Question:
Question about low blood sugar..

Yesterday I drank something that apparently had more sugars in it than I had originally thought. I began to shake, sweat, feel sick to my stomach, get dizzy and tired... my first question is, is it possible to still dump one year after surgery? Also, does dumping cause a drop in blood sugar? I checked my blood sugar (my mom's kit, she's diabetic) and it was 46. This has happened before.    — mars.renee (posted on September 18, 2004)

September 18, 2004
It's possible to dump 10 yrs post-op!In fact, I'd be in big trouble if I didn't. Dumping is precisely that, a drop in blood sugar. It's miserable and it's kinda dangerous to do it often. I certainly wouldn't do it on purpose.
   — vitalady

September 18, 2004
Yep thats dumping. When you eat something real sugary or fat, or a comboniation of both it enters the small intestine and blood rushes to the area for digestion. Initially blood sugar spikes high, and then your body puts out lots of insulin and sugar drops. I feels horrible and thats good as we we shouldnt be eating those things anyway. Its not dangerous although you wouldnt want to be driving:( or operating machinery. Do it too often and it will eventually desensitize yourself. go cold turkey and dumping will return after a few weeks of avoiding the foods, When so cold I cant think in the winter I sometimes eat something sugary for warmth. I have reset my dump o meter, most noticeably after getting addicted to oreo cookie bars:(
   — bob-haller

September 18, 2004
WLS patients often experience "dumping" in different degrees. I am almost five years post-op RNY, and still "dump" on a regular basis with sugars, or foods containing too much fat. My younger daughter...same surgery, same time...has only had that experience two or three times post-op, and then only mildly. It is really important to be able to differentiate between "dumping" and reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Dumping is not life-threatening (although it certainly can feel like it)...reactive hypoglycemia IS! For me, dumping is that heart-pounding, slightly sweaty, feel-like-I-want-to-crawl-in-a-dark-hole. nauseated feeling that hits me within 15-20 minutes of eating "the wrong thing"...it's been a pretty good behavior modifier over the years...nobody in their right mind would want to feel like that too often. Of course, any of the "oldies" on this site will tell you that those carb and fat desires/habits do return to some degree and remain a "labor of self-love" in the process of maintaining the initial weight loss. Fortunately, only a minority of folks experience reactive hypoglycemia, and it has seemed to happen to me less often as I get further out post-op....but perhaps that is because I've learned how to recognize it and attempt to prevent it! For me, the symptoms start a little longer after the offending meal...sometimes an hour or two later....and that is what usually triggers me to check my blood sugar instead of assuming that this is a simple case of dumping. Dumping is a fairly immediate reaction to sugar and/or fat; in my case, I have found that reactive hypoglycemia is a reaction not only to WHAT I have eaten, but also HOW MUCH. When we eat too much of the WRONG foods, or too much food in general at any one sitting, our body is stimulated to produce greater amounts of insulin. The problem for some WLS patients is that our bodies work too hard and produce too much insulin in response to our intake. Then, an hour or two later, our blood sugars can drop to dangerously low levels. What starts out feeling like simple dumping to me, quickly moves to extreme weakness (hardly able to walk), tremors/shakes (hardly able to hold a glass), drenching perspiration from head-to-toe (including places like tops of arms and tops of legs where I didn't think we even had sweat glands), and the inability to clearly process my thoughts and respond verbally (when my husband asks me what's wrong, it's just too much effort to try to respond). This is a frightening, life-threatening experience. Fortunately, it doesn't happen to all WLS patients, and it can be completely avoided by continuing to "follow the rules": eat protein first, followed by vegetables and fruits; eat slowly and small amounts at any one sitting; limit high-level carbs/junk foods (those things will create a fast rise in blood sugar, and an even faster crash). RNY patients will have some natural stretching of their pouches over time, particularly if we frequently get back to the old habits of eating too much, too fast....so we often are able to eat what our friends/family would consider a normal-sized meal....which is still TOO MUCH for us. When I started experiencing the hypoglycemia, I was asked by my bariatric surgeon and internist to go back to keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks...and to be brutally honest. I was forced to acknowledge that I was skipping breakfast frequently, eating only a salad or some crackers and a carbonated beverage at my desk for lunch, then coming home "hungry" (yes, it comes back after a couple of years post-op) and eating dinner with my family. The problem was that I would eat too much, too fast, and not be discriminating about the ratio of protein to carbs/fats. I found that I would often predictably experience an attack of hypoglycemia within two hours of those evening meals. For the past couple of years, I have been careful to eat breakfast each day, take cheese cubes or yogurt (protein foods) for snack/lunch, and return to the meal-planning of those first post-op days when our pouches were so small that we ate protein first, followed by whatever veggies we could fit in. Since my hypoglycemic episodes were hitting me about bedtime, I started adding a high-protein snack at that time. My internist strongly suggested that patients who have a tendency to experience hypoglycemia should eat six small meals a day instead of three "normal-sized" meals....this keeps insulin levels steady and helps to prevent those precipitous drops. He also cautioned that although the goal at the onset of the attack is to bring that low blood sugar back up fairly quickly with some juice or hard candy, it is equally important to try to get in some type of high-protein-food as well. Plain sugars will indeed raise your blood sugar quickly, but are then metabolized at a rapid rate by the body, allowing the blood sugar to fall again. Protein raises the blood sugar more slowly, but then is broken down more slowly by the body, staying with you longer and helping your insulin production to "calm down". We always have skim milk and "No Sugar Added Carnation Instant Breakfast" in the house, and I have found that drinking a glass of that turns the hypoglycemic episodes around for me. The important thing for anyone that thinks that this sounds familiar to them, is to consult your PCP immediately. Dumping is a miserable "inconvenience"....true hypoglycemia can be life-threating. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

September 19, 2004
I'm over three years out and still dump. If I consume too many carbs without enough protein, my sugar will crash an hour or two later. So to answer your question, yes and yes :)
   — mom2jtx3