October 19, 2008
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Leesville, South Carolina, USA:
My daughter has numerous symptoms and no definitive answer. She experiences severe headaches, fluctuating blood sugar levels, tachycardia at times, feels as if she is going to pass out, and turns pale. Blood work shows an elevated insulin level. Abnormal cholesterol levels and thyroid laboratory tests are normal. We saw an endocrine doctor who initially stated my daughter had a panic disorder, but had the laboratory tests done again and then called to put her on metformin 1000 mg. The dose causes extreme side effects so she takes 500 mg instead. She has been checked by cardiology and deemed normal but continues to have increased heart rate with twitching at times. Can you shed any light to the symptoms that she is having and recommend what our next step should be?
Answer:
This is difficult from a distance. I presume the blood glucose levels were normal, that it was not diabetes and not hypoglycemia. I expect the metformin is for the elevated insulin/metabolic disorder. I suppose it could be some of the hormone levels, which metformin might help. Children do have panic disorders.
LD
