Low Blood Sugar Advice

I am almost 2 years post op and have developed low blood sugar, it hits me very suddenly and symptoms such as shaking and rapid heart rate come on almost immediately. I am not a person that can tolerate sugar or corn syrup but if I eat something sugar free (sweet) it makes the shaking go away but often leaves me feeling sick on my stomach. I have asked the nutritionist about this and she has heard of people doing this after weight loss surgery but she doesn't know how to prevent it from occurring. Does anyone else experience this and if so what do you do? Do you know if you can prevent this from happening? If so, please share this info. with me. Right now, I must keep sugar free candy or cookies within grasp everywhere I go because as I said I have no warning signs. Please help, Kim R.

Hypoglycemic episodes are not trivial. A person can black-out at critical times such as operating a motor vehicle. I recommend that you get w/ your PCP or perhaps an endocrinologist to delve further. You may be told to eat smaller, but more frequent meals. These meals might have a lot of whole grains and other veggies in them. One goal is to avoid the highs and lows that can come w/ starchy foods. As a diabetic, I used to have lows that were quite disturbing, especially when I became uber-grouchy and started yelling at people. I am pleased that you are not blowing this off. While diabetes (high sugar levels) are deadly in the long-run, a single low at the wrong time can be just as deadly. Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

I too have been having problems with low blood sugar. Is grouchiness a symptom? I've been very grouchy lately....I didn't realize it could be related to my low blood sugar. Is this something that seems to plague some WLS patients? It seems like I'm seeing more people complain about low blood sugar lately. Joni

This sounds like dumping. This happens to me sometimes after I have eaten something with sugar or high carb. I have late dumping. It happens several hours after I have eaten. Your body produces insulin to cover the sugar in the food but it is overkill and in turn causes you blood sugar to spike and then drop drastically. My doctor said it is like trying to put out a match with a fire hose. I have passed out from this before. You don't necessarily have to eat something with sugar. Foods that turn to sugar (carbohydrates) can trigger this as well. Also it doesn't happen all the time. A food that triggered this one time didn't on a different occasion. My doctor said to drink fruit juice or you can get glucose tablets at Walmart or a drug store. They are something like necco wafers and come in fruity flavors. My mother is diabetic and gave me some. Research dumping on the internet. Early dumping and late dumping. See if you have the symptons they describe. I break out in a very bad sweat and get the shakes. As I said before this has caused me to pass out a few times. It is my own fault though. When it happens it is usually because I ate something I probably shouldn't have. Brendon

Thank you all for the replies. I don't feel so alone in this! I have put a call into my surgeon who did my WLS and plan to talk to her in detail about this. I am getting more concerned as the days go by as the frequency seems to have increased. Thanks again for helping! Kim R.