Hypoglycemia means low blood glucose, or blood sugar. Your body needs glucose to have enough energy. After you eat, your blood absorbs glucose. If you eat more sugar than your body needs, your muscles, and liver store the extra. When your blood sugar begins to fall, a hormone tells your liver to release glucose. In most people, this raises blood sugar. If it doesn’t, you have hypoglycemia, and your blood sugar can be dangerously low. Without enough glucose, your body cannot perform its normal functions.
Signs include
- Hunger
- Shakiness
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Difficulty speaking
- Feeling anxious or weak
In people with diabetes, hypoglycemia is often a side effect of diabetes medicines. Eating or drinking something with carbohydrates can help. You can also have low blood sugar without having diabetes. Some other causes of low blood sugar include certain medicines (for example quinine) or diseases (hepatitis or kidney disorders), hormone or enzyme deficiencies, and tumors that produce too much insulin.