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Original poster

Does anyone get really ratty and shaky before meals?

59 replies

FrayedKnot · 14/02/2006 14:20

Ever since I can remember I have felt really irritable and sometimes get the shakes before mealtimes.

It seems to be getting steadily worse. I have breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, and eitehr supper with DS at 5.30, or I have snack, and supper later with DH. I also sometimes have snacks inbetween meals.

Even so, around 11.30 I start to get really ratty and the slightest thing will set me off into a major strop. I can honestly say I can barely control it. It's a bit like PMT.

As soon as I have eaten, I am OK again.

I also get shaky and lightheaded.

I am starting to feel like I am a prisoner of my diet, it seems to be taking over my life.

I try to eat low GI food like oatcakes, apples, etc, but even that doesn;t really help much.

Does anyone else get this?

OP posts:
Feistybird · 14/02/2006 14:22

could you be diabetic?

Original poster
FrayedKnot · 14/02/2006 14:26

No, I know I'm not. I had a gestational diabetes test as have family history and it was clear, and I don't have those symptoms (thirst, needing to wee a alot).

I'm sure it is to do with blood sugar but I feel like I'm struggling to manage it iyswim.

OP posts:
Feistybird · 14/02/2006 14:26

no, doesn't sound like it - the symptoms are:-

Diabetes ? the symptoms
increased thirst
going to the loo all the time ? especially at night
extreme tiredness
weight loss
genital itching or regular episodes of thrush
slow healing of wounds
blurred vision.

OldieMum · 14/02/2006 14:28

I have had this for years. I think it's due to one's blood sugar level suddenly dropping. You could try snacking (a little) between meals.

littlerach · 14/02/2006 14:29

My sister gets like ths, she has to eat every couple of hours or gets too shakey.

She is very small built, size 6 or 8, and I guess this counts for much of it.
I remeber her gping to the doctors and think she was told to make sure she had protein each meal, but may have been for something else!

MrsBigD · 14/02/2006 14:38

in one word... YES

According to my old GP I've got hypoglycaemia
In English that's sudden drop in blood sugar.

I have to make sure that I eat regularly and often. Hardly ever manage 4h without some sort of food

Bananas are good, and basically anything that's slow releasing.

Hands off chocolate or sweets... they might help temporarily but then you crash.

Hope this helps.

rummum · 14/02/2006 14:46

I get the same thing.... I'm tall and slim and I can't miss a meal. I always carry a Chocolate musli bunch bar in my handbag, this helps.

FrayedKnot are you on the slim side....

MrsBigD · 14/02/2006 14:47

hehehehe nothing to do with being on the slim side... I'm not!

rummum · 14/02/2006 14:49

ok... that theory out then

I work with a woman who had no breakfast or drink before she comes to work.... I would have passed out by 10am if I did that....

MrsBigD · 14/02/2006 14:52

omg I couldn't do that... need at least 3 cups of tea and breakfast before I'm vaguely human!

I also have very low blood pressure which doesn't help with the low sugar thing.

Frayd have you had your bp checked lately?

franch · 14/02/2006 14:54

low GI diet is very good for keeping blood sugar levels constant and preventing energy lows

kreamkrackers · 14/02/2006 15:02

my sister has this. she has hypoglycaemia. you need to ask your doctor for an extended diabeties test. they need to measure your readings on an empty stomach, then each hour after drinking lucozade for about 6 hours to see what happens. your pancreas might be working over time and causing your blood sugars to keep dropping, my sisters got to dangerously low levels. also she's been told that her pancreas is going to fail at some point because it works like this and she will need insuline when this happens. at the moment she is diet controlled.

acnebride · 14/02/2006 15:04

I personally think a lot of people have the same problem. my xh used to literally eat nothing until 7 pm and then absolutely stuff his face. I of course would have to have eaten breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and then would stuff my face right alongside him... occasionally i managed to eat his way, but then i would have sick 'turns' every time i went in a car and many other times too. little and often is the way for me.

tried to go 8 hours without food the other day (to impress my mum and show how much I wanted to lose weight. result: sick headache and shakes.

pepperrabbit · 14/02/2006 15:04

I've had this for as long as I can remember - my friends used to call me Breakfast Monster because I am hideous if I don't get to eat. Same advice as the others really - slow release carbs, rice, pasta and potato were recommended by my doctor. Absolutely the worse thing you can do is get the shakes and reach for orange juice and a chocolate bar.... muesli bars are good or bananas as a snack. I find grazing helps rather than huge meals. Do you get to the confused stage after the shaky stage? - where you stand in the kitchen knowing you need to eat, but you just can't seem to choose what!
I've got gestational diabetes too at the mo so perhaps the two are linked?

ruty · 14/02/2006 15:05

i get this. get very shaky and tired if i don't eat. I tend to eat little and often to counteract it. I try to eat a lot of fruit and low GI things but i was wondering about going to doc to get tested for diabetes as I also drink gallons of water and pee a lot. I hate blood tests so putting it off.

Original poster
FrayedKnot · 14/02/2006 15:08

kreamkrackers thanks for that info as I thought if I mentioned it to GP he would fob me off. Perhaps I will next time.

Yes i do get very confused, I usually end up rushing round the kitchen dropping stuff (from the shakiness), shouting at DH / DS, and generally behaving like a lunatic.

It's the fact that it's getting worse that worries me.

I do have low BP.

OP posts:
Original poster
FrayedKnot · 14/02/2006 15:09

And I'm going to buy shares in Nairn's.

have just discovered their oaty berry biscuits which are helping a bit. Plain oatcakes probably better tho.

OP posts:
chjlly · 14/02/2006 15:15

Yes I do my Poor dh & dd go tthe brunt of it yesterday when we got in - Iwas absolutly starving and needed to eat pretty much as I got in but had to sort them out for bed first but kept shouting at ds for the slightest thing he did wrong

gingernut · 14/02/2006 15:22

yes, it's caused by lack of available sugars in your blood (i.e. usually low blood sugar). Once you have gone through the shaky period your body should start to mobilise its fat reserves and you should feel better. Often it's worse just before a period because progesterone tends to clear sugar from the blood (to be stored as fat) IIRC (similar thing to early pg when a lot of people also get this symptom).

Ways to minimise the problem: eat low GI diet and eat healthy snacks between meals if necessary (most fruit is good because it's usually low GI).

mousiemousie · 14/02/2006 15:24

This is all about blood sugar highs and lows. People with this problem have a tendancy towards diabetes and would be sensible to get this checked by the chemist or doctor as there are supposedly 1 million undiagnosed diabetics in the UK!

If you don't have diabetes now, you are more likely to develop it in the future if you have this problem. You need to eat regularly and avoid anything that makes your blood sugar spike - mainly unrefined carbohydrates. White bread is the worst thing for me! The GI diet is a good idea - but you will be able to link the foods which give you a sudden sugar crash if you watch the effects of different foods on your body . Alcohol and smoking give you immediate sugar lows, so if you have this syndrome you are more likely not to be able to stop at one glass of wine and to chain smoke if you smoke! Try to avoid both!

If you manage your diet you shouldn't get sugar lows anymore, but if you do get one it is important to eat straightaway.

Dinosaur · 14/02/2006 15:25

I get a bit like this. It's only since having children, oddly - in the old days I could keep going on adrenaline, coffee and fags (and now I wonder why I get palpitations, lol!).

I find that if I have sandwiches at lunchtime, rather than a cooked meal, then I am in a right shaky state by the time I get home from work.

I'm not diabetic either.

mousiemousie · 14/02/2006 15:26

Dino it is the bread in your sandwiches which is causing this effect

Dinosaur · 14/02/2006 15:28

That's exactly what I suspect to be the culprit mousiemousie.

Am fascinated by your post about sugar lows. When I smoked I could never have "just one". I always had to smoke the packet.

I used to be quite bad about drinking too but old age and children have finally slowed me down and I can now stop at a couple of drinks quite happily.

ProfessorGrammaticus · 14/02/2006 15:29

I get this sometimes and have to try to avoid too much sugar/ white carbs. I also have to eat frequently, as mentioned on the other thread! I need to eat lots of fruit as well as a butty at work or I am shaky at 5pm.

Anchovy · 14/02/2006 15:35

I get this as well. In fact whenever I get (justifiedly) cross about anything at all at home, DH alway says "quick, have a biscuit!"

DH sometimes says "Oh, I forgot to have lunch today" or "I had to work through, and then the sandwich place was closed, so I've just had an apple". Forgot! Just an apple - these are not concepts I can understand at all.

I have lots and lots of diabetes in my family and I'm sure it is related in some way, without being diabetes. When I discovered GI eating it was partly a revelation and partly something I had by then discovered by trial and error anyway. I just know that I have to eat regular meals, not miss meals and also have to odd snack, otherwise I get very shaky, a bit confused/disorientated and my vision goes a bit blurry. The right food sorts it our in about 10 minutes.

I like the poster who says people like this find it difficult to stop after one glass of wine. I thought I just had no will power, but I now understand that it is a medical impossibility!