Posted by worrier on May 2, 2003, at 20:58:31
In reply to Re: Blood Sugar Levels and Anxiety Symptoms, posted by noa on April 29, 2003, at 19:26:16
> Sometimes when I haven't eaten, I feel light-headed and jittery and this can be mistaken for anxiety, which, of course, then makes me anxious. But if I eat a big meal, it doesn't take very long for me to start feeling tired, like I need a nap, kind of sedated.
>
> I wonder if it takes you at least that half hour to digest, and the digestion itself is using up energy that you already don't have enough of. This would lend itself to the idea of having more frequent small meals that was mentioned by snoozy.
>
> But you might want to have your doctor check your blood suger, like a glucose tolerance test, where they take blood samples before and several times after (at different intervals) you drink a very sweet glucose drink, to see what your fasting blood sugar levels are and your levels after ingesting the glucose, and how quickly it returns to normal, etc.
>
> Just some thoughts, fwiw.> One more point to consider...it seems that once people have a few panic attacks, the pathways in the brain that cause those feelings (the whole fight/flight thing) are much more easily activated than in "normal" people. Therefore when you experience sensations that resemble panic attacks (such as a drop in blood glucose) your brain automatically says " here we go again" and you think..."panic". I find myself doing that when I notice that my heart rate increases even for perfectly normal reasons (exercise,etc.). It can be frustrating. Worrier.
poster:worrier
thread:223109
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030429/msgs/223959.html