Diabetic or just sudden drop in blood sugar?

[anxious_thoughts]

Hi everyone,
Im a bit scared right now because I had this really weird experience just happen to me.

I woke up late today, around 11:30am and around 12 I started preparing some lunch (haven’t eaten since 8:30pm the night before). I got this weird sensation in my stomach, and this adrenaline rush, I started to sweat and I heard a high pitching ringing in my ears.

I got some orange juice because I’ve always had diabetes anxiety, and I started to drink some and I ate my lunch and felt better shortly after that. But still having that “shock” that it happened.

Im not diabetic, I’m a bit overweight and 28 years old but I did blood work last month and blood sugar levels are all normal.

Is it normal for some people to experience now blood sugar and for their body to react like that? It was seriously so scary. Not sure if it’s natural reaction or if it’s anxiety because I know how I get when I eat late I start to worry about blood sugar.

[Catkins]

I used to get this regularly when I was younger. I was awful for skipping breakfast back then, so I would have my evening meal and then nothing in the morning. Sometimes, not all the time, but particularly if I was anxious or stressed (maybe I burnt through my reserves quicker?) by late morning, if I hadn't had something to eat, I would feel awful. I would get shaky, sweaty, lightheaded and in turn I would usually end up panicking.

But, it's easy to stop it happening. I stopped skipping breakfast, I always made sure I had a snack and a drink with me in case I started to feel wobbly. You don't have to be diabetic to feel like this, but basically it is low blood sugar because you haven't eaten for a while. Sleeping late is wonderful (it's a long time since I've managed it) but while you're asleep you're not eating or drinking so your blood sugar will drop.

I hope that reassures you a bit, maybe if there's a chance you'll sleep late you could have a snack before you go to bed or even just be aware that when you do get up you might feel a bit off?

[anxious_thoughts]

I used to get this regularly when I was younger. I was awful for skipping breakfast back then, so I would have my evening meal and then nothing in the morning. Sometimes, not all the time, but particularly if I was anxious or stressed (maybe I burnt through my reserves quicker?) by late morning, if I hadn't had something to eat, I would feel awful. I would get shaky, sweaty, lightheaded and in turn I would usually end up panicking.

But, it's easy to stop it happening. I stopped skipping breakfast, I always made sure I had a snack and a drink with me in case I started to feel wobbly. You don't have to be diabetic to feel like this, but basically it is low blood sugar because you haven't eaten for a while. Sleeping late is wonderful (it's a long time since I've managed it) but while you're asleep you're not eating or drinking so your blood sugar will drop.

I hope that reassures you a bit, maybe if there's a chance you'll sleep late you could have a snack before you go to bed or even just be aware that when you do get up you might feel a bit off?

Hello Catkins, thank you so much for responding. Reading about your experience makes me realize how similar it is to mine, also really helps soothe my anxiety as I’m so hypersensitive right now after what happened.

Was what you experienced something you ever brought up to your doctor? I’m not sure if I should bring it up to mine, because like you said everything kind of just points to low blood sugar from fasting for over 12 hours.

Im definitely going to try to have a late night snack or wake up earlier to stop skipping breakfast. This was so scary!! It’s happened to me before (a while ago) but not as bad as how I felt today. Thank you again for your response! I hope you have a lovely New Years. Wishing you all the best in 2022. :)

[Catkins]

No I didn't go to the doctor with it. It was in my early 20's and pre internet so I think I was reading a book about anxiety and it mentioned it in there. So I just changed the way I ate, things improved and I felt I didn't need to.

[anxious_thoughts]

No I didn't go to the doctor with it. It was in my early 20's and pre internet so I think I was reading a book about anxiety and it mentioned it in there. So I just changed the way I ate, things improved and I felt I didn't need to.

Good to know things improved :)
Im off on holidays the last two weeks so I’ve been sleeping in much later than usual. Decided to wake up earlier today to eat some breakfast. Definitely don’t want to experience that feeling again. But I’m sure my anxiety didn’t help and amplified it