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Doctor Trouble
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Ok, this is going to be a little long. I hope that doesn't deter you from reading and responding.
I'm 20. I have had "blood sugar complaints" since I was a child. It's gotten worse...I'm not officially diagnosed yet. I'm pretty sure it's what it is. All the signs point there. If only the doctor would listen to me! I have all the typical symptoms, almost had a wreck, almost been to the ER three times, food always corrects my symptoms and sets me right as rain again. My friend who is severely hypoglycemic knows when I'm crashing before I do. My nurse professor believes that it's blood sugar. I crave sugar, but I always get these symptoms after I eat it. I went to the doctor for something unrelated, had a crash in his office, and my sugar read 59. I was crying, shaking, weak, all the bells and whistles. He found me cheese and within 10 minutes I was normal. He sent me to an endocrinologist. He didn't do a GTT, instead gave me a meter. The first reading when I felt bad - 60. The rest? Every time I felt bad, they read in the 80s. I mean HORRIBLE. Shaky. Heart palpitations. Confusion. Not walking straight. Confused. Weak. Irritable. Craving sugar. Hungry. Food solved it every time. The endocrinologist sent me home - diagnosis "high metabolism." The next week, I had my worst episode ever: Sparks in vision, confused, pale, heart going, couldn't speak a coherent sentence. A friend ESCORTED me back to my dorm....I got in the elevator and got off on all the wrong floors, came in my room, and laid down and cried. All after eating a doughnut. Blood sugar 87. 6 months later - at least 8 or 9 attacks like that. MD doesn't think it's low blood sugar because the meter only showed it once. Said it might be celiac disease. I have NO symptoms of celiac disease. Panic disorder? These aren't panic attacks. I've had a few before. Nothing like this. Besides, food corrects it...if I get to eating. I had to demand a four hour GTT with blood checks every 30 minutes. We will see how that goes. Anyone else had doctor problems? My endocrinologist bordered on rude, tried to give me depression pills, and went behind my back to the referring doctor and told him they were panic attacks. The endo. never told me that. Never was straightforward. I had to explain to my MD what hypoglycemia is and what type of GTT is best for it. My mother suffers from something similar. My dad too. Any advice? Is this the right GTT? I'm miserable, frustrated, and tired of not being taken seriously. How do you find a doctor that actually got an education on hypoglycemia? How do you get them to stop trying to lay panic attacks on you, when it's clearly food related? How do I know it's food related? I've kept a diet and symptom journal for 6 months. 1-3 episodes a day. Those aren't panic attacks. Please, any help is appreciated. Posted on 02/08/12, 11:48 pm |
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Avoid sugar. Please. I remember those days. I have had hypo for 22 years now. I started having symptoms right after my 2nd child was born. I have mostly controlled it with food. I have never checked my blood when I felt bad, I just know it's low. I have to eat every three hours no matter what. It's just a way of life that I have grown accustomed to.
Junk food is not good to eat by itself. Also, soda and caffeine will cause a reaction. Drink water instead. Eat whole grains, fruits if you can tolerate them, veggies, and protein (doesn't have to be meat, because beans, nuts and seeds are good, too). Try reading Dr. Airola's "Hypoglycemia-A Better Approach" and Roberta Ruggiero's "The Do's and Don'ts of Hypoglycemia". Roberta has a web site also. I think it is called The Hypoglycemia Foundation. Hope this helps. 
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Most Dr's don't understand it, and among your friends, it's the same, the only people who know what you're talking about are the people who have the same thing or have been diagnosed with Diabetes. It is a serious problem to those of us who have it, and hopefully by talking with each other, maybe someone will hit on a way to cure it or at least take away most of the symptoms.
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I have had simliar experiences with my doctor as well. A few years ago I was having some attacks and the doctor just said they were panic or anxiety attacks. But, I always knew that something physical was bring them on. It wasn't anxiety or stress bringing them on like the doctor and everyone else in my family thought. Something wasn't right with my body and I knew that, even though everyone else thought I was crazy. It really sucks when nobody believes you.
For the longest time I always thought they were caused from breathing in gas and/or carbon monoxide from my job. But, now years latter after being diagnosed with hypoglcemia, it might have just been that for all I know because the symptoms are like the same: nauseous, headaches, brain fog/mental confusion, shaky, rapid heart beat, tingling - all leading up to a panic/anxiety attack because you get nervous when you start feeling really weird. So I personally don't think too highly of doctors. I know they are good people and they mean well, but it's like Kevin Trudea says in his natural cures book: Doctors are basically drug pushers. The drug companies pay for their educational materials and what they learn, which is mostly about drugs. I believe he said doctors only have to have like 4 days of nutritional training. So were probably better off going to a naturopathic doctors, but unfortunately our insurance doesn't cover them.
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My best friend is a nurse. She for years thought I had Parkinson's or diabetes.
We went on a trip together, and I totally forgot airlines don't sell food (it's been a while since I've flown), so when we got to our destination, I was shaking, sweating, ready to get sick, even though I ate something after 13 hrs of travel, I couldn't sleep, and the next day, I was a mess. All I wanted was a bowl of fruit and some yogurt, but she just wanted to push on with site seeing. She finally noticed that when I was eating something every few hours, the symptoms went away, and she realized I was hypoglycemic. I have had issues with my Dr's office about the 12 hr fast before a physical, I can't do it, and I finally proved it. I came in shaky, almost ready to pass out, they found out I don't have diabetes, gave me an apple to eat after blood tests, but at that point, I was too far into the glycemic problem, I barely made it home before I became sick. I don't know about you, but if I forget to eat something every few hours, I get physically sick, then can't eat, or sleep, so it ends up being a 2-3 day thing. I'm more aware now, as is my boyfriend. He still doesn't get the whole thing, but is starting to realize that I'm not sick, it's just that I didn't eat enough during the day. I never had this before, it started with menopause. I wish more Dr's could recognize this sooner.
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I too, cannot find a Dr who understands my 'blood sugar problem', it is related to diabetes or pre-diabetes, but no Dr will take it seriously, they just tell me to eat every 2 hrs, well, I already KNOW that, but what is causing it? They don't want to try to find out. For a time, a low dose of Metformin seemed to work like a miracle, but then after 2 mos, it stopped having any effect. During that time, I was once again feeling like a normal person. Suggest you try Metformin and see if it helps, even if just for a little while. I was taking 1/2 of a 500 mg. (also lost 8 lbs during that time due to not having to eat so often and not needing peanut butter either)
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