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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> Hypoglycemia and CHs
        
(Message started by: anniebrook on Jan 3^rd, 2004, 4:01pm)

Title: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by anniebrook on Jan 3^rd, 2004, 4:01pm

Let me introduce myself first. I'm Annie and my husband Dave suffers from clusters. It was actually thanks to this site that he was finally able to be diagnosed after 10 years. Until Feb. 2003 he had been episodic but he is now chronic.

Anyway the reason for my finally posting is that we have found that low blood sugar is his trigger. He started to have a headache 2 mornings ago and I immediately checked his blood sugar level with a borrowed glucometer. It was 49. He then took a migranal (his drug of choice for relief). The rest of the day I had him eat often and checked his blood sugar several times. No headaches the rest of that day or all night. Yesterday he got up and sat at the table reading the paper and didn't eat anything by 11AM he was upside down crying for relief and his blood sugar level was 45. Later on in the day he felt one coming on (bsl was 52) and he drank a glass of orange juice. It went away instantly. Same thing right before bed last night and again this morning. This afternoon we were running errands and we rushed home so he could eat something to back one off but it took too long and the demon had already taken hold of him so food didn't help. He had to take a migranal. I am hoping we have found the major trigger of his attacks. He has a dr. appt on the 16th so we'll go over this new discovery with her then and see what she says. For now I'm going to watch his diet and his bsl closely. I will keep you posted and we really hope this discovery can help someone else manage their clusters.

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by thomas on Jan 3^rd, 2004, 4:22pm

Welcome aboard, I hope Dave has pfnad soon......

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by Paigelle on Jan 5^th, 2004, 10:01am

My blood sugar actually runs a little low sometimes. I have to eat small meals all through the day.

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by floridian on Jan 5^th, 2004, 10:29am

There has been some recent research on fat metabolism and clusters - energy from fats (lipolysis) tends to be lower in CH patients than normal, and it is lowest in the early hours of the morning (a peak time for the headaches in many).

People with clusters also have messed up phosphatidyl choline/inositol, which is involved in the secondary messenger systems for both serotonin and insulin. So blood sugar fluctuations could be both a result of whatever causes clusters, and a trigger for some people.

Magnesium has been shown to help about 40% of people with clusters. Magnesium is also critical for insulin regulation, and is protective against developing Type 2 Diabetes.

If it is hypoglycemia in Dave's case, way less sugar and less complex carbs could definitely help (along with frequent meals / snacks to keep blood sugar up). A glass of juice helps short term, but for many, it just perpetuates a roller coaster - insulin is overproduced in response to sugar, and the boom in blood sugar from juice or candy leads to a bust in a few hours when the sugar is gone, but the insulin is still circulating in the blood. Sugar before bed is especially bad for people with hypoglycemia - starches are less boom/bust, and proteins and fats are better still because they don't generate insulin production.

I had panic attacks, which were increasingly bad over the past few years. I tended to get the panic attacks when I skipped a meal - sometimes I would get very shaky, and I suspected blood sugar problems. My fasting blood sugar test was fairly normal (85) but I have metabolic syndrome (low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, excess weight around belt). When I went on a low carb diet, the panic attacks stopped immediately. I suspect insulin resistance / regulation problems, which would not necessarily have shown up on the tests I was given. A recent study showed that low-carb diets are actually better than the traditionally prescribed low-fat/high carb diets for improving blood lipids: http://record.wustl.edu/web/page/normal/793.html

Good luck, hope you are on to something that works for you.

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by MAugust on Jan 5^th, 2004, 3:25pm

That's very interesting Annie. I too have hypoglycemia and discovered it around the time that I had my first CH attack. Yes, low bsl will trigger one for me as well. But I'm only an episodic sufferer so it will only trigger one during those cycles.

Keep him fed throughout the day and that should keep blood sugar levels up and avoid that trigger.

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by anniebrook on Jan 5^th, 2004, 4:21pm

Thank you all for the replies. I know this has been said many times before but this site is truly a Godsend for people who suffer from CH and the loved ones who feel so helpless trying to support them.

floridian, I have printed out your post to show Dave and his doctor. She really doesn't understand these headaches either but at least she knew what they were unlike the previous docs we visited.

When I first posted he wasn't doing this and was getting the rollercoaster effect so now when his BSL drops he will drink the OJ and then exercise. Something simple like running in place for about 10 minutes to get his adrenaline pumping and then stopping suddenly and just relaxing seems to prevent a rollercoaster effect with the insulin. Apparently adrenaline regulates insulin production so he brings his BSL back up quickly then stops the over production of insulin with aerobic exercise. It seems to work really well for him so far and I hope someone else can benefit from this suggestion.

We'd love to hear from anyone that tries it and it works for them.

God Bless!

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by Tiannia on Jan 5^th, 2004, 6:29pm

I have sevire hypoglycemia, but I never would have throught that that would be a trigger. The HA's that I get if my BSL dropps is very different for me then a Cluster. But I will start looking at it more closy and see if I can find a coorlation. It might be triggering and I just dont see it.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Wishing your hubby PFDaN,
Tiannia

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by BlueMeanie on Jan 5^th, 2004, 8:57pm

Annie,

I had a physical last week. The dr. called me the next day after checking my blood. My BSL was at 40. He told me all the stuff about eating etc. Since then, I'm down to only 1 CH attack each morning over the last 5 days. My cycle is on the down slope anyway, but I do think that has something to do to being a trigger.

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by anniebrook on Jan 6^th, 2004, 12:22am

I just knew there had to be others who had low BSL too. I can't wait to see what his doctor thinks at our next visit and what she recommends.

Dave had a couple of morning headaches that he stopped with some OJ and exercise but this morning when he went back to work after having the holidays off, he was able to eat breakfast on schedule and had a PF day. He also ate 5 small meals today and a light snack of peanut butter crackers before bed. Hopefully this is the beginning of some very good progress.

God Bless everyone!

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by TxBasslady on Jan 6^th, 2004, 12:42am

Annie,
Thanks for the info.....it is, indeed, very interesting.

It's great to know that your hubby seems to have found a possible link to his ha's.

Let us know what you find out at the doc's.

PF vibes to your hubby,

Jean

Title: Re: Hypoglycemia and CHs
Post by ave on Jan 6^th, 2004, 4:09am

This must be one of those things that are different from clusterhead to clusterhead - like cold versus heat on the head, or excercise versus non-excercise as an abortive.

I distinctly remember posts, recent and further away in the past, from people who stated they benefited from eating less and less.
The most extreme was somebody who planned to survive for a while on water and vitamintablets. Never heard what became of him...

And so it goes.

As I have said before, deducting the cause of clusters from outside symptoms is like trying to shoot a black cat in a darkened room when you don't even know a cat is there...

(It is not the author's intention to incite to the harming of cats. No cats were harmed before, during, or after writing this post).