How to Test for Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia, outside of that caused by diabetes, is hard to diagnose, since it may masquerade as a number of different illnesses. However, there are ways to test specifically for hypoglycemia. Many doctors do not consider low blood sugar a hugely serious problem, but you can request a glucose tolerance test that will help determine whether your symptoms are caused by hypoglycemia.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Prepare to Test For Hypoglycemia

1. Determine what kind of hypoglycemic symptoms you have. Reactive hypoglycemics begin to feel symptoms only a few hours after eating. Fasting hypoglycemics do not experience symptoms until a minimum of five hours have passed since the last meal.
2. Determine when symptoms occur. Keep track in a notebook what happens and when (how long after eating). This alone may be enough of a test for your doctor to make a diagnosis.

Complete a Self-Test

3. Compare your symptoms to the standard signs of hypoglycemia. Write down the symptoms that match in your notebook.
4. Find out if your blood sugar is low (60 or below) when you experience symptoms.
5. Note whether the symptoms go away within about ten minutes after you have eaten some form of simple sugar, like fruit juice. Write down what you ate and how long it took for the discomfort to subside.
6. Check your results. If your blood sugar was low when you suffered symptoms, and your discomfort went away after you ate, this is a good sign that you are hypoglycemic.
7. Show the data to your doctor.

Take the Glucose Tolerance Test

8. Fast overnight for a morning test.
9. Drink the glucose drink you are given quickly. You may experience some nausea immediately afterward, but it usually subsides.
10. Ask your doctor if the test may be extended to four hours from the usual three. Your blood is taken and tested every hour. Three hours may not be enough for hypoglycemia to show up.
11. Eat your protein snack immediately after the test and avoid sugar for the rest of the day. This will dissipate the sugar "high" you may feel during the test.
12. Find out from your doctor the results of the test and what his diagnosis is. If you do have hypoglycemia, he will give you diet instructions and other materials to read. For more information go to How do doctors test for hypoglycemia (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Know the symptoms of low blood sugar. Pounding heartbeat, dizziness, paleness, and sweating may be the first signs followed by mental confusion, difficulty talking or walking, fainting or seizures.
• The glucose tolerance test must ordered by your doctor. If your symptoms can be controlled by dietary changes, you probably don't need this test.