Has anyone here that's been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia ever been prescribed a medication named "Precose"?
you take it 3x's a day, at first bite of food at meal time, then you increase it gradually after a few weeks.
It's a starch blocker ( alpha-glucosidase inhibitor) and works in the intestine, slowing down the ingestion of carb's and lengthening the time it takes from carb's to convert to glucose, thereby facilitating better blood glucose control. It mainly influences the level of blood sugar after eating. there are pro's and cons to it of course.
stomach upset, bloating, gas, being the most severe but subsides after time.
The pro to this med is that most people will find it easier to lose weight on it compared to other med's.
the con to it also is if you're diabetic and you get hypoglycemia it MUST be treated with glucose, NOT table sugar, sucrose. because it prevents the break down of table sugar.
it has been used in Europe for several yrs before it was approved in the U.S.
It's action is quite different from other diabetes medications in that it works by inhibiting enzymes in the intestine that break down carbohydrates.
Diet alone is not stopping my lows. Mine is low all the time. I can't seem to get the sugar level to stay normalized. even after eating foods with protein, carbs and fats, etc.
endo called me ystrdy with results of GTT test and said that I'm not producing an excess of insulin and that I have reactive hypoglycemia and told me that I have slow absorption of sugar . i thought with hypoglyecimia that there's an over production of insulin. she's saying that it's some type of absorption problem.
I asked how long I have to take this medication and she stated probably the rest of my life.
I'm confused and won't see her till six weeks.
I thought hypoglycemia, reactive, is when your pancrease produces too much insulin? the dr said at the 3rd hour that my reading was 37 according to the blood that was drawn and sent to a lab, but the finger ***** read 42 or something in the 40's. so I'm assuming that the meters have higher readings than the drawn method?
any input would be appreciated. please feel free to share.
.... It's a starch blocker ( alpha-glucosidase inhibitor) and works in the intestine, slowing down the ingestion of carb's and lengthening the time it takes from carb's to convert to glucose, thereby facilitating better blood glucose control. It mainly influences the level of blood sugar after eating.
Starch blockers only make a difference if you are eating lots of carbs. Wouldn't it be easier to not eat the carbs in the first place? You say that diet hasn't done it for you, but have you reduced carbs enough to be able to reach this conclusion?
Count up all the carbohydrate you are eating for a few days, including carbs in milk, fruit, vegetables etc. And then think again about this. To put this in perspective, a low-carb way of eating is less than 50 grams of carbo a day.
Cheers,
Mark
__________________
Type 1 since 1977. On Lantus, Novorapid and Actrapid.
Mark,
thank you for you reply.
i don't even have a list of foods with carbs but will google that later today.
so they say we must have less than 50 carbs a day? or per meal?
my dr suggested a nutrionist, but if I can do the research myself with out seeing a dr for followups and without taking the medication, then by all means, I'll just do it myself.
I was never told this.
I don't want to spend money seeing all these people if not necessary plus paying money for pills when diet alone can just change it.
I saw your post and I have the same problem, i did a diet search on hypoglycemia and I have tried it this morning and still a little dizzy but after checking my sugar, not having the dives. For example for breakfast 1fruit 1 meat 2 bread 1 fat and 1 milk, and it gives you the exchange for 6 meals.
I also have low blood pressure so never know which one it is, but those spikes are horrendous, half the time i cant even function, I totally understand
.... i don't even have a list of foods with carbs ..... so they say we must have less than 50 carbs a day? or per meal?
Linda,
The nutritional data is provided on the labels of most food. Look at the the number in the "Serving" column. For example, there is about 15gms of carbo in a slice of bread and you will find the number on the packet. You can also get these numbers from on-line databases (google "nutrition data"). Useful for things like fruit and vegetables.
A low-carb diet is less than 50 grams of carbs a day. But you probably don't need to go this low. You only need to reduce carbs enough to make the hypo reactions stop. Spreading the carbs out during the day and combining them with protein/fat also helps.
Cheers,
Mark
__________________
Type 1 since 1977. On Lantus, Novorapid and Actrapid.
Thank you both for you replies to my questions.
This is all very confusing to me and part of me just wants to say the heck with it all and continue to live like I used to. It's too much work involved.
I thought I was supposed to eat foods with high gylycemic indexes rather than lower ones.
the lower the index would seem I'm not getting enough caloric value.
If I eat low calorie foods, I have the attacks. I have to make sure I eat a sufficient amount of food each time I eat. I can NOT diet or eat foods where I'm not full enough. protein, fats, carbs, etc.
I do know to stay away from processed foods and pure sugars. fructose is fine for me but not alone on an empty stomach.
I've been googling to learn more about this complex system.
if I'm not a diabetic, then maybe i"m making too much of a big deal about this hypoglycemic thing and the more I think about it the bigger of a problem it becomes. I only went to the dr in the first place because of how much it was interfering with my work. It made me stop dead in my tracks ,the symtoms, not to mention I'd felt like I ran a marathon after an attack.
I've always been able to eat carb's, pasta, white bread, what ever I liked to eat without problems until the past few yrs.
Why now?
why the sudden change? it's such an interferance.
I'm sorry I ever delved into this but was curious as to what the heck I was being afflicted with. Now that I have my answer, I can leave matters alone since hypoglycemia is nothing to worry about. it's just uncomfortable.
not deadly like diabetes.
[Removed] Posting Personal Contact information is against the Rules. The boards are for online communication only. Please read the Posting Rules and honor your User Agreement which you agreed to when signing up for use of the boards.
I thought hypoglycemia, reactive, is when your pancrease produces too much insulin? the dr said at the 3rd hour that my reading was 37 according to the blood that was drawn and sent to a lab, but the finger ***** read 42 or something in the 40's. so I'm assuming that the meters have higher readings than the drawn method?
Meters don't always have higher readings, they are simply effected slow by the drop than a venous draw is. And they are allowed some wiggle room accuracy wise.
As far as insulin production is concerned- what happens with reactive hypoglycemics is not that they make too much insulin all the time, but rather their insulin response to meals is delayed, causing an increase in blood sugar. The body panicks seeing this increase, then makes too much insulin for that brief moment to compensate.
