Idiopathic hypoglycemia

The most common cause of hypoglycemia is

Post prandial hypoglycaemia.

When we have a meal, we secrete insulin to absorb the sugars. In some people this mechanism overshoots and they get low blood sugars after meals. This situation most commonly occurs with lunch time meals with sugar or carbohydrate food and is often exacerbated by alcohol. The condition is usually harmless or easily corrected.

A prolonged glucose tolerance test can help detect. The condition is fairly uncommon and not usually terribly serious. There have be been "fad" books claiming that a large number of bizarre symptoms are caused by this condition.

Insulin secreting tumours

A potentially serious form of idiopathic hypogycaemia is caused by an insulin secreting tumour of the pancreas. In this condition there will be high levels of measureable insulin despite blood sugar being low.