[henrydavidtherobot]

My body can't handle the excessive stress I put on it. I get fainting spells and digestive problems. I even had to leave a job because of a stress induced arrhythmia.

Insomnia has always been a problem for me. Lately, it's worse. I lay down to sleep and my heart races and it's harder to breath. I wake up to alarms gasping in fear. I don't have sleep apnea.

This is affecting my ability to function. I have been late to work and can barely concentrate on anything.

Any suggestions? I don't want to take my sleep meds AND anxiety meds tonight because I often sleep through my alarms when I do that and I have two jobs tomorrow, one of which is in the morning.

[Victoria'smom]

Have you tried a rescue inhaler at night? It works even without asthma to open your lungs so its easier to breath. Also a cracked window helps. Your fainting spells I'd bet are because of anxiety.

[henrydavidtherobot]

It's a bit cold for the window, but I'll look into the inhaler. The fainting spells have been diagnosed as blood sugar lows and from insufficient blood going to my brain from anxiety. It's no fun. I hate looking like I'm seeking attention when I'm at work feeling dizzy and need a second to recuperate.

[hamster-bamster]

Small frequent meals with lots of fluids throughout the day should help all of those issues except for insomnia and arrhythmia. This is speaking from experience.

[hamster-bamster]

PS combine protein, fat, and carbs in one meal or snack to level out blood glucose. Grilled cheese sandwich with some berries would be an example.

[henrydavidtherobot]

That makes a lot of sense. Is there a correlation between stress and glucose? I'm not diabetic, but I am very prone to hypoglycemia.

[hamster-bamster]

Per my integrative pdoc...

Unfortunately, being prone to low sugar (I was at your age) makes people susceptible to diabetes later in life, because the inability of the body to keep the glucose under control is bad whatever the direction is (too low or too high). This is bad news for me, since I have much family history of diabetes but hoped to avoid it since I still tend to low sugar. The pdoc disillusioned me.

Not to scare you, but you should be getting yearly fasting glucose tests. At your age it is not a generally used protocol, but you really should know your baseline, especially since such a wide range of intertwined somatic symptoms seem to be set in motion by hypoglycemia.

Another possibility is that you have

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...n/con-20026900

I have it. A cardiologist diagnosed me. He advised me to lie flat on my back with legs raised up at the first sign of a fainting spell .

I actually once hurt myself a bit when I fell down the carpeted stairs in a fainting spell. Had the stairs been concrete instead...ouch.

While the cardiologist's advice may seem funny, it is definitely the case that raising your arms above the heart level, say, by reaching into a tall closet, may trigger a fainting spell.

[henrydavidtherobot]

I suppose that makes sense. My mom has always been prone to low blood sugar and now has type 2. I hoped to avoid it because she is overweight and I am healthy-weighted.

I'm supposed to be getting my blood sugar, thyroid, vitamin D, and iron checked yearly. I haven't really been on top of it because nothing checks out. They say that I have hyperthyroidism and I test negative (but close). They blamed my fainting on anemia, but I had enough iron. I still experience gal bladder pain on a regular basis, but my expensive ultrasound found no stones. I've begun to believe that I'm just falling apart from stress.

[ginaaa22]

Just because you dont have stones on an ultrasound doesnt mean something else cant be wrong with your gallbladder. I'm going through the same thing with my gallbladder/pancreas right now. A hita scan is more definitive and checks the functioning level of the gallbladder which can reveal problems even without stones. I have the same problems with stress and I feel like its my main problem but its a double edged sword. I cant get rid of the stress because stress is causing the problems...ugh

[henrydavidtherobot]

ginaa, what are your symptoms?

[hamster-bamster]

Just to note that iron deficiency type of anemia is the most common but not the only type. There is a rare kind of pernicious anemia that is treated with injections of vitamin B12 in high doses. There are other rare types, too, so if they think it is anemia-related, they need to consider these types, too.

[henrydavidtherobot]

I got it tested. It comes with anxiety.