Blood sugar/hypoglycemia scared and tired

[cafeterrace]

Hey everyone,

So I'm basically asking if everyone thinks what I'm experiencing is just anxiety and maybe even other people who have blood sugar problems or diabetes can kind of ease my irrational fears.

I'm kind of obsessed with hypoglycemia. It's a phobia, basically. About a year ago I read about hypoglycemia in a book and it just sort of dawned on me that that was me. I had those symptoms and I had ever since I was a child. I always knew I was a child that "had to eat frequently" or "got sick if I didn't have a meal" or whatnot, but it never occurred to me until I read this that that was even a real thing. So this past March I went to the doctor and I explained it and she seemed pretty nonchalant about it and was like "you probably do have it" and went on about making sure to eat protein with my meals and have snacks. She added a glucose panel or something to my normal blood work and the first time I couldn't make it all the way to the center (it was fasting) without eating. I don't know if I just freaked out from anxiety or if I was legit having hypoglycemia. So I had the test redone the following week and I made sure to eat a lot of nuts and protein before bed the following night and my fast blood sugar came back as 80 something. However, I didn't feel bad at all that morning, not like the week before.

So anyway I was okay for a few months and then I got under stress from college this past november and I've had a bad relapse in my anxiety. I'm back to having it pretty much everyday and some days it's just almost endless. It's just every little thing and I've become a bit agoraphobic. However, now everything is centered really on this whole blood sugar thing. I'm always scared my blood sugar is dropping or sometimes I get scared that it's too high (even though I'm not diabetic). I swear I've eaten so much more than normal just because I freak out and think my blood sugar is dropping whenever I start getting anxious. Also, whenever I throw up (which can happen a lot if I wake up with morning anxiety) then I get scared because I just lost my meal so how is my blood sugar going to stay up when I lost my food.

Now we're visiting family and we went out today and ate at a restaurant at around 2pm. I had grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. I kept snacking on everything even after we got home until 7 when we ate and I felt really bad before we ate. I felt shakey and irritated and all that. I don't feel like I could have been hypoglycemic because I'd just eaten a cookie and I'd had chips and chex mix and stuff like that. No one else seemed that hungry and they hadn't even really snacked much since we got home. I feel like I only feel good after I eat a full meal. Is this just psychological?

I don't know. I feel like I sound like a nut, haha. I don't even know why I'm so super scared because the times I genuinely feel like I have experienced hypoglycemia I was all right. I went and got food and I continued on with my day. Whereas now I feel like I'm almost consistently going hypoglycemic. The doctor even told me that most people who aren't diabetic even if they have hypoglycemia rarely faint or have any other serious issue, but somehow that doesn't ease my mind enough to calm it. I know that anxiety has similar symptoms to hypoglycemia and I guess I just can't tell them apart. I even went and talked to the doctor about it, told her I had this anxiety - blood sugar relation and she just said that once you eat your blood sugar is usually good for around 3 or 4 hours. I try to keep that in mind but that doesn't seem 100 percent right to me. I've been debating on buying the kit and strips just to test myself but I've avoided it because I'm trying to not feed my anxiety.

I guess I'm just at my end and I'm so tired of worrying about this. I feel like I'm trying to control my subconscious brain's job and not to mention I've gained 7 lbs so far just by always stuffing myself to avoid a blood sugar low. I just want to know if other people believe this is just an anxiety reaction or what. I'm not even sure I know if I'm hungry or not or if my stomach is just overfilled with acid. I also get concerned maybe it's a thyroid issue and since it was all the way in March since I had blood work maybe it's different now because that's like 10 months. Even as I type this I'm a bit shaky and thinking about whether or not the macaroni and cheese had enough protein and fat to last me for a while before I need to eat again.

I don't know guys, I'm so tired about worrying about all of this yet I don't know how to quiet my mind or put it at peace. Thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy post. :)

[gcalex]

Have you had a glucose tolerance test?  I thought that was the standard for evaluating hypoglycemia. 

[cafeterrace]

I don't believe I have, gcalex. The only test that was done when I had my normal yearly blood work (normal blood count) along with thyroid, vitamin D, and she added on a fasting glucose test.

Both of my parents are insulin resistant so I believe this may be where this stems from. However, my mother is insulin resistant due to medication, whereas my father just eats unhealthy.

[gcalex]

Well why guess, ask for the test, it's very commonly administered, you just drink a big glass of sugar water and they measure your sugar at intervals.  If you rebound too low you are hypoglycemic.

[cafeterrace]

It's a good idea. Only thing though is even if I am diagnosed with this test it seems like that wouldn't make all of the symptoms and fears go away or it would make them stronger because I had proof on paper. I thought everything with hypoglycemia was diet controlled but do you know if there is a medication I could take?

[vardnas]

Why exactly are you afraid of being hypoglycemic?

I thought I had it for a while and ended up getting a tolerance test. In fact, I was CONVINCED I had it, but the blood tests came back totally fine. In my experience, I can tell you, having a fear of hypoglycemia CAN cause similar symptoms.

Yes, get tested. But if you have hypochondria/anxiety disorder, understand that your health fears will not be conquered by medical testing. If you get over your hypoglycemia fears, they'll probably migrate to another disease. Working on your underlying factors and getting your stress down are the only things that will help you with your anxiety.

[Cattia]

I have suffered with this for as long as I can remember. Funnily enough it's one of the things I don't worry about much as I have always lived with it. As far as I know this isn't really a medical condition as such, everyone's blood sugar will get low eventually if they don't eat but some people just seem to have a faster metabolism or something so it happens a bit quicker. I once had a regular blood test for something unrelated and they sent the emergency doctor to my house to tell me I had to eat chocolate immediately as my blood sugar was down to 2! They made me repeat the test the following day and it was back up to 4 so the Dr just said I must have been rushing around too much without eating enough.
I find that if I am anxious or if it's just before my period or if I have been drinking alcohol my blood sugar as far more unusable. You don't have to gain weight, you can just eat low GI foods that keep your blood sugar up for longer. If you Google GI diet there is loads of good info on it.

[cafeterrace]

Thank you for all the responses, guys :)

Vardnas - I suppose my fear with hypoglycemia is fainting or just the feeling of feeling awful. I feel like there has to be an anxiety factor in this because I've had anxiety before and there is no way I should be thinking THIS much about it. I also notice that a lot of times I think I'm having a hypoglycemic episode and it continues after I've eaten. I just ate some spaghettios and cashews and now it's been like 40 mins and I'm still feeling ick. Did your symptoms go away once you tested negative with the tolerance test?

I agree I definitely need to work on getting my stress down. I was hoping to meet up with a friend today but I haven't driven in a month and I feel a bit shakey about driving and being alone and all of the anxiety and feelings I've been having lately :/ I really don't want to cancel out though.


Cattia - I'll look up that GI diet, thanks! I do try to keep protein with everything I eat, but sometimes I think I just eat something really fatty and unhealthy instead of something that is filled with protein and healthy to level out carbs. As long as you eat correctly you only get hypoglycemia every so often right and as soon as you eat it goes away? Because sometimes I carry a soda with me when I go out places and I sip on it throughout the day. Can my blood sugar still get low from doing this? In my mind it makes me think that I can't crash if I'm always putting a bit of candy or soda in. However I still get icky feelings.

[Cattia]

Sugary food isn't really the best unless your blood sugar has already dropped too low and you need to boost it up quickly. It's best to eat regularly,  something like brown bread or banana or oat bars that release energy slowly and keep your blood sugar stable for longer. If you have a lot of sweet stuff it will give you a sugar rush that wears off really quickly and leaves you with low blood sugar again. I think anxiety pays havoc with this if you're a bit prone to it, I have also had the thing you describe where I eat and it doesn't seem to help and that for me will be one of three things: either I went too long without eating and it takes a while to kick in, or I am stressed and anxious, or its the wrong time of the month. I hope that helps.

[JunoX]

The only way to know if you have a sugar problem, high or low, is by buying the test strips and checking your sugar for 10 days straight. Once in the morning while fasting and then two hours after your largest meal. Discuss the results with your doctor.

Evrytime I went for a check up, my sugar was normal so I have never been diagnosed with a sugar problem. By curiosity, I began checking my sugar two hours after my largest meal and my numbers were very high. My fasting numbers were always normal and this is why my hyperglycemia was never detected. I have mixed feelings about doctors doing a sugar test while fasting. Basically that will only tell you if you are a full blown diabetic but it will never help you see how food is affecting you and allow you to control a potential problem before it gets worse. If I wouldn't have checked my blood sugar myself and seen my high sugar, I would be a diabetic in about five years. I had no symptoms that my sugar was at 200+ two hours after eating, nearly on a daily basis. This damages your body.

I changed my diet completely and check my blood sugar to see how food affects me. If it affects me I eliminate or change it. I went from weighing 264 to 219 now and I am continuing to loose a few pounds a week. Now my fasting sugar is below 100 and I never allow my 2 hours after a meal sugar to be above 140.

You might have to force your doctor to take your sugar concerns seriously, for some reason most doctors do not if the fasting sugar is normal. Fasting tells you nothing because your bodies engine is without fuel then. You need to know how your body processes fuel, that's the key.

Maybe your anxiety about your sugar is just that, anxiety but it doesn't hurt to test it. Not only to put your mind at ease but to also find a problem before it gets worse.