constant light headedness for 2 months now, Help !

[justconfused]

I was disgnosed 2 years ago and thru a battle managed to get my BG and cholesterol levels down and been on Mteformin 500 X 2 and Simvastatin 40 mg. Recently, my mother died and since then my BG has been all oevr the place. Did all sorts of tests and all came normal. I am living through hell with constant lighthheadedness and dizziness and worse each time I eat and when I go 'low' ...
I eat the same thing everyday and each day the readings are different. Never had random glucose hitting 9.8 after 2 hrs of eating porridge. But it is happening. The doctors have prescribed me Citalopram to fight the anxiety and panic attacks but I am resisting it as I am scared to face the symptoms of worsening the side effects.
I have stopped working and scared to be on my own, I have no one to be with me and call my husband to assist me when I have a panic attack or feeling very lightheaded like fainting.
Life is hell and I don't seem to understand what to eat and not to eat. I keep to a non/low carb diet and porridge is the only carb I have . I have tried half toast of whole wheat and felt worst. I am scared of food as they send me into distress and I am constantly frustrated and hungry.

Pl help !

 

[Giblet]

I am sorry to hear you are suffering at the moment. First of all I would consider taking the drug that the doctor has prescribed to you to help you with your anxiety and panic attacks, as it sounds as though this may be adding to the overall problem and of course stress can play havoc with your sugar levels. Do you know what your last A1c result was?.

There is a lot in your message but you mention lightheadedness and being scared to eat?. You must eat otherwise again this may add to your problems.

I think you need to start breaking your problems down into more manageable sections and dealing with them because altogether they can seem insurmountable. Get back to the doctor and tell him how you feel. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take your husband with you. Explain it as you have here and tell him how desperate you feel.

I'm sending you a big hug and hope you start to feel better soon, but don't forget, go get help from your doctor.xxx

 

[justconfused]

hi,
thx for your reply and sorry didn't get back to forum ... been depressed.
HA1c was 5.4, and I'm still keeping off carbs apart from morning porridge. I feel the same before and after I ate. So, my readings have not given me a clue what is what ...
Like around 4 p.m I start feeling a bit weird, head and neck tensing, light headed, I take my levels and see whether I need to eat and whew ! 7.2 ..... I had only veggies for lunch, 4 peanuts, a cup of tea with fat free milk.
What am I doing wrong?
I've been to the Drs with all my monitoring, BG notebook etc, they all say well, it is fine ... but I can see that the levels are gradually going up in spite of what I eat.

Any clue?

 

[hanadr]

Are you on medication for blood pressure?
Hana

 

[cugila]

First of all YOU are not doing anything wrong.........continue eating properly and taking ALL your medication.

You are suffering with stress, anxiety and panic attacks. All these things will raise your Bg levels and you will not have been the cause of that. Your body is the cause of that and it is like a vicious circle. Until you deal with the problems you have then it will not change.

Your HbA1c is good and the levels are fine considering what you are going through. You must take the Cytalopram as this should help you deal better with everything. By resisting something that is designed to help you that will compound what you are going through.

I know this from my own very recent experience over the last 6 months or so. I had to go through Cancer treatment and was depressed, anxious and the drugs they gave me sent my Bg levels into orbit 24 mmol/l some days. I discussed all this with my Endocrinologist and he said to me ,
" Diabetes has to take a back seat sometime Ken, this is one of them. Concentrate on the Cancer treatment and when that is done then get back to your good control." I took him at his word and did that. I have beaten the Cancer, now I am getting back on track with my Diabetes control.

So my advice is forget worrying about levels and stuff. Concentrate on YOU. Deal with the stress and depression. that is what you need to do to get better. Try to relax more and don't beat yourself up about something that really is just a minor 'blip'. It will get better !

Ken

 

[justconfused]

Are you on medication for blood pressure?
Hana

No, only on statins, 20 mg. I have an average of 98 to 100 as BP, reckon it is normal, is it ?

 

[justconfused]

Thanks for your replies, really appreciated.

You have inspired me to be more brave and face the daily troubles after all that you have been through. I am not on blood pressure med, it is usually around 94 - 100, and they mostly say it is normal. After my loss, I had 2 months where my pulse were racing, and Drs said they were anxiety attacks and stress.

I still feel lightheaded in spite of all my precautions with my diet ... start feeling nervous and shaky inside each time I eat something. Be it a veg or cucumber ... I follow the low GI food index.

 

[Synonym]

Hi justconfused

Take all the help you can get - and I hope you feel much better very soon. Big <<<hugs>>> coming your way!

 

[justconfused]

Thanks Synonym (( )) too ! ..

 

[justconfused]

anxiety attacks and diabetes

I have had anxiety attacks after losing my mother recently and suffered from severe depression. I was put on Citalopram, but resisted taking it, but gave in to 15 days of 0.5 of Xanax when things got too much. Now, have tapered and finished it. Waiting for my normal self to kick in, trying to mange my strange lightheadedness I have been having for the last 4 months.

Can some tell me how long it will take for my blood sugars and horrible symptoms to go away and not affect my BS ?

I am fed up feeling unwell everyday. And yet tests are OK.

 

[Dobbs]

This may not be related but I went though a phase of lightheadedness and dizziness about a year ago - I felt dizzy after bending over to tie my shoelaces for example, and liked to hold onto something. But it passed, after two or three months. No idea why, and am not aware of having done anything special to make it pass.
Your levels seem indeed to be very good - maybe your body is adjusting in some way?

 

[justconfused]

I wish you were right and maybe mu body does not want Metformin ! :wink:

Thanks, I am trying to live with it but annoying when out in town. And not much confidence ...

 

[endure]

If you're having anxiety problems, panic attacks or agorophobia problems please buy and read (and then re-read again and again until you 'get it') 'Self Help for your Nerves' by Doctor Claire Weekes. It will explain what's causing your symptoms and explain how to overcome them. You can get it for less than a fiver from Amazon. It won't help your diabetic problems but it will help with your anxieties.

Best of luck.