Health mystery (intense weak/ faint feeling when hungry)

[BlueMumma2018]

I’ve been tested for diabetes. I’ve never been tested during when I feel like this. But basically when I’m a bit hungry I usually get this overwhelming all encompassing weak feeling. My hands shake and have slight pins and needles in extremities. I get really moody and can’t function at all or think straight. It happens all the time now and recently have had a cramp feeling in my chest too with it. My dad says it’s hypoglycaemia as he gets it too but he’s just guessing that and never had it confirmed.
i sometimes get a bit sweaty too and I can smell I a strange alcohol kind of smell on myself. (I don’t drink) any ideas? I can’t leave the house without food in my bag as I never know when it’s going to happen

Sounds like hypoglycemia, like your dad says

I've had this and found eating something carby/sugary helps. Felt in a really foul mood and shaky. I do not remember an alcohol taste on my breath though

I've also been tested for diabetes and it was negative

BUT since changing my diet (lower carb, basically) I haven't had the hypoglycemia since

Agree, the alcohol smell specifically sounds like diabetic ketoacidosis. Sometimes DKA is the first sign of diabetes in people who haven’t yet been diagnosed. I'd ask the doc if you can get monitored at all.

I used to get the hanger a lot. Peaked during pregnancy, and I was unbearable. Switching to low carb had made such a difference. I am no longer constantly hungry, lost all the excess weight, generally healthier and more energy.
But it was hard going, to a certain extent carbs cause an addiction like state of need and withdrawal. You have probably felt this yourself; I just need some chocolate, a pack of crisps, a sandwich, some bread.... ah, yes now I feel better.

I get this and also slurred speech, racing heart and cold sweats. I always take snacks with me now just in case. Also tested negative for diabetes!

Could be ketosis due to hypoglycemia if you have been checked for diabetes.

https://www.insider.com/guides/health/conditions-symptoms/ketosis-vs-ketoacidosis

DH (whose DM had t2 diabetes) sometimes gets this, particularly during walks - he calls it 'feeling droppy'. But his Hba1C is ostensibly ok - the same as mine. Anyway, we recently both started the Zoë thing with a glucose monitor - unsurprisingly his glucose curve was very different to mine - higher highs and then crashes.

I get the impression there's too much reliance on HbA1C, which is a sort of average which doesn't capture the peaks and troughs at all, so diabetes and even moreso prediabetes is being under-diagnosed. What tests have you had?

DH is now on a mission to lose a significant amount of weight and reverse his condition (following the Newcastle work) . Lower carb is part of this and he's bought some more CGMs which he finds helpful.

I get this often too. Shaky, sweating, irritable, confused. Tested negative for diabetes too.
When it happens I get the urge to just shove random food down my throat until I stop shaking. Afterwards I always feel exhausted and need a nap.

I get this if I haven't paid attention to eating low GI foods. Worst things to eat for me are white bread, pasta, rice, sweet carbs and spuds if without protein. Best is low GI foods and eating regularly. I get shaky, clammy and can't process info if I let it slide.

@Unabletomitigate and @coxesorangepippin
How did you manage the low carb thing? I've been thinking about trying low carb too but I worry what will happen when I get into one of those 'states' ie low sugar/hypo. They can be quite bad, like others describe - sweaty, shaky, really unwell and the only thing that seems to help is eating carbs at that point. To prevent this from happening I have to eat regularly, every four hours or so, and I have to have carbs.. if I try what 'normal' people (ie people who don't get hypos) seem to do ie have yoghurt and fruit or some other protein (without carb) I always always get a hypo/shaky thing. But at the same time eating carbs every four hours as you can imagine isn't great for my weight.

So how do you even begin low carb, and what on earth do you do when you get a hypo?

I too have been tested a number of times and I too have come back as negative for diabetes

@ErrolTheDragon
what is the Newcastle work? And how does your DH manage low carb? I genuinely want to try it too and have wondered about buying some kind of glucose monitor but so far the only thing that seems to stop these dips/hypos from happening is eating something with carbs every four hours which sounds like the complete opposite.. I'm so confused

What advice were you given when you were tested for diabetes, are you diabetic, did they give you a glucometer to record your glucose readings.

www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2017/dec/newcastle-diet-achieves-type-2-diabetes-remission-after-one-year-of-direct-trial-98030767.html

DH isn't going for the extreme 800 cal shake approach though that may work for many. He's not 'low carbing' either - it's more about finding what spikes blood sugar and avoiding them so the crashes don't happen. So - low GI, higher fibre, combining with protein and fat and also exercising (or at least moving) after eating. This is where the blood glucose monitor is a useful tool.

I think it's quite common; I get this too, not diabetic. You can combat it by cutting out sugar and eating more protein / complex carbohydrates.

That sounds like it could be reactive hypoglycemia, a couple of my friends have it. Try looking at the Glucose Goddess, she has a whole method of flattening out your blood sugar highs and lows so you don’t get the crashes that cause these symptoms

I'd recommend reading The Glucose Revolution and then getting a Freestyle Libre for a couple of weeks. You don't have to eat low carb to stop glucose spikes but you do have to think a bit more about which carbs and in what quantities. Rice is terrible for me (both white and brown) and causes far more of a glucose spike than a bar of chocolate.

Just seen post above mine - The Glucose Revolution is by Glucose Goddess aka Jessie Inschauspe.
She has an insta but the book is good for setting it all out very clearly

R.e. lower carb

It takes a bit of adjusting but once you do it you really feel the benefits.

I basically avoid eating any crappy carbs on their own i.e toast and jam, pasta and tomato sauce, orange juice. I have bread, pasta, oats, but there has to be some protein and fat with it - so porridge made with full fat milk. Otherwise it just makes me ridiculously hungry.

Typical low carb day:

Scrambled eggs, greek yogurt for breakfast

Lentil and veg soup, ham/tuna/ chicken with cottage cheese for lunch

Dinner might be chicken casserole and a baked potato

Snacks would be hard boiled eggs, low sugar fruit compote, cottage cheese, veg sticks. Also lentil and veggie soups

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_diets

Tons of resources for low carb on here

There also a low carb bootcamp thread too, I can recommend for support and ideas

Thanks everyone, that's very helpful. I'll look into the suggestions