Every year, patients arrive in the first week of Ramadan feeling shaky, dizzy or unwell, having kept taking their usual medicines at their usual times. Almost all of it is avoidable. Fasting changes when you eat, and medicines timed around meals need to move with them.
Come before Ramadan, not during it
The right time for this conversation is roughly six to eight weeks beforehand. That leaves room to review your control, adjust timings, and see whether the adjustment works — rather than improvising while already fasting.
Some people are advised not to fast
Islam exempts the sick, and a doctor advising against fasting is not asking anyone to take that lightly. The risk is genuinely higher if you have had a recent episode of very low or very high blood sugar, if your diabetes is poorly controlled, if you take insulin, if you have significant kidney disease, or if you are pregnant. Your own risk is a matter for you, your doctor, and if you wish your religious guide — but it should be an informed decision.
Breaking the fast when your body signals danger
Shakiness, sweating, a pounding heart, confusion or sudden weakness can be signs of low blood sugar. If they appear, break the fast. Scholars widely accept that a fast broken for genuine medical need may be made up later; a hypoglycaemic episode ignored can be very serious.
Checking your blood sugar with a finger-prick does not break the fast, and it is the surest way to know whether what you are feeling is dangerous.
Sehri and iftar
- Take sehri as late as is practical — it shortens the fasting hours your body has to manage.
- Favour foods that release energy slowly at sehri: whole wheat ruti, dal, egg, vegetables.
- At iftar, the difficulty is rarely the date and water — it is the plate of fried items and sweets that follows. Break the fast gently, then eat a proper meal.
- Drink water steadily between iftar and sehri, not all at once.
If you have high blood pressure
Blood pressure medicines usually continue, though the timing may shift to sehri and iftar. Two cautions matter during Ramadan: dehydration in hot weather, and the salt in fried iftar foods and pickles, which pushes pressure up. If you take a water tablet, ask specifically about it.
When to stop and seek help
Break the fast and get medical help for a blood sugar that is very low or very high, for repeated vomiting, or for severe dizziness, chest pain or breathlessness.
This article is general health information, not a diagnosis. For anything specific to you, please come to the chamber or call 01357-296604 for a serial.
