the diet demons but i am not able to go 2 hours between meals. i'm eating healthy too.
she also found that i have a problem with my throid so i'm on to a specail to get that taken care of.
the LBS is scarey to me. I'd never had antyhing like that before. the shakey dizzy feeling like i was going to pass out. pain all over my muscles and headaches like you would not believe! confusion and anxiety too!
one of the things that surprised me was that artifical sweeteners can bring on LBS attacks along with any caffeine even decaf coffee which I use to have 3 cups a day is a no no it still has some caffeine in it.
good luck with your problems i hope all works out for you i will include yo in myh prayers.
Pam

Hi Pam,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Sounds like you've been through a lot!
I have never heard about artificial sweeteners causing LBS. I will have to research that...
Thanks for your reply.
Tammy

Hi Tammy, I was wondering how you have been doing with your low blood sugar problems.
My has been good for a while but if I go off of my program than I will have issues.
Going off my program can be as simple as trying something new for breakfast like kashi cereal. Who knew the honey on it could set me off? now its back to the drawing board to get back to normal.
this sure has been a learning experience. One I would rather have done without but I can not complain at least it can be manageable.
I've had a hard time getting back to excersing regularly. Its a constant push to get me out the door. Honestly I like it when it rains cause it gives me an excuse not to walk! but that has to stop! I need to walk at least 15 minutes a day. Thats not much to ask right? argggggg
I'm off for my walk right now.
Good luck and god bless, pam

Hello,
I was having low blood sugar episodes pretty regularly for about 3 weeks. Then all of a sudden it just got better. I wasn't able to determine if it was the food I was eating or exercise or what. My support group leader is a registered dietician and I spoke to her about it. It sounds like it's pretty normal for RNY patients to have these problems at 9-12 months out from surgery. I was almost exactly 12 months out when it started for me. I am still going to talk to my doctor about it tho because it still happens occasionally.
I walk for 20 minutes every day on my lunch break. It feels good to get out and move. I'm glad you're doing okay and getting your exercise.
Take care,
Tammy

Yes I have read an article about that. I have recently been diagnosised with hypoglycemia, and I came across it as I googled for info.  I think about six cases were found in a study of >1000 WLS patients. The article didn't go into great detail re: symptoms, causes, etc.

I have a lot to learn about Hypoglycemia. I feel confused about so many things. For example, after dinner the other night, I went to a baseball game and I was snacking on peanuts (usually episodes happen when I've gone without food for a couple of hours. But I was snacking and it happened anyway. A paramedic tested and my glucose was 52 - I felt awful - disturbed vision, dizzy, shakey, numbness in my tongue, teeth, arms and hands. I took a tube of glucose and it went to 70. I drank some lemonade up to 140. I was exhausted afterwards.

Is this what you experience?

I generally have issues when I haven't eaten in a couple hours too. But, I can have issues sooner if the last thing I ate was carbs.
I started having issues at almost exactly 1 year out from surgery. It was happening 3 times a week or so. I would eat breakfast, lunch & afternoon snack and then I would have an episode on my way home from work. One time I ran to Walmart after work and had an episode there. It got really bad. I was sweating, weak, & shaking then all of a sudden I started seeing stars like I was going to pass out. I wasn't able to test, but I'm sure I was down to about 50. I made it to the car and drank some sugared soda that I bought on the way out. I sat in the car for a little while until I felt better. Not good. I haven't had one that bad in awhile because as soon as I start to feel the symptoms (usually the shaky hands for me) I get something in me right away and head it off. No, I have never had one while I was having a snack. Although I'm not sure peanuts would help me when my sugars are low to bring it up. That may be why you had an episode while you were snacking. And yes, I get VERY exhausted afterward. I was just thinking that it isn't happening as often as it was, but I realized it is, I'm just catching it sooner. One thing I would say is just be patient after you take your glucose to give it time to work before taking more. Taking too much will reek havoc with your surgery too. I find that if I'm not patient and eat or drink more, when I recover from the low blood sugar, then I'm sick from having too much sugar!
Tammy

Tammy,

Thanks for the reply. One thing I have learned that I will pass on. Heat can exasperate the problem. Dehydration changes the blood chemistry. I try to stay hydrated, but this Georgia heat/humidity can reek havoc.

I will be out of town for a week, but please let me know if you find out more about the pancreas tumor issue.

Thanks!

OH MY GOSH!!  I CANNOT BELIEVE SO MANY OF US ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM.  I NEVER KNEW WHAT IT WAS UNTIL ABOUT 3 DAYS AGO.  I AM 3 YEARS OUT AND HAVE HAVE A FEW EPISODES AND DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS CAUSING IT.  THESE EPISODES ARE HORRIBLE AND SCARY!!  I HAVE NEVER PASSED OUT BUT HAVE CAME CLOSE.  I THOUGHT AT FIRST IT MUST BE LOW BLOOD PRESSURE SO I ALWAYS ATE PRETZELS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.  WELL NOW I FIND OUT IT IS HYPOGLYCEMIA. 

THE DIETICIAN AT MY SURGEONS OFFICE PUT ME ON A DIABETIC DIET YESTERDAY SO WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

WHAT KIND OF FOODS DO YOU GUYS EAT WHEN THIS HAPPENS?

DARLENE

Apparently it's pretty common. I talked to my support group leader about it who is a dietician and she said that it's pretty common for most RNYers to start having these episodes around 9-12 months out.
I try to have 100% fruit juice when it happens because it works the best at bringing my blood sugar up quickly without making me sick from too much sugar because I don't have to have as much to bring my blood sugar up. Otherwise, if it catches me un-prepared I'll have a few drinks of sugared soda or whatever food is available. I keep a bag of Skittles in my car too- they seem to work for me and taste good too!
But you can always try the glucose tablets...