January 21, 2019
Question from Springfield, Missouri, USA:
About 32 hours ago, our son had a low blood sugar level in the 30s mg/dl [1.7 to 1.9 mmol/L], about two hours after a reading of 80 mg/dl [4.5 mmol/L]. My husband him had him drink 8 ounces of apple juice, plus four glucose tablets. We waited 15 minutes. His blood sugar had gone up to 58 mg/dl [3.2 mmol/L] so we gave him two more glucose tablets. After another 15 minutes, his blood sugar was in the 70s mg/dl [3.9 to 4.4 mmol/L]. He had a cheese stick, plus five peanut butter crackers. Since that time, his levels have run high, even into the 200s mg/dl [over 11.1 mmol/L]. He has had no ketones. I should add that his levels have been very tight up to this point. Specifically, the following day, his blood sugar was 165 mg/dl [9.2 mmol/L] at 10:05 a.m., 159 mg/dl [8.8 mmol/L] at 12:25 p.m., 114 mg/dl [6.4 mmol/L] at 5 p.m., 146 mg/dl [8.1 mmol/L] at 7:30 p.m.; and 217 mg/dl [12.1 mmol/L] at 9:40 p.m.. The next day, he was 88 mg/dl [4.9 mmol/L] at 9:25 a.m.; 108 mg/dl [6.0 mmol/L] at 12:20 p.m.; 159 mg/dl [8.8 mmol/L] at 2:30 p.m., and 101 mg/dl [5.6 mmol/L] at 7:40 p.m. Does this mean it is the end of the honeymoon?
Answer:
There is not enough information for me to say much of anything.The honeymoons don’t have to happen and, when they do, they are of variable duration. They are the shortest, or not at all, in the youngest kids, the longest in teens and adults.
After a prolonged hypoglycemic event, body will usually “overshoot and overcorrect” through an adrenalin surge and also cortisol and growth hormone responses. So, the key question is not the high sugar levels for hours afterwards, but why treat hypoglycemia with slow foods and high fat foods when treatment should continue, in my opinion, with simple fast-acting carbohydrates? The slow carbohydrates and high fat foods may facilitate keeping the blood sugar levels high for a long time afterwards whereas the simple fast acting sugars/carbohydrate will just bump up the levels. More important is actually why the low happened in the first place so that it might be prevented in the future.
SB
DTQ20130311234442
Original posting 30 Apr 2013
Posted to Honeymoon
and Hypoglycemia
