Afternoon shakiness

Diabetes
1

Hi,

I frequently have the symptom of shakiness in the afternoon usually an hour or so after lunch (so it's not like i'm hungry). It usually occurs if I'm doing something eg weeding in the garden or going for a short walk or even just cleaning. i'll feel really weak and shaky and need to sit or lie down or even sleep for a while. I often feel better if I eat something or have a drink which makes me think it's low blood suga but I've been tested for diabetes and I don't have that so drs just say it can't be low blood sugar. I am frequently very tired so i've also been tested for thyroid problems, iron, vitamin deficiencies, basically everything! Everything comes back normal. Drs have told me to just put up with it but it makes it very hard for me to do day to day tasks such as housework or go out anywhere.

It seems to happen more often at the weekends and I don't know if this is because i'm eating a bigger lunch then (at work I always just have sandwiches whereas I might have a jacket potato or beans on toast or something at weekends) or maybe it's just cos i'm more likely to be moving around at weekends than if i'm sat at my desk.

Does anyone else experience this? Google always comes up with hypoglycemia and a lot of sites suggest diet changes, has anyone changed their diet and seen improvement?

2

Sounds very much like a hypo, I would get a second opinion as because the more energetic you are the more you use your sugars up, always keep some dextrose tabs to hand, you need to eat 5 or 6 followed by a starchy bit of food this is what my diabetic specialist tells me.

3

From your description, penguinteacup, it DOES sound like you MAY possibly be suffering with Reactive Hypoglycaemia.

This type of hypoglycaemia occurs because your pancreas 'overproduces' insulin in response to the foods and/or drinks that you take in ... usually occurring 1.5 to 2.5 hours after you've eaten.

For a doctor to suggest that "it can't be low blood sugar" without being diabetic leads me to believe that you should really consider getting another doctor.  The one(s) that you've seen must have a degree in something other than medicine.

ANY medical doctor will know that you need to have your blood tested at the time you're experiencing these symptoms as that's the only time that a lower than 'normal' blood sugar level would register.

MOST good doctors would have you undergo a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) or Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) ... the same test, but known under both names.  For this you would fast (not eat or drink overnight), have your 'fasting' blood glucose tested and the level recorded.  You would then be requested to drink a sickly sweet substance, called Glucola, then have blood taken at hourly intervals thereafter.  A comparison of the results obtained would indicate whether you're actually suffering with hypoglycaemia at any point.

The thing is, there is no magic pill that would put things right.  You'd need to control it by eating smaller, but more frequent meals throughout the day ... 5 or 6 smaller meals that contain a higher percentage of fats or proteins than carbohydrates.  (Fats and proteins inhibit the absorption of glucose, which we get from the breakdown of carbohydrates during the digestive process, which should limit the fast rise in blood glucose levels, and theerefore the amount of insulin that your pancreas produces in response.)

As you can see, changing your diet IS the way to go.

Diabetes, by the way, IS the most common reason for someone to be experiencing a hypoglycaemic event.  That's due to the medications that they take to control their blood glucose levels.

Hopefully, you'll give my suggestions a try and find that it helps you.

Be well, penguinteacup.

Lots of Love and Light.

 Mick

x x x x

 x x x

P.S. Please don't be offended, or alarmed, at the 'x's'.  It's merely a logo, of sorts, that i've used for some 30-odd years now.

4

I could not have put it better. In the past I have sufferd the same and now eat little and often, which seems to have done the trick for me.

5

Thank you, gea60 for your vote of confidence.  I'm truly glad that someone who actually suffers with a glucose metabolism 'problem' responded to the questioner and confirmed that what I am saying is accurate.

6

Unfortunately, marilyn 92910, the advice you've offered to penguinteacup isn't the best way to treat a hypo for someone that isn't diabetic.  If, as I suspect, penguinteacup is suffering with Reactive Hypoglycaemia, this would be probably the worst thing s/he could do as this would stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin in response, causing him/her to suffer another hypo.  It would be like a rollercoaster ride.

The reason your diabetic specialist has given you this advice is because you are diabetic.  You must be taking some form of treatment, such as oral medication(s) or insulin, to cause you to suffer a hypoglycaemic event, so the situation is a little different.  (Your medication(s) would continue to lower your blood glucose levels without you taking the appropriate action that you've mentioned.)

Please don't think I'm 'having a go' at you for offering your advice, ma'am, that is sincerely NOT the case.  I'm simply trying to point out that there's a difference in the way that you've been advised to treat a hypo and that of someone who is suffering a hypo without being diabetic.

Be well, marilyn 92910.

Lots of Love and Light.

 Mick

x x x x

 x x x

P.S. Please don't be offended, or alarmed, at the 'x's'.  It's merely a logo, of sorts, that i've used for some 30-odd years now.