Hi Elsiebear
Re slices of turkey - no need to be that precise. You've got to feel full and you have to reduce carbs especially sugar. If it is evening performances that it happens at then make sure you eat a meal with lots of protein until you are really full - at whatever time before you perform that you usually eat, or a really big late lunch (your main meal) at say 3 or 4 pm and a small snack an hour before - perhaps soup and/or banana as long as it doesn't affect your singing. Protein rich meals last way longer than an hour! Sounds like you might not be eating enough nor of the right food during the day if food only lasts an hour?
Have you been eating lots of quick release carbs and sugar rich foods over the past few weeks? If so this can make it worse as your body will be used to producing lots of insulin in response. If you change your diet so that you eat far fewer carbs as I suggested, then the reactive hypoglycaemia should be more controlled and you should find it occurs less often if you stick to the new way of eating.
I know exactly what you mean about the speed of it - like I said in my post - I can go from not even feeling hungry - to shaking dizzy and sweating - in a few minutes and I am not diabetic. Without revealing what I do I also have to be careful in certain situations regarding food so that the same thing does not occur. Once you know you have a tendency to it, then it becomes easier to manage - although it did take me by surprise at my exercise class a couple of weeks ago - and I had to stop and eat a small bit of muesli bar and wait until it kicked in. The idea is not to get to the stage where you need to eat because then glucose works quickest and of course is worse for spiking insulin - so glucose tablets should be reserved for Type 1 diabetics really. In your situation in an emergency I don't suppose it is possible to take a quick one (glucose tab) if you are on view on stage the whole time?
Hurdity x
