Diet for Hypoglycemia

hypoglycemia in diet controlled type 2 diabetic?

what could cause reaccurent severe hypoglycemia in a type 2 diabetic who does not take any medicine or insulin and is diet controlled? i keep getting severe lows but my doctors dont believe me - i have five meters and they have all been checked against my doctors meters yet she still does not believe it says its impossible, she is an endo, i still get the highs as well and have tried eating less carbs more protiens etc cut out refined sugar all to no avail, it gets worse when i walk around or get any sort of exercise. any ideas?

Public Comments

1. Try to eat small meals throughout the day especially with activities. Keep an accurate log of blood sugars with times and activities being performed for your MD to review. If after you consult her with this information she continues to discredit your condition, seek a second opinion. You can always ask her for a refferal. This may spark a greater interest in your illness, or it can put you on the path to better health. Either way, you come out ahead.
2. A new Israeli study suggests that pomegranate juice, despite its high content of sugar, would be beneficial for diabetics. The fruit had already many virtues from its antioxidant nature: on the heart, for prostate cancer and osteoarthritis. Published in the journal Atherosclerosis, this study indicates that people who drank 50 ml of pomegranate juice daily for three months reduced their risk of atherosclerosis (fatty deposits on the inner lining of arteries that decrease the irrigation of the brain), a complication often seen in diabetics. Moreover, consumption of this juice reduces oxidative stress responsible for the aging of arteries from 56 to 28%.
3. How old is she? I have found that older doctors are not always up to date on research (even though they are supposed to attend continuing education seminars). I hear too often people say that type 2s can not have hypo episodes, and yet I am one who does. I know others who do (and not all of them use insulin). If the doctor is not listening and will not accept meter readings, get a second opinion or do some research online (make sure the sites are crdible - Mayo clinic, Joslin, ADA, Endo Web, etc) to show him (make sure there's a reference link to a professional medical journal).
4. Before we go on, you have to define hypoglycemia. By definition, it is blood sugar lower than 60 with symptoms (diaphoresis, shakes, with and without confusion) and resolution of the symptoms after ingestion of a high sugar food. If you do have hypoglycemia, you need to document this in your glucometer and show this to your doctor. Most glucometer has build in memory for many days. You can also print out the results with availabe software. Contour, Freestyle and Accucheck are have available software. Assuming what you are telling me is correct, possible causes of your hypoglycemia include: hypopituitarism, Addison's disease, severe hypothyroidism, acute alcoholism or liver failure, renal failure, particularly in patients requiring dialysis. And lastly, consider insulin secreting tumor. Your doctor can assist you in determining the above possible causes. Alcohol binging is probably the most common cause. Good luck.
5. If you are indeed controlling your diet and your current doctor doesn't believe you, it's past time for a new/different doctor. In the past 5 or so years in my treatment for a number of diseases, including type 1 diabetes, I have had the misfortune to have had a couple of doctors that ignored symptoms in me and the results of their doing so put me in the ICU and almost killed me before I switched both my PCP and the specialist who was "caring" for me.
6. I think it's time to see another doctor. Your case is quite unique and if your present doctor does not believe you of your hypoglycemic episodes, then see another doctor for your peace of mind and health protection. The advice of the Doctor is worth following. Please see another doctor now. Good luck to you and God bless.