6 ms·

No, diabetes is fundamentally a lack of ability to control your blood sugar. This means you get lots of highs but also lots of lows. It's a common misconception

No, diabetes is fundamentally a lack of ability to control your blood sugar. This means you get lots of highs but also lots of lows. It's a common misconception that diabetes just means your blood sugar is always high; rather, your sugar is high because your body no longer controls it actively.

bakedoatmeal 3y ago
Diabetes mellitus is an insulin problem- either a lack of insulin (Type 1) or insufficient response to insulin (Type 2). Insulin is responsible for lowering blood glucose. The hormones responsible for raising blood glucose (cortisol, IGF-1, glucagon, epinephrine) still function normally. My understanding was hypoglycemia only occurs in diabetes in the presence of medications used to lower blood glucose (insulin formulations, sulfonylureas, etc.) and not because of diabetes itself, which when untreated invariably leads to hyperglycemia.
- TylerE 3y ago
  It’s not either or, either. Some really unlucky folks end up with a hybrid and have both problems… they don’t produce enough insulin or react well to what they do.
cstrahan 3y ago
I'm pretty certain you're mistaken here. Diabetes is specifically characterized by elevated blood glucose, either due to pancreas not producing enough insulin or your body becoming descensitized to insulin. You will find that diabetics often do have low blood sugar, but that's because they overestimate how much insulin they need to inect, causing their blood sugar to go too low. The hypoglycemia in this scenario is not caused by diabetes, but rather a dangerous side effect of the treatment. OP doesn't have diabetes, and (unless he's abusing insulin for body building purposes) isn't taking insulin. His postprandial hypoglycemia is likely a benign case of "reactive hypoglycemia" (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/reactive-hypoglycemia/faq-20057778 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expe...).
beanjuiceII 3y ago
You don't get lows from diabetes
- pgporada 3y ago
  Are you being pedantic on purpose?

bakedoatmeal 3y ago

Diabetes mellitus is an insulin problem- either a lack of insulin (Type 1) or insufficient response to insulin (Type 2). Insulin is responsible for lowering blood glucose. The hormones responsible for raising blood glucose (cortisol, IGF-1, glucagon, epinephrine) still function normally. My understanding was hypoglycemia only occurs in diabetes in the presence of medications used to lower blood glucose (insulin formulations, sulfonylureas, etc.) and not because of diabetes itself, which when untreated invariably leads to hyperglycemia.

TylerE 3y ago
It’s not either or, either. Some really unlucky folks end up with a hybrid and have both problems… they don’t produce enough insulin or react well to what they do.

cstrahan 3y ago

I'm pretty certain you're mistaken here. Diabetes is specifically characterized by elevated blood glucose, either due to pancreas not producing enough insulin or your body becoming descensitized to insulin. You will find that diabetics often do have low blood sugar, but that's because they overestimate how much insulin they need to inect, causing their blood sugar to go too low. The hypoglycemia in this scenario is not caused by diabetes, but rather a dangerous side effect of the treatment. OP doesn't have diabetes, and (unless he's abusing insulin for body building purposes) isn't taking insulin. His postprandial hypoglycemia is likely a benign case of "reactive hypoglycemia" (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/reactive-hypoglycemia/faq-20057778 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expe...).

beanjuiceII 3y ago

You don't get lows from diabetes

pgporada 3y ago
Are you being pedantic on purpose?