Crohn' disease and hypoglycemia

[despina]

After having hypoglycemia during my sleep I decided to have a glucose test. To be more specific I woke up feeling as I was about to faint, I wanted to eat something but I could not concentrate to do anything.

After having the test results the endocrinologist and the diabetologist told me that this was due to Crohn’s disease. Due to an imbalance of a specific hormone sometimes the food goes through the stomach very fast and this causes hypoglycemia. The solution to this is having small and regular meals (approx. every 3 hours) and avoid liquid foods (i.e. soups) and simple carbohydrates (such as sugar, fruit juices e.t.c.) The problem is that none of the GIs I know agrees with this diagnosis. They do not accept that Crohn’s disease can cause such problems. Have you ever faced something like this? If you don’t understand something please ask me to explain it to you. I am not a fluent English speaker and perhaps what I am asking may not be clear. Thank you!

 

[SarahD]

I've never heard of this before although I have heard of people with Crohn's having fast digestive transit times so it could be possible that the hypoglycemia and Crohn's are somehow linked. Malabsorption is a common issue with Crohn's but that tends to be due to inflammation, scarring or surgery.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I have this problem but have been unaware of a specific hormone and have never been told its related to Crohn's.

What hormone were you tested for? What kind of doctor did it? Did that doctor communicate their thoughts to the others?

 

[despina]

Thank you for your response. I don't remember the name of the hormone. I have not been tested yet. This test cannot be done here in Greece. They take the blood sample and send it overseas, but only if they have a sufficient number of patients. So, I am waiting! The endocrinologist and diabetologist told me this. I communicated their thoughts to two GIs but they do not agree. I can ask my diabetologist and let you know. Perhaps you can have this blood test in your country.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Sure I'd love to know the name of the hormone to see if they test for it here.

 

[despina]

My diabetologist told me that the blood test is for GLP-1. The test is done only on an experimental basis, as there is a possibility of GLP-1 to be increased when the food passes fast through the intestine. Please keep me posted in case you talk with your doctor or you decide to have the blood test. Thank you.

 

[Jmoroni78]

I have had similar symptoms since I was about 20 and I've had joint problems and other Crohn's symptoms since I was about 12. I was just diagnosed last year right before I turned 34, and that was only because my brother was diagnosed a few years ago and I had my first major flare up since I was 18. I have always suspected Crohn's was the cause of my arthritis and my hypoglycemia, but even now it's hard to get a doctor to say so. They won't even give me a clear yes or no about my arthritis being Crohn's related.

 

[despina]

I have pains all over my body only in autumn and spring. After many many years I found a doctor who listened to me carefully and advised me to have an MRI. It didn't show anything, but he told me that after a discussion he had with two rheumatologists the pains are due to Crohn's disease and I should take cortisone. I don't intend to take cortisone, because it is very easy to start it but very difficult to stop it. I will try to face pains with painkillers. The rheumatologists that I visited in the past told me that the pains where due to fibromyalgia. Of course they could not answer my question "if it is due to fibromyalgia why aren't they constant"?

As far as hypoglycemia is concerned, only the diabetologist and endocrinologist agree that it is due to Crohn's disease. The gastroenterologists do not accept this!!

 

[Dunbar]

When I modified my diet to heal the gut and deal with crohns symptoms the hypoglycemia has just about disappeared, only two episodes in the last two years. And I know those happened because I severely neglected my diet for a couple of days.
Arthritis is Crohns related. Osteo as a 'side effect' rheumatoid arthritis is its own immune disease. but that is only what I myself have been able to discover.
A good Doctor (like mine) will be able to admit they don't know everything and that as a patient I can provide more insight and anecdotal evidence to what is going on in my body than he can.

 

[hugh]

I'm assuming you've made sure the hypoglycemia is not caused by something other than the sugar you need to control the hypoglycemia......
ie medication, alcohol, liver, kidney, diabetes, mal-apsorption etc.

Some people have treated hypoglycemia with the same diet that many treat crohns with.......

"Finally, I can report a Paleo success story with my hypoglycemia!"
http://cinnamongetshergrooveback.wo...t-a-paleo-success-story-with-my-hypoglycemia/

Basically, if you transition to being a fat burner, rather than a carb burner you may not have either problem any more ( or they may be much reduced )

"The simple SAD fact that carbs/glucose are so readily available and cheap today doesn’t mean that we should depend on them as a primary source of fuel or revere them so highly. In fact, it is this blind allegiance to the “Carb Paradigm” that has driven so many of us to experience the vast array of metabolic problems that threaten to overwhelm our health care system."
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-me...at-carbs-human-body-metabolism/#axzz2XkYeYtiX

"A sugar-burner depends on a perpetually-fleeting source of energy. Glucose is nice to burn when you need it, but you can’t really store very much of it on your person (unless you count snacks in pockets, or chipmunkesque cheek-stuffing). Even a 160 pound person who’s visibly lean at 12% body fat still has 19.2 pounds of animal fat on hand for oxidation, while our ability to store glucose as muscle and liver glycogen are limited to about 500 grams (depending on the size of the liver and amount of muscle you’re sporting). You require an exogenous source, and, if you’re unable to effectively beta oxidize fat (as sugar-burners often are), you’d better have some candy on hand."

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-adapted/#ixzz2XkeM5NNx

 

[cyberbub]

oo:I have crohn's colitis,( crohn's in the colon)and hypoglycemia as well.
I went to a naturopathic doctor and did a ASI Test. Adrenal stress index test and it showed my DHEAS levels were low 1/10. Reference range is 4.0 to 10. Supplemented with 25mg Of DHEA and two long years later, NO HYPOGLYCEMIA!
Apparently, IBD lowers a person's DHEA levels.