?Hypoglycaemia and pcos

[dee999]

i was diagnosed with pcos 3yrs ago (but have probably had it for nearer 20yrs!)- i was prescribed yasmin, for the hair growth and the pms- but i decided after 18months i would come off this (i felt at 35yrs old, and had been an oral contraceptive user,on-and-off for the last 10yrs, i really did not want to take it long-term,ue to the health risks)
anyway, i have been off the pill for 18months now-i noticed 2weeks ago that i was very thirsty while at my work, (i had eaten my dinner 2hrs prior,along with 1.5 pints of sugar free diluting juice)- anyway, i couldnt understand why i was so thirsty- i am an nhs emergency worker, and have access to blood glucose kits- so i tested mine, and i was shocked to see it was only 4.7 (1.5hrs AFTER a meal!)
i decided to purchase my own blood glucose kit, to monitor my levels- my levels seem to remain between 4.2 and 5.5- the highest has been 7.5 (once), last night before my dinner, it was only 3.0, and 2hrs after having my dinner, it was still only 4.8!
i feel quite tired all the time, i dont get weak or shaky, but my hubby says that i do look very pale sometimes! i do crave chocolate at times! some days i do not really fancy eating anything! (i exercise daily as my hubby and i compete in triathlons)
i have an appointment next week with the practice nurse for my routine smear, so i think i will ask her advice about these readings!!

[babygem]

Hi dee999,

I'm no expert on this but, as I don't have diabetes but do have insulin resistance so have read up a bit about it. As I understand it readings between 4-6 around 2 hours or more after eating are normal for blood glucose, so most of your readings would considered to be in the normal range. So 4.7 one and a half hours after eating is pretty normal.

The only reading that seems very low is the 3, but then as this was just before your dinner this could well have been because you hadn't eaten for a long time, perhaps not at all since lunch? So it wouldn't be surprising that if your reading was only 3 you could have hypo symptoms. If this happens regularly then perhaps you need to have a small snack mid afternoon to help keep your levels more stable.

If the 7.5 was just after, or at least no more than 2 hours after, eating then that would be around normal too, as blood sugar does rise for everyone after eating. If the 7.5 was at a time when you hadn't eaten for longer than this then it might be wise to get it checked out by your GP, as your level should have returned to somewhere between 4 and 6 by then.

Your symptoms sound very similar to ones I have experienced due to insulin resistance though, so perhaps you could ask your GP/Consultant for a glucose tolerance test, which measures insulin levels as well as blood glucose levels.

Hope this helps.

[dee999]

thanks babygem for your reply!
i went to the nurse for my smear (armed with my blood sugar testing kit!)- i asked her advice about my "low" blood sugar levels.
i mentioned that it had been 3.0 before my lunch that day, and only went up to 3.4 an hour after eating my lunch!
she told me that this was normal!- i did say that i didnt think that a bm of 3.4 AFTER a meal was normal- she told me that if it was over 5.5 it would be HIGH?- Told her that i disagreed with her figures, since i am also a healthcare professional, and would never tell people who are not diabetics that a bm greater than 5.5 was high!
she conveniently ignored my comments, (she told me that i only deal with people who are diabetics and are having a hypo!- told her that, as a paramedic i take a blood sugar from every patient i treat.........regardless if they are a diabetic or not, and 5.5 is not high!) , she advised me to eat more carbs,(like pasta and oats!) since i did quite a lot of physical exercise! i left confused and annoyed with her attitude!!

[babygem]

Not sure what to make of all this Dee, except to say that if I were you I would trust my own instincts. I think this nurse has simply got it all wrong, which is rather frightening considering her position! Reminds me of an encounter a friend of mine had with a rather arrogant GP who told her that Xenical was absolutely useless for weight loss but Orlistat was very successful, when in fact they are the same drug!

Fortunately you have a good idea of what is what from your own work and experience. I suppose the best you can do is to get another opinion from one of the GP's at your surgery and continue to monitor things yourself as you have been doing.

My main concern would be whether these regular low levels could be an indicator of anything else going on i.e. too much insulin floating around and lowering your blood sugar too far?? Anything about you that might suggest insulin resistance??

[LittleDot]

Hi

I have type 1 diabetes.
My diabetes specialist advises blood gluscose levels to be between 4-6 before meals and no higher than 8, 2 hours after meals. Below 4 is regarded as hypo in people with diabetes however the average person can wake up in the morning and be as low as 3.5 without it being a concern (breakfast usually fixes that in a flash).

Generally, I'm advised to eat meals with complex carbohydrates that take longer to digest to maintain my sugar levels with the slower release of sugar from the complex foods e.g. pasta, brown rice, brown/ granary bread.

If I have a hypo, I have a quick fix to get my sugar levels raised quickly e.g. orange juice, lucozade then have something to maintain the level above hypo e.g. sandwich.

Dot
x

[Julie]

Can't help but notice the comments in this thread. Please go and get a glucose tolerance test. The nurse you spoke to was not very helpful. Can you change to another clinic or see a doctor instead?

I was feeling very tired in the afternoon's and looked pale. Felt thirsty quite a lot and also if i got into the shower or stood up suddenly would get little stars in front of my eyes. I thought this was normal until i came of the pill. Got checked out and had a bad case of Insulin Intolerance/PCOS even though my sugar levels were very normal. My diet has been changed to low gi and now i don't get the highs or lows you mention. If it were left untreated i would have got diabetes without a doubt. I'm now on Metformin and will continue this for a while.

[jow]

As a recently diagnosed diabetic can I reiterate that we should all be asking our doctors for OGT tests if we suspect our sugars are rising and dropping. I suffered hypos for years and all my fasting blood tests were..and still are! normal. My suggestion is to buy yourself a kit - drink a bottle of lucozade and test at 1 hour rather than 2. If you hit anything about 8 your body is already struggling and you need further investigation. You might find, like me, that your sugar shoots up then drops dramatically so that it is always normal at 2 hrs. (If you hit 11 at anytime welcome to the club! )