Is it possible to come through from a hypoglycemic attack on your own without medical attention or medication?
Question by BluEyes: Is it possible to come through from a hypoglycemic attack on your own without medical attention or medication?
I am a 26 yr old woman and I have been diagnosed with hypoglycemia which I’ve never been told to be related to diabetes. I very rarely have an attack but there are times when my sugar gets so low that I get shaky, jittery, disorientated, turn pale white and I feel a faint feeling coming on and if I address it soon enough with a glass of orange juice and some cheese (suggested by doctor) the symptoms pass quickly on their own. My fiance is a paramedic and it upsets me a lot because he discounts the validity of me having this condition since it’s been his experience in the medical field that people only recover from an attack if drugs are pushed. Could it be possible he is uneducated or unaware of those of us with milder cases, such as mine, that don’t require an ambulance and maybe that’s why he is so set in his beliefs that if I was to have hypoglycemia and an attack was to come on, that did causes me to faint, I couldn’t wake up from it on my own? Please help and tell me your source of knowledge!
Best answer:
Answer by micreativeimages
I have hypoglycemia and it is true that there are no medications for it.
My doctors told me to just make sure I eat something every few hours…something small. Like lower my portions of food at lunch and dinner and always have small snacks in between.
It is caused by your sugar getting too low, so just make sure you always have snacks with you (a cereal bar, nutrigran bar, some crackers). Those all work for me.
If I do feel like I am getting shaky and disoriented, I just eat something right away.
It sucks I know and despite what your doctor told you, they say it can be an early warning sign of diabetes. Just be sure to eat healthy and stay in shape and you should be fine.
Give your answer to this question below!
formerly_bob says:
You BF is not as knowledgeable as he thinks. When diabetics have hypoglycemia, it is usually a medical emergency because they took too much insulin, and they sometime have very little time before they slip into shock.
People with chronic or reactive hypoglycemia rarely find themselves in an emergency situation since the problem that causes these types of hypoglycemia doesn’t usually cause rapid or large changes in insulin levels.
If you have hypoglycemia that occasionally comes and goes, but is not normally present, you probably have reactive hypoglycemia, which is most common in people that have little body fat and when people burn up calories too rapidly during exercise. If you have chronic hypoglycemia, that means you have some type of untreated medical problem other than diabetes that is causing the problem.
jeff_iversen@sbcglobal.net says:
If you have passed out or gone into a coma, you will not be able to do anything on your own. Some people carry emergency glucose pills around with them. When they start to feel shaky, this helps.
Your best bet is to prevent having an attack in the first place. Effective treatment of reactive hypoglycemia requires dietary modification to help delay glucose absorption and gastric emptying. Usually this includes small, frequent meals; ingestion of complex carbohydrates, fiber, and fat; and avoidance of simple sugars, alcohol, and fruit drinks. Try to avoid or limit your intake of simple carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, white potatoes, bagels, french fries, soda pop (diet and regular). Eat complex carbs instead, like brown rice, rye bread, stone-ground whole wheat bread and other fruits and vegetables. Eat 5 small meals per day. Make sure that lean protein is part of your diet every day.
"McRib" NREMT-P says:
Of course you can fix hypoglycemia with out giving drugs or IV dextrose. Hell I do it all the time on calls where the person has a low blood sugar but is still awake enough to eat and drink. As long as you eat or drink when you feel it coming on you will be fine. So yes, I am going to have to agree with you on this one!