Hypoglycemia: The Other Sugar Disease

Anita Flegg
Book Coach Press (2005)
ISBN 0973520760
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (09/06)

Hypoglycemia is a disease characterized by low blood sugar as opposed to diabetes, which is high blood sugar.  Hypoglycemia is a difficult disease to diagnose, as there are so many different symptoms, such as irritability, tiredness, constant hunger, racing heart and headaches. These are just some of the more common symptoms and some people have no readily discernable symptoms at all.

The author of the book, Anita Flegg, is not a doctor.  She is, however, a woman who suffers with hypoglycemia and has made herself an informed patient.  She conducted extensive interviews with doctors, nutritionists, and health-food storeowners as well as numerous other people suffering with the disease.  One of the amazing things you realize as you read of other patient’s experiences is how different every person’s symptoms can be. 

Just as in diabetes, there are different forms of hypoglycemia. The two main categories are reactive hypoglycemia and fasting hypoglycemia.  The author then breaks these broad categories down into smaller groups, each with its own symptoms.  They all have the same treatment however.  The patient must make changes in their diet and they must continue this diet, with changes as indicated, for the rest of their life.
 
One thing that stands out is that hypoglycemia is a difficult and time-consuming illness to diagnose.  Strict protocols must be followed during the testing and many doctors treat hypoglycemia as a disease-of-the-month illness and tend to brush the patient’s concerns aside.  The author recommends that when you go to your doctor for your first discussion about hypoglycemia, you go armed with knowledge.  Take along a food journal that lists what you eat, when you ate it and how it made you feel; if you have been tracking your blood sugar levels, in conjunction with your food journal, that’s even better.  Make a list of what you want to talk about with the doctor as well as a complete list of medications, including over the counter ones that you are currently taking.  Most important, take notes and make sure you understand the medical terms the doctor uses.  If you don’t, get an explanation of anything you don’t understand before you leave. 

“Hypoglycemia: The Other Sugar Disease” points out that hypoglycemia can only be controlled by changing your diet, but it takes effort on your part.  Make sure to keep up on the latest information available on the Internet.  Join an Internet support group to help you with the day-to-day management of your disease. 

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