What is hypoglycemia anxiety?
I have seen it time and time again; people coming to me, saying “I am terrified of going low,” “what if I don’t feel it and something terrible happens?” “I just hate how awful I feel when my blood sugar is low.”
“I feel like I’m going to die.”
Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar does feel pretty awful. For me, my heart races, my hands shake, I feel super weak and tired, I can feel the color drain from my face and sometimes I am so debilitated that I cannot feed myself or get sugar in my system without help.
People have often said things about how they fear the very possible and real consequences of an extreme episode of hypoglycemia: passing out, having a seizure, going into a coma, and dying.
These very real fears can come up each time a person experiences a low blood sugar, because there is this strong physiological reminder. Some anxiety related to having hypoglycemia is helpful and motivates a person to take action, ingest glucose and survive. But this fear, if left unchecked, can lead to problematic behavior. Hypoglycemia anxiety can lead to intentionally restricting insulin and running blood sugars higher than necessary. The short-term consequences of this are depressed mood, lower distress tolerance, fatigue, memory difficulties, infection risk, and diabetic ketoacidosis hospitalization. Long term consequences of high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, consist of damage to blood vessels, brain, kidneys, eyes and heart.
Similar to anxiety disorders, hypoglycemia anxiety will look like:
- Feeling nervous, restless or tense
- Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Feeling weak or tired
- Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Having trouble sleeping
- Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
- Having difficulty controlling worry
- Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
If you or someone you know is experiencing hypoglycemia anxiety, getting connected with support is crucial.