I’ve been really fascinated by our recent lectures on blood sugar regulation and metabolism. More specifically, the pathways involved in the body’s response to low blood sugar and with glucagon release and the breakdown of glycogen stores. For some odd reason as we aren’t diabetic, my two younger sisters, mom, and I all often experience hypoglycemia and its uncomfortable symptoms of fatigue, light headedness, shakiness, and sweating etc. My first memory of being hypoglycemic was probably when I was 4 or 5 years old, waiting for my parents to make my pb&j, when suddenly I felt sweaty, weak, and a little dizzy. Luckily, that pb&j came to the rescue.
Since then, I’ve found that once we get hungry, we have a short period of time until we start to experience these symptoms. I’m able to stop the progression into the more annoying symptoms if I act quickly, so you’ll almost always find me carrying a snack or pocket candy just in case! It’s easily preventable since I know that I can’t go long periods without food, though I still forget from time to time. It’s been very interesting to learn about what is happening in my body during these episodes to regulate my blood sugar levels via glycogenolysis, and also how it responds after I eat my “just in case” snacks to restore glucose homeostasis and relieve my symptoms.
Thanks for sharing your experience with this Ingrid! I had never heard of hypoglycemia that is not caused by diabetes and am interested in what causes this. It is also clearly genetic, which is fascinating. Maybe after this course you’ll be able to hypothesize what pathway is being impacted. I’m glad this is easily relieved when you’re able to act quickly- it’s very smart of you always to have a snack on hand just in case!
I have had similar experiences when I was a kid as well! It turns out for me that I had low cortisol which suppressed my pancreases response to changing glucose levels in my blood. Normally with cortisol signaling it would decrease insulin and increase glucagon. I am much better now though and don’t seem to be having those problems anymore, glad that you have adapted as well.
I really appreciate your personal reflection on your experiences with glucose homeostasis and how you connected it to class topics. I find it so interesting that you and other members of your family experience episodes of hypoglycemia and other symptoms without having a diagnosis of diabetes. I also loved how you mention that you carry around “pocket snacks” to resolve your symptoms quickly! It’s nice to also see that the things we have talked about in class are so directly relevant and can help you understand and learn more about health.
Thanks for sharing such a personal and relatable experience! It’s really interesting how learning about the physiology behind blood sugar regulation can suddenly make your experiences make so much more sense. Your story about the PB&J coming to the rescue was both cute and a great example of how quickly the body responds when glucose is reintroduced. It’s also interesting that your whole family seems to be prone to hypoglycemic symptoms despite not being diabetic. Additionally, I admire how you’ve learned to manage it so proactively, and it’s great that our lectures are giving you a clearer picture of what’s actually going on inside your body!