[shabbie6247]

my mum has a history of Reactive Hypoglycemia, she's been seeing an endo who is completely stuck with how to treat it.

she says Reactive Hypoglycemia is the root of it all, Insulin Resistance and Hyperinsulinemia are the end results. Glucophage SR controls the Insulin Resistance and Hyperinsulinemia, but it does NOTHING to stop the Reactive Hypoglycemia, it's up to her to control that by diet.

she says that just half a slice of bread gives a severe reaction giving a BG reading of 2.7 (48)

does anyone know anything about this awful reactive hypoglycemia?

[Funnygrl]

My understanding of reactive hypoglycemia is that insulin resistance is the problem and the hyperinsulinemia and reacitve hypoglycemia is the result.

What happens is, the person eats carbs. They are insulin resistant, so their blood sugar starts to rise. It goes up and up and up, and the body makes more and more and more insulin to counteract this (thus the hyperinsulinemia, though insulin resistance is frequently seen with hyperinsulinemia anyway). Suddenly, all this insulin works at once. Bam, the drop.

Some people may use type 2 drugs to help, though I'm not a fan of using Metformin in this case. Metformin doesn't actaully deal with insulin resistance directly. It prevents the liver from pushing out glucose to raise blood sugar. Your mom needs her liver to be able to do this when she starts to drop, and like I said, it doesn't deal with the root problem anyways.

As for diet, the goal is to eat small meals frequently. That way, by the time she starts to drop, she has another meal there. The diet should be reduced in carbs, but not void of carbs. Having no carbs will decrease the livers glycogen stores, and when she does drop, her body won't be able to save her from it as well. Carbs need to be complex in nature, high in fiber, and should always be eaten with protein and fat. Protein and fat delay digestion, resulting in a less rapid spike in blood sugar, and the food raising blood sugar longer. Byetta may even be helpful here.

There are a TON of causes of hypoglycemia. It sounds like reactive is really the case with your mom though. I was thought to have reactive hypoglycemia for a long time, wasn't properly tested, and actually had a different kind. I think my hypoglycemia would have been so much better managed if I was tested right away. A fasting glucose and c-peptide levels were enlightening for me.

Good luck!

[shabbie6247]

hi funnygirl, thanks for your reply, the glucose tolerance test (8.8 down to 3.3) was apparently within normal ranges even though mum had a reaction after food after the test. apparently all other tests only show elevated levels of insulin.

poor mum 'feels like death' most of every day, hasnt got the energy to exercise, and if she does it gives hypos later in the day.
pretty much she's sticking to atkins/south beach style of eating, gradually introducing more carbs into the system as and when she can tolerate them better. she even quit caffeine because the peaks gave hypos after it.