"This site changed my life...thanks for everything, Steph!" -Olivia, San Diego, CAReactive Hypoglycemia in Highly Gifted Children
Filed under: Causes | 16 Comments »About Gifted Children
I don’t usually tell people that Leo is academically gifted, for risk of sounding boorish. My close friends and family know, but it isn’t the kind of thing I’ll bring up in general conversation, let alone post in a blog. However, it looks like Leo’s giftedness may be the reason he’s reactive hypoglycemic.
Our Bipolar Child
For years we thought Leo (now ten years old) had cyclothymia (a mild form of bipolar disorder). He would have mood swings and highs reminiscent of my mother’s menopause: doors would slam, dishes would break, and then an hour later, Leo would (puzzlingly) make tea for me, give me a hug, and apologize in the sweetest way you could imagine for being a “toad.” At the time, I didn’t notice that his mood improved after a snack.
Sometimes he would come home from school and go to bed for a two hour nap. We knew better than to disturb him–it was either let him sleep or put up with a miserable, grumpy Leo.
Leo’s schoolwork was haphazard–sometimes brilliant, other times nothing but scrawl and misspellings. His teachers were as puzzled as I was. Another thing that didn’t make sense: Leo would crave sweets and carbs so much that he would often raid the kitchen late at night for cookies, chips, and crackers (we no longer keep those items in the house!)
An Unquiet Mind
An Unquiet Mind
While Leo seemed to fit the definition of bipolar, his puzzling seizures (two Grand mals) didn’t quite fit the profile. Neither did his spells of feeling nauseous and looking pasty-faced before he passed out.
After he was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia (for more on that see my post How to Get Diagnosed), the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. However, we wanted to know the cause. Wouldn’t any parent?
I may have found my answer in a book by James Webb, called Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children
About six percent of highly-gifted children, says Webb, suffer from reactive hypoglycemia. The children who fall into this category are usually slender and exhibit intense behavior. Leo is definitely intense, and very slim. Why is reactive hypoglycemia seen in these children? As the brain runs on glucose alone, it’s thought that highly gifted, energetic children simply use up available brain fuel quickly.
If your child is a good student but exhibits puzzling mood swings, especially in the late morning or late afternoon, reactive hypoglycemia could be the cause.
Related posts:
- Ketotic (“Toddler’s) Hypoglycemia in children
- How to Help Children Deal With Chronic Conditions
- What Causes Reactive Hypoglycemia?
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Reactive Hypoglycemia
[...] Around six percent of highly gifted children have reactive hypoglycemia. This is usually seen in very active, lean children with IQs above 160. The thought is that these children use up the available glucose quickly, crashing mid-morning or mid-afternoon.* For more on this topic see my post Reactive Hypoglycemia in Highly Gifted Children. [...]
Dear Stephanie,
My pediatrician just diagnosed my 7 year old daughter with Reactive Hypoglycemia based on a 2 hour glucose tolerance test. Her fasting blood sugar was 75. After a 1/2 hour of drinking the glucosimine her blood sugar level was 82 but after an hour her blood sugar was 62. She has been suffering bouts of fatigue and irritablility and her teacher has claimed that she has focusing issues in school. My pediatrician suggested cutting out all sugar from her diet but I think I should consult a pediatric endocrinologist before drastically changing her diet. What else should I be doing for her?
Dana,
Sounds like my son!! My son’s pediatrician also said to cut out sugar, but also simple carbs like potatoes and white bread. All the tips and tricks I’ve learned about diet are here and what not to eat is here. Any dietary changes are healthy ones…swapping white bread for whole grains etc.
It made the world of difference in my son…let me know how it goes with your daughter!
Best,
Stephanie
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
Steph – thanks so much for sending me to this post. I do agree that my 5 year old daughter may be one of the 6% of HG children that has hypoglycemia. Her behavior is like night and day after going to long without eating something substantial (protein and complex carb rich foods).
Often I tell people who have been privy to her alter ego, she’s like Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. While I can laugh about it now, it’s really not funny to see that Ms. Hyde come out.
But, definitely, keeping her well fed is key to regulating her “intense” emotional reactions to situations.
KC, I recognize the Jekyll and Hyde analogy all too well. We too laughed about the “Jekyll” aspect–I guess it’s a coping mechanism for having a a ten year old that still has tantrums like a toddler (in the past now thankfully)! I hope you found some useful info here. Best, Steph
I am starting to think this is my daughter’s problem. She, too, is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She is very smart, but also very stubborn. Tall and thin – a lean green bean of a girl. Because she reads above 6th grade level and speaks very clearly and is taller than most 4th graders, folks think she is older than her 7 years. She is sweet then starts to get crabby then gets depressed and suicidal and left too long curls up in a ball in her closet and is inconsolable. If I get to her quick enough with food or juice, she pops out of it. But left too long, she refuses to eat, and we spiral into a nightmare. My doctor said there were no tests we could do. But reading this, I can see I need to go to someone else. Thank you.
Yes, please do go see someone else. Look for a pediatric endocrinologist near you: they will definitely listen!
Best of luck,
Stephanie
Your description fits my son exactly. My doctor stumbled on his low blood sugar (70 1 hour after a substantial meal) when checking his iron level and diagnosed hypoglycemia. His father (we are no longer married) will not believe that our son has this problem and continues to feed him cereal with milk as breakfast and plenty of juice and sugar based foods. My son returns feeling horrible, acting worse and craving sugar and simple carbs. Thank you for your post. It reinforces my observations and will help me stand strong against the accusations that I am crazy and making up illnesses. Any other help you can suggest would be wonderful. Thank you.
Melissa,
How old is your son? I’ve found that my 10-year-old enjoys being “different” and educating people about his diet (including other relatives that he goes to stay with). I started by teaching him how to read food labels. When he complained about feeling sick, or if he was grumpy, we would sit down and discuss what he ate that day. It was usually sneaking a Pop Tart in the school cafeteria or getting cookies from a friend. It took three or four major crashes for him to realize that he feels like garbage if he eats sugar, so he is getting better about it. He’ll refuse to eat sugary cereal–and when he goes to his Dad’s house I send him with his own cereal (fruit juice sweetened corn flakes) and snack bars (Luna bars and Barbara’s Bakery no-sugar-added fig bars).
That’s what worked for me–I hope that helps a little. I guess it depends on how old your son is.
You could also take your son to a pediatric endocrinologist for a firm diagnosis that might help to convince your ex that it’s a “real” disease.
Good luck!
Stephanie
I have a quick question. I have been watching my 8 year old daughter for the past few days. She has been a very difficult child almost since the day she was born, and only getting worse. I keep thinking she will grow out of it, but she is not!! In closely watching her I picked up on something. First, she is always hungry. At first my husband and I just thought she was just trying to get out of going to bed, but really, she is hungry most of the day. I am also noticing that if she has gone a few hours without food she throws the worst fits I have ever seen, then she eats something and she is a child I don’t recognize. Also, my daughter has horrible stomach aches in the morning, headaches frequently, and from as early as I can remember she has had sleeping issues, either night terrors, sleep walking, or just not sleeping at all. Do all of these things come with Reactive Hypoglycemia?? I am just trying to make sense of her. I really want this to be the answer so I can help her instead of yelling at her all the time.
Thanks,
Jodi Paul
Jodi,
The night terrors, stomach aches, constant hunger, mood swings–you could be describing my son (who has reactive hypoglycemia). So yes, absolutely those could be symptoms.
Stephanie
[...] Hypoglycemia in Children Thinking that hypoglycemic conditions may be causing son’s bad behavior, Mom has started researching dietary changes to see if modifying his diet makes any difference. [...]
My daughter was diagnosed with hypoglocemia late last summer at 2.5 yrs old. She was rushed to the ER after passing out at the breakfast table just after waking up. She ate just before bed as usual, but for some reason, her levels dropped significantly over night. Her level was at 38 when we arrived and she spent 3 days in the hospital. We received insturctions from the Dr. to just “make sure she gets plenty of sugar”… which we later found to be wrong. I have been trying every since to find a “diet” that will help keep her levels stable. Now, we have the issue of her going through a picky toddler stage. She has days where she will eat us out of house and home and days where she doesn’t want to eat anything at all. How can I make food more appealing so that she eats a good balance daily? I don’t want food to be a battle, but I know if she doesn’t eat, her levels will drop and I can’t stand to see my baby sick. Any help will be appreciated! TIA!
Grr… doctors giving out faulty advice really get me! I’m glad you figured out that he was wrong!
As for the diet, that can be tricky, as you’ve discovered!
You might start by checking out the “Diet” section of this site. Go to this page:
http://www.reactivehypoglycemia.info/articles/
Then scroll down, you’ll see a heading that says “Diet”.
As for making the food interesting, you might be interested in another website I’ve been working on:
http://www.LeosLunchbox.com
Leo’s Lunchbox (Leo is my son), is all about healthy food that Reactive Hypoglycemic kids can eat. All the meals there are easy to prepare, and they are fun to look at as well. Let me know what you think!
Last, if you want more in-depth information, check out the new edition of my Reactive Hypoglycemia book:
Amazon.com: The Reactive Hypoglycemia Cookbook 2nd Edition
That includes medical information, a supplements guide, and around 200 recipes that reactive hypoglycemics can eat.
Good luck, let me know if there’s anything else I can do!!
I am thankful to have stumbled onto this site! My son is 3 yrs. old & gifted, and is having some sort of sugar problems. I have hypoglycemia myself, but am now wondering if it is more! He is highly gifted, and since he started eating solids we have noticed frequent attacks of ‘hypoglycemia’. Even though I test him 1 hr after he eats & it is only 87- he starts becoming nonresponsive….sometimes eyes rolling…unreasonable, crying and screaming. It’s so hard, I have to actually pin him down so he doesnt hurt himself. I am quite confused as 87 is not extremely “low”, but once he gets close to 90 he acts like this. 3 times I’ve been very concerned of seizures. We have just begun a diet change since he seems to have aggressive reactions to food dyes & allergy meds. We are “knee deep” in trying to figure out his problem. I have an appointment with his pedi in 3 weeks… I will try your diet changes to see if I can “stabilize” his symptoms. I made the mistake last week of giving in to 1 cupcake- just 1- took me 2 days to stabilize him! ugh. It’s such a roller coaster! Definetely worse mid afternoon & mid morning. I will be spending the next few days reading every word on your site bc these children mirror exactly my 3 yr. old.