Can anyone help please - GP not listening

[YetAnotherUserNameForMe]

About a month ago I had a really lightheaded and chest pain attack (posted on here at the time). Got sent to hospital, checks were fine. Diagnosed with possible anxiety attack.

Last weekend I collapsed (just managed to pull over on to the hard shoulder), Pale, pins and needles in arms and legs and couldnt stop shaking. This was after a few days of the runs so I hadnt been eating properly - hospital diagnosed low blood sugar. GP disagreed with this as blood sugar was 9.1 after eating a mars bar (given to me by the police man who drove me home to wait for the ambulance) and then dropped to 7.5 a couple of hours later.

I am really struggling now. I cant stop shaking, feeling lightheaded and like I am going to pass out if I stand up. It is worse after a meal - I have just had beans on toast with a poached egg and am already shaking and just feel weird, like I am drunk.

My GP states anxiety and has increased my existing meds, and maybe it is - but I dont know how to help myself. I dont feel particularly anxious over anything new, other than the obvious feeling very wobbly at the moment. I am not even sure what the point of this post is - I am just trying to distract myself.

Has the GP checked your blood pressure? If it's low that can cause light headedness. Could also be POTS ( postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). Worth looking it up. I have possible POTS and have had similar attacks like yours ; the shakes, tachycardia, pins and needles etc.

@Zizizoom

Has the GP checked your blood pressure? If it's low that can cause light headedness. Could also be POTS ( postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). Worth looking it up. I have possible POTS and have had similar attacks like yours ; the shakes, tachycardia, pins and needles etc.

I can’t get in to see the GP - just phone calls only, so no blood pressure or blood sugar checked since Saturday and I’m getting worse. Blood pressure was 160/90 on Sat but came down to 130 whilst at hospital.

I honestly feel like I’m drunk

You need full bloods checking to rule out aneamia or other causes then if they are all ok your GP should refer your for cbt if they think its is anxiety related. Good luck, it must've been a scary incident.

@JaniieJones

You need full bloods checking to rule out aneamia or other causes then if they are all ok your GP should refer your for cbt if they think its is anxiety related. Good luck, it must've been a scary incident.

All bloods came back fine apart from one showing pre diabetes but I already knew about that.

I’m trying to tell my head I’m fine, but my body isn’t listening!

Have they not given you any advice on the prediabetes? My mil had this but did eventually go into type 2 diabetes and had trouble maintaining her blood sugars. Ask to be referred to a dietician to see if they can keep everything at bay, you obviously want to avoid going over into full blown diabetes.

You poor thing OP. So have they done a full blood count and everything looks normal? Lots of different things can cause these symptoms but I'm assuming they've checked you for everything. I had exactly the same symptoms for a period of several months from late 2019 to early 2020. In my case it did turn out to be anxiety and probably a type of migraine where you don't get headaches but do get dizziness. I went through numerous tests before getting that diagnosis - blood tests, a full neurological exam (like all true hypochondriacs I feared MS!), I also had medication for vertigo but I'm not convinced I had vertigo. My symptoms were exactly the same as yours - sometimes it really felt like low blood sugar but I'd eat a meal and feel even worse afterwards. Sometimes I felt so drunk that it would be hard to go about my daily business. Sometimes I was weak and light headed, sometimes I had pins and needles and other neurological symptoms. They kept mentioning anxiety but I just couldn't believe that - I have a history of anxiety and I was sure I'd recognise it if I had it! My life was great (I thought). No worries - easy part time job, cleaner, happy marriage, great kids etc. How could I be stressed?! But actually looking back I see I was actually stressed and over-doing it. I was running from one commitment to the other, no downtime. I was frazzled. It was only when lockdown started in March 2020 that my symptoms completely disappeared. Life slowed down and I could actually breathe again. OP - can I ask your age? You see my symptoms started at 45 and having done some research and spoken to my GP we both believe this was related to the perimenopause. Not only does perimenopause cause anxiety but the fluctuating oestrogen levels can cause dizziness and light-headedness. On top of this many women start getting vestibular migraines during perimenopause - these are the migraines where you often only feel dizzy and don't have a headache. I've now learnt to manage my symptoms. Sometimes those feelings start building up again so I slow down and take time to rest and usually feel much better. If you're in your 40s I wouldn't be surprised if it was hormones causing these symptoms and anxiety.

Mil gp also gave her a blood sugar monitor so she could regularly check hers.

@SallyWD I think chances are that I am experiencing the same as you I am nearing 50, and the vestibular migraines sound pretty much spot on. May I ask how you managed your symptoms at first please?

At first I had no idea how to manage the symptoms but over time I realised that if I went to lie down in a quiet room I started to feel better. I'd try and totally relax and avoid all other stimulation, do some deep breathing (Wim Hof technique is good) etc. After about 30 mins I'd start to feel normal again. Obviously this works if you're at home but not if you're in the office or with friends or something! As I said, it was only when lockdown started and my life slowed right down that the symptoms disappeared. The doctor told me relaxation was key to managing this and she was right. I do wonder in retrospect if HRT would help? After all she said my plummeting oestrogen levels were to blame for the dizziness, migraines and anxiety. I will explore this option if things get really bad again.

Those are exactly the symptoms I had when I started the perimenopause. It took a whilst to realise they were panic attacks associated with hormones changes.

It was so scary. I tended to experience them when going away from my town and so as I was driving. Like you, a sense of disconnection as if drunk, lightheadness, than shaking like a leaf and overcome by fear. I also had temporary loss of vision in one eye.

It got better as I stopped my periods for a year but I wish I'd taken antidepressants sooner. You might want to consider get too. It didn't work for me but is a life saviour for many.