low blood sugar?

Does anyone suffer from low blood sugar? Does it make you nauseous? And is there any link to your monthly cycle?

I've been havnig headaches on my cycle for a few years, usually the first day I start, and it's a combination of sinus preasure and tiredness (have always been tired when I get my period). THe past few months, I've been getting nauseous as well, and it lasts most of the day. My doc said this morning (the first time I've talked to him about it), that I ought to wait and see, that it's really difficult to find connections between things like this, etc. (I mentioned that I'd heard morning sickness was caused by low blood sugar, so maybe there was a connection b/t hormones and that, but he wasn't convinced.)

So I thought I'd come on here and see if anyone had had similar sorts of issues?

thanks

I suffer from low blood sugar.  It makes me tired, cranky, irritable, shaky, sweaty, and light-headed.  I've only passed out from it once.    These symptoms can be relieved by eating something w/simple sugars in it.  (Orange juice, sweets, etc.)  They can usually be avoided by eating frequent meals w/plenty of protein and very little sugar.  Strenuous exercise, especially at high elevations, can bring on an attack fairly quickly in me.  (Found that out shoveling snow at 10,000-feet!)

I haven't heard of any connection between morning sickness and low blood sugar - suffered terrible morning sickness w/dd2 but nearly none at all w/dd1 - and haven't noticed any link between my blood sugar and my monthly cycle...

thanks for that I'm going to try taking it easy next month, eating small, regular meals, and seeing what happens! I'm sure there must be a link somehow to my cycle though - it's too coincidental to just happen then....

I can't remember where I heard about morning sickness, and am trying to verify it.

Is it possible that the headaches are related to your cycle, but not necessarily the blood sugar issue?  Lots of people get migraines with their cycles, and those definately can be exacerbated by tiredness, manifest as sinus-type pressure, and come with nausea.

Anecdotally, my own morning sickness was definately not linked to blood sugar.  I threw up constantly, for about seven months, no matter what my sugar levels.  But I would be interested to see an article or similar linking the two, if you can find it.

Not about low blood sugar, but interesting connection between hormones (in pregnancy) and nausea....




Take comfort in these two universal facts about morning sickness:

1. You are NOT alone. Most pregnant women have morning sickness during the early months of pregnancy. In fact, around 80 percent of pregnant women experience nausea, retching, vomiting, or all of the above, at some time during their pregnancy.

2. This too shall pass! Usually after the third month, the daily bouts of nausea and queasiness subside and give way to a healthy appetite. Many mothers are rewarded with "well windows," hours of the day or days of the week when they feel well enough to function normally. As your pregnancy progresses, the good days will get better.

BLAME YOUR HORMONES
Mood swings? Morning sickness? Fatigue? Blame your hormones, specifically, human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG. This hormone that supports your pregnancy also unsettles your stomach. Like all drugs, hormones have a few unpleasant side effects, namely intestinal upsets.

When levels of the hormone cholecystokinin increase in pregnant women, it increases the efficiency of digestion by making better metabolic use of food within your system. The unpleasant side effects contribute to:

Low blood sugar
Nausea
Dizziness
Delayed emptying of the stomach
After-meal sleepiness
Rising estrogen and progesterone levels also contribute to nausea by their direct influence on intestinal hormones. But by the end of the third month, when the blood level of some of these hormones levels off or starts to decline, so do the intestinal maladies caused by these hormones.

Is it possible that the headaches are related to your cycle, but not necessarily the blood sugar issue?  Lots of people get migraines with their cycles, and those definately can be exacerbated by tiredness, manifest as sinus-type pressure, and come with nausea.

Anecdotally, my own morning sickness was definately not linked to blood sugar.  I threw up constantly, for about seven months, no matter what my sugar levels.  But I would be interested to see an article or similar linking the two, if you can find it.

I had been thinking that - that it was somehow connected to my use of the pill. So last month I stopped it - and this month the nausea was worse than ever. I've been having headaches for a year or two with my period, usually on the first day, but the past few months it's been more random, sometimes twice a period, and including nausea, so I'm a bit confused.

Would a migraine just go away on its own? After 12 hours or so?

Off Wikepedia:
Causes
There is insufficient evidence to pin down a single (or multiple) cause, but the leading theories include:

An increase in the circulating level of the hormone estrogen. Estrogen levels may increase by up to a hundredfold during pregnancy.
Low blood sugar during pregnancy.
An increase in progesterone relaxes the muscles in the uterus, which prevents early childbirth, but may also relax the stomach and intestines, leading to excess stomach acids.
An increase in human chorionic gonadotropin.
An increase in sensitivity to odors.
Eating vegetables. Vegetables produce a small amount of toxins to deter insect infestation and while these toxins are normally harmless to humans, they are potentially dangerous to embryos. One theory suggests that becoming nauseated during pregnancy is an evolutionary measure to prevent a mother from eating vegetables, thereby protecting the embryo from the toxins. Other studies, however, have linked consumption of fruits and vegetables to higher birth weights, which tend to mean healthier babies.
Intake of alcohol, sugar, oils and meat, which have been postulated to cause a natural trigger of morning sickness in the body as a way of discouraging ingestion of less healthy foods.[1]

I'd be more inclined to think the headaches were hormone related rather than blood-sugar related.  My blood sugar can swing wildly over the course of the month (heck, the course of the DAY!) depending on what I've eaten, how often I've eaten, my exercise level, etc.  Also, a hypoglycemic headache will tend to resolve along w/the rest of the symptoms fairly quickly after eating some sugar. 

Hormone levels will tend to be a bit more predictable, depending on where you are in your cycle.  The fact that your headaches are fairly predictable would tend to make me think hormonal.  BUT...I'm certainly not a doctor, and if you're really concerned it's worth raising w/your physician again.

Yeah, I guess it seems to make more sense. Thanks!

My GP said we'll wait a few months and see - having just gone off the pill, to give my body more time to adjust I guess. I'm just not looking forward to having to face this every month, so was hoping there'd be some sort of solution - like regulating my blood sugar.

Bah!

I get migraines every month on or the day before the day I start my period. It feels like it is in my sinus cavity over my right eye and around my nose and I can feel it up the back of my neck and I get sick to my stomach.

I now take Riazatriptan for it when I feel the ache in my face and it usually keeps it from becoming full blown.

I general go thru 3 of these pills in one cycle....

I am on a waiting list to be fitted for a Merina coil ?? The GP told me they had good success with this.

Yeah, my blood sugar can drop kind of easily. When I was underweight, it was horrible... everyday I felt sick and shakey, I almost passed out a few times and was throwing up at least once a week. Oh and it was worse when I was on the BC Pill.

I'm a fairly healthy weight for my height now and it only occassionally drops and when it does, it's no where near as bad, it's just a slight annoyance. I feel a little sick, weak, shakey but still functional. Usually happens when I've gone more than 4 waking hours without food. Only time it's bad is when I'm hungover.

I also used to have an irregular and painful menstrual cycle. With my period came bad nausea, cramps, backaches, migraines and even hot flashes. Now that I'm on the Pill (and I'm not underweight), all of those have lessened. I don't know how or if that correlates to low blood sugar.

was hoping there'd be some sort of solution - like regulating my blood sugar.

Well, regulating your blood sugar definitely won't HURT anything, and may make you feel better even if it's not the cause of your headaches.  If it works for you then you've discovered a cheap and easy cure! 

Would a migraine just go away on its own? After 12 hours or so?

They certainly can, sometimes...migraines are very individual things.  Some people only get them for a few hours, some people for 2-3 days, some people get intense, horrific pain, some people get no pain at all but other weird symptoms...

I get what are called atypical visual affect migraines, which involve little to no pain and mild nausea, but visual symptoms that can totally occlude my vision for up to a few hours.  The doctors freaked out the first time I got one while pregnant because they weren't familiar with my history and thought it was a preeclampsia symptom, but they're actually much nicer overall than the terribly painful ones some of my friends get.  Mine only happen a couple of times a year, but when they do I'm totally incapacitated (can't even see to walk,) so I have to be careful and pay attention to the warning signs.

Definately keep in touch with your doc...if they do determine that it's migraines there are so many new meds out you might find they're fairly easily regulated.