I have an important question and I am hopeing someone can help. I am in love with a woman that has a huge love for the mountians.:) She has hypoglycemia and I was just wondering is there anyone out there with this same situation, and how do you prevent anything bad from happening. Thanks for your time -Robert

-- Robert Hecker (bigwall1@hotmail.com), September 11, 2000

Answers

I've lived with varying degrees of hypoglycemia for years and am an avid mountaineer. The solution is really quite simple.....fuel. A body that is hiking and climbing is burning a lot of fuel and needs constant replinishment. On a short term basis, the easiest way is through the consumption of carbohydrates, which can be had in many forms. One of the easiest is Power Bars; while hiking, take a bit of the bar everey 20 minutes or so. When stopped, refuel with bananas or apples, bagels with cream cheese, and even some candy (check the number of carbos on a box of Mike and Ike...virtually no fat either). Get her out there!!!!!

-- Chuck Bettis (cbettis@triax.com), September 14, 2000.

Chuck is dead on. Just keep a more or less continuous drip of fuel. I don't have problems with hypoglycemia, but find it useful to keep a supply of carbs available. Energy bars work, as do the usual trail mixes, bagels or dense bread. I like chocolate, whether in bar form or M & Ms. The new energy gels are good. I started using them on ice climbing trips after years of downing them while cycling. They supply energy faster than the bars (less digestion required), you don't need as much water as with other food, and I seem to tolerate them better at high altitude (we used the gels in Bolivia this summer, where looking at a Power Bar made me retch). Mark Twight, in his "Extreme Alpinism" also recommends the energy gels. I like the vanilla GU, but try different ones to see which ones go down the best.

-- Dennis Roscetti (roscetti@execpc.com), September 19, 2000.