Hey tudiabetes! I’ve recently been going through anxiety/depression and have been diagnosed with agoraphobia with panic and was hoping to hear if anyone else has had problems like mine.
I know that a lot of my anxiety comes from lack of control of my blood sugars. It can get really frustrating not being able to get my numbers down and I sadly am a perfectionist (which doesn’t help when you’re diabetic!) and am feeling lost. I really don’t know what more I can do than I am now; which is getting help from my endo and psychologist. I just feel like I’m going crazy sometimes. I know that it helps to have some advice/support from people who really get what’s happening. Any input is extremely welcome!
hang in there…I was a bit afraid to go outside and am still working on what outings I can handle or not…hang in there and do what the doctors say…I find starting with opening the drapes helps, taking the dogs for walks…find what works for you…you are not crazy, this is not easy to deal with…so quit beating yourself up! (((((hugs)))) and good luck
I have anxiety attacks that are similar to heart attacks. They are very serious and can lead to a heart attack. It is also frustrating because you end up in the hospital either way and they tell you there is nothing wrong with you. Once I said forget it and didn’t go and ended up having a real heart attack. Anxiety is the pits, I hate it. I try to keep to a routine now so that I don’t have anxiety and that helps. Stress leads to depression, depression leads to anxiety, and they all effect your blood sugar levels and high levels cause anxiety. So to answer your question YES. I do.
I have dealt with a lot of anxiety issues for a long time. I have type 1 diabetes. You’re definitely not alone. I too am a perfectionist and have found it helpful to try and let go of the feeling that I have to do everything perfectly. I try to remember that I just have to do my best and then let go. I would like to not feel so anxious in a crowded room. Still haven’t figured out that one.
I got the anxiet bug bad. One thing that really helped me is reading a book called “When Panic Attacks” by David Burns. He’s pretty well known so it shouldn’t be hard to find on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It literally changed my life. He has a list of “42 ways to defeat your fears” and goes through each one in detail AND uses specific examples of how he has used each one with one of his patients over the years. I also take medication…BUT that is not something I would recommend unless you are really at your wits end, for many reasons. Good luck!
I too have suffered agoraphobia in the past. After my diagnosis last year I had a relapse and could not leave the house without severe anxiety it was debilitating. My Husband was my savior during that time and forced me to leave the house little by little until I eventually was no longer fearful leaving the house. I also take a very very low dose of xanax and prozac 10 mg prozac and only 1/4 of the smallest dose of xanax available .25 which I only take now about a total of 3 times a month when I’m feeling very very anxious and cannot snap out of it. Last year when I was really bad I was taking 1/2 of .25 two times a day to help me while trying to leave the house more and get out of the anxiety cycle. Prayer, my husband, taking baby steps, and the program “The Linden Method” were my saving grace. I still use the Linden Method often, you can order it online and I highly highly highly recommend it!!! Everytime I begin to go through times where I am anxious I go straight back to it and conquer the anxiety. I too am a perfectionist and can totally relate to everything you wrote in this discussion, I could’ve wrote it myself. God bless, may you find some peace and healing soon.
One of my daughters (non-D) had serious panic disorder, including agoraphobia and anything else you can possibly think of. She was dx’d at 15 with “anxiety” – which is a catch-all phrase that allows Drs. to treat all patients alike, but she had actual panic disorder, which means that the panicky feelings come and go as they please, and there is nothing you can do to stop the feelings. Hers was a physiological response, not psychological. Main stream thinking is that anxiety/depression and panic disorder are the same thing. They are not. My daughter’s was obvious from the moment she was born. Usually it shows up later.
I do not have T1 myself, but I understand perfectly how you could feel that way. My daughter had to go on medication, but the MOST important thing is to know that you do NOT have to live this way. Because my daughter was young, we were sent to so many psychologists who couldn’t help her, but thought they could. The second most important thing is finding a Dr. who understand the condition very well. Since my daughter went on the med a few years ago, she has had NO panic of any kind, and lives a normal life, going away to college in the fall. Our experience was that even some of the “best” Drs. don’t understand this, and try to tell you to “change your thinking,” when you really can’t.
I am not advocating medication, as long as you can get relief working with your endo. It’s always better not to take a med if you don’t have to. It really depends on how much this is interfering with your life. But after my daughter went through all she experienced, I swore I’d tell everyone who asked about her experience. She was very open about the whole thing in school, with friends, teachers, etc., and to this day her 7th grade counselor is still thanking me for the info she learned frm my daughter’s experience.
I did see some of that developing in my T1 daughter, and thank goodness the DexPlus& came out when it did. She was the first patient (in an endo practice with more than 10,000 patients) to try the new & improved Dex. She had been testing her bg obcessively, and the CGMS put an end to all that. And now, if she has to leave it off for some reason, she doesn’t worry at all.
I’m sorry you’re going through this. A couple thoughts as I’ve worked with people with Panic Disorder, both with and without agoraphobia. Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder are not the same thing, and no mental health professional would treat them as if they were. Medical doctors, on the other hand, don’t know as much about mental health issues and wouldn’t know distinctions between various diagnoses. Panic disorder issometimes treated with anti-anxiety meds but also often successfully treated with anti-depressants that works on the issues in the brain that create panic. Cognitive therapy is also very effective with Panic Disorder, and for some people a combination of the two (meds and cognitive therapy) work best. My suggestion, is if you can find a Psychologist that is experienced working with people with diabetes (or even a diabetic themselves!), that would be excellent because your diabetes certainly exacerbates your symptoms. Hang in there, I know it’s scary and the agoraphobia makes your life hard, but just like diabetes, it is a condition that can be managed. It may take time to find the right combination of medication and or therapy. Don’t hesitate to “shop around” if you don’t feel your psychologist is the right fit, and as far as medication I highly encourage you to work with a psychiatrist your therapist recommends as they know a lot more about those kind of meds than your regular doc. All the best to you, I’m glad you posted about this.
