Regular feelings of 'low blood sugar' but I am not diabetic, what could cause this?

[OnaSaturdayin1999]

I have suffered a myriad of chronic health issues for years and I am becoming increasingly certain that they are all connected, although I am struggling to find a doctor to connect the dots.

A problem which really does get to me is this strange sensation that I can only describe as a sudden onset of a low blood sugar level-like attack. Regardless of what, how or when I have eaten I will suddenly come over feeling super shaky and weak, very tired and nauseous and burp loads, and sometimes, not always, I will have to use the loo quickly (I do have daily IBS like symptoms too). This feeling often comes over me mid to late afternoon. I am certain it's not to do with not eating enough as it happens regardless of what I have eaten. I still have strength (ie I can still grip stuff) but I feel so weak and shaky and my legs will feel like jelly. I will often feel headachy too. During this time, although my stomach feels off I feel that I need something starchy to eat to try to counteract the feeling although it often has little effect, I just have to let it pass. It lasts a few hours and after I will feel drained for the rest of the day and need to sleep or rest up.

I used to think it was related to low iron, I have a history of gynae issues and was iron deficient for many years but since having infusions a couple of years ago my ferritin levels and iron have remained within normal levels. I had a HbA1c blood test recently which was also normal and all other blood tests have returned as normal according to NHS ranges (B12, vit d, thyroid etc).

Does anyone know what could be causing this? I really don't want to keep experiencing this on top of my other health issues. I keep a food and symptoms diary as I have IBS but I genuinely can not see any connection to anything that I am eating, drinking (only drink water) or doing within my life to experience this awful feeling.

normal according to NHS ranges

How normal? If they are the low end of the normal range you may not be absorbing iron or may simply need higher levels than the “norm” (which last I checked was still based on data which did not disaggregate properly by sex or ethnicity).

Is your blood pressure low? I get some of the symptoms you describe, often along with low key dizzyness/light headedness when my BP is particularly low. When working in Europe I’ve been advised on medication for low BP but in the UK low BP isn’t considered a condition in need of treatment. One of my DC with similar symptoms has vasovagal syncope.

Those symptoms can be part of a number of issues and you are right to want to follow up but it may take some time and persistence to be taken seriously.

DH and I used to have similar. It was to do with blood sugar dips and then grabbing something sweet so it would rise. It was basically seesawing between low blood sugar and then high.
I found out that if I ate something with simple carbs, my blood sugar would rise quickly, my body would release insulin to counteract but it released too much so then it would release adrenaline to get the sugar level back up. This was the see saw effect.
A CGM can help see how what you are eating affects you. I also did ZOE and had my blood checked for how I process sugar (and fat) and I process it poorly so that’s an added factor for me.

I've had this since I was a teenager - now nearly 40. Been to various gps about it and nothing is ever found.

Like others have said, a high protein - low carb diet seems to help. I to have digestive issues and unable to have eggs or milk. I also have smaller meals, probably 4-5 a day, rather than 2 or 3 bigger ones. More regular eating seems to help control my symptoms.

Some were at the low end of normal but the GP said they were all fine and nothing to be concerned about.

Blood pressure is usually around 118/70 so normal.

I do tend to eat small frequent meals as I can't go long period between foods either, I feel dreadful if I do.

Not really no. I just thought it was literally low blood sugar. I'm not diabetic. But I did used to go long periods without eating.

The coca cola always sorted me out! X

This sounds exactly like what’s happening to
my teen DD-she’s been having the problem since she was in primary school. We’ve been back and forwards to the GP with her but they say nothing is wrong. She’s very tall and thin and only just a healthy bmi.

She has asked me to go with her to
her next appointment and I’m going to
mention Reactive hypoglycemia .

I've had this for years. If I have high GI food like white carbs, sugary stuff, fruit without other food Inc protein, I get clammy, shaky from the inside, lose my thought processes etc. I have to eat regularly and find nuts are a great snack. Cheese used to sort me out too but I am now dairy intolerant annoyingly.

Yep for a few years in my late 20s. Ate like a horse, often hungry, often had headaches and gasyritis like stomach cramps. It was impossible to maintain weight, tired but wired, often a bit shaky. GP dismissed me about three times. Then it got acute and my ankles swelled and a stone dropped off in a fortnight. I saw a private GP and within 24 hours was diagnosed with Graves disease.

Has your thyroid function been checked?

I had similar symptoms OP. My GP advised to eat more salt. I had been avoiding salt, thinking it extremely bad but too little was actually causing my blood pressure to drop intermittently. I went to the GP after fainting at work.

I started adding salt to food when cooking and using salted butter and feel so much better. One thing to note though - I eat very few UPFs so was really not getting much salt at all, so even small changes made a big difference.

I have often wondered if I might have issues with my thyroid as I have other symptoms similar, my grandad had thyroid issues and my sister has hypothyroidism and parathyroid disease and I have read thyroid problems can run in families but my results always return as normal.

Food allergy?

It could be but I have no idea what as I follow the low fodmap diet and have kept and food and symptoms diary for the last 8 years! I just can not see a pattern other than maybe my cycle (I have endometriosis and adenomyosis and I'm in perimenopause too).