How come my blood sugar is being effected by my head injury??? This is a question I ask a lot. I hadn’t been feeling the best for quite awhile after my head injury. I finally went to the doctor but they couldn’t explain it. I asked questions and they didn’t have answers. I finally asked for a blood test. When the results came back my blood sugar was 27 mg/dl this is considered a critical low. It can be life threatening. I had eaten 2.5 hours before that blood draw so there was no reason for my blood sugar to be that low. I was told that I needed to monitor my blood sugar so that I don’t die from to low of a blood sugar . My blood sugar has had a range anywhere from 521 mg/dl to 18 mg/dl. Does anyone else have blood sugar problems like this??? Mine has been so hard to control because of the fact that I am tube fed so I can’t actually eat. But any suggestions will help.
Adilyn.
Adilyn,
My blood sugar is low and is not like yours, yet I will give you what I know. When my blood sugar is low I go into fatigue, exhaustion, sweats, which makes my body immobilized. My mental connections go haywire in my brain and usually the madman attacks. My blood sugar, though, never has dropped below 60, so it was never consider any problem. Just from experience, this low blood sugar is enough with a brain injury my body reacts because my brain is taking all the blood sugar. I usually end up vomiting because my brain reacts in my stomach. From this I have learned to stabilize my blood sugar with oat meal and the fellow who taught me this eats oat meal three times a day.
As to your question, “How come my blood sugar is being effected by my head injury???” I suspect because your brain is trying to compensate for the missing links. It is eating up blood sugar faster than your body can produce, while your mind is seeking order, or this is from my experience. When my mind cannot find order and everything goes out of focus I go into a brain fog. My ideas become farfetched and outlandish, which makes me feel an irrational element. The anger comes to a boiling point, a resistance to life, and this taints my thought process. I feel like a crank, contentious and quarrelsome. I just say this because when my blood sugar is missing my brain is terrorized.
Also you autonomic system may not be working right, which regulates your body functions. There is a vitamin regime to help this, yet I never got into it because of the cost. The vitamins are there to help the cells and the mitochondria in the cells. There is a site online called Mito Action and they are very giving when you make a phone call to them. Blood sugar is linked into the mitochondria so they may be able to help you more, especially with vitamins to help your blood sugar.
I am so sorry Adilyn for all the terrifying implications this may create for you. Your presence is significant!
PS: The definition I have received on mitochondria is the following: “Mitochondria are parts of the cells that combine the calories we consume with oxygen and turn this combination into energy which runs everything in our body.” Mitochondria is energy for the body and the brain. The difficulty with bad mitochondria is there is strength in the muscles, just low energy, and the person with this disease goes into fight or flight to move the body. I assume, therefore, your blood sugar problem is not working out the energy for your brain and unhealthy blood sugar has close similarities to mitochondria disease.
PSS: My view point is I now have bad mitochondria because my pulse got low for ten years, down to 40 and this damaged my mitochondria within my cells. When I finally got a pace-maker, 2013, my brain and my cells got better, and yet my mitochondria was damaged enough I now drag my body around. When I need to do something I go into fight or flight, which will gradually destroy my adrenal gland. However, on this Mito site, their viewpoint is this mito disease is genetic, so a brain injury is not given much consideration. Yet nutrition and oxygen, blood sugar and vitamins all have a huge effect on the cells, so this is why I am recommending Mito Action.
Adilyn, I’m so sorry for your situation. I have not had super low blood sugars, but high. My injury was on March 18, 2017. I fractured my skull and had a subarachnoid hemorrhage and a lot of bruising to the brain. In the hospital they watched my sugars very closely. I also have had a nurse call me weekly, then biweekly and now monthly to make sure my Lantus and Metformin are at the levels they need to be. I had it adjusted almost every time we talked. The last month or so I’ve had to make no changes. It has taken about 9 months to get my numbers stable. But, praise God, they finally are. I don’t know the why of it, other than knowing when you sustain an injury or illness it whacks out your blood sugars. I was surprised at how long it took to get stablized. So, all that to say, see if your doctor or insurance has a specialist who can be checking in with you. And evaluating your numbers. I just note my morning fasting numbers and report them to the nurse when she calls. It may be different for you, but I think you would feel much better to have a professional helping you through this. Also my doctor told me it was imperative to keep blood sugars in good ranges because it helps in the healing process. Praying the best for you!
I’m not sure how to advise but come to think of it my blood sugars are on the low range. When I got tested a year ago but do notice that it dips in the morning and afternoon before meals. I always wondered if this was supposed to be like this.
It is all making sense now. I have to have two cuppas with two sugars in during the day.
On a good day, the brain uses 80% of your calories. For survivors, it uses them fast! The neurotransmitter production factory is healing, so we gotta use foot to keep the machinery running.
I had a strict snack schedule. That was the only way I could maintain my blood sugar. Otherwise I would forgot or simply decide not to eat something. I had no appetite either, so that didn’t help.
Adilyn,
I have blood sugar problems since my brain injury. For a few years I didn’t know why. I found out I have low ACTH, low cortisol, low DHEA and low aldosterone because I have damage to my pituitary. I have central adrenal insufficiency.
You may want to get those levels checked. Cortisol affects blood sugar and when you are deficient in it your sugar will drop to dangerously low levels. I hope you feel better soon!
Last night at 11pm I felt pretty bad. I checked my blood sugar: 3.6. WTF.
I had a smallish dinner. Oops.
Since the medical event I can’t get away with much when it comes to eating light.
Sorry about that Occipital are you feeling better?.
Belongs I eat three meals a day and drink two cups of tea I am good to go. I think for me when tired lowers blood suger levels.
.
Thank you @Danielle I am feeling great now.
Your dining plan sounds like a good one.
I think that our brains need more energy too, it is like the injury burns up tons of energy or something.
That is very good news to know Occipital. 