Fasting for GA but get shakes if I don't eat frequently - help?

[BirdyBedtime]

I am having a 2 hour op under GA in a few weeks. I have been sent pre-op instructions saying that I'm to arrive at 11am, my op will be in the afternoon, so I can have tea and toast for breakfast then only sip water after 8am.

I get the shakes, sweaty, dizzy on occasion when I haven't eaten for a few hours. Usually I eat a huge amount in the morning (breakfast around 7am of 2 slices of wholemeal toast with pate or peanut butter or cheese or egg), small portion of porridge or scone when I get to work (8.30am) then snack on rice cakes, fruit through the morning and lunch sharp at 12. (I am a healthy weight and am in remission from an overactive thyroid in case anyone asks!).

I just don't know how I'm going to cope until my op on only some toast before 8am. By 11am I'll be seriously shaking and I don't know what will happen if I don't eat, as usually when I get like that (eg from being in a meeting without food) I need to have a quick carb hit asap.

I was thinking about glucose tablets as these dissolve and are quickly absorbed so are not sitting in the stomach, but I can't find anything online about whether that would be ok. I've got a pre-op appt a week before and don't want to sound like a hypochondriac but it's a real issue. Anyone out there either a doc/nurse/anaesthetist or have experience of a similar situation?

I had an overactive Thyroid gland years ago in my early 20s . I too had always needed lots of food to just to keep my 7stone 9 < 5'2">.

After I had the Thyroid op, as it did return, Thyroid was fine. But always had these red alert alarm signals going on when hungry. Even my brain wouldn't work properly - couldn't concentrate and became disorientated and the feeling I was about to pass out. My DB said it was all in my mind.

Before I was diagnosed I was ravenous and ate every 30 minites < strawberry jam and banana sandwiches> then a 3 course meal as usual at 12pm. My constant eating saved my life DR said as it stopped my weight going any further down than it was at 6stone 3.

Good luck with the op and your remission.

OP, I had insulin resistance as a symptom of PCOS when I was younger and had the symptoms you describe when my blood sugar dipped. A low GI diet really helps to bring it under control.

I had to have a small op mid-morning recently and although I wasn't sweating and shaking like I would have been a few years ago, without any breakfast or morning coffee I had a headache (probably due to lack of caffeine/stress) and generally felt awful. I was put in a cubicle next to someone who had had the same procedure a bit earlier and was going on and on about the yummy biscuits she was eating. I almost jumped through the curtain and rammed them where the sun doesn't shine (low blood sugar can give me rather a short fuse....).

Definitely discuss with doc.