Are you lightheaded, dizzy, shaky, out of nowhere, and the first thought that hits is that something is seriously wrong with you?
This week on FUCK Anxiety we're asking the question so many women never think to ask: is it anxiety, or is it low blood sugar? Because for me, understanding the overlap between the two changed everything, and it wasn't a doctor who handed me the answer.
I've been to every doctor, gotten every test, even gotten a diagnosis. And it was almost like I wanted the diagnosis, to make me feel a little less crazy. Well….I got it, and it was actually the thing that helped me figure out how to diminish my anxiety. Once I figured this out my panic attacks actually started to change, and they dropped by roughly 30%, without medication.
So let's talk about what nobody connected for me, and what I wish someone had told me years ago.
What You'll Learn About Blood Sugar, Anxiety, and PCOS in This Episode
- Why anxiety and low blood sugar can feel almost identical in the body: lightheaded, dizzy, shaky, racing heart, and why that overlap keeps getting missed
- How PCOS and insulin resistance make blood sugar regulation harder: and why that connects directly to panic attacks
- The one non-negotiable food habit that helped cut panic attacks by roughly 30%: no medication involved
- Why doctors so often medicate the symptom instead of asking what you're eating: and how to start advocating for yourself instead
- How self-research became the real turning point: not another prescription
- What it actually means to take your power back from anxiety: one small, doable choice at a time
Top Takeaways on Blood Sugar, PCOS, and Panic Attacks
1. Blood sugar symptoms and anxiety symptoms can look almost identical
For years my mornings looked the same. Coffee, no breakfast, straight into a workout that destroyed me. I wouldn't eat again until one or two in the afternoon, then I'd grab whatever was fastest and keep going until five or six at night.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I was diagnosed with PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, which comes with something called insulin resistance. My body was already struggling to regulate blood sugar on its own, and I was feeding it chaos on top of that.
Lightheaded. Dizzy. Shaky. Heart racing. I thought every single one of those was my anxiety. Turns out, they're also textbook blood sugar symptoms.
Nobody ever told me that. I had to find it out for myself.
2. Every crash felt like a panic attack, and it wasn't random
Here's what was actually happening. My blood sugar would spike and crash all day long, spikes and crashes, spikes and crashes. And every single crash sent my brain a signal that something was wrong.
That's the trigger. That's the alarm bell. Not because there was an actual threat, but because my blood sugar dropped, and my brain does what my brain does, which is freak the fuck out and assume the worst.
I used to have up to 15 panic attacks a day and think I was losing my mind. I wasn't losing anything. My body was just trying to alert me, and I didn't have the information to understand what it was telling me.
3. No doctor ever asked me what I was eating
I had been to every doctor. Every test. My doctor even tried putting me on metformin at one point, which was supposed to help with insulin resistance. It didn't work. If anything, it made me feel worse.
Not one of them ever asked what I was eating, when I was eating, or how long I was going between meals. I even had a client tell me recently that her doctor saw her cholesterol was high and never once asked about her diet or her exercise routine, and she's a genuinely healthy woman.
Why that conversation isn't happening in doctor's offices is something I still don't fully understand. I've since found a functional doctor I love, because functional medicine actually looks for the root instead of slapping on a band-aid.
4. I found the answer myself, and that changed more than my blood sugar
I finally found what connected the dots for me in a book, not a doctor's office. It's called Healing PCOS by Amy Medling, the PCOS Diva, and it's the first time anyone actually explained what was happening in my body.
Once I understood it, I had something tangible I could actually control. Not my anxiety in the moment, but what I put in my mouth. That shift was huge for me, not just nutritionally, but mentally.
I researched it myself, I tried it, and I got results. And that opened the door to the biggest question of all: if I could do this for myself, what else could I do?
That question ended up being about a lot more than food.
How to Stabilize Blood Sugar to Help Reduce Panic Attacks
Here's exactly what I changed, and what I want you to try if any of this is resonating.
Step 1: Protein with every meal and every snack
This is non-negotiable if you're insulin resistant of any kind. Protein helps sustain your blood sugar instead of letting it spike and crash.
Step 2: Don't go hours without eating
If you're waiting until you're starving to eat, your blood sugar is already on a rollercoaster by the time food shows up.
Step 3: Cut the sugary coffee
A sugary latte with no protein in it is going to spike your blood sugar and then drop it, hard.
Step 4: Pack something with protein
Nuts, a protein bar, whatever is easy enough that you'll actually grab it instead of a bag of chips or someone's leftover cookies.
Step 5: Fuel your body before and after workouts
Not eating around a hard workout is one of the fastest ways to send your blood sugar, and your nervous system, into chaos.
This isn't about perfection. It's about awareness, noticing that if you choose the bag of chips right now, your blood sugar is probably about to spike and drop. That's it. That's the whole shift that helped cut my panic attacks by roughly 30%.
Common Patterns to Watch For
- •Treating every physical symptom as "just anxiety." Lightheaded, dizzy, shaky, and racing heart are anxiety symptoms, but they're also blood sugar symptoms, and the two get confused constantly.
- •Letting busyness decide when, or if, you eat. Running go, go, go and grabbing whatever's around at 2pm keeps your blood sugar, and your nervous system, in a constant state of crisis.
- •Accepting a diagnosis without ever getting asked about food. If your doctor has never once asked what you're eating, that's a gap worth noticing.
None of this is about blame. It's about understanding what's actually happening in your body so you can finally do something about it.
Reflect on This
- •Is it low blood sugar or anxiety? What did you eat today, and how long did you go without eating in between?
- •Have you ever noticed your anxiety or panic attacks get worse when you haven't eaten?
- •If changing what you eat could reduce your panic attacks by even 20 or 30 percent, would you be willing to try it?
- •Where else in your life have you been giving away your power to anxiety instead of taking it back?
I would love to hear. Send me a DM and tell me what you ate today and how it made you feel.
I would love to hear from you
What did you eat today, and how did it make you feel?
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Healing PCOS: A 21-Day Plan for Reclaiming Your Health and Life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome by Amy Medling, the PCOS Diva
- Your free tool: If anxiety feels like it comes out of nowhere and you're exhausted from bracing for the next crash, grab the Free 5 Minute Nervous System Reset. Something that actually helps tonight.
Work With Me
If you've been to every doctor, tried every test, and you're still wondering why nothing's really changing, you don't need one more appointment. You need someone to help you connect the dots your doctors never did.
In my 1:1 sessions we look at the whole picture, not just the food. We go into the subconscious programs running underneath your anxiety, your eating patterns, your beliefs, and we start changing them at the root. The same way food changes your blood sugar, changing your subconscious programming changes your entire nervous system.
If you're ready to find out what else is in your own power, let's map it out together on a Freedom Roadmap Session. No pitch. No pressure. Just clarity.
And if this episode met you where you are, do me a favor. Follow the show, download it, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts so another woman who feels exactly like you do can find it.
Review on Apple Podcasts