<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hello All:

Thank you to everyone that responded to my questions. From the responces,
weather documented by science or not, it seems a connection exists between
celiac disease and blood sugar.  Many wrote of an instability with blood
sugar or mysterious symptoms that seem to mirror this. Some of the responses
were so informative that I enclosed whole excerpts from them. Take what looks
good, I hope this is helpful to other people too.

*First, the general difference between hypo-glycemia and
hyper(diabetes):<blood sugar levels are at the opposite ends of the range.  A
diabetic whose blood sugar drops too low will get hypoglycemic
symptoms...shakes, light headed, slurring words....The diets for both hypo
and hyper glycemia are the same...low carb, small meals, lots of water>

*<The kind of diabetes that may have a hypoglycemic stage is Type 2. It has
no connection with celiac disease, that is, 5% of celiacs, just as 5 % of
the general population have Type 2 diabetes. 5% of celiacs have Type 1
diabetes, ten times more frequent than in the general population.>

*One woman with celiac disease was also diagnosed with hypoglycemia.  Because
diabetes ran in her family, she was put on a diabetic diet and has had no
further complications.

*A few people noticed an emergence or heigtening of hypoglycemia or
hypoglycemic like symptoms after going gluten-free. <Many celiacs with  these
conditions first notice them after the intestines heal. This is due to the
better absorption of the carbs, hence faster and larger change in blood
sugar. Amount of insulin made depends both on rate of rise of blood sugar and
how much it finally changes.>  Someone else sited that her dr. said her
hypoglycemia was due to insufficent adrenal functioning from all the damage
from the celiac disease.  However, a couple said that after finally becoming
gluten free their hypoglycemic symptoms disappeared.

*Someone said that his "hypoglycemic" symptoms were actually caused by an
overproduction of acid.  After taking the prescription, Prevacid his symptoms
trailed off.

*I thought this was very informative and helpful:<It has long been known that
there is some connection between insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and
celiac disease.  Studies have reported that 4.6% of diabetics also have celiac
disease.  This is mostly so called "silent celiac disease", i.e.  those cases of
gluten sensitive enteropathy with mild complaints or non-intestinal
manifestations.  Curiously, I've never seen a study that shows how many celiacs
concurrently have diabetes.

The traditional lab procedure to test for both hypoglycemia and diabetes is
the "glucose tolerance test".  The patient should be fasting before starting
the test.  Blood is taken to test for blood sugar content and the patient is
given a measured amount of sugar to ingest, usually 75 grams in a
commercially available product.  One brand is called "Glucola".  There are
others.  The stuff is sickening sweet!  More blood is taken every 30 minutes
for the duration of the test which is usually either 2, 4, or 6 hours.  The
blood glucose level is determined for each sample and the rate of change
indicates how your body processes sugar.  The diagnosis is positive for
diabetes if, after the glucose load, both the 2 hour sample and another
sample within the 2 hour period show a blood glucose level greater than
200mg/dL.  Less than 55mg/dL is an indication of hypoglycemia.  Normal
fasting blood sugar is 70-110mg/dL.  Values between the normal range and 200
indicate an impaired glucose tolerance.>

*<One says to determine if you have hypoglycemia is to change the way you are
eating.  In the beginning you should be avoiding all sugars (including
fruits and juices) and starchy foods( pasta, breads, rice, beans, potatoes,
corn,etc.), caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.  Fruits are high in natural
sugars and the starchy foods convert to too much glucose for hypoglycemics
to handle.

Also you need to eat snacks between meals, as soon as you get up and just
before going to bed.  Plain yogurt is good for the night and morning
snacks.  Whenever you eat, you should always eat a combination of protein,
carbs and fat.

After you get stable, then you can try gradually adding a small quantity of
avoided foods back into your diet to see which ones and how much you can
tolerate.

The above is just a thumbnail sketch of what you need to know and do to
stabilize your blood sugar.>