Panic and Blood sugar

[Meltdown]

After 9 blissfull months of near total normality, had a bad day today!

I spent about an hour running the kids around on the verge of a major panic attack with my heart trying to jump out of my chest! It was turning back-sumersaults and seemed to be missing about every 4th beat!

What was different about today? Well, I missed lunch!

I had various sugary snacks throughout the afternoon (biscuits, chocolate) - but nothing you could call a proper meal! Then about 7PM, I had a proper meal, and within 20 minutes, I felt OK, and have done since!

Now the question is - is panic linked to high or low blood sugar levels? I'm afraid I rubbished a similar post a while ago suggesting this, saying that hunger/peaks in blood sugar gave feelings that felt like panic, so the mind tended to associate the two...

But after today's experience, I am seriously beginning to wonder whether there is a connection? This is not the first time I have expericed PA when very tired or hungry! What is the opinion here? is there a connection?

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

I have read many times that the two are connected- which is why after a night's fast during sleeping hours a good breakfast is so highly recommended to help combat the "terrible mornings" so many of us have.

I have started drinking a protein shake right out of bed (followed by breakfast a little later) in order to get my blood sugar regulated right away.

[harasgenster]

Don't wish to be pedantic (but I'm an awful pedant), but I think I'm right in saying that it isn't exactly the level of sugar in your blood that causes the panic attack/anxiety (non-diabetics' blood sugar is fairly stable), but rather a reaction of the vagus nerve to an empty stomach, which produces symptoms like dizziness, shakiness, anxiety, and if you leave it long enough without any food at all: fainting. Fairly sure that's why you can also feel woozy and weak if you have high stomach acid.

Don't quote me on that, but I think that's basically it. It's more having something substantial in your stomach than it is blood sugar. Otherwise people with gastric bands who can eat a grape a day (or whatever) would be consistently hypoglycaemic :)

So yeah, they're related - and eating regularly and eating enough will definitely help with anxiety - but I don't think it's actually blood sugar.