hypoglycemia?

Question

What exactly is a three hour glucose test and if the results come back at the third hour with your sugar reading 55 is that a bad reading? I am in the military is this something that could affect a career?

Answer 1

A 3 hour glucose tolerance test is where they take some of your blood and urine at every hour for 3 hours and measure what the sugar levels are doing at those hours. A reading of 55 indicates that someone has hypoglycemia. As for affecting your career it is possible if one doesn't keep snacks around to keep the sugar levels up.

I would also recommend talking to your dr to see what they say about additional ideas for snacks and such.

I was told by a dr's office once that I had low blood sugar, a reading of 34 and I told the office that if I really had a reading that low that I would be a very sick person and not talking to them at all.

Answer 2

According to this site: http://www.rajeun.net/gtt.html the test measures your blood sugar levels at intervals (usually hours) to check whether the body metabolises (uses the sugar as energy and pancreas is working properly). therefore if sugar levels are high after 3 or 4 hours, it means you may have diabetes. if sugar levels drop fast then you may have hypoglycemia. I'd say that 55 is probably a sign of the sugar levels dropping alot after an intake of sugar, ie hypoglycemia.

believe it or not, alot of people do suffer this condition (I being one of them!) hypoglycemia (dont take my word for it, its just what i remember from doing research) can be associated with diabetes or can come about either by not eating and your body "running out of energy" (sugar levels low) or from eating something high in glucose and the body producing too much insulin to make up for this sugar overload so that all the sugar breaks down suddenly thus creating a sudden sugar decrease. In short, the 3 hr glucose test is a way of testing how your body reacts to sugar, whether it uses it up suddenly (well the pancreas produces insulin correctly) or whether it stores it (high blood sugar)

as for your job,I dont think it could affect your career unless you are really severely hypoglycemic (ie you faint if you even dare miss a meal, suffer from extreme symptoms of tiredness etc) but in most cases, its just a matter of keeping a sugar fix with you and preparing yourself for those times where eating may be hard (shift work, stressful work conditions etc). Some people consider it a disease. I was told i had it then the same dr told me theres no such thing as a label even though when researching on it, theres so many diet suggestions etc treating it the same as celiac disease or lactose intolerance. hope this information answers your question!!

Answer 3

Basically you go in, they draw some blood. They make you drink this super sugary soda type stuff as fast as you can, then they take your blood again every 15 minutes for like 3 hours. It hurts because they don't just catheterize you, they stick you in the same freaking veins over and over again.
You might be stuck at a desk job if you're in the military - if you have low blood sugar, you need access to food immediately when your sugar level drops. If not, you become a danger to yourself and everyone around you. You literally start losing brain function and can't even think properly when your sugar level is low. You need to be around people who can recognize the symptoms (people might actually think you're drunk, a lot of the symptoms are similar) and get you something to eat quickly. There's no way you can be in combat with symptoms like these. Who knows what the military will do, but I'm thining you'll be stuck in an office somewhere.
Also know that you're much more likely to develop diabetes if you're hypo. You've really gotta watch your diet and health now, to prevent this from developing. My suggestion would be to see a dietician.

Answer 4

this question is for your doctor.