How do Doctors test for Hypoglycemia?
How can I tell which type is affecting me?
In Fasting Hypoglycemia, your symptoms would begin only 5 hours or more after eating. In this case the underlying problem could be relatively serious, and you probably already feel sick. Please get checked out by your doctor. In spite of the dire nature of the above statement, you can still probably feel better by changing your diet, as we’ll describe in a future article. You should mention the hypoglycemia symptoms and any diet changes you have made when you see your doctor. More information is always better when it comes to finding causes of illness.
Can I take a test to "prove" that hypoglycemia is the problem?
If you have reactive hypoglycemia, and changing your diet works well for you, you may not need to formalize your diagnosis with a test. If, on the other hand, you are feeling ill and are unable to control your symptoms with changes in diet, you should definitely see your doctor for testing.
As mentioned earlier, the standard test for suspected hypoglycemia is a Glucose Tolerance Test. This is a test done first thing in the morning before eating. You are given a drink of a sugary, high carbohydrate drink that you must finish quickly. Then, at intervals over the next few hours, your blood is drawn and tested for blood sugar levels.
When the Glucose Tolerance Test is conducted with blood being drawn at the 1/2 hour mark, followed by tests at 1, 2, 3, 3-1/2, 4 and 5 hours, the information required to make a diagnosis of hypoglycemia should be available. If the lab has been instructed to take an extra sample when you report symptoms, the test results will be even more informative.
Some doctors also recommend taking one measurement of the insulin level immediately after the glucose drink. Others prefer to test the insulin level every time the blood sugar is measured. A high insulin level could help explain the cause of the hypoglycemia.
Other sources list the definitive test for hypoglycemia as the condition meeting Whipple’s Triad. Whipple’s Triad is defined as:
- symptoms of hypoglycemia,
- a low glucose level at the same time as the symptoms, and
- improvement and/or resolution of the symptoms with administration of carbohydrate (injected or eaten).