To get faint when I don't eat?

[moutonfou]

This may sound like a ridiculous question, but I know that a lot of people do the 5:2 diet now where they don't eat until teatime and even then only have 500 calories. Muslims even manage up to 14hrs in the summer during Ramadan. And I know that humans can survive weeks without food. Lots in the news lately seems to praise the benefits of sensible fasting for regulating blood sugar and digestion.

But if any of my meals are delayed by even an hour or two (say, work meetings overrunning, no chance to grab anything, etc), or I skip breakfast, I start getting faint. DH says I'm just being dramatic and I wouldn't actually faint, but I feel like I would.

I eat plenty of calories, decent meals, and am a healthy weight (around 9st).

Is this normal?

I got this for the first time in ages yesterday. The difference was I had a working lunch and had sandwiches for lunch instead of my usual protein rich salad.

This is interesting, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this. I've had it since I was a teenager and it's really annoying. I get shaky, weak and if I leave it too long I start to feel faint. It's ridiculous I should be able to last 6 hours between meals! I dread ever having to have a fasting blood test!
I told my doctor about it years ago and he told me it was just a panic attack and that it went away when I ate because the act of eating was stopping me hyperventilating. Well it sure doesn't feel like panic attacks to me and like others I find it's much better if I don't eat sugar or lots of bread.

Woodlice that Doctor sounds as convincing as the one who told me vegetarians can’t have children.

I don't get dizzy, but if I do get hungry and stay hungry, I get a migraine afterwards, so I don't let it go that far. I'm a shocker in the mornings thou, this morning I had 2 eggs with seeded bread and butter and I was hungry an hour later.

I had to explain myself at work the other day as I had meetings 9.30-1.00 and someone wanted to see me straight after 1. I feebly explained that I couldn't go that long without a morsel touching my lips as I'm such a lightweight I would get a migraine. I wish I was one of those people who could eat 3 times as day and forget it the rest of the time... but I've always been like this, dp gets the hump sometimes when we're out and about and lunch is pushed later... so now I prepare myself with a little pot of nuts in my bag.

I've always had this. I get dizzy, shakey, if I'm out walking around I've been known to cry...
Low glucose eg eating porridge or eggs rather than white bread helps.
I've had this since I was young, am in 30s now. Not slim but not huge.
I wish I could skip meals sometimes!

I get this too. Comes on very rapidly, I get shaky, feel faint and lose concentration. It can happen even when I have eaten regular meals but is definitely related to low blood sugar as it goes away very quickly if I eat something (carbs + protein + sugar seems to work best so something like a nutty muesli bar or peanut butter and jam on toast).
Check out www.healthline.com/health/hypoglycemia-without-diabetes#overview1for a description of the condition. It can be linked to diabetes but can also occur in anyone without an apparent cause.

Also, trying to eat slow release (low Glycemic Index foods/meals) is meant to help keep your blood sugars stable. I have found it helps when I eat more low GI foods in general but is not always easy to keep this up long term
Sorry for the Wikipedia link but it is a fairly good explanation:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-glycemic_diet