Low blood sugar

[Guest guest]

Hi guys!,

I had a very frightening experience today. I went to work this morning and

was not feeling well. I got out of my car and almost passed out in the parking

lot. I went inside and the nurse looked at me and said are you o.k. I told her

how I felt and she said let me check your blood sugar. It was 40! Well, I ate

a chocolate dipped granola bar and a piece of candy. It finally got up to 60.

About 2 hours later I ate pizza, and some corn on the cob. 45 min. later it

was finally up to 70. I called my doc and he was not in today so I went to see

the doc on call for him. When I went in to her it was 90. I was feeling better

then. I told her about my pancreatitis and she said my belly was awfully

tight. I told her that was not unusual that I was having pain and that happened

when I was having pain.

She mentioned that she thinks I may have a insulinoma. I am not sure if that

is how you spell it. I don't know what that is. I am going to do some

research and see what it is. Anywho, I am going to have bloodwork tomorrow and

maybe

a ct scan (AGAIN). My last ct scan was in Dec. that is when the doc found my

cysts, calcification and whatever else and decided to send me to ton.

Have any of you ever heard of an insulinoma? Is low blood sugar a normal part

of all this?

Thanks,

Angie in SC

" The happiest of people don't necessarily have the

best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along

their way. "

[Guest guest]

Angie,

Insulinoma, in case you haven't already checked, is a tumor of the

pancreas. I find it totally unethical and inconcievable that a nurse

would tell you this! I do hope that you haven't let her unsolicited

diagnosis upset you. She had no business saying anything like that to

you without having concrete facts to back it up. And even if she did,

it would have been unethical to speak to you about it without the

doctor's permission.

What it might have been was a simple case of low blood sugar, which

isn't all that simple, really, but not something totally unexpected

for people with CP that may have damaged the beta cells and caused

some irregular blood sugar activity.

For your future safety, you should consider always carrying some candy

like " Sweet Tarts " around with you, until you get your blood glucose

levels properly tested. You should ask you doctor to do an HbA1c

fasting blood test as a matter of course. This will show what your

blood glucose levels have been running for the last 2 1/2-3 months.

If this is the same doctor who's still not called Dr. Cotton in

ton, I wish you luck. His lack of cooperation in your case has

thus far had me shaking my head in amazement. I would urge him to

test your blood sugar activity, though. Symptoms like this SHOULD NOT

BE IGNORED!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

South Carolina State Rep.

South Eastern Regional Rep., PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Note: All comments or advice are from personal experiences or opinion

only, and should not be a substitute for consultation with a medical

professional.

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

It was not a nurse that gave me that info it was the female doc on call for

my PCP. I am sorry if I didn't make myself clear on that. I followed her

advice and called my PCP and this morning he saw me. I have to follow a special

diet for 3 days and then on Wed. he is doing a 5 hours GTT. I have not had one

of

these since I had gestational diabetes and I know how bad I felt then. I am

not looking forward to it. He is also doing the other blood test you mentioned.

The bad thing is having had gastric bypass I get sick when I ingest too much

sugar so I know this GTT is going to be a hoot! I warned my doc but he feels

it is necessary. I told him he better have a trash can in between my feet when

I drink that gosh awful stuff they give you.

I have been testing my levels for the past 2 days and they are all over the

place! He (my pcp) also feels I may have an insulinoma. We shall see!

Aren't you diabetic? Are you on insulin? What is a normal blood sugar level

supposed to be? Mine have been ranging from 50 to 200. So I know that means

trouble!

And this is not the doc that didn't call the docs in ton. That was my

GI docs office. My pcp is wonderful. He is really good about calling in my

pain meds and stuff for me. The GI doc won't give me anything for pain.

Thanks for your concern and your advice. You are always such a big help

Heidi! I hope you are having a great day!

Angie in SC

" The happiest of people don't necessarily have the

best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along

their way. "

[Guest guest]

T,

my diabetes started with only low blood sugar. If I didn't eat every two

hours while awake, my blood sugar would drop to the 40's. This began in Oct

02, 3 months after I started back having attacks of acute pancreatitis. I

slowly began having high blood sugar occasionally. first the highest was

only about 160, then 170, then 190, then a few times up to around 250. I

saw an endocrinologist in Jan 03 and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

When he sent me to a dietician she told me that diabetes almost always

starts with episodes of low blood sugar before you start having episodes of

high blood sugar. She said people often miss the period of low blood sugars

because they aren't familar with the symptoms. Most of the time my diabetes

is controlled by diet but I did have to take amaryl daily for a few months

when I was on prednisone for my autoimmune hepatitis. When I have a flare

of pancreatitis and have to be hospitalized they put me on sliding scale

insulin. I usually have to be given insulin a few times during a flare.

However, I have more problems with low blood sugar during an attack than

with high. My blood sugar can drop to the 30's in a matter of seconds.

I'll feel fine and then I'm soaking wet with a cold sweat, shaking,

confused, and feeling like total crap. I hate it when that happens because

it takes an hour or more to feel human again. so far I have never passed

out when my blood sugar drops even though it has dropped down to 32 on

several occasions.

W>

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I've been out of the loop for the last week. I had another attack last week

and was in the hospital from Wed to Sat. Panc enzymes normal, as usual, liver

enzymes 300+ (10 times normal). They wouldn't have kept me except that my

blood sugar all of a sudden dropped to the 30's while I was in the ER. After

I had IV glucose 4 times and they'd get my blood sugar up to around 70 only to

have it back to the 30's in less than an hour, they ended up getting the GI on

call to come to the ER and they admitted me. It was late Friday before my

blood sugar quit dropping to the 30's. NOT FUN! My mom was having a stroke

in the ER thinking I was going to go into a coma. My blood sugar dropped as

low as 32 several times. I actually changed my hospital gown three times just

while in the ER because it was soaking wet with sweat.

Ends up the endo and my GI/hepatologist think the problem with my blood sugar

is my liver. Because I have chronic autoimmune liver disease as well as cp,

my liver is not able to kick in and produce glucose when I am unable tolerate

things by mouth. I've had these episodes of major low blood sugar before with

the flares of panc but they have gotten worse over the last 2-3 months. It

actually all makes sense because my liver enzymes have been more elevated with

my panc attacks the last few months. So, now the GI/hep is thinking about

doing another liver biopsy to see where we stand with the status of my

liver. I've only had one liver biopsy and that was in Dec 02. That's when I

was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which had already progressed to Stage

3 fibrosis or possibly mild stage 4 cirrhosis.

I am way behind on my e-mails but I'll try to get caught up in the next few

days.

thanks,

W