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Hypoglycemia?
Low Blood Sugar
(L.B.S.) 		Symptoms The Goal Possible Causes How Serious Is The Condition? Do I Have It? How To Handle L.B.S. Available Materials On L.B.S. and Other Sites 

  

What is Hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia is the formal name for low blood sugar (LBS). Hypo is the Greek word for low and glycemia means sugar or glucose. Low blood sugar is a body chemistry condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is below the amount needed for the cells of your body to function properly.
    

What is blood sugar and why do we need it? Glucose (blood sugar) is the fuel the cells of your body use for energy /heat and is necessary for your body to run properly. Glucose is used by every cell in your body. The cells in the brain and retina of your eyes use only glucose for fuel, though other cells are able to use fats or amino acids (proteins) if necessary. Once you understand the condition and how it affects you, you will readily see that most of the symptoms are a result of faulty brain/nervous system function.
    

From where do we get glucose? Our best source of glucose is carbohydrate foods. These are vegetables, fruits, seeds, grains, and beans.

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Symptoms

Symptoms occur when your blood sugar is too low and certain cells in the body are not receiving enough energy from glucose to function properly. Usually the first areas to be affected are your central nervous system and eyes because they use only glucose for energy. This is why it is common for hypoglycemics to experience irritability, nervousness, anxiety, headaches, visual disturbances, faintness, exhaustion, etc.

Symptom List. Everyone has a few of these symptoms occasionally. But if you have some of these symptoms frequently, or always you can suspect that you may have low blood sugar(LBS).
  • headaches
  • exhaustion
  • irritability
  • crying spells
  • depression
  • phobias
  • temper outbursts
  • indecisiveness
  • concentration problems
  • visual disturbances
  • sensitivity to light
    and/or noise
  • PMS
  • muscle pain
  • tiredness
  • anxiety
  • cravings
  • mood swings
  • weight problems
  • passing out
  • nervousness
  • sleeping problems
  • cold hands
    and/or feet
  • drowsiness
  • forgetfulness
  • nightmares
  • dizziness
  • heart palpitations
  • lack of sex drive
  • mental confusion
  • aching eye sockets
  • anti-social behavior
  • negative thoughts
    and attitudes
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The Goal

Your goal as a hypoglycemic should be to stabilize your blood sugar so you have a consistent supply of energy (blood sugar) being supplied to your cells at all times and are therefore able to avoid problems caused by low blood sugar. In order to stabilize blood sugar, you must have a plan specifically designed for a hypoglycemic to follow. This plan includes a food program with all the foods to avoid or minimize clearly explained, an exercise program, lifestyle concepts, etc.
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Possible Causes of Hypoglycemia:


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How Serious is Hypoglycemia?

We think hypoglycemia is the most dangerous condition in the U.S. today. Its seriousness ranges from a headache to suicide. Some common problems of hypoglycemics:

    What is it all based on?The simple fact is that the cells of your brain are not being allowed to function correctly because they are not getting sufficient glucose to produce the needed energy for the cells to function properly. Because of the cells' dysfunction, your brain becomes dysfunctional. So, why wouldn't your life become dysfunctional if your brain isn't functioning properly? And why wouldn't society become dysfunctional if the members of that society were dysfunctional. All of this from a condition that is believed to be rare or mostly imagined!

So the next time someone says to you, "It's all in your head", agree and tell the person, "I am working on getting my blood sugar stable so my brain cells will have sufficient energy to function proficiently". And smile!!
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How to Determine if You Have Hypoglycemia

There doesn't seem to be any sure fire, scientific method to determine if you have hypoglycemia. But using the following methods will give you a fairly definite conclusion:
  1. Review symptoms
  2. Follow a hypoglycemic program and see if you improve: what better way to see if something works.
  3. Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT), 6 hour - at best a poor method and not recommended because many hypoglycemics' blood glucose numbers don't go low enough to be considered hypoglycemic. Numbers are not always as valid as whether you have symptoms during the test and food relieves the symptoms. Also the test is time consuming and stressful and most times is inconclusive. A 3 hour GTT is a very good test for diagnosing diabetes. A 5 or 6 hour GTT test is necessary for testing for hypoglycemia.
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What To Do If You Have Hypoglycemia

If you know or suspect you have hypoglycemia, you should spend your time and energy on the solution. Don't waste your time on the problem of whether the medical community agrees with you or whether the condition is common or rare or any other issues not pertinent to you being stable. The most efficient means for you to stabilize your blood sugar is to have sufficient and correct information to follow.

There are three (3) substances you must avoid:
  1. Sugars of all types - sucrose, dextrose, honey, etc
  2. Starchy foods - pasta, rice, corn, breads, potatoes, etc
  3. Stimulants - caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, etc

For complete information on how to stabilize your blood sugar and become a happy and productive person again, see Available Hypoglycemia Materials

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