I'm curious about the connections between these two conditions. I have both Panic Disorder/Depression and Diabetes. Diabetes came first, then the Panic Attacks. I have episodes where I'm not sure if I'm going low or having a panic attacks (symptoms can be one and the same). How do you cope with both of these? Any other people going through the same thing? How would we create our own group on here?
That is common in diabetics so I understand, it happens to me as well. The more you are able to do physically the better the symptoms will be. I have a standing order for Xanax and depending on the month I either take them as I need or leave them in the bottle.
I also have anxiety and depression along with T1D. I have had similar episodes, more times than not its the anxiety. My anxiety and depression is fairly well controlled most of the time, but I still have bumps along the way. I take Cipralex and Ativan and so far so good. My blood sugar control has improved since being on Cipralex which is a huge bonus!!! I have also started new hobbies to take my mind off of issues that seem to cause me anxiety and that has also helped :)
It is very common in diabetes to develop these after being diagnosed. For my whole life i actually had problems with depression and anxiety because it was genetic. Then i got diagnosed with diabetes at the onset of of puberty and everything went crazy. All my problems worsened, but a few years later i got on Prozac, which isn't an anti-depressant necessarily but will treat depression and anxiety. I highly recommend it if you arent against medication because it has greatly helped reduce all of my issues.
I had bipolar dianoses first then the diabetes I am also trying 2 cope with a diabetic father who thinks its a joke not take care of himself
When I try 2 take care of myself
I too have anxiety, depression, and diabetes. a lot of times for me its hard to continue to care for myself diabetic wise with depression when things get really bad. everything seems to be in a circle where one thing is always effecting the other for me, and i always think, "Can I just get a break?"
I’m so happy I found this group since I was diagnosed with T1 18 yrs ago now I’ve noticed as time has passed depression has become such a part of my life then just over a year ago now I was told I have severe depression and am bi polar which was so scary and things have been so tough to just break the cycle I was stuck in but slowly it seems to be happening. I’m really so sorry to hear all your stories but hope you all are doing better and I’m thankful I found that I’m not the only one.
greetings, I have not actually studied the connection in length but from what I understand the neurological pathways that depression/anxiety affects are closely related to the pathways that can be effected by being diabetic. Therefor if you are diabetic there is a strong chance the diabetes will cause some amount of depression or anxiety.
When it comes to having an anxiety attack I can always tell that it is not my glucose level dropping because when it is my glucose my mind becomes cloudy. Whereas with anxiety the “fight or flight” reflex kicks in and I become much more focused, and I panic. During an instance of low blood glucose I become disoriented and cant focus on anything.
For most people a good option, as mentioned before, is taking some form of anti depressant. However for some people, regrettably myself included, we can not take anti depressant because they have an inverse effect and make us more depressed.
I have found a good way to help offset depression is to be physically active, just remember life is a balancing act. When I exercise too often I find that my body becomes to worn out and that just makes me feel drained and worthless, so my advice is to do some exercise but don’t throw your life into it hoping it will cure you.
There is definitely a connection between panic attacks and diabetes. I want to share my experience on the topic.
Preparing for university entrance exams were really stressful. My health suffered greatly. My thoughts slowed down, my hands started shaking. I started to feel paranoid about lows and got less insulin. That summer (after the exams) the symtopms got heavier. I constantly felt that I was low, but when I checked I was well in 200 mg/dls. I started to check more often reaching 8-10 times a day.
Then the college began. I lost all structure in my life, I started sleeping late, felt constantly exhausted and dizzy. I couldn’t manage to eat healthy at school. I just ate chocolate bars and biscuits to keep away from getting low. The lessons were between 11 AM and 5 PM. On the way back home (which lasted up to 2 hours on traffic) I would always drink 200ml of juice to keep away from having lows.
My life shattered, I couldn’t concentrate like I used to, I got memory problems. I’ve always been very successful academicaly, so I studied more. I couldn’t concentrate on the lessons because I was always dizzy and extremely stressed. I also couldn’t test my levels during class (I didn’t want anybody to see) and waited on the break.
I was also very depressed. I think the diabetes made the depression far worse. I didn’t tell anyone about this, because I also thought they were panic attacks.(I didn’t want anyone to know I was weak) But they felt real, and were a great burden. At times I thought I couldn’t live with it, I was frustrated. My mind didn’t function.
The summer days came, holiday started. I managed to get a good GPA despite everything. I went to an endocronologist after 2 years. Now I am starting to feel better.
My advice, check your blood sugars before meals and before you sleep. Don’t try to overadjust. Let them be high for a couple of days, until you adjust your basals.
Stop eating chocolate bars, if you want to make sure your blood sugar doesn’t go low, eat a healthy snack (granola bars for example)
Watch your sleep. I used to wake up at least once every night because I felt low or wake up, throw up get insulin and go back to sleep.
When you get your levels under control, the depression will be easier to handle.
Best of luck, hang in there.
So glad I found this. I am in college and have always been a slightly nervous/shy person but recently I feel like I am constantly anxious about the smallest things (job applications, going to class, etc.) It started with just getting anxious about lows like previous users have posted, but now I feel like it has taken over the rest of my life too. I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep again because my brain starts running at 100 mph and I start to stress out about things.
Can’t decide what to do and not sure how to talk to people about this stuff.
Thanks everyone for sharing, it’s nice to know I’m not alone.
Hi,
Does anyone have any resources or suggestions for finding a psychiatrist or mental health doctor who is t1 savvy?
I’m the the Bay Area (California) and have had type 1 for 20 years but need to see someone about my increasingly frequent panic attacks. 