Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Reactive Hypoglycemia... causing Panic Attacks?

So, recently I have been drinking half decaf coffee to help reduce the Reactive Hypoglycemic Episodes and Anxiety Attacks but today I treated myself to a Tim Horton's coffee on an empty stomach and didn't eat until 1:30pm. WELL! Was that a mistake! I had a terrible Hypoglycemic Episode and nearly had SEVERAL Panic Attacks! Yikes! Lesson learned...

Anyhow, today after a hot shower I felt weak, achy, shaky, anxious, etc., as per usual. I never have showers in the morning or during the day for this reason, only at night just before bed. If I do, I am going to have a Panic Attack in any social setting period.

In any case, I have tried to figure out why this happens to me many times before to no avail, but then it hit me! These symptoms are the same symptoms I experience when I think I may be experiencing a Hypoglycemic Episode. So I looked for the answer again, only this time I included the Hypoglycemic factor and voila! I have found a number of sites stating that hot showers lower blood sugar levels...

More importantly, I found a response to an article stating...
"For the longest time I was simply diagnosed as having a panic disorder; but since I’ve gotten my diet under control, the need for anxiety medication and counseling has tapered off … so go figure :)"
http://www.janekdickinson.com/janes-first-post/ 

After further research, I learned that when "Your body perceives that your blood glucose is too low" it "starts evasive tactics to get that sugar from somewhere. It pumps out adrenalin to tell the liver to break down some protein into glucose FAST and dump it in the blood stream" - http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/reactive-hypoglycemia.html


And what is the cause of an Anxiety Attack? Adrenalin!

I have now concluded that a majority of my Anxiety Attacks have been caused by Hypoglycemia or Reactive! Ahhh, the relief... This is what I have been trying to explain to my doctor! I need a new one! That's it!

But wait! What will that do? If I finally get the proper tests done and am diagnosed with Hypoglycemia or Reactive, what then? There's no cure, no fix... some opinions on how to better manage it. But that's it. Right?

What I've concluded tonight is that I have Reactive Hypoglycemia. Reactive because I can go several hours in the morning without eating and have no problems until an hour or two after eating... My teen diet (going days without eating, binging on alcohol and coffee as my breakfast, lunch and dinner) caused my first Anxiety Attack brought on by Hypoglycemia or Reactive. The fear of having another one created my Anxiety Disorder... These days, Reactive Hypoglycemia triggers Anxiety Attacks...

Now what?

No comments:

Post a Comment