What is Hypoglycemia?
Hypoglycemia / Low Blood Sugar
Insulin is released from your pancreas when sugar is needed for proper operation. Insulin reacts to the level of circulating blood sugar, and it is insulin that "opens the cells" to release the sugar for use and deliver blood sugar to the cells of the body. When your blood sugar begins to drop after you haven't eaten for a while, the liver releases some of the sugar. If you have a sugary snack (or an easily broken down simple carbohydrate like pasta), insulin is released to prevent your blood sugar from rising too much or to lower it if your sugar level has risen too high or too quickly. The idea is to keep your blood sugar level as constant as possible. A constant fuel supply is crucial to proper functioning of all of the body's systems, but this is especially true of the brain. This is the way the system is supposed to work, but in hypoglycemia, this system doesn't work properly.
Often, the pancreas over-reacts and the level of sugar in the blood is pushed too low. At this point the adrenal gland sends adrenalin to signal the emergency condition and stops the release of insulin. The adrenalin also signals the liver and muscles to circulate some of the sugar that they have been storing to help bring the blood sugar back to normal operating levels. Additional hormones are produced to metabolize the sugar and block the insulin.
The release of adrenalin (also called epinephrine), also causes the classic "fight or flight" response. This is where your initial symptoms of sweating, dizziness and elevated heart rate come from. Symptoms can be aggravated if your adrenal system is "burned out" from prolonged or frequent stress.
Other reactions vary widely, but you may find that you are hungry again soon after you eat, or you may crave sweets, or you may feel sick and dizzy. The symptoms range all the way from mild discomfort to the inability to function normally. In very severe cases, low blood sugar can cause passing out, coma, or even death.