Reactive Hypoglycemia or Dumping Syndrome?

[leese1313 2]

So I have what I think is Dumping Syndrome or Reactive Hypoglycemia and it is seems like it is caused by 2 things. Taking a shower and exercise.

For some reason after I take a shower at night my sugar crashes so bad I have to take glucose tablets to bring it back up. I don't take hot showers (I hate being hot), just warm and it doesn't happen all the time but often enough that I found a pattern and it doesn't happen when I take a shower in the morning only at night.

It also happens after I exercise. I eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. I wait at least an hour, hour and 1/2 and I am not a gym rate that I am doing it for hours - 30 minute treadmill, 10 minute rowing machine (I had a total knee replacement so I do this for my knee at a slow pace to get the bend in) and 3 sets of arm exercises with free weights. Literally there are times I have to stop while I am exercising because I can feel my sugar going down. There have been times it has crashed as low as the 50s. I have talked to the doctor about this and the physician's assistant said have Protein before you exercise. Well I am having dinner before I do, which is always a protein vegetable and a small amount of carbs.

Has anyone else had this issue? I want to exercise but I am afraid every time I do that this will happen and it happens more often than not. I have taken to as soon as I am done exercising to just automatically taking 2 glucose tablets which is adding extra sugar in but in order to have it not crash on me. Thanks in advance for any responses!

[SpartanMaker 978]

Just based on what you've written, this really wouldn't be either Reactive Hypoglycemia or Dumping Syndrome since both of those would be reactions to what you've eaten, not external stimuli.

There is a chance that an already low blood sugar level prior to your shower or exercise is pushed even further down due to rising body temperature. This isn't a common reaction, but it's not completely unheard of either.

If you don't have a blood glucose monitor, it may be a good idea to invest in one. Were I you, I'd track my blood sugar before eating, after eating, before exercise or a shower, and then at the point where your blood sugar feels like it's crashed. It would also be advisable to note exactly what you ate and the time of ingestion.

This should help you uncover what's going on. I suspect it may have more to do what what you've eaten vs. temperature, but you really won't know without some data.

Best of luck.

[Chatterboxdea 222]

Right after surgery, I would always get super light headed after a shower; I still do sometimes when its early in the morning or I have to do wash my hair (which means longer shower). I usually take super hot showers, but I had to stop after surgery, because it exacerbated it. I usually would lay down for awhile after and would have some low sugar apple juice on hand to drink. This helped me a lot!

[Gypsy_Life 9]

On 3/25/2025 at 11:51 PM, leese1313 said:

So I have what I think is Dumping Syndrome or Reactive Hypoglycemia and it is seems like it is caused by 2 things. Taking a shower and exercise.

For some reason after I take a shower at night my sugar crashes so bad I have to take glucose tablets to bring it back up. I don't take hot showers (I hate being hot), just warm and it doesn't happen all the time but often enough that I found a pattern and it doesn't happen when I take a shower in the morning only at night.

It also happens after I exercise. I eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. I wait at least an hour, hour and 1/2 and I am not a gym rate that I am doing it for hours - 30 minute treadmill, 10 minute rowing machine (I had a total knee replacement so I do this for my knee at a slow pace to get the bend in) and 3 sets of arm exercises with free weights. Literally there are times I have to stop while I am exercising because I can feel my sugar going down. There have been times it has crashed as low as the 50s. I have talked to the doctor about this and the physician's assistant said have Protein before you exercise. Well I am having dinner before I do, which is always a Protein vegetable and a small amount of carbs.

Has anyone else had this issue? I want to exercise but I am afraid every time I do that this will happen and it happens more often than not. I have taken to as soon as I am done exercising to just automatically taking 2 glucose tablets which is adding extra sugar in but in order to have it not crash on me. Thanks in advance for any responses!

Yes, i had this after my gastric sleeve. Id almost pass out a couple of hours after eating when doing anything physical like walking. As a nurse, it was alarming for not only myself but my patients when I had to rush out of room before i collapsed.

I kept a food diary and very quickly identified foods which triggered this. For me, it was white bread/pasta/rice so i switched to wholegrain or wholemeal.

I also couldnt eat fatty foods with pastry like meat pie or sausage rolls regardless of the amount.

Id recommend keeping track of your food to help you identify your trigger foods then you can learn to avoid them completely or refrain from having prior to activity.

[learn2cook 603]

Yes this has happened to me, so I asked at the gym. Most of the folks prevent it by having a Protein Shake during and after a workout. I tried it and it works for me too. The shower tiredness just went away by itself as I built up momentum. I do shower mostly in the morning, after a workout in medium to cold Water (1800’s house old pipes). I asked diabetics that maintain a healthy weight what they do when their glucose levels drop, and most of them said to eat or drink some fat/ Protein combo so you don’t cycle up and down again. I stay away from sugar recovery because it just makes me dump immediately like a bad rollercoaster ride, like they said. I asked adult type I diabetics that grew to adulthood well, and successfully had children and grandchildren. There’s one old dude at church that’s 85 and has great-grands, but he uses a sugar recovery. So, you’ll have to do your research and see what works for you.

[LilaNicole20 252]

You just need to fuel ahead of your activities. Proper amounts of Proteins, fats and carbohydrates spaced out through the day. a quality Protein carb snack before strenuous activity.