Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

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:
MrsBigD · 14/02/2006 16:28

oh I love this medical impossibility!

Breakfast monster! I like that...when I start a new job I always warn new colleagues 'if I suddenly for no good reason go barmy'... 'FEED ME'.

Anchovy... your dh seems to have the same eating habits as mine!

mousiemousie · 14/02/2006 16:30

Sandwiches aren't good for me at lunchtime...white bread makes me feel quite ill at 5pm, and even some brown bread in bought sandwiches is not much better.

A lunch of bean salad / vegetables with rice / fish goujons will keep me happy until dinner time, although it is still sensible to have a healthy snack in the afternoon...something I never do . A jacket potato also works well for me - but I wonder if different people react slightly differently ie good carbs for one may not be exactly the same as good carbs for another!

BudaBabe · 14/02/2006 16:52

Ooh - at last a real life medical reason for all the wine I drink!!!! Thanks mousiemousie.

I am exactly the same - get shaky, totally irrational and get really bad stomach cramps if I go too long without food. NEVER understand people who "forget" to have lunch - how stupid are these people???

I did Atkins for quite a while and that helped as I wasn't having ANY carbs so now highs and then lows - I'm not advocating it as I know it isn't ideal!!

Low-GI is def the way to go.

Original poster
FrayedKnot · 14/02/2006 18:50

Lol at Anchovy - no, my DH is a camel too, and can go AGES without eating, so he just doesn't understand at all.

I had sort of worked out teh protein thing by trial and error, and bread is a complete disaster for me, if I eat a white bread sandwich for lunch I feel so tired afterwards, whereas oatcakes and a good portion of protein seems to do me so much better.

Really interested in how many other people have this. I thought I was weird!

I don;t drink much at all now, as was finding alcohol made me feel awful, tired, headachy, terrible hangovers even after just a couple of glasses of wine, etc. The cons started to outweigh the pros.

if I drink it has to be with a meal.

OP posts:
Stilltrue · 14/02/2006 19:31

Are you me FrayedKnot? It's uncanny how similar these symptoms are, even down to the low bp. I have 4 kids and have stayed size 8/10 since my teens, in spite of feeling hungry and therefore eating most of the time. Like you, I find a GI system helpful. i have cut right down on white bread, cakes etc. but I have to say I'm not quite ready to bin the booze just yet ! I agree with mousiemousie; pulses/veg + protein good at lunchtime. M&S have some quite tasty beany things atm if you can't always be bothered to make them from scratch. Actually when in the middle of the shakes it's very hard to assemble a sensible meal, so I try to keep the fridge filled with low GI stuff, ready for scoffing !

Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:02

Message withdrawn

notasheep · 14/02/2006 21:55

FrayedKnot-I often feel that i am going to pass out.

I think you should eat more

nooka · 14/02/2006 22:10

Low GI is on the whole fairly straight forward, as it is basically high fibre (a bit more complicated than that, but as a rule of thumb that works well). Protein takes longer to digest, and is therefore slower release, and the less processed things are the better (there is even a GI difference between Ready Brek and porridge). You would probably find if you kept a food diary for a week or so you could start to predict what will make you feel OK for longer, and what will make you crash. I had this problem majorly when I was a teenager (I would actually pass out), and the doctor told me I was too tall and skinny, with a fast metabolism and low bp. Mostly I have grown out of it, but I have to watch when doing things that mean I move my head a lot (packing, or trying on new clothes are particular killers for me) and I always carry cereal bars (I like the fruit and nut ones, like Jordans, or Geobars). I also found carrying glucose tablets helped, as if I really feel awful they will give me an immediate boost, whilst I sort out the food front. Otherwise when I get really wobbly eating makes me feel much worse. Oh, and do I get snappy when I haven't eaten for a while...

nooka · 14/02/2006 22:11

Oh, and dh, who is a bodybuilder says that you should really eat every 2 1/2 hours, and drink a gallon on water a day for a nice even keel (he says dehydration is the other thing that does me)

Gemmitygem · 15/02/2006 09:07

have exactly the same, get shaky and shivery especially around 5-6 in the evening. my cousins all have it as well. We are all quite skinny, nervy high energy types. Think it's hypoglycaemia and doesn't indicate diabetes but maybe indicates you're the type of person who shouldn't go overboard on sugar. I find it's also really badly set off by eating sweet things and coffee.

I find a BIG porridge/muesly breakfast and crucially an oaty/fruit snack with glass of milk at 4-5 pm solves it. Also carry something with you in your bag.

Wish you the best of luck to everyone that has it.

uwila · 15/02/2006 09:22

I have this too. I also have quite high cholesterol. Does anyone else have high cholesterol?

fruitful · 15/02/2006 09:43

Wow, its nice to see I'm not a wierdo after all!

Mind you, I usually solve the problem by nibbling on chocolate all day long... perhaps I should get organised with the brown rice salad...

uwila · 15/02/2006 10:14

Ah, fruitful, I am guilty of the chocolate thing as well. Howver, I also suffer from frequent headaches diagnosed (misdiagnosed?) as migraines. As I have very high cholesterol, I've decided to go on oaty and fruity frenzy for a diet and see if the headaches subside.... fingers crossed!

MrsBigD · 15/02/2006 11:32

sorry... very low cholesterol here

Chocolate won't help with high levels of c nor low sugar levels ... cut it out LOL and this from a chocaholic!

Though high cholesterol can be genetic. My friend's father has high, she has high and her two daughters (teenies) have high levels too despite good diet...

uwila · 15/02/2006 11:41

No one in my family has high cholesterol, so I pretty much throw the heredity explanation out the window.

MrsBigD · 15/02/2006 11:46

Uwila... you or rather your tendency for high cholesterol could be a spontaneous mutation?

jalopy · 15/02/2006 12:40

Sorry, haven't read all the other threads but I definitely can relate to this. Always need to eat many times a day. Don't have any particular symptoms of diabetes. Have had my blood glucose and urine checked in the past. Never had gestational diabetes but had large babies. I'm also a slim, high energy type too. Ratty as hell and shaky if I let my sugar levels drop. Eat porridge sometimes twice a day to counteract swings in energy. Has definitely got worse as I've got older.

HenniPenni · 15/02/2006 12:45

I suffer from this as well, I also become sweaty and feel very faint and it's always particularly worse before AF.

I always have to have a bowl of porridge first thing followed by toast mid morning etc.

Original poster
FrayedKnot · 15/02/2006 13:44

I am starting to think it is normal to be like this and people who aren;t like it are the weird ones

OP posts:
Original poster
FrayedKnot · 15/02/2006 13:45

But out of interest, does anyone's DH have this?

Or is it a women thing?

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 15/02/2006 13:49

I have this too - and had gestational diabetes. Think there's a link.

Anyone else on this thread have PCOS too?

RachD · 15/02/2006 13:56

Being irritable and shaky before meals, is caused by a drop in blood sugar.

Most people have had atleast one experience of this.
Many people expereince it many times a day.

Many people who are prone to it, can , CAN, develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

If you are aware of it, and eat something immediately it is controllable.

Original poster
FrayedKnot · 15/02/2006 13:58

Yes I have PCOS too.

OP posts:
Orinoco · 15/02/2006 20:34

Message withdrawn

wysiwyg · 15/02/2006 21:04

Sorry I don't know what PCOS is....
Really intersting thread this. When I was in my late teens I suffered massively from panic attacks and I came to the conclusion in the end that it was panic over these shakes - I realised that I needed to eat regularly. Also once you get the shakes, it used to take me ages to start feeling OK again. I'm still like it now, but live life ie manage my food, accordingly. Unfortunately DH has this I think, but won't do anything about it.