Low blood sugar?

[bianco]

Hoping for some help here so I can avoid the quack.

On days I cycle to work (5 days a week) I find I have to continuously eat otherwise I start to shake and feel funny.

By continuously I mean every hour.

Its a really horrible feeling, kind of a numbness in my arms and legs and a drowsy feeling in my head.

On the occasional day I catch public transport I still get hungry but don't show the above symptoms.

Its started getting worse recently and I wondered if maybe I'm just not eating enough. I weigh 8.5-9 stone and consume approx 3,000 - 3,500 calories a day.

Hope for some good advice.

Martin

 

[Twenty Inch]

If you're not eating breakfast before you head out (by which I mean PORRIDGE), you might be lowering your blood sugar too far for your body to catch up by the time you do eat.

If your weight and calorie consumption are accurate, you must be doing an awful lot of exercise.

 

[bianco]

I've always had a fast metabolism, but I do exercise. When I commute to work 6-7 miles, I do that in 14-16 minutes and I'm always sweating like mad.

Being on a fixed gear as somehow made the symptoms worse!

 

[Twenty Inch]

You cycle at 28 miles per hour?

 

[bianco]

About that yeah, its only 7 miles

 

[BentMikey]

Keep a food diary and post it here, quantities, times, and what you're eating. My bet is you're eating the wrong kinds of foods, but let's see.

 

[Emu]

It might be dehydration too.

 

[bianco]

It might be dehydration too.

Never thought of that, and I will keep a food diary, anywhere in particluar as I don't want to keep this thread ging just for sake of my food diary.

 

[Oldlegs]

It sounds like you are running out of glucose (the bonk).

The way this works is the body stores glucose in a compound called gycogen in the liver and muscles and releases it into the blood when its needed. This storage capacity is pretty limited and in the morning you have been running on stock since your last meal (12 hours ? and its getting low). Like said above something like porrage (lots of carbohydrates = glucose)should top you up but without breakfast (and time to digest it) some heavy exercise will completely deplete stocks. When this is detected by the brain it tries to stop you exercising any more by making you feel very bad (the bonk).

 

[domtyler]

Yeah, definitely book an appointment with your GP, could be diabetes or something which you probably don't want to let go untreated.

 

[BentMikey]

It's not going to be diabetes unless he already has it, that's for sure.

 

[LLB]

It's not going to be diabetes unless he already has it, that's for sure.

Says who ?. I self diagnosed at christmas but it took until march for the official diagnosis from the hospital after a barrage of tests.

As Oldlegs said, you can go hypo without diabetes, but it is much more likely if you are diabetic.

How old are you ?

Do you wake up in the night thirsty, and want to take a leak more than regular ?

Are you a heavy drinker (alcohol interferes with the livers ability to release its glycogen)

You could eat a flapjack before you set out 1st thing - syrup for an instant hit to raise your sugar levels, oats for slow release once you get going.

See your GP, ist trick is a urine test, followed by HBA1C tests, but if you are really impatient, you can buy a Glucose meter from the pharmacy for about £15 - I use a 'freestyle mini' as it takes less blood to do the test and its the smallest machine on the market !

 

[BentMikey]

Because if you're diabetic and you don't know (i.e. not under treatment), it's extremely unlikely that you'll get any hypos. OTOH if you are diagnosed, then it's quite a likely cause of hypos because of the nature of the various treatment/management types for diabetes.

In any event go see a doctor as others have said already.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

You cycle at 28 miles per hour?

About that yeah, its only 7 miles

Cripes! Is it downfill both ways!?

Also - yes, you should see your doctor. It might also be worth having a look on the NHS Direct site, they have a little twnety questions style self-help section that might shed some light on your problem.

 

[vernon]

Hoping for some help here so I can avoid the quack.

On days I cycle to work (5 days a week) I find I have to continuously eat otherwise I start to shake and feel funny.

By continuously I mean every hour.

Its a really horrible feeling, kind of a numbness in my arms and legs and a drowsy feeling in my head.

On the occasional day I catch public transport I still get hungry but don't show the above symptoms.

Its started getting worse recently and I wondered if maybe I'm just not eating enough. I weigh 8.5-9 stone and consume approx 3,000 - 3,500 calories a day.

Hope for some good advice.

Martin

It could be Addison's disease but I am not a doctor and I'd get yourself off to your GP to get yourself checked out.