September 18, 2006
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Hypoglycemia
Question from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada:
My son had a hypoglycemic episode during gym class. He experienced sudden weakness and extreme thirst, nausea and shortness of breath, felt very hot and saw flashing lights briefly. He’s 6 feet tall, 59 kg (130 pounds) at the age of 14. He also gets migraines during sports’ activities. He did eat breakfast before his gym class. Could this just be a random episode? Should he get blood work done ruling out diabetes? We saw his doctor and he never suggested anything. He said just to make sure he eats one hour before sports. Last year, he missed a lot of school because of gym class and migraines. I’m just concerned that it may be more then migraines.
Answer:
It is impossible to make any medical diagnosis via the Internet, but this does not sound like hypoglycemia. However, migraine equivalents could have such symptoms. So, it will be important to keep track of what symptoms occur, when they occur and to be a detective about what might be precipitating events. And, of course, stay in contact with your health care team to help with such assessments.
SB
