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Diabetes and anxiety/panic attacks?

broccoliSK

broccoliSK

Active Member
Messages
27
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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 Dave, good idea to see your doctor about this.

It is not uncommon to have this kind of response early after diagnosis. You will be ok once you find a new balance.
 
Hi @broccoliSK welcome to the forum :)

Feeling like this can be perfectly normal after diagnosis, it is best to chat to your GP, there's alot to cope with mentally in dealing with your diagnosis so one day at a time and take things easy for the time being - I hit my own personal wall 6 months after diagnosis it's different for everyone but keep talking about how you are feeling.
 
Welcome and thanks for sharing your experiences.

I have been diabetic for over 35 years and still get anxiety attacks in 2 polar opposite types of places. I particularly loathe busy areas like shopping centres. I have seen me walk through a shopping centre knowing that my BG levels are fine, but break out with symptoms similar to a hyo, sweating, confusion etc

Other times I am out walking/birdwatching in the middle of nowhere and can convince myself that I have a low BG, same symptoms of confusion/sweating etc

I find the more that I think about having a low BG the more the anxiety kicks in and I can go into almost full panic mode. I believe that this then causes my adrenalin to kick in which in turn can actually lower BG levels

Now I tend never to leave home without my blood testing kit. Which makes me wonder how the hell I, and everyone else managed years ago when all we had was a test based on your urine.

Maybe the blood test facility makes me///us think more about our condition
 
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!
 
I don't know if this is the case for you but I get really anxious when I have sudden changes in my bg. Totally new reaction (well last six months) but when I look at my libre graphs I can track my anxiety to rapidly changing bg. Not sure about cause and effect whether it's the change that triggers the anxiety or the other way around but it is quite nice for me to think about this when I am feeling anxious! Not that it always solves the issue but it works partway :)
 
Personally I found that by stablising my blood glucose levels eased my anxiety, so the less I was going high/low then the easier I found it coping with my moods and literally staying sane.

Yes you still have to engage with those around, carry on as normal, however the complexity of this condition means we are like swans on a lake, gliding along as if nothing is bothering us, yet furiously paddling away with our little feet to maintain our poise..

Keep talking it really does help in coping with this :)
 
I too find that I'm a lot calmer when my BG is fairly steady - I am naturally a very anxious person, and if there is something to worry about, I'll find it! I think sometimes I'm so paranoid about having a hypo that I cause myself to feel like I am having one, and when I test it isn't anywhere near low, despite all the symptoms. I note with some interest that this is more likely to happen when I am out and about, when I feel less in control - wonder if you have noticed any patterns with this? The libre has definitely helped, making it easier to see what is going on.

Welcome to the forum! It's tough being diagnosed with diabetes, since you are thrown in at the deep end, but you will find lots of helpful advice and support here.
 
@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.
 
@broccoliSK the libre is what's called 'flash glucose monitoring', so you don't have the continuous read out in the way of the CGM and it takes readings, if I remember correctly, every 15 minutes. I love it, it isn't quite as accurate as doing the blood tests, but it is a great way to see patterns, particularly over night without having to get up and test, and how you deal with certain foods. I am very fortunate to have a generous grandmother who is funding mine for me. If it helps, though, if you have an android phone you can use that instead of buying the reader.

It's interesting to hear you say you were feeling weird, then went from 5 to 4.2 in 15 minutes - quite a rapid change. I've always kind of thought I can sense sometimes when a hypo was coming on - not full blown hypo symptoms, but feeling a bit off, will test at around 6 or 7, then 30 minutes later it will be three point something. Your idea about re testing in 15 minutes is good, because one of the more experienced members would be more knowledgeable, but I wonder if when blood sugars decrease very rapidly your body kind of panics, and produces the adrenaline rush and the symptoms associated with being low?
 
@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.
 
Hi everybody!....I just had my medical annual survey they found me with 210/100 BP and 290 BS...Pretty scary!..Last year in May was 220/110 BP and 310 BS....The point is that I didn t eat since yesterday 7 pm, started Metformin 2x1000 mg since Saturday morning!..The issue is that everytime I got check I have an ancestral fear and panic. At today check the HR was 120 b/min (normally when I take it home is somewhere between 68 and 78)...The question is : can panic and fear raise the BS so much!?!....

PS.
My story:
Discovered diabetes in 2012 with a FBS of 240....Than I tried to maintain a healthy life style but with carbs....At a certain moment I just forgot about being diabetic...Than in 2016 I just fall on ice creams and lot of baguette and pasta going to pee 2 3 times per night, very tired etc you all know how it is.....Eventually went and made blood tests ..The FBS was 340...I panicked and start to read discovering LCHF...In the first year 2017 I got an H1BC of 7.3 then 7.1. In 2018 I think i just messed a lot of meat in meals so I got 8.4 (don t know where else could have been as I don t eat bread pasta potatoes rice...at all..It s true that I over do it with animal fat I mean pork fat)...
 
Hello @ZALMOXIS99 and welcome.

Unfortunately you are responding to a type 1 thread which is over 2 years old and on a different subject matter to your post.

I can move your post into a new thread and re-position it so it's more visible with other type 2 threads, let me know if I can move it for you ?
 
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