Low blood sugar symptoms but not diabetic

[Lockdownmum1010]

Any insights welcome please. For the past few months I've been having regular incidences of what I think is low blood sugar - feeling weak and shaky, feel better after eating or drinking something. I had some bloods done at Christmas which showed mild anaemia but that's it. I wasn't tested for diabetes but don't think I'd be getting low blood sugar symptoms with that anyway as would be high? Anyone got any ideas, GP appointments are like gold dust around here so would like to go in with some ideas!

My daughter has this. She's 25 next week.
It started during Covid so 2020. We were in aldi & she suddenly felt hot & dizzy & sick. We went home & she ate something & immediately felt better.
For a while after that it would happen rarely but it started to ramp up a bit the last year.
She's been to the doc several times, had bloods done each time & nothing has turned up.
No diabetes diagnosed nor in the family history.
She actually bought a blood sugar monitor & when it happens her bloods drop massively.
What we've noticed is that if she eats regularly & healthily it can stop it happening. It's when she deviates from that that it gets bad. If she does have an attack an apple juice is helpful for rectifying it quickly.
She's recently been diagnosed with alopecia so I'm now thinking it's all related, some kind of auto immune response. She's on a waiting list for an endoscopy.

I had this for many years. I was actually pre school the first time I remember an episode although there were infrequent, a few times in my teens and through my 20's. Ended up at the dr's after passing out at work and was dismissed. Happened badly about 6 years ago where afterwards I felt awful and couldn't get up for many days. Blood tests showed a blood sugar of 2.5 when I finally dragged myself to the drs and was simply told this must be wrong despite having all the symptoms. I recovered after living off lucozade sport and was investigated by endocrinologist but nothing was ever found. Strangely it has never happened again since so it's still a bit of a mystery. I'm conscious these days of always eating before activity though so perhaps learned to prevent it to a point

@Alsonification interesting you say about the auto immune as I have severe raynauds which often goes hand in hand with many AI too. I feel the whole area is massively not understood

Certainly could be connected. Dd also has osteo arthritis in her knees, another auto immune disease.

I have this problem ...
I get suddenly really hot and shaky and a bit nauseous....I always carry a muesli type bar with me now and once I've eaten it I feel much better.

It's quite common. Maybe watch your diet and eat regularly, particularly regular carbs.

I get this all the time! Always have done. My blood sugar just tanks.

this will sound like an excuse but it makes it really really hard to sustain a diet/exercise regime

You can buy blood sugar meters quite cheaply. I'd recommend buying one and monitoring to see where your levels are. It's worth doing them in the morning and when you don't have symptoms so you have something to compare to, you can find out what the should be online.

Then at least you can say if it's actually blood sugar or something else. I had some issues with insulin resistance which meant I wasn't using my insulin very well. My GP explained it to me like this... Although my blood sugar was actually high my glucose from my food was in my blood not being used by my body in muscles etc. So I'd feel weak anf shakey, and also very hungry.

Just wondering if you poss have something similar.

You can self fund a blood glucose monitor from most pharmacies these days op.

Diabetics have high blood sugar so definitely not related to that.

My daughter had Ketotic Hyperglycaemia as a toddler but has since grown out of it. Worth keeping some jelly beans with you all the time.

Adrenal fatigue?

Sorry just seen that's not a real thing. Adrenal insufficiency is though.

My daughter is like this. She is not always an amazing eater and sometimes if we are on holiday and doesn't eat much then she gets really hot and feels sick. Especially if she has done activities.

My sister in laws are convinced it's because I give her too many snacks! But it happens when she's not really eaten anything... so by my logic taking the snacks away would make it even worse?

I get this as well. I have tested my blood and they drop very low, 2.5 being the lowest. I did have gestational diabetes and I have family history of diabetes but diabetes gives you the opposite of high sugar levels. Wish I knew what it was and I agree it makes it hard to lose weight as I try to cut down but I just get so so hungry, unwell and shaky that doesn’t go away until I eat.

I have this in a vicious circle am actually seeing the doctor tomorrow.
Have crohns and short bowel > have massive 'explosion' in my colostomy bag> blood sugar drops dramatically> start sweating, feel like I am going to pass out, super tired> eat something > fall asleep and repeat...
Crohn's is auto immune and dumping syndrome/ short bowel are linked to crohns.
It is not a super fun illness.

Oh looks like it's pretty common then! I do try to keep a snack with me which helps, but obviously there are times when it's less practical or I just forget!

I have t2 diabetes... I had hyperglycaemia (dangerously high sugar levels), went into ketosis and would have sworn I was having a hypo if I'd been going by just symptoms

Reactive/postprandial hypoglycaemia?

I get symptoms like you describe a couple of hours after I eat, and a blood sugar monitor confirmed very low blood sugar during the episodes. I was referred to an endocrinologist to make sure it wasn't anything serious (I go from totally fine to almost passing out very quickly), and he said it was reactive hypoglycaemia. It can be a pre-diabetes sign, although for me he thought that was highly unlikely (I'm quite significantly underweight so he thought it was caused by that rather than pre-diabetes).
I just need to adjust my diet, eat little and often, and eat fewer high glycemic index foods.

I get this. My Dad has diabetes and I tested using his monitor one time and it said 2.1

I do a lot of exercise and when training for a marathon last year it became a real issue for me.

But I've tweaked what I eat and fingers crossed, it doesn't happen as much now.

I collapsed a few years ago and then collapsed about once every year for 3 or 4 years. I was having blood tests at GPs for other things and low blood sugars were found. Had to go to hospital for further tests and a complete meal in a drink and confirmed I have reactive hypoglycaemia so blood sugars crash some hours after eating. I have to have little regular food and watch my carbs so I don't spike and check my blood sugars before exercise (difficult as I also have Reynards and can't always get blood!)

I know others in my running club who've also got this do it's not very rare. Just got to be aware and watch what you eat.

I was going to say reactive hypoglycaemia too. My two sons and I all get episodes of it. It is worth getting checked if it is a new thing. We've just learnt to live with it now, after various investigations, and don't leave the house without a carb snack and a small can of lemonade for each of us.

Totally agree with pp that losing weight then becomes an issue because you can't afford to get hungry.

Do you have a high carb diet?

I have this too. I think people who have this are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes but it does make weight maintenance harder.

Things that make it worse are all the usual suspects - lack of sleep, alcohol, poor diet, lack of routine, caffeine, sugar highs that lead to crashes. For some reason fried breakfasts trigger a massive blood sugar drop in me so I don't eat them and I can't drink caffeinated coffee. Early mornings or a sleepless night mean I will struggle for control all day.

I do find it very difficult - if I travel for work and have an early start I will just need to eat several times in a morning. I look like I have no self control.

Not especially I don't think, although it probably has been more so in the last few months as was breastfeeding and always hungry!

I have this. I found that caffeine makes it 10x worse, so just I cut out caffeine. The few times I've had caffeine, it hits like clockwork 4 hours later.