The mystery of my hypoglycemia unfortunately continues, however I wondered whether the fact I feel more wobbly and likely to dip earlier when my bowels and stomach are empty provides any clues to the cause.

I assume that when the large intestine is empty, and the stomach is beginning to empty, food and waste is moved from the small intestine, prompting the dip in blood sugar.

This is unfortunate as emptying your bowels whilst dealing with chronic illness is generally a good sign, however it's a double edged sword. When constipated I can go for hours without food (I usually maintain regular meals regardless) although its not a nice feeling being bunged up as the liver usually aches as well. The flip side is that I am regular, but more likely to start to dip as early as the 2 hour mark, despite a reasonable high protein, high fat, low carb healthy meal. I've not measured my blood sugar levels on either occasion so it might be wise to see what's going on.

Would this give any clues as to the cause of the hypoglycemia? Or could it equally be as a result of adrenal fatigue or candida.

Many thanks,

Hi Konnor,

Sorry to be the only one replying to you again. I feel like I may be becoming an annoyance....but here are my thoughts!

Bowel habits are unlikely to be a major cause of your hypoglycemia. Blood sugar is always low in the morning when the bowels and stomach are empty as sleep is the longest period we go without eating - cortisol and adrenal medulla hormones (adrenaline etc) are low - and the body does just enough to keep blood sugar adequate. If you have adrenal fatigue this morning hypoglycemia may be exacerbated as the adrenals fail to bump up hormone production which would raise blood sugar and energy levels. Incidentally this is one of the reasons why breakfast (\"break fast\") is considered the most important meal of the day.

In terms of hypoglycemia though I thibk your main problems are adrenal fatigue and liver toxicity. The adrenals and liver are THE organs/glands that regulate blood sugar so any problems with their function inevitably has hypoglycemia as a consequence. As an example of this partnership, in response to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or the need for extra energy the adrenals release adrenaline and cortisol to trigger the release of glycogen from the liver which is converted into blood sugar (glucose). Equally adrenal hormones cause the release of body fat for use as fuel. If the adrenals can't produce enough of these hormones these process will not occur.

Candida would further complicate the picture as it produces acohol (ethanol). The liver is forced to metabolise the ethanol instead of concentrating on energy production and blood sugar regulation. Alcohol metabolism causes the glucose metabolic pathway to be disrupted which again results in hypoglycemia. Look up the effects of alcohol online and you will find hypoglycemia listed.

I hope this was clear enough. It's always clearer in my head than written down

Thanks Maff,

I appreciate the info, in fact I was considering labelling the post to you directly!

I’m certainly more susceptible to hypoglycaemia during the day, notably at my ‘edgeist’ between 10am and 2pm. In fact the general elevation in blood sugar and energy (even though it is slightly skewed) means that I don’t really need to worry about hypoglycaemia from 7pm onwards.

Do you know at what point the absorption takes place whereby blood sugar is raised after eating food?

If I were to eat the same size meal, at the same time on Monday and Tuesday, and say on Tuesday I did have a large bowel movement in the morning, I would feel a little more shaky on this day. Whether this is blood sugar I’m not sure as I haven’t measured it but it certainly feels like the same symptoms of when a crash is ‘coming on’.

I’m not overly concerned about trying to address this independently. I could stuff myself with food to squeeze out some more time between meals but this would be detrimental to digestion and would weaken me further.

It’s just an observation that I was curious to understand from a medical/nutritional perspective.

Ta,

P.S, Are there any tests out there that could help confirm the presence of alchohol/ethanol, and therefore get a better idea of what’s stressing the liver?

Hi,

This site provides an excellent graph and explanation of what happens over time in a normal person, a hypoglycaemic, and a diabetic following a meal - http://hypoglykemie.nl/gtt.htm

Incidentally I had a glucose tolerance test (GTT) years ago and my graph fit that of someone with reactive hypoglycaemia perfectly.

To test for gut fermentation (ethanol production) I used Biolab. If you're in the UK you can use them too. I'm afraid I don't know of similar tests elsewhere:

Gut Fermentation profile

I also had a test done there that was a toxic screen and detected elevated liver enzymes associated with the metabolism of ethanol - unfortunately I can't seem to find it now. Maybe they discountinued it or maybe I am just tired! You can have a look around the site yourself