Hunger, sweet cravings, and glucose tablets.

duddysdad

I've always struggled with sweet cravings in the afternoon. I can't go buy a candy bar, because that knocks the dominoes over. Usually I will eat a candy bar, feel better, but then get the urge to keep eating more and more sweets.

A few days ago my wife and son were getting their hair cut and I was feeling pretty bad. Bad sugar cravings, feeling tired, very hungry, sweating, shaking, anxiety. There was a quarter machine that had peanut M&Ms. It gave me five. I ate those, and within a couple minutes I felt 100% better. Everything suddenly went away. I thought that maybe my sugar craving was satisfied? Then I started to wonder if maybe my blood sugar was low.

I am not a diabetic, though I have never been tested for it. My mother, grandfather, and my brother all have pretty bad Type 2. I've had my A1C checked, and it's usually below 5. My fasting number is somewhere in the upper 60s to low 70s. No one has ever said anything about these.

So that brings me to the tablets. I was thinking about the M&Ms, so I bought a pack of glucose tablets. Yesterday I was shopping, around 3:30, and I started to get the same feelings. I took one tablet, and again, it all went away, although I felt like I had just drank ten shots of espresso. Maybe next time I will just take half a tablet.

Could my cravings, for all of these years, been because of my blood sugar? Or perhaps, could it be that the rush of glucose just satisfies my cravings?

Does anyone with Type 1 experience anything like this? I plan on asking my doctor, but it will be a couple of weeks.

rugbyishy

My dad has type 1 and he gets really moody, lethargic when his sugar levels go down. You need to go get checked for diabetes because what your describing does sound like possible link. Fruit alternatives that make you sugar levels go up are Apples/Grapes with highest fruit sugars or banana. Dad used to have biscuits to hand but now he revamped his diet completely and having nuts, replaced potatos with sweet potatos, has porridge in morning with seeds in it (be careful on the prepacked flavoured ones they can spike it up)

I havent his discipline being an emotional eater and when tired I would aim for carbs/pepsi max(has more caffeine than coffee)

Whitezombiegirl

Im not dibetic ( been tested) and have experienced similar blood sugar crashes all my life, so has my non-diabetic father, which have us both running for snickers or mars bars. We get tired, shaky, emotional and crave sugar. Weve been using glucotabs for a few months now and they work great for us- and they are 15 cals each so are much less than a bananna or chocolate.

I eat small and often and cant go long without food like my husband can. I just assumed i had unstable blood sugars.

ronjsteele1

You sound hypoglycemic. With fasting sugars that low, that is the likely culprit. My DD experiences this daily. She also has very low blood sugar every time we test it (even after eating). Generally, people that are hypoglycemic do better eating a bit more frequently and making sure that for every carb they eat (25gms) that they have a protein and/or fat source with it (15gms for protein). The carbs bring blood sugar up quickly and the protein and fats will sustain it higher for a longer period of time then carbs will. It becomes a balancing act of sorts. If you know your body goes low at 3:00 (or a certain time) you can help it out by eating something about 15 minutes before your regular crash. This will help prevent the crashes. And yes, the cravings can absolutely be blood sugar related. They are for my DD if she doesn't carefully listen to her body and eat what she should, when she should.

LazSommer

A nickel an M&M? The future is here, and I hate it.

Whitezombiegirl

Ronjsteele

That sounds exactly like myself and my father and those tips you listed work really well for us (if we remember).

Thanks so much. I kinda had this in the back of my mind- but you have summed it up for me.

jamisst310

Sounds to me like reactive hypoglycaemia. I've got a mild form of it due to having hypothyroidism. When I eat carbs for breakfast I'll be hungry for sweets and carbs for the rest of the day. My diet is thrown off and it feels almost impossible to stick to it. What works for me is skipping breakfast and fasting until 12pm, (I allow myself herbals teas) and then eating only high fat and protein about 50g of each macro-nutrient, also veggies spinach, chards, broccoli etc are fine. No sugary insulin spiking carbs for me until 3pm or 4pm after a workout. Feels like effortless dieting, I don't get dizzy or feel funny at all, I don't have to eat small meals to keep me going. Look into carb backloading if you're interested in this topic. Might work for you as well.