Does anyone else get shaky/dizzy even after not eating for 4 hours sometimes?

[Loka123]

I don't get it all the time but have noticed if I eat a light meal, 4 hours after e.g. if I've had a long phone call etc., I can get very shaky and can't think straight.

I'm mid-20s so fairly young and don't have diabetes (GP ran a blood test on me). Not sure if this is fairly normal or a sign of underlying diabetes or something else? I am average weight in BMI (nearing to the underweight side) and a size 8-10. Reasonably active in cycling, walking etc but not hugely sporty.

Do you find it happens more around the time of your period?

Yes, for me that's normal. I have low blood pressure and at last blood test, half as much vit D as I should.

This happens to me too no idea why! If I leave it too long I then get “sick with hunger” I don’t have diabetes either

Yes, but only if I've eaten something carby. If I've had eggs or something then I'm fine.

Always, I'm in my 50's, weigh 8 stone and need constant snacks. Get very dizzy and lightheaded if I don't eat anything for more than a few hours.

I get like this as well OP. Literally feel like I will pass out if I don't eat regularly.

It's a sugar thing, it means you have low blood sugar.

Try eating less sugar, when you eat sugar you get a high and then a low. By avoiding sugar you stabilise your blood sugars and are much less likely to get the lows.

Normal for me. Low blood pressure, low resting heart rate. I'm slim but not underweight. Definitely no diabetes.

I make sure I don't go long periods without food.

I used to until I reduced carbs, that was a massive change for me. I can't always get time to eat at work, low carb means it's not a problem.

Yep. Happens to me too. Used to happen to DH the odd time too. It’s called the “sugar shakes” in our house. I hate when it happens.

Only when im pregnant

This is me all the time.

Only if I’ve had a lot of sugar when I last ate.

Pretty normal for light people - and anyone who doesn't have reserves, eg low liver function - you can't keep your blood sugar topped up without eating more.

Splitting your meals up into four or five a day (preferably without adding to the total food quantity) will help. As would throwing something carby down your throat when you feel faint, but that tends to chocolate and you know how that goes!

I don’t go long periods without eating and hour hours is quite long for me.

It used to happen to me constantly, I absolutely had to eat every few hours and always carried snacks around with me. I had a healthy diet, lots of wholegrains and low GI foods but it didn't make a difference.
Last year I started eating low carb Paleo. High fat, medium protein. I now rarely need to snack, never feel dizzy or lightheaded if I go a long time between meals and often eat tiny meals as I'm just not hungry. It's such a strange feeling!

If I miss mid morning coffee and toast my blood sugar plummets at 4pm. Then I feel shaky and can't concentrate. Doesn't have to be toast but mustbe more than tea and a biscuit. My DM was the same.

Always. Have to have a snack after 3 hours, better if I eat more protein and less sugar but have always struggled with it and prone to fainting.

Me too, and I generally don't have a lot of sugar.

Typical working day would be porridge, banana and cup of tea at 7.30am. By 11am I am feeling light-headed, so coffee and a biscuit (that is sugar!). Then, 1pm, I have to eat again - soup, cheese, fruit. By 4pm, I am the same again etc...

Always been like it, lose weight if I don't eat, if I don't eat, I go into a strange state where I don't actually feel hunger, I live on adrenaline until I get really ill. I can lose half a stone in 3 days, and I'm on the lower end of a normal BMI on a good day!

I used to in my twenties and thirties. Dizzy, sick and shaky and irritable 4 hours after eating and I'd carry carb snacks. I thought my diet was healthy. I was eating museli, banana and orange juice at breakfast. Various carbs for lunch and dinner (I knew how to cook pasta 🙂 but not much else).
Since doing the low carb bootcamp on MN a few years ago, my default is low carb - particularly for breakfast. My blood sugar feels so stable now. I can go all day without eating if I have eggs for breakfast. It's liberating.

It's migraine inducing for me, so I've got used to avoiding anything remotely sugary during the day. I can't have biscuits at all, its like it trips the glucose response and my body over reacts and I end up needing to eat again far too soon.

Yoghurt and tablespoon of muesli for breakfast (Inc seeds and nuts)
Sandwich for lunch, but can't have white bread
Whatever I want for dinner.

I can't have cereal for breakfast, or white bread, and even if I only have a sandwich for lunch, I'm fine for hours. If I have a kitkat it messes me up and blood sugar goes wonky and I end up with dizziness and a migraine.
(Def don't have diabetes, I've been tested several times)

Thanks everyone - seems fairly common then. I do worry if its pre diabetes though (at an extent that isn’t detectable by the diabetes diagnostic test) as most NHS tests seem fairly insensitive