Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hypoglycemia?

Back in April, I got some routine blood work done.  My results were awesome...really good cholesterol levels, and my organs seem to be functioning propertly.  The only thing that stood out in a bad way was my glucose (blood sugar) level.  The normal range is 70-100, and I was at 55.  My doctor didn't seem concerned about it, so I didn't worry.

For the past couple of months, I've felt off.  I've had a big appetite.  I've been really thirsty all the time.  I've been so tired in the morning that two out of three times I cannot get up to run.  I feel like I have to pee constantly.  What is it?  Well, I blamed the hunger on the training.  I blame my thirst on the heat.  I blame my fatigue on the training.  I blame my frequent urination on drinking a lot.  But is it that simple? I do not know. 

I've been doing some research and talking about it, and I'm fearing that I might have Hypoglycemia.  Hypoglycemia is not to be confused with HyPERglycemia or Diabetes I suppose.  Hypoglycemia is basically when you have too much insulin in your bloodstream and your body's sugars are used up too quickly.  Diabetes is the opposite, where your pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin and hence the need for insulin shots. 

Symptoms, and I've bolded mine:

Symptoms you may have when your blood sugar gets too low include:

•Double vision or blurry vision
•Fast or pounding heartbeat
•Feeling cranky or acting aggressive
•Feeling nervous
•Headache
•Hunger
•Shaking or trembling
•Sleeping trouble
•Sweating
•Tingling or numbness of the skin
•Tiredness or weakness
•Unclear thinking

I've left a message w/ my doc to see if I can get further glucose testing to try and figure out what is going on.  Apparently you drink a very syrupy concoction, and then get tested every hour for two hours or so to find out how quickly your body is processing the sugar. 

Call me a hypochondriac, but the constant hunger and fatigue is really getting to me!  I even wake up at least once a week because I am so hungry and I cannot fall back asleep until I've eaten something.  And my training is not that intense, really.  There are people who do Ironmans that go out and train for six hours a day!  I really do not do more than 60-90 minutes of training per day, 5-6 days a week which seems very reasonable. 

Hopefully I can get some answers soon and find out what I can do to improve my current state.  Stay tuned!


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