Hello There! Ive Struggled With Anxiety For Years... Something That

Posted on Wed, 27 Mar 2019

Question: hello there!

ive struggled with anxiety for years... something that has always bugged me is that anxiety strikes strongly the same time every day. always around 11am and it lasts for awhile. eating makes it maybe a little better but not much. i get dizzy/brain fog, nervous, nauseous and very tense all in a matter of seconds. all symptoms im very used to...

i dont have diabetes... ive been tested.

why does anxiety come the same time every day? i know cortisol is highest mid morning. maybe it just over reacts?

or could my blood sugar drop every day around the same time?

its weird becsuse i will wake up fine and go about my day then boom.

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
This could be due to learned behaviour

Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for using ask a doctor service

I can understand your problem. Yes that might have some relation with cortisol levels. Yes elevated cortisol are associated with increased chances of mood symptoms and anxiety too. DST (dexamethasone suppression test) can be done to confirm this. But the test is not commonly used in mental disorders. Other clinical symptoms of elevated cortisol should be ruled out. Cortisol levels are high in early morning but you have anxiety more around 11:00 AM.

In my opinion the anxiety exacerbation in day time at a particular time is more related to psychological conditioning than cortisol diurnal variations. If you have fixed schedule most of the days then this is more related to gradual conditioning with time. Most of individuals suffer anxiety in particular order. No need to get worried. I hope your thyroid levels are in normal range.

Low sugar levels might aggravate the symptoms too. This should be checked when you have anxiety.

Thanks

Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have more to ask.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (25 hours later)

Hi thank you! Should I do a finger stick blood sugar levels when I feel the anxiety at that time to see what my sugar is? Would that show low levels?

I was told I think that by the time you feel symptoms of low blood sugar, that means the body already corrected it and sugar might be normal or high... is that true?

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
This is most likely due to learned behaviour.

Detailed Answer:
Hello again, thanks for asking a follow up

You can check when you have anxiety and if the levels are low then that will give us an idea. But if these are normal then we can rule out this as a cause. Though this is not a common occurrence in anxiety.

In my opinion this is more because of learned behaviour and conditioning over the time. Other possibility is changes in cortisol levels.

Thanks

Still have doubts please ask again.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj