Blood sugars? headaches nausea blurred vision fatigue?

[ELIZABETHLEO5]

Any one else have these problems?

Im am being treated by a endrocrinolist but he is baffled, and has not got a clue whats wrong with me!

I have been like this since beginning of this year now, I collapse sometimes, I have rang for an ambulance one! I was in an ambulnace twice in one week, with collapsing, nausea blurred vision, unable to speak/think, shakinga nd twitching! I feel so ill all of the time. They are testing me for blood sugars problems at the momet.
I am so stressed I am unable to cope and I cant even compose this message.
When is happens I get really really hot then dizzy and feel soooo sick and i feel like my eyes are crossing.
Blood tests done so far have come back ok ish.
aNYONE ELSE HAVE THIS?

HUgs
Elizabeth xx

[Miffy]

don't get reactions to that degree but before I started on metformin I would get times when I would physically shake and I would feel so sick I'd start retching and my eyes go blurry and I get bad headaches when my blood sugars drop too low - my endo told me its all caused by the insulin resistance I've now been diagnosed with. I've never actually collapsed though.

Don't know if that helps at all - I hope they find out what it is soon and you get some help xoxoxox

[icklekitty]

i get extremely tired after i eat - i can't even walk down the street without wanting to close my eyes...It was fairly bad before met, but since i've started taking it - only a week or so - it's been even worse!

I'd hate to have to stop taking it. I've been putting all my hopes on it sorting out at least one of my PCOS issues and it would take so long for me to get them to prescribe anything else!

[Katie82]

Hi

I have episodes exactly as you describe, although I've never properly fainted. I too have felt awful since the beginning of the year and have found my blood sugar to be very low. Have you have a Glucose Tolerance Test?

My docs are being worse than useless and have no told me to stop Met, even though I feel worse when I don't take it!!!

I think it's definately something to do with blood sugars and insulin, just getting someone to listen and help is another thing.

Have you tried monitoring your diet, so you get the right balance of sugars? I have had to go on a very strict diet, but it is helping to regulate my blood sugar, even though it's still too low, and the days when I just can't get out of bed are fewer than before. Also, what about complimentary therapies? I have had good results with acupuncture and herbs for the PCOS in the past - although haven't hit upon anything for the blood sugar thing - but anything that treats the whole body and helps restore balance and release blocked energy can't be a bad thing!

Good luck - I hope you get to the bottom of things soon - keep me posted, I'd be really interested to know how you got on. xx

[icklekitty]

Hi Katie,

I ended up switching to Slow Release metformin, which totally helped the tiredness!

[Sions88]

what are normal blood sugars then? on saturday morning i had a slice of wholemeal toast with a some honey and a cup of tea, went shopping came home had a baked potato and baked beans for lunch a couple of hours later i felt terrible, sick, trembling, felt really hot and sweating like mad dizzy checked my sugar levels it was at 3.5 is that low? Is it low enough to have that effect? - Then on sunday I had some porridge for breakfast (thinking i probably just hadnt eaten enough sat) and went for a 30 min walk, came home had a tangerine and a couple of oatcakes, checked sugar levels was 7.0 half an hour later felt terrible again and checked sugar - was down to 3.6 again! Had a large sunday lunch of mainly veg a slice of ham etc checked 30 mins or so after lunch was up to 9.4, are these normal levels - (I havent been to the doctors about it i just regularly feel terrible and decided to buy a meter to see what was happening!) or more to the point i keep forgetting to ask doctor as i work myself up before going every time!!! ?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sions

[samone]

Hi Sions88
you really need to go to your doctor and describe your symptoms to them.
3.5 is quite low, but i don't think it is very low.
Your sugar levels will always be higher after you have eaten, you need to check them 2 hours after food.
If you are feeling light headed and sick, make sure you have something sweet like a glass of full fat coke, or a glucose sweet.
I have type 2 diabetes, and I have only had your symptoms once (that was when I was border line).
Someone realised what was happening (her husband was diabetic), she gave me some orange juice to drink, after about 10 minutes i did start to feel a bit better, but I was very sick.
Please go to your doctor to get checked out, it could be nothing, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Good luck
Samone
P.S. let me know how you get on!

[sammy84]

i too get very simlar symptoms but dont actually faint, but i go all snappy and have a very short fuse, im on the slow release met and i find side effects are much better too, but i must look at my diet now the new year is in and see if that makes a differnce to my blood sugars, i generally only eat once or twice a day but i will sometimes pick, and i really dont drink much which i know i should but just cant, average 1 (maybe 2) cups of tea and maybe a glass of squash and a glass of milk.
all the best hun x

[SallyT]

Ladies,

Ive not yet been diagnosed, but doc says my testestorone etc indicate PCOS, and been referred to endo. thats not til 24th August and I am having days off sick. I am very scared and desperately hoping to get a reason why a) I have been suffering with low blood sugar type symtoms all my life, leading to weight gain despite my best efforts, and b) why my whole systom has recently gone completely crazy, and anything i eat make me really sleepy and my heart thumpy as id just had a glass of wine or bag of sweets. even a no carb mackeral salad is doing it!

I just wanted you to know that reading this thread and seeing similarities is a big comfort at the time while I wait for to feel better or get a diagnosis.
ive started monitoring my blood sugar but it always seems to hang aroung at 5ish. Ive havent had a proper shakey low to measure yet though.

[Piglet36]

Hi Sions,

3.5 blood sugar is low. I'm diabetic and I go hypo at that level and I have to eat something (just small, like a few oatcakes or a good quality cereal bar) to correct it. It sounds like your blood sugar is quite erratic, which will make you feel terrible. For me, the way to make sure this doesn't happen is to avoid white carbs - white bread, potatoes (which for me are especially bad), biscuits, pasta, pizza etc etc) and eat more things like lentils, oats, nuts. Boring but it should make you feel a bit more balanced.

[candybosh]

A normal blood glucose level should be between 4mmol to 7mmol
anything below 4mmol is clinically hypo (low blood sugar) and anything above 7mmol is clinically hyper (high blood sugar level)

If your level goes below 4 you need to treat it with a fast acting sugar such as lucazade, glucose tablets, coke, lemonade or fresh fruit juice about 100ml to 150ml if using one of these drinks or if using glucose tabs then about 4 to 5 tabs should do it. check your levels again after 10 to 15 mins to make sure they have come up above 4 and then follow this up with a starchy snack ie - slice of toast or couple of digestives, if it is still below 4 after checking your levels againt then you need to repeat the process of treating the hypo again with the fast acting sugar untill it has come up.

Its all very confusing the insulin resistance and the low sugar levels? insulin resistance basically is when the insulin produced by the pancrease is not getting used properly in the body (its not able to go where it needs to go normally because of too much fat around the tummy area)! but this would cause high sugar levels because the insulin isnt able to get all the sugar into our cells (this is how we get our energy), instead the some is staying in the blood stream.

I myself have pcos since the age of 19,but since the age of 11 (when i started puberty) have had hypos and have fainted from these. I wonder if the hypos could be caused because we are having some insulin resistance and our pancrease is trying to compensate by procducing more insulin ie -why we ocaasionally have hypo's because there is to much insulin being produced and its lowered our levels to much??

But again what is confusing is why was i having hypos as a teenager (age 11 onwards) when i was having no pcos symptoms i was VERY slim! and i had time your clock by it regular periods, all untill the age of 19 when i put on 2 stone and my periods stopped!!

[Flower69]

Terrible to hear so many people suffering in this way. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, it's been such a support over the years to know not alone in my experiences.

Want to give something back to the wonderful people on this forum and share a message of hope.

I too had all the symptoms you all are describing, except that I never physically fainted just felt like I would. Thought there must be something seriously wrong with my health.

I was supposed to be on a strict low GI diet but like many others found I couldn't stick to it.

Anyway, to cut a long story short. Out of pure desperation I decided to try sticking to a very strict low GI diet to see if it would alleviate my symptoms. It was very difficult and it took several months of sticking to the low GI plan before I felt fully well again. But it worked! All my symptoms disappeared! I always struggled with weight loss and dieting before this, but now that I feel so well I find not wanting to have all these terrible symptoms again helps motivate me to stick to the diet most of the time.

I know eat 3 healthy low GI, low fat, well balanced meals a day and carry low GI snacks everywhere I go to eat between meals. Some times the desire for high GI foods over comes me and I have a high GI binge. After these binges I feel so crap that it puts me off eating high GI foods again for a few months.

Hopefully this will help and encourage others to try a strict low GI diet. It really worked for me.