To wonder what the hell is going on with my body?!

[PleaseNotThisAgain]

Have had a headache all evening. Presumed caffeine withdrawal (trying to cut down) so had a drink and some Anadin and sat quietly on the sofa.

Started feeling a bit nauseous but after maybe 20 minutes realised I needed the bathroom. Am currently constipated and I generally feel a bit sick until I've been so thought nothing of it and trotted to the bathroom with a glass of water.

But now my entire body is uncontrollably shaking. I got up and almost fell over trying to walk to the bedroom. I haven't managed to use the bathroom, felt very sick at one point but haven't thrown up either and I'm not cold at all. Temperature is 37.5C.

I'm also supposed to be on my first withdrawal bleed from using the patch. I took my last one off 2 days early because I was fed up of the side effects. Have had some stomach cramps on and off but not even spotting and it's been 2 days now. Nurse said it was okay to start it on day 9 of my cycle as long as we used condoms. Have done a pregnancy test as headaches/nausea/constipation were all symptoms for me first time round quite early on, but it has come back negative so I think I've ruled that out.

I'm now lying naked on a towel in bed, bucket strategically positioned, shaking like a lunatic. AIBU to wonder what the hell my body is doing?

You're not diabetic?

Not diabetic unless that's something you can suddenly develop?

Are you feeling any better now?

If you don't solve it or it happens again, I'd certainly pop blood sugar on your "to check" list.

Sounds like rigors due to your temperature maybe? Are you passing urine ok?

That's a borderline temperature. Not really a fever.

Maybe it's something you've eaten and it will all ease up once it's gone.

Not shaking as badly now I'm tucked up in bed. I don't feel cold or hot but I've got the window open for fresh air so I've put an extra blanket over the duvet to compensate for the cold breeze.

Passing urine okay. Was wondering if I was dehydrated but the colour is very pale so I'm probably okay on that front.

I'm just so confused, I've never had shaking like this without a very high temperature and normally a feeling of being so cold that I'll never warm up again.

Sounds like a bug?

I'm just so confused, I've never had shaking like this without a very high temperature and normally a feeling of being so cold that I'll never warm up again.

That's what made me think hypoglycaemia. But I'm not an HCP and if you're not a known diabetic, I'm not sure what would cause it.

If it is a bug, and not just an unfortunate collection of side effects from various things, then I'm crossing my fingers for virus over stomach bug.

I would call out of hours or 111, that sounds worrying

Have just googled hypoglycaemia. DH is on weird shifts so I've been up with him this evening. Rang him from the bathroom around 2.30am for the sick bucket. Maybe had felt faintly sick for around 20-30 minutes prior, so guessing I ate around 2am. 4 slices of crusty fresh bread and butter and a mix of raw veggies and a bit of chorizo. I've not had much of an appetite recently so have been eating very small portions so that was a fair amount for me. NHS suggests fasting/poor diet and large carb based meals can cause reactive hypoglycaemia without being diabetic.

Have just googled hypoglycaemia. DH is on weird shifts so I've been up with him this evening. Rang him from the bathroom around 2.30am for the sick bucket. Maybe had felt faintly sick for around 20-30 minutes prior, so guessing I ate around 2am. 4 slices of crusty fresh bread and butter and a mix of raw veggies and a bit of chorizo. I've not had much of an appetite recently so have been eating very small portions so that was a fair amount for me. NHS suggests fasting/poor diet and large carb based meals can cause reactive hypoglycaemia without being diabetic.

Maybe that's it then.

Have you got something small and sugary to try? Boiled sweet? Cough sweet? Mint?

If it is low blood sugar, that will bring it back up.

Having a can of red coke and that seems to be doing the trick. Slowly feeling less shaky and horrible and the headache has lifted. Thanks @RubberTreePlant for the suggestion (and to everybody who has commented), I thought somebody was going to tell me there's a horrible strain of something going round. Will have to get my diet in order and see a GP if that happens again.

It sounds as if it absolutely could have been low blood sugar.

If you don't plan to have a meal soon, I suggest eating some long-acting carbs and protein. Some peanut butter crackers or a sandwich would do.

The rationale is that simple sugars will spike your blood glucose quickly, which is what you want when it's low, but they'll also wear off quickly and your blood glucose could drop again. Protein and long-acting carbs will take longer to raise blood glucose, but will keep it high for longer.

This is the policy for treating diabetic emergencies in hospital.

You say you’re cutting out caffeine - what sort of caffeine: coke, sugary drinks, chocolate? If so, rather than a reaction to caffeine withdrawal, it could absolutely be hypoglycaemia.

As you’ve seen, low blood sugar can happen independently of an underlying condition. If your body is used to a lot of sugar and then there’s a very sudden drop, this can affect your blood sugar levels significantly.

People always talk about diabetes in relation to blood sugar but there are other conditions that affect insulin and blood sugar levels. My son was born with a very rare condition called hyperinsulinism, basically the opposite of diabetes - this causes severe hypoglycaemia without warning. I can pretty much guarantee you don’t have that as you wouldn’t have reached adulthood without being seriously ill at some point - untreated you’d likely have experienced coma, a stroke, possibly death, so I think we can cross that off! His symptoms as a baby were severe jittering (you could see his hands sort of bouncing and vibrating), lethargy, drowsiness. Hard to know what he felt like otherwise.

He outgrew that but now has Ketotic hypoglycaemia, aka accelerated starvation. It’s basically a sped up version of starving yourself, so he’d react like I would to 72 hours of not eating within 4-6 hours. This usually goes away by adolescence but I’m sure his consultant mentioned some adults developing it.

T2 diabetes can develop at any point so it could be that - it doesn’t only affect obese people, or those who consume tons of sugar, despite popular misconceptions

T1 diabetes is normally diagnosed in childhood but not always - it can develop in adulthood too. There’s is an autoimmune version that can start in adulthood (late onset autoimmune diabetes of adults, LADA) and other issues too: www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/symptoms/signs-and-symptoms-of-type-1_adults.html

You can go into most pharmacies and ask for a blood sugar check. I believe want this to be done at least two hours after food / drink (water is fine!). Or you can purchase a monitor to check yourself at home if this happens again, which would be really useful to know.

I’d see the doctor today personally, and I really hope you feel better soon

Thank you so much for all the information. It's mainly fizzy drinks. I pretty much always have a can open, so it makes sense that reducing the amount has caused my blood sugars to go haywire.

I have been having headaches which I had assumed was caffeine withdrawal or possibly viral, but looking back low blood sugar would make sense. A month ago in particular I went out, had a huge meal before a few cocktails, and ended up going home an hour later with a bad headache, feeling incredibly sleepy and a bit weak/shaky - very similar to how I felt last night.

I've ordered some urinalysis sticks and a blood glucose test kit on amazon to keep an eye on things. A routine GP appointment is normally a few weeks wait at my surgery so hopefully I'll have a better idea of what is happening then and the GP can work out why.

So my blood glucose monitor came this evening. I've had a look online and it seems to be the done thing to test sugars before food/when you wake up and then 2 hours after eating.

I got a reading of 7 mmol/L before dinner (but I had been drinking fizzy drinks up until testing). Then 2 hours after dinner (no more fizz in the meantime just water) and I've had two readings of LO (below 1.1) and the third has come back now as 1.8 mmol/L. I have a raging headache that came on probably around half an hour after eating.

Have double checked the booklet and I'm doing everything correctly (alcohol wipe, wipe away first drop of blood, applying the right amount etc). So the LO readings seem like they could be genuine not due to user error.

I'm right in thinking this isn't good and I need to see a Dr, aren't I?

I've no idea but I'm bumping for someone who might

I'd see a doc tbh after reading your posts

That is CRAZY low. Definitely see a doctor.

Yeah I definitely think I should see somebody tomorrow. I'll ring the GP triage thingy in the morning.

I managed to get it up to 6.7 but it took a long time. Then had something proper to eat and an hour later it's now 5.5 mmol/L. If I'm understanding correctly then between 4-6 is fasting levels (like when you wake up) and it shouldn't be that low an hour after eating?

Yes, the two hour post-prandial reading is generally expected to be a bit higher than either the waking or pre-prandial measure.

Of course, I'm speaking as a diabetic but you do seem to all be upside down and back to front. Going below four is worrying in itself (and normally caused by too much insulin). You need to get to the bottom of it.

Tables here-

www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html

Make sure your DH knows what to do if you go into seizure or become unresponsive (ie syrup in your mouth and ambulance).

Thank you @RubberTreePlant. I think I'd have kept on putting the symptoms down to other things if it weren't for your advice and all the other lovely people that have commented on this thread.

Have let DH know what to do, he's got no chance of finding syrup of any sort (not sure he's ever been in the pantry ) so I'm going to extract a few options and put them in places he'll be able to see them (kitchen counter and his PC desk should should do it).

I think the surgery opens the phones at 8am so I'll stay up til then and keep an eye on things so I have something consistent to show the GP.