From: dew@Turing.ORG (David E. Watson)
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: hypoglycemia-- TESTS
Date: 15 Sep 92 17:11:54 GMT
Organization: The Turing Project, Charlottesville Virginia.

In article <1992Sep15.124009.16015@omen.UUCP> caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) writes:
>In article <38562@zephyr.ens.tek.com> waynec@tektronix.tek.com writes:
>>
>>    I had the glucose tolerance test for hypoglycemia and this is how it went:
>>
>>    After a 12 hour fast, I went to the hospital for the test.  They started by
>>taking a blood sample.  Then they gave me a glass of "Glucola", a very sugary
>>clear drink tasting like very sweet 7up.  After 20-30 minutes they took another
>>blood sample (I was feeling high on the sugar).  After about 20 more minutes I
>>started showing symptoms of hypoglycemia (shaking, weakness).  They took the
>>next sample and after analyzing it called the doctor to ask if they should
>>"bring me out of it".  He said no as he wanted to see what my recovery rate
>>was.  They had me lay down and only woke me for the now hourly blood samples.
>>I can't remember for sure, but I think the whole thing took 5 hours.  My arms
>>were like pin cushions and I had the worst headache I have every had.
>
>Two things to look for:
>
>1) a high rate of drop in glucose level is troublesome
>as glucose may drop very low briefly, between samples
>
>2) The response time to peak insulin concentration.  Normal
>response time is a peak within 30 minutes or so.  A delayed
>response time may indicate defective, inactive insulin which
>traditional tests cannot distinguish from good insulin.

Yes!  I would definitely agree.  For years I suffered from
hypoglycemia type symptoms, but everytime I would try to discuss it
with a health industry person, I was told that true hypoglycemia is
rare and that I was perfectly healthy.  I knew from the way I felt,
that something was not right with my system.  Finally, out of
desperation, I decided to go to a psychiatrist (figuring maybe it
*WAS* all in my mind).  I was fortunate enough to go to someone who
had done research into diet.  He suggested I have a Glucose Tolerance
Test.  The difference with the test he instructed the hospital to
administer was that he wanted to see reading at 1/2 hour intervals for
the first 3 hours (of a 5 hour test).

After we got the results back, he sat down with me and graphed the
results.  After a 12 hour fast and after drinking the glucose, my
blood sugar shot up into the pre-diabetic range.  From there it
rapidly dropped down below fasting level and then slowly leveled off.

I tried to keep notes of how I felt.  I was doing fine until it got
around the fasting range.  At that point, I was sweating and had cold
chills and I was dizzy and basically couldn't function well enough to
even write.

After studying the results, he indicated that I had a fairly severe
case of hypoglycemia.  He told me that there were more recent studies
in this area that paid more attention to the rate of drop in the blood
sugar level than in the relative numbers to determine whether someone
has hypoglycemia.

As a side note, for those who are contemplating a GTT and are worried
about getting stuck with needles so many times, there is something
called a heplock (I think that's right).  It is an apparatus that is
inserted into the vein and left there.  The needle is then stuck in
the heplock to withdraw the blood.  The only problem is if the heplock
gets clogged up and the blood won't flow properly.


-- 

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 David Watson             Internet: dew@Turing.ORG            (804)295-6736 
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