I'm obviously not going to be able to diagnose what's going on with your husband but perhaps I can provide a little direction from my own personal experiences. I'm a prostate cancer survivor (still have my prostate), have diabetes which I control through diet alone, and one other condition that I'll mention later.
My diabetes was diagnosed a couple of years ago and I was given a glucose/blood sugar tester by the diagnosing physician, and in my early days of knowing about it, I tested daily. I no longer test that often because I know just about where it's at. Yes, I think you are on the right track when you mention hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar. All carbohydrates raise my BS significantly. My clinic has me and all their diabetes patients on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet (no more than 15 carbohydrates per meal - 45 per day total) and that's what's allowed me to control it. However, I'm human and I fall off that strict regimen from time to time and through testing I am very familiar with what raises it. At this point, let me say that each person is different and what raises mine doesn't necessarily raise the BS of other diabetics, and mine isn't always consistent because eating carbos in the afternoon and evening raises my BS worse than in the morning. What I've found is that bread, regardless of whether it is whole grain or white will raise my BS higher than ice cream, and oatmeal and potatoes will as well. These things can take my BS to 185 to 210 at two hours after the meal, and normal is 120 or less. Here is what I wish to pass on to you and that's that I've learned that often when the BS is elevated I do get a panic attack type of feeling, which relates to your husband's paranoia. It doesn't happen each time, but it does happen. Unlike your husband who gets tired, I get hyper, and my blood pressure generally goes up too. (It's on the high side of normal anyway, much of the time.) So, some of what your husband experiences is what I've experienced too.
A little over a year ago I went to a high school reunion and couldn't say no to all the carbohydrates - bread, potatoes, and cheese cake, two or three pieces. When I got home I was in that hyper/panic attack mode and I checked my BS and it was 215. Because I'd seen a study that said that apple cider vinegar can reduce BS levels, I started chugging that - at least three two ounce shot glasses full, washed down by water. Checked my BS 30 minutes later and it was down to 85. I still drink a lot of ACV and am unsure what effect it has on my BS, but on that occasion it worked. Also, during that hyper/panic attack my heart pounded in my chest, something that has happened for decades after sweets and too many carbohydrates. A couple of months after this particular experience I had the heart pounding episode again (not brought on by carbos) and saw my cardiologist and was eventually diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. I know that I have had afib for decades too. It explains a lot. I had afib episodes quite regularly up to that point in time. When they occur, my BP goes way down - because the heart is not pumping efficiently.
Long story short, after the afib diagnosis, I cut out all coffee including decaf, eventually quit all diet colas (diet cola for me can bring on the hyper feeling), and began taking kelp supplements. The afib calmed down and within about six or seven months they quit completely and I haven't had an episode in a long time. I credit it to the iodine because there have been studies that show there is a link between afib and iodine deficiency.
I would suggest that you get a glucose monitor - most physicians will give them to you free and you generally get a number of test strips free with it, and have him check his BS during those episodes after carbohydrates. If the BS is over 140-150, some of what's going on could be that. The other thing is to check his blood pressure during that time too (I always have a home monitor handy) and if his BP goes down, then it could be afib. There are even some BP monitors on the market that will tell you if the heart is in fibrillation - mine does. Afib reduces the blood flow to the body and can make you dizzy and tired feeling. You can even check a person's pulse to see if they're heart is "skipping" a beat (actually it is extra beats, so it feels irregular).
Don't know if any of that helps but good luck in learning to control it.
In diabetics hypoglycemic is often preceded by hyperglycemic. From what little that I've know about hypoglycemic, that is in the later stage of diabetes. My brother has gone into hypoglycemic shock twice, and he has been diabetic for a long time. His blood sugar was always high - prior to his hypoglycemic shock. The sequence as I understand it is - high carbohydrate intake, then hyperglycemic, and then as the body responds with too much insulin it brings it down to the hypoglycemic level.
In all my checking of my own blood sugar I've never even begun to enter the hypoglycemic area. My BS always rises - and when it gets above the 160-170 level I almost always feel that panic mode. It's one of the signals to me that my BS is high. I have in the past also gotten some significant heart arrhythmias/palpitations which would add to the panic mode. Haven't had the heart difficulties for several months since adding kelp and learning the triggers.
Am not familiar with a finger stick measurement so did a quick Google and found that they are inaccurate much of the time. One I found said that of 50 people in shock who were tested, 3 were hypoglycemic and 2 were actually were in hyperglycemic - per lab tests. Here's another site regarding finger stick measurements in 38 patients tested:
RESULTS: The means of the three glucose measurements were significantly
different. Univariate analysis of the mean laboratory glucose value versus the
mean fingerstick glucose value was significantly different. The mean
venipuncture glucose measured by the bedside glucose meter versus the mean
venous laboratory glucose was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: These
results suggest that fingerstick blood samples should not be used for bedside
glucose analysis in patients who may have inadequate tissue perfusion.
Just a few more thoughts. Your husband has a lot going on so trying to pinpoint something will be difficult.
The University of Arizona did a small study and found that ingesting one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before eating lowered the BS levels in diabetics by 20 to 30 points. So, when I know I'm going to cheat and eat carbs, I always drink ACV beforehand - at least an ounce or more, and many times afterwards too. I know for a fact that it worked lowering BS at least once, and am almost certain that it does have some lowering effect over all.
I've done castor oil packs on my abdomen for perhaps five or six years. I don't do them consistently, but when I do there is a tremendous release of stress. It doesn't make sense, but it happens. I'm a daily meditator but there are times I just can't calm myself down that way so I dig out the very messy but productive castor oil pack, and within 10 minutes of applying it with heat, I am generally calmed right down. It has a far better effect for me if I've gone for a week or more since the last pack. Doing them daily seems to diminish the effect on the second and succeeding days. Castor oil packs are a Cayce innovation. In the book "The Oil That Heals" by Dr. (MD) McGarey, he points out that it gets the lymph system moving. McGarey has used castor oil packs in his medical practice for more than 20 years. My point here is that your husband may benefit from these packs. The downside is that I believe you have to have the pack on for at least an hour to receive the complete benefits, and it is messy, hard to clean off the skin. I keep my oiled flannel in the refrigerator and use it over and over, adding a little oil to it with each use. I also slap the flannel on my abdomen and then place saran type wrap over it to have a protection between it and the heating pad. You can find lots of instructions on the Internet for the pack and in fact I think you can even find the instructions and testimonials on curezone.
Hi, I'm hoping you still check this thread, it looks like it has been 4 years since you were on here last. I wanted to let you know that my husband is suffering from the same type of symptoms and I think we may have found the reason for all his troubles. He too gets confused, slurred speech, acts drunk, and has ketone breath. We thought it was due to an overabundance of stress, we adopted a little 2 year old boy in Jan, then in Feb my husband was laid off from his company that he'd worked for for 11 years, my daughter has behavior issues and we found we had uninvited pests living in our home. So along with all that my Mother in Law has been moved into a nursing home. This is a lot for a young many of 36 years to deal with in less than 2 months! So we thought that his brain was just simply overloaded. And it is, but not with JUST stress, he has too much carbon dioxide in his blood which has changed the pH of his blood enough to cause metabolic acidosis. The long and short of it is that my husband has sleep apnea (ie; snoring, gasping for breath in his sleep, long pauses between breaths, ect...) and he is unable to clear out the carbon dioxide from his blood. He has had two sleep studies and should be getting his Cpap machine this week. Many prayers that this cures his symptoms! Will let you know if this takes care of the problem.