Diabetes and anxiety/panic attacks?

Hi everyone, first time posting here. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about 2 months ago. Since then I was moderately successful in controlling my blood sugar - I measure before and after meals and I rarely go too low or too high. Hypos actually tend to be more frequent than highs, but so far I've always managed to treat it promptly.

Despite what some (maybe even most) would call a success, for the past two days I have been getting these sudden overwhelming feelings of anxiety and fear, feeling like I was about to pass out (despite my blood sugar being in the healthy range - I measured immediately), got shaky and started sweating like crazy. It went away after a couple of minutes but I was noticeably shaken by the event (it literally came out of nowhere, I wasn't even feeling particularly stressed out that day) and I measured my blood pressure later and it was quite a bit higher than usual (I'm 24 and not overweight btw). I also felt somewhat light-headed.

I plan on visiting my GP tomorrow and maybe getting in touch with my diabetologist.
Has anyone else developed anxiety or something similar after being diagnosed with diabetes?

Dave

Hi again guys, sorry for the late reply. I didn't see your replies, I'm still new to the forum and how it works.

Anyway, thank you for replying. It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this.

The thing is that I've always been one to worry excessively, including about my health. Maybe not to the point of panicking but even something as inconsequential as being late to a class or to work always made me worry. Maybe I suffered from anxiety all those years and just thought that it was a feature of my personality, never thinking of doing anything about it, and diabetes has just exacerbated the problem to the point where I had to notice.

It's especially tough when you can't just stop living because of diabetes and anxiety - you have to keep being a family member, an employee, a student, etc.
Hopefully I'll be able to sort this out.

Thanks again, guys!

@isjoberg I think they might actually be connected. Just now I tested myself and I went from 5mmol/l to 4.2 in 15 minutes or so. I think I might have to double-test when I feel weird - test once and then 15 minutes later. I'm not sure that this is the only reason for my feeling bad these last few days as I've managed much better before. Although I haven't had diabetes for long, I've only been 'ill' for the last week or so.

@Juicyj thank you for your support. I'm surprised how many people even responded, you don't see this in many forums (at least the ones that I usually visit). I'm glad I made the decision to join. I also like your analogy with swans as that's how I often feel, especially when someone asks me how I'm doing and I'm thinking 'do you really want me to explain to you just how much diabetes sucks? Nah, I'll just say I'm okay.'

Reading posts from people who have had diabetes for decades (I can't even imagine having only urine strips to measure glucose levels or having to use thick syringes as opposed to pens) and who have gone through much harsher times than I did makes me think that it must be possible to live a (relatively) normal and happy life, otherwise they wouldn't be here to tell their tale.

@EllsKBells I think you pretty much described me perfectly. I gather that libre is a CGM, right? I really hope to someday get one as that would be a total game-changer for me.

@EllsKBells I have read up on libre now and it sounds quite interesting. CGMs, whether the libre kind or the regular ones are still quite expensive for most people if they are not paid for by one's insurance company, but I have hope that it will change in the near future. I spoke to my local pharmacist and he told me that the glucometer I bought for 15 euros cost something like 100 bucks just a few years ago. I'm hoping to see reductions in prices of CGMs as well. Also I read about the possibility of measuring blood glucose with light through one's skin - no needles required! Although if I remember correctly the research was discontinued temporarily and is now being picked up again since so many people have diabetes now.

I think you're right in that rapid drops in bg can cause symptoms similar to a hypo. That's why I think testing twice in 15-30 minutes is a good idea if you think something's not right.