Diet too much and you won't wake up during the day, beware of hypoglycemia

Control your diet to keep in shape, but don’t overdo it! A 24-year-old woman was preparing for her postgraduate entrance examination, but her family discovered that in the past six months, she had often been difficult to wake up in the morning and often suffered from drowsiness. I originally thought it was caused by staying up late to study, and didn't take it seriously. Until one day, he slept all night and didn't wake up the next afternoon. His family called 119 and sent him to the emergency room of the hospital.

Dr. Zheng Bisong pointed out that hypoglycemia is a common emergency condition caused by endogenous hyperinsulinemia.

Zheng Bisong, attending physician of the Department of Metabolism at the Zhongxiao Branch of Taipei Municipal United Hospital, pointed out that a blood test revealed that the patient had hypoglycemia. After an intravenous glucose injection, the patient quickly regained consciousness. After inquiring about the medical history, the patient had no history of diabetes or other diseases, did not take any medications on a regular basis, and urine tests did not reveal any sleeping pills or other common toxic reactions.

The patient said that in recent months, he often felt overwhelmed with studying and was often hungry, but he controlled his diet for the sake of his figure. A starvation test was arranged during hospitalization, which quickly induced hypoglycemia. Together with the serum drawn during the emergency hypoglycemia, it was found to be endogenous hyperinsulinemia.

An imaging test was arranged and revealed a small tumor of one centimeter in the tail of the pancreas. Further angiography and selective arterial stimulation venous sampling were performed, which confirmed the above findings and the absence of liver metastasis. After surgical removal of the tumor, the pathology report was insulinoma. The patient recovered well after the operation and no symptoms of hypoglycemia were found during one year of follow-up.

Hypoglycemia is a common emergency in the emergency department. It is mostly caused by diabetic patients not eating after taking oral hypoglycemic drugs or injecting insulin or other reasons (wrong dosage or deterioration of renal function, etc.). In the early stages, there will be symptoms such as hunger, trembling hands, palpitations, and cold sweats. If you can eat quickly to replenish your blood sugar and communicate with your doctor to adjust your medication during your follow-up visit, serious side effects will usually not occur. However, if hypoglycemia is long-term and recurring, the above symptoms may not appear, and the patient may directly fall into unconsciousness or coma. If hypoglycemia lasts too long (more than 6 hours), it will cause irreversible damage to the brain and may even turn the person into a vegetative state or cause death.

Zheng Bisong said that insulinoma is a rare disease with a very low incidence (1 to 10 cases per million people per year) and is mostly benign. Due to long-term and recurring hypoglycemia, patients often suffer from symptoms such as memory loss, inability to concentrate, and even abnormal behavior, and are sometimes mistaken for mental patients. Since hypoglycemia often occurs when the stomach is fasting, many patients have difficulty waking up in the morning. In addition, since eating can improve symptoms, some patients may gain weight or become overweight. Its treatment is mainly surgery.