
July 17, 1999
Hypoglycemia
Question from Valencia, California, USA:
Usually I get good warnings of imminent low blood sugar. Recently I had a very low sugar without warning. Can I anticipate this happening more often? When will a person convulse or be unable to eat sugar without assistance, numbers 25 or lower?
Answer:
Hypoglycemia begets hypoglycemia. So yes, I would worry about more of them. I am a supporter of Bill Clarke’s Blood glucose awareness training. He asks you to guess blood glucose before testing. I know you can’t tell most of the time, but patients get pretty good at it. Most importantly, he asks you to record feelings. You may get a pattern that helps turn the unaware low into an aware impending low.
At a blood sugar level of 25 mg/dl, most people can’t help themselves.
LD