Morning nausea

Steve14

Well-Known Member
Messages
95
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Are there any men or women (non-pregnancy related) who have dealt with or deals with morning nausea/diarrhea/anxiety combo?

I went through mega-hardcore stress during this summer and also developed a gigantic abscess on my tooth/gum. I was prescribed a week's worth of antibiotics, the strongest form (1000 mg). It helped. A week after discontinuing the ab-s, I started to have on and off bowel movements. One day poop, next day nothing, then poop the day after...on and off. It was already long after that I started taking a probiotic, and it made zero difference. All my life I had a stomach and bowel made of iron and I never really felt much nausea before, but this time I was driving my car and started to feel discomfort. I unzipped my trousers to get more comfortable, and that helped a little bit, but the nausea started to worsen and I ended up having a panic attack in the midst of driving with a passenger onboard.

Fast forward three months, now I'm dealing with regular panic attacks, nausea and can't leave the house in the daylight. Each time I wake up in the morning I have this sense of having to poop, but I can tell that it is diarrhea-ish, sort of "pooping yourself from anxiety" kind of deal. It usually happens when my sugar is below 8. The lower it is, the sicker I feel (I don't have this problem keeping my sugar lower later in the day). After diarrhea my nausea would increase and found out that my sugar can easily drop by 2 in less than 15 minutes, so whenever I get up and feel the bowel movement coming I pop dextrose pill and have orange juice handy. This definitely helps with the reflux-nausea-like sensation afterwards, but doesn't resolve it. It slowly resolves on its own after pacing back and forth for an hour and eating lunch. If I stop moving or sit down, then sickness worsens. My diabetic doc did lab tests a month ago, and the only thing that sticks out is slightly elevated creatinine. That makes sense because of the summer stress of irregular sleep cycles and keeping sugar high. Now my sugars are so much better and my sleep has been improved, but the nausea stays.

Long story short:

Things that cause/worsens the nausea-anxiety combo:
- waking up with glucose less than 8-9
- anxiety, stress, fear, worry
- sense of having to poop
- drinking water

Things that don't help:
- trying to ignore it and distract myself
- trying to calm myself with positive thoughts

Things that slightly help:
- benzodiazepine
- eating banana
- pacing up and down
- keeping sugar above 8 & sipping on OJ & dextrose pill

I don't want to sound like a big baby, but this has definitely brought me to my knees and I'm desperate for help.:bigtears: I went to the psychiatrist and he prescribed benzos and SSRI. The former helps a little bit, but I don't want to get addicted to them. The latter might make the nausea worse or WORSE; not help at all, and it being my last option, I'm afraid of having to face that this could be cancer or something or that I'll be dependent on benzos for the rest of my life.:grumpy:
 
Last edited:

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,214
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @Steve14 ,

You don't mention what sort of stress you had back in the summer, could it have been job elated? Thus whilst driving (destination, place of work.) could have been a trigger?

Your BGs staying above "8-9." There is also a possibility that when you drop below these figures you subcontiously feel out of your "comfort zone?" Triggering the anxiety.. Of course maintaining high BGs to avoid these feelings regarding long term physical health may not do any favours..

Stress/anxiety can manifest itself in different ways. Depends on the indevidual. Stomach & bowel stuff can happen for some..

Me. Personally it was a skin condition on my lower legs. The driving I can associate with. However, it was a form of "stage fright" as I neared my place of work at that time..

I wish you the best of luck finding an answer..
 
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Are there any men or women (non-pregnancy related) who have dealt with or deals with morning nausea/diarrhea/anxiety combo?

I went through mega-hardcore stress during this summer and also developed a gigantic abscess on my tooth/gum. I was prescribed a week's worth of antibiotics, the strongest form (1000 mg). It helped. A week after discontinuing the ab-s, I started to have on and off bowel movements. One day poop, next day nothing, then poop the day after...on and off. It was already long after that I started taking a probiotic, and it made zero difference. All my life I had a stomach and bowel made of iron and I never really felt much nausea before, but this time I was driving my car and started to feel discomfort. I unzipped my trousers to get more comfortable, and that helped a little bit, but the nausea started to worsen and I ended up having a panic attack in the midst of driving with a passenger onboard.

Fast forward three months, now I'm dealing with regular panic attacks, nausea and can't leave the house in the daylight. Each time I wake up in the morning I have this sense of having to poop, but I can tell that it is diarrhea-ish, sort of "pooping yourself from anxiety" kind of deal. It usually happens when my sugar is below 8. The lower it is, the sicker I feel (I don't have this problem keeping my sugar lower later in the day). After diarrhea my nausea would increase and found out that my sugar can easily drop by 2 in less than 15 minutes, so whenever I get up and feel the bowel movement coming I pop dextrose pill and have orange juice handy. This definitely helps with the reflux-nausea-like sensation afterwards, but doesn't resolve it. It slowly resolves on its own after pacing back and forth for an hour and eating lunch. If I stop moving or sit down, then sickness worsens. My diabetic doc did lab tests a month ago, and the only thing that sticks out is slightly elevated creatinine. That makes sense because of the summer stress of irregular sleep cycles and keeping sugar high. Now my sugars are so much better and my sleep has been improved, but the nausea stays.

Long story short:

Things that cause/worsens the nausea-anxiety combo:
- waking up with glucose less than 8-9
- anxiety, stress, fear, worry
- sense of having to poop
- drinking water

Things that don't help:
- trying to ignore it and distract myself
- trying to calm myself with positive thoughts

Things that slightly help:
- benzodiazepine
- eating banana
- pacing up and down
- keeping sugar above 8 & sipping on OJ & dextrose pill

I don't want to sound like a big baby, but this has definitely brought me to my knees and I'm desperate for help.:bigtears: I went to the psychiatrist and he prescribed benzos and SSRI. The former helps a little bit, but I don't want to get addicted to them. The latter might make the nausea worse or WORSE; not help at all, and it being my last option, I'm afraid of having to face that this could be cancer or something or that I'll be dependent on benzos for the rest of my life.:grumpy:

I'm currently going through pretty much the same exact syptoms your feeling!

It got to a point where I inject my lantus and instantly start getting tremors and hypo feeling although my bg is high.

My anxiety tends to trigger the worst when I'm outside and it's random.

One thing I can suggest is when you start feeling your heart pump fast ect is to check your bg then to remind yourself your not crashing and the feeling will pass within 5 mins or so definitely don't over prick your finger as you'll drive yourself into a worse cycle of it.

For the long run make a phone appointment with your GP and tell them it's getting to a point where your fearful of leaving your house due to this and they will more likely prescribe you something to calm you down.
 

Steve14

Well-Known Member
Messages
95
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @Steve14 ,

You don't mention what sort of stress you had back in the summer, could it have been job elated? Thus whilst driving (destination, place of work.) could have been a trigger?

Your BGs staying above "8-9." There is also a possibility that when you drop below these figures you subcontiously feel out of your "comfort zone?" Triggering the anxiety.. Of course maintaining high BGs to avoid these feelings regarding long term physical health may not do any favours..

Stress/anxiety can manifest itself in different ways. Depends on the indevidual. Stomach & bowel stuff can happen for some..

Me. Personally it was a skin condition on my lower legs. The driving I can associate with. However, it was a form of "stage fright" as I neared my place of work at that time..

I wish you the best of luck finding an answer..

Hi Jaylee,

It was everything related. This was the first year that I had a hypo without any symptoms other than feeling a bit sluggish. Other times I had palpitations, sweat etc. That particular day I checked my sugar and it was shockingly low, and ever since then I panic myself into anxiety whenever I feel fatigued. It is the reason wI ate the same foods as usual and injected same dosage as usual, same thought pattern, same sleep, same activity etc. but one day I just couldn't keep it up even with additional fruit juice and dextrose. My diabetic doc's response was that "3 isn't that low" and that was it. It eased my anxiety for a week and then it all came back. There were days when I picked my fingertips over 30 times and they look so ugly now.

As for nausea... this same year I was getting ready to eat lunch and injected prior, and an extremely stressful event happened right as I was beginning to eat. It was the first time ever since the diagnosis that I sat there having lost my appetite with insulin already injected. This resulted in a massive panic attack and that's when I had to take the benzo. That was 2 months ago and I still feel anxiety, bloatedness and loss of appetite whenever it's time to eat, especially in the morning (hence the title). Lunch is slightly better and things get better as the day progresses.

Of course there are times when I took Xanax for e.g. a flight or dental procedure, but those are places and events that you usually mentally prepare yourself from the comfort of your home. Imagine if you get panic attacks in the same place that you tend to hide away from the world and relax - your home. That's where I'm at now and it's crippling. I'm both depressed and anxious at the same time and SSRI might be my last resort. Even though the stressors come and go (currently gone), but my mind can't ease. Even when I'm not shaky and anxious and my pulse is steady 60-70, I noticed that when I accidentally bump my finger into something or the chair unexpectedly squeaks under me, then my body reacts with such speed as if a scare clown jumped out in front of you. It seems like even when my body is at "rest", I'm stuck in flight & fight mode and cannot get out of it for some reason.:grumpy: The bottom line is that this year started out with depression, then progressed into anxiety, and lately it became all rolled into one where I can't leave the house anymore.
 
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Steve14

Well-Known Member
Messages
95
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
For anyone who's interested... this is a small update a month after starting the topic and there will be a TL;DR at the end.

A friend with IBS recommended me a certain type of p
robiotic so I started taking it after my last post. It seemed to be helping for a good while, but a week later I started having the occasional "on and off days" pooping issue, and there wasn't a week where I didn't have at least one of those. I also exchanged my lunch (traditional meal here called "pörkölt", a pork stew that is extremely heavy on the stomach) to plain chicken and rice, and the intestinal pain after lunch has been gone ever since. Between the probiotics and the meal change, to be frank, I think the removal of the stew is the reason why my bowels got better.

During the past 4 weeks I had a really strange thing happen to me. Both times I had successful bowel movements, and both times I stood up to pull my pants up, right as I was looking down (my head rotating downwards) a strange yellow liquid rushed out of my left nostril. Both times, spaced out aprox. 2 weeks, each time when I was on the toilet doing my business, standing up to pull up my pants, rotating my head downwards and then my left nostril went boom. I don't know what it was, I don't know if it has anything to do with my anxiety and nausea, all I know is that I was too scared to even freak out about it.

Another issue is with my bladder. I've been a type 1 diabetic for over 4 years now, and for the past year or so I started having this sudden urge to pee thing. I would go long periods of time without peeing and not have any urge or sensation that my bladder is full, say I spent an hour sitting in front of the computer and then I got up, and all of a sudden I'd go from not having to pee 0 - 100 and almost pee on myself while running to the toilet. Whenever I have this sudden urge AND/OR when I ignore it (especially) I can tell that it is also causing nausea. Reflux is another one. It can be random or triggered by stress and anxiety.

Lastly, the hypo anxiety, hunger pain and stomach burning. These are the worst symptoms. Whenever I have one of the above events occuring, at least one the aforementioned three symptoms precede them. These three issues are preventing me to leave the house and get back to my old life. For instance I could wake up with normal levels, eat, inject, do nothing productive and survive until lunch time. Next day I'd do the same things (same units, same food, same mindset etc.) BUT I'd decide to play ten minutes on the piano. TEN minutes, and by lunch time I'd get hypo. Okay, so next time I should lower my insulin dosage by one, right? Wrong. I'd then end up having 13+ glucose. My body is hypersensitive to exercise even just walking up or down the stairs. It is not normal. I have never seen any diabetics, let alone type 1-s, being so severely sensitive to bodily movements. It is making me feel alone even when I'm here among fellow type 1-s, because the people who I had conversations with didn't really relate to the hypersensitivity issue, and that is the number one thing that prevents me from moving forward with life.

TL;DR - I would say that this whole fiasco is caused by 95% hypo anxiety and the remainder is a combination of weird intestinal/bladder/immune problems that are fueling and encouraging this vicious cycle to continue.
 

JohnH2019

Well-Known Member
Messages
76
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
One thing that many doctors overlook and have little clue about is the exocrine pancreas side. Many with diabetes will also have some impact on the exocrine function but rarely is it tested for and most will not even realize. Pancreas enzymes are needed to break down food into usable nutrients. Nausea, stool issues, blood sugar swings, hormone swings, panic attacks out of nowhere were all daily things for me as well. Subsequent urine metabolic and stool tests uncovered many more nutrient deficiencies and exocrine pancreas issues.

Please ask your doctor to do stool tests such as pancreatic elastase and 24 hour fecal fat to check for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or EPI.

Please check out the following thread as there might be an overlap:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/prediabetic-bg-but-underweight-seeking-advice.127304/