Bratforlife, I think me and you have a LOT in common.
My body has recently starting going through spells where I cannot possibly eat enough often enough, and going regular spacing between meals like you describe in your post sends me into an awful panic attack. Weak, nauseous, shaky, faint, hot and cold flashes, trouble concentrating. Within minutes of eating, it gets better. However I have to eat a protein AND a sugar...if I just eat a sugar, my blood glucose goes up and then crashes again and I end up a million times worse than when I started. For a long time everyone told me these were just panic attacks and to ignore them and they would go away, but I started noticing that they are very different from normal panic attacks, and sometimes the stuff I do to help my panic attacks wouldn't work on them at all. That's when I figured out my blood sugar was probably low.
Yes, the symptoms of low blood sugar are very similar to that of an anxiety attack, and low blood sugar can also MAKE you have an anxiety attack. And yes, it does get better within seconds or minutes of consuming sugar.
I strongly recommend you utilize that blood sugar kit that was offered you. It is scary to find out whether or not something is wrong, but living in ignorance is much more frightening. Plus if something actually is wrong, you can treat it and feel better. Actually Nicolette I recommend you purchase one too if that is within your means. I went to the ER 4 times and saw multiple private practice doctors and even spent 3 days in the hospital on an epilepsy monitoring unit for this very problem. No one would listen to me when I told them that I thought it was probably my blood sugar. They said blood sugar wouldn't be causing this severe of symptoms, but I think that my symptoms were exxaggerated because I have panic disorder.
Also, when your blood sugar become dangerously low, your body manufactures a chemical called glucogen that mimics glucose in the blood, causing a blood sugar test to read higher than it actually is, which is why a lot of ER doctors who tested my sugar said it was fine. In addition, like I said and like Bratforlife figured out, your sugar goes up within minutes of eating. Your sugar isn't low CONSTANTLY, so one blood test in your doctor's office probably won't tell them anything unless you happen to be having a hypoglycemic episode when you're having your blood drawn. Even the fasting test they can do at the doctor's isn't totally accurate because it is just a one time deal, and hypoglycemia is a chronic problem.
The only way really to tell if you are hypoglycemic is for YOU to keep an ongoing record of your blood glucose level. I started having one of these "panic attacks" the other day, checked my blood glucose level and it was at TWENTY SIX! That's barely life-sustaining. But I had just eaten two hours earlier so I wasn't starving. And sure enough, I ate some eggs and drank some juice and my blood sugar went up to 130. I have been learning a lot of things about my body by checking my blood glucose and blood sugar at home, frequently. I plan on bringing my findings to my primary and seeing if NOW she can help me find a diagnosis.
