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Axiety physical sytmtoms vs hypos
- Thread starter rayray119
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Lucyr
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- Type 1
Definitely me yes, to the point that trained medical professionals have been completely convinced I’m hypo and assume i am just confused, when I am having an anxiety panic and say no I’m not low.
I’ve had to learn what helps with anxiety and what helps with hypo and what helps when it’s both. I’ve also had to learn some of the subtle symptoms of hypos as the main symptoms overlap with anxiety too much. I check the colour of my hands (always change colour with a low but for me not when anxious) when I feel low/anxious, I consider whether I have tingling in my lips (only ever happens with hypo but not every time). If my heart is racing then for me odds are more towards anxiety (though I also have a heart condition that causes this and take drugs to prevent it!). Shaking is more often a hypo. If calm breathing or slowly sucking a boiled sweet helps then more likely anxiety for me.
Most importantly though I test bg to find out which it is. I have had to self fund the libre fairly often to help with this too, but I can manage it without libre by testing.
Which signs are you finding overlap the most for you? And do you think you might have any subtle signs that could help you to distinguish them?
I’ve had to learn what helps with anxiety and what helps with hypo and what helps when it’s both. I’ve also had to learn some of the subtle symptoms of hypos as the main symptoms overlap with anxiety too much. I check the colour of my hands (always change colour with a low but for me not when anxious) when I feel low/anxious, I consider whether I have tingling in my lips (only ever happens with hypo but not every time). If my heart is racing then for me odds are more towards anxiety (though I also have a heart condition that causes this and take drugs to prevent it!). Shaking is more often a hypo. If calm breathing or slowly sucking a boiled sweet helps then more likely anxiety for me.
Most importantly though I test bg to find out which it is. I have had to self fund the libre fairly often to help with this too, but I can manage it without libre by testing.
Which signs are you finding overlap the most for you? And do you think you might have any subtle signs that could help you to distinguish them?
gillrogers
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Yes, I do too. Used to be terrible. 9 times out of 10 it would be anxiety. I get very hungry with anxiety and panic attacks. It's only recently since I've been doing raieki once a week that I'm now spotting the differance. I find my arms start to feel heavy if I'm getting low. I can drop very quickly and suddenly. And too fast for the libre to pick up until I'm just about in the hypo. Because I'm always hungry I can miss the signs. But I am getting there.
rebrascora
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I found the fear of hypos much worse than hypos themselves.... OK the first few felt bad and were scary, but now I am used to them, they are a minor inconvenience. Even overnight hypos, which I really worried about (I have Libre 1 with no alarms) my body is pretty good at detecting them and after a bad spell of several days of persistent nocturnal hypos despite reducing my basal, a couple of years ago, I realised that they are no more to be feared than daytime ones.
Fear and anxiety are absolutely crippling! You have my sympathies. I do still get panic attacks very occasionally but thankfully no longer about my diabetes. I have learned to be much more relaxed about that and whilst keen to do my best to manage it, I treat it more like a game now rather than a potential life threatening condition. Libre certainly helps with that mindset for me. I hope that you will gradually get to a similar, more relaxed approach to it. It makes the world of difference both to my everyday life but also improves my diabetes management. Stress and anxiety and poor sleep all make it so much more difficult.
Fear and anxiety are absolutely crippling! You have my sympathies. I do still get panic attacks very occasionally but thankfully no longer about my diabetes. I have learned to be much more relaxed about that and whilst keen to do my best to manage it, I treat it more like a game now rather than a potential life threatening condition. Libre certainly helps with that mindset for me. I hope that you will gradually get to a similar, more relaxed approach to it. It makes the world of difference both to my everyday life but also improves my diabetes management. Stress and anxiety and poor sleep all make it so much more difficult.
Morning, can I just quickly ask how long from diagnosis did it take for you to get your head around diabetes and overcome the anxiety around it? I want my life back xx
Lucyr
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Why didn’t you test? I know anxiety and hypos feel similar but you do need to test to check which it is.
I think i started to feel a bit beter.
Lucyr
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It’s important to test when you feel unwell not wait to see whether you feel better in a bit
I would extend that to always fingerprick if you think you feel different to what Libre is telling you.
... and if you feel unwell.
I usally do. But i was also obervousdlly scaning prior to that
rebrascora
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I think it started after my DAFNE course... 7 months after diagnosis but it was a very gradual process. I think that gave me the confidence to take control of my diabetes management myself and own it and experiment more, particularly with basal insulin and that is absolutely key to it all making sense and my personal basal insulin needs vary a lot and need regular tweaking because I don't have much routine in my life, so feeling confident do do that, rather than it being set by a nurse or consultant every few months, made a difference to the results I was getting.
I did the course in Oct and there was a period of about 4 months afterwards where I was still finger pricking and felt restricted by that and not wanting to test more often than was recommended by the nurse or on the course which meant that I wasn't really seeing what was happening. I saw the consultant in the Feb just before lockdown and he said that he would put me forward for Libre on prescription, but of course it didn't happen due to lockdown. I got to Mar and suddenly decided that I would buy a whole load of testing strips myself and start experimenting and doing intensive testing and that was when I started to actually make real progress, with timing bolus insulin and food and basal insulin doses. In Jun I decided to self fund LIbre as I was finger pricking 15+ times a day but seeing huge benefits and I had fab results to show the consultant in Oct and got it on prescription in Nov. My confidence has just continued to grow from there.
Whilst I still follow a low carb diet and feel that that is really beneficial to me, I am now much more laid back about treating myself occasionally. I bought a box of sweet mince pies 2 months ago and I am confident to splash some major insulin on one every now and then. Still got 3 left and almost perfected the timing and dose which is surprisingly far more than the carbs on the box would suggest. I quite like the feeling of being adventurous now and if I get it wrong, I will learn from that and do better next time, so I see getting it wrong as part of the learning process rather than a negative.
I think as regards hypos and feeling more confident in coping with them, the first 10-20 were difficult and then my body and brain started to stop panicking so much. My Libre shows I average about 1 hypo a day now and whilst many of those are probably not actual hypos as Libre reads low for me, I do have quite regular mild hypos and even out exercising or mucking out in the stables, I can just pop a couple of JBs into my mouth and carry on. Occasionally I will get a nasty one where my levels are dropping more rapidly and I need to sit down for a couple of minutes but mostly I can work through them. I find it amazing how far the body can run on just 2 JBs if my basal dose is right.
Sorry that is rather "War and Peace" but hopefully gives you a realistic expectation of timescales and experience and that hypos happen more often than you might expect to some people and learning to deal with them is important. I can remember coming on this forum and asking a question because I was horrified that I had had 2 in a fortnight and a lovely member here said that she often had 2 in a day. That really helped me not to worry about them so much. I think I had an unrealistic expectation that I might have 1 or 2 a year! They are all part of diabetes and I would rather have more and be confident of dealing with them than only have 1 or 2 a year and be totally floored by them and live in fear of them. Of course I have to temper that with doing my best to avoid them but they happen despite my best efforts and I am OK with that and my consultant is more than happy with my results so far, so I guess I am doing good!
I don't want to talk for @Lucyr but, for me, I would test with a finger prick - Libre can be wrong or delayed so should not be 100% depended upon.
So scanning is not the test I would suggest if you are feeling unwell.
Its pretty acurte for me on normal numbers and i have checked it with figer picks before. It was just an odd day Yesterday. I did goout for backfast
A
And there is no reason why you should not go out for breakfast ... I am jealous because I was working.
yeah that was the problem i either over etistmated or should have split the injections
Thank you for that. I don’t make a secret of the fact that I’m struggling. Everyday I get up and think to myself that I’m going to do everything in my power to pull myself out of this hole, but I soon lose the motivation/inclination. I will keep trying but it’s getting harder and not easier, hence my question. It’s nice to hear your story, it gives me hope. X
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