Is Hypoglycemia a Disability?

Hypoglycemia (hai-poh-glai-SEE-mee-uh) is a medical condition where your glucose (blood sugar) levels dip abnormally low. Hypoglycemia is usually an indicator of a greater health problem and is generally associated with diabetes, although there are some rare instances that can also lead to hypoglycemia in individuals who don't have diabetes.

Hypoglycemia can result in multiple physical and mental symptoms that can make it difficult to perform work-related activities. Some people are able to manage hypoglycemia with medications or by adjusting their diet, but others have a harder time keeping their glucose levels steady. If you're struggling to control your symptoms to the point where you're unable to work, it's important to know when you can qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

Can You Get Disability for Hypoglycemia?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) awards disability benefits to people who have a medically determinable impairment that prevents them from working full-time for at least twelve months. That means that you'll need to have medical evidence establishing significant functional limitations as a result of chronic hypoglycemia.

Causes of Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia most commonly results as a side effect of using insulin to treat diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by an organ (the pancreas) that converts sugar from the food you eat into energy that the body can use. In people with type one diabetes, the pancreas doesn't make insulin at all, and in type two diabetes, the body doesn't properly use the insulin it makes.

To correct this problem, many people are prescribed insulin to lower their blood sugar. But taking too much insulin or other diabetic medications can cause your blood sugar to drop below healthy levels. Hypoglycemia can also happen if you eat less than normal after taking your diabetes medication, or if you exercise more than usual.

People who don't have diabetes can also have hypoglycemia, but it's much less common. Non-diabetic causes of hypoglycemia include certain medications, excessive alcohol use without eating, other medical conditions (such as severe hepatitis, cirrhosis, or anorexia nervosa), and pancreatic tumor (insulinoma).

Symptoms of Hypoglycemia

The SSA will be on the lookout for common symptoms of hypoglycemia that interfere with your daily routine and ability to work. These symptoms might include:

• confusion or irritability
• fatigue or weakness
• abnormal behavior, like the inability to complete routine tasks
• headaches
• heart palpitations or a racing pulse
• shakiness or sweating
• tingling or numbness of the lips, tongue, or cheek, and
• visual disturbances, like blurred vision.

Once these symptoms are recognized as resulting from hypoglycemia, they can normally be quickly stopped by eating a high-sugar food or taking medications. However, some people have hypoglycemia unawareness and don't know when to treat these symptoms. Hypoglycemia unawareness happens when your blood sugar remains consistently low for so long that your body stops recognizing the low blood sugar as abnormal—so you won't have any signs or symptoms warning you that your blood sugar is low.

Reactive hypoglycemia—also called postprandial hypoglycemia—occurs when your blood sugar drops too low after eating, usually within 2-4 hours following a meal. Symptoms are similar to those of hypoglycemia in general, but getting Social Security disability benefits for reactive hypoglycemia will be difficult because the condition is typically fixed by simple dietary adjustments.

Qualifying for Social Security Disability Benefits With Hypoglycemia

The SSA is unlikely to consider hypoglycemia to be disabling by itself. However, if you have complications from the condition—or additional medical disorders that limit your functioning— you may be able to get benefits if you're unable to work full-time for at least one year. You can qualify for Social Security disability in one of three ways:

• Meeting a listing. Social Security has a disability evaluation handbook (the "Blue Book") that outlines the medical disability criteria for disability for various illnesses, injuries, or impairments. The SSA calls these rules "listings."
• Equaling a listing. If the agency doesn't have a listing for your specific medical condition, but your symptoms and limitations are similar to those of another listed impairment, you may be able to "equal" the other listing.
• Being unable to work. Even if you don't meet or equal a listing, you may still be eligible for disability benefits if you can prove that you have a severe medical impairment that makes you unable to do work activities.

You'll also need to pass some preliminary eligibility requirements to make sure that you're legally allowed to receive either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the two disability benefit programs run by the agency.

Meeting or Equaling a Listing

Social Security doesn't have a specific listing for hypoglycemia. However, Section 9.0 of the Blue Book—which addresses endocrine disorders such as diabetes—states that the agency will evaluate hypoglycemia according to the two listings covering complications of hypoglycemia, seizures (listing 11.02) and altered mental status (listing 12.02). Generally, you'll need to show that you have frequent episodes of hypoglycemia that decrease your cognitive capabilities and significantly interfere with your ability to follow instructions, take care of yourself, function socially, or maintain concentration.

Meeting the criteria explained in the listings can be difficult. In fact, few disability claims that are ultimately approved for benefits meet the criteria of one of the listings contained in the Blue Book. Instead, the SSA approves most claims because the applicant is able to show that their symptoms and limitations keep them from returning to their previous jobs or transitioning into another type of work.

Being Unable to Work Because of Hypoglycemia

When deciding whether you're able to work, Social Security looks at your medical records for evidence that your condition limits your ability to do work-related activities. This means your hypoglycemia must be backed up by medical findings, like lab tests—not just your reports about fatigue, confusion, or weakness.

The process by which the agency determines what work-related limitations you have is called assessing your residual functional capacity, or RFC. Your RFC is a set of restrictions about the most you can do at work despite your mental and physical symptoms. For example, an RFC for someone suffering from severe hypoglycemia might include the following limitations:

• can lift and carry no more than 20 pounds "occasionally" (defined as up to two hours out of an eight-hour workday) and 10 pounds "frequently" (two to six hours of an eight-hour workday)
• no work at unprotected heights
• never climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds
• no exposure to dangerous moving machinery or erratically moving surfaces
• occasionally climb ramps or stairs
• perform simple, routine, and repetitive tasks, and
• no production rate tasks (like jobs requiring hourly quotas).

Social Security will compare your RFC with the demands of your past work to see if you could still do those jobs today. For example, if your past work involved working at heights or around dangerous machines, even short periods of hypoglycemia that cause confusion or shakiness would be unsafe. If your RFC keeps you from returning to your past work, the agency will need to determine whether any other jobs exist that you could do given your limitations, age, education, and skill set.

For people younger than 50 years of age, this generally means needing to show that you can't do any simple, sit-down jobs. Once you turn 50, however, you may have an easier time getting disability—even if you're physically capable of doing less demanding work—using a set of rules known as the "medical-vocational grid."

Disability Benefit Amounts for Hypoglycemia

Social Security doesn't pay benefits based on the type of disabling condition you have. Instead, the agency will pay a monthly rate depending on whether you qualify for SSDI, SSI, or both. The maximum monthly benefit you can receive for SSDI in 2025 is $1,620 ($2,700 if you're blind), although the average payment is much smaller, at $1,580. That's because the exact SSDI amount you can get is based on your earnings record, which varies significantly between beneficiaries.

SSI benefits are determined by subtracting any countable income you have in each month from the federal benefit rate, which is $967 per month in 2025. Many states offer modest supplemental payments as well to people receiving federal SSI benefits.

How Do I Apply for Social Security Disability Benefits?

Filing for disability benefits is a fairly straightforward process. One easy method is by applying online at the SSA.gov website. You don't have to finish the application all at once—just make sure that you keep track of the application number given to you when you start the application so you can access it again if you need to come back to it.

You can also apply for disability benefits by phone by calling 800-772-1213 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you're deaf or hard of hearing, you can call the TTY number at 800-325-0778. Finally, you can apply for disability benefits in person at your local Social Security field office.

Getting Legal Help for Your Disability Claim

Successful disability claims for hypoglycemia alone aren't common—and few claims are approved on the first try in general. So while you aren't required to have a lawyer at any stage of the disability determination process, it's often a good idea to get one. An experienced disability attorney can identify any weaknesses in your case and help you strengthen your claim by getting the medical evidence you need. Your attorney can also handle any communications with the SSA, keep on top of appeal deadlines, and represent you at a disability hearing if necessary.