reactive hypoglycemia

I've heard others talk of this and I have also responded back before on it as well .. And said I would post what my appt was about and so here it is .. I had RNY Sept 15, 2003 so I am quite a ways out .. I have had 6 seizures that have been due to low blood sugar and after the first seizure I was hospitalized for a week and told it was reactive hypoglycemia .. but then there was some question about it .. I then had the glucose test done in Nov where ya have to drink this junk and they draw your blood every hour for four hours .. within 2 hours of drinking the stuff my blood sugar dropped down to 27 .. and yet my insulin went up to 296 .. I was told to see an endocronologist and today was my appt finally .. He says it is reactive hypoglycemia and that I am going to have to test my blood sugars and then try to help me with my diet .. however, if it can't be done then I would need surgery to remove part of  my pancreas .. I recall another poster calling it something else by initials but can't recall what it was .. but obviously surgery would be a last resort but also not something that will mess around with to long in trying to correct otherwise either .. I am not up to having anymore seizures and the way ya feel when your blood sugar is dropping is not the best either .. so am hoping it will be corrected soon .. again just telling what happened at my Dr appt today .. Rhonda

Rhonda,  Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us.  I am so sorry you are having this problem, but am very appreciative that you are willing to share it with us.  Hugs  Jenn

Thank you so much for sharing this.  I've been doing quite a bit of research and it is emerging as a serious complication of GB.  I hope that you will be able to control it with diet.  So far so good with me, but I can eat almost no starchy carbs.  Fruits and vegetables are okay as long as I eat them with some protein.  I don't include starchy vegetables like potatoes in my definition of vegetables!  They make me sick too.

 

Good luck with this!

 

 

Hi Rhonda! I deal with this as well. My endocronologist said my body is so used to pumping out the insulin, that now ive lost the weight it still is pumping it out even though my body doesnt need it.  I used to be on 3 shots of insulin a day. Hope I explained it correctly. You are not alone. Hope you can control it with diet. Im usually ok when I stick to protein and limit my carbs to fruit or veggies. Its not fun!

Wow Kathy, you explained that perfectly for me. I have dealt with hypoglycemia for about a year now. I started having attacks about 14 months post op and was tested for everything from heart conditions to neurological conditions. I finally talked with other WLS grads and realized that it WAS my blood sugar (combined with a serious intolerance to caffeine) that was causing the attacks. I currently watch my diet very closely and after making adjustments to my eating, I've had a pretty easy time with it. But hearing that explaination was perfect for me, so thanks :)  

Rhonda, I'm in your boat.  I also have reactive hypoglycemia, and I just starting having grand mal seizures last month.  I've had two now, but we cannot decipher if they were directly linked to my hypoglycemia unless it happens again and my blood is tested and low at the SAME time. I'm on my second day of anti-seizure medication, though, so I may never know - unless it doesn't work. I am also on medication to stop the absorption of carbs in the gut, to slow the insulin reactions, and I have a emergency glucagon injection with me at all times for the time I do finally crash too hard. The condition, the more severe RHG is called nesidioblastosis.

Hi MeltingMama, The 6 seizures that I have had have also been grand mal .. not fun at all .. and it seems my blood sugars dropped with them .. at least with my first seizure and hospitalization they called it reactive hypoglycemia then .. but I didn't think about it til you mentioned the most severe .. cause when the one lady in the Dr's office yesterday was trying to fill out more paperwork she was asking the other lady for the medical codes or whatever and it was written down as severe hypoglycemia .. interesting .. but the Dr did say it was complex and he wasn't sure about my eating every hour and a half as being helpful either .. but anyways, I go back to them next week to go over the eating aspects .. what to eat and when, etc .. but for now am suppose to check my blood sugars but don't have to do it after each meal .. but then fax it to the Dr as well as give them something showing what I eat and when right now .. so will be interesting to see what becomes of all of this .. and even with this all happening I am still glad that I had the surgery .. life before was to miserable .. I had to many problems with my breathing for one that have cleared up due to my having surgery ..

I also carry with me glucose tablets .. they are in my purse, my car, at work .. as well as peanut butter .. I also have this glucose gel that I also carry with me .. I just don't want to have any more seizures if at all possible .. and I also have been taking anti-seizure meds but they don't seem to help me when its my blood sugar that is causing the problem .. smile .. good luck to ya!  Rhonda

 

How are you treating the seizures?

I take twice a day 250 mg of Lamictal .. but have been on it since I started having seizures so not sure it's really doing anything .. believe the real problem is the blood sugars and don't think my siezures will go away til I am able to control my blood sugars from dropping .. course I'm not a Dr but it's my opinion .. I still have my blood sugars dropping all the time and I grab my glucose tabs .. even in the middle of the night I can wake up with my sugars dropping .. when it gets bad it almost seems like I am getting ready to go into another seizure .. its hard to explain .. unless you have gone into one before .. so would like to get it under control ..  What kind of seizure meds are you taking?  Rhonda

I'm on my third day of Trileptal, 300 mgs twice a day... will increase to 600 mgs twice a day next week.  I have no clue if it will help, because - we don't know "why" I'm having seizures. My sugars drop all day long.  I crash after eating no matter what - randomly - so there's no telling.  So, I'm not driving, I'm not working... I'm stuck in the house.