A Night I’ll Never Forget
In my tender and troubled 23rd year, I blacked out behind the wheel of my BMW 318i with the hand-crank sunroof open. Heading home on Highway 90 in Gulfport, MS, I rolled right over the sea wall onto the sandy beach that balmy summer night.
I don’t recall the moments before I lost consciousness due to extreme low blood glucose, but I can say assuredly, The Chronic by Dr. Dre was playing in the car during this experience on that Saturday night after a busy shift waiting tables at The Chimneys restaurant.
Groggy, I regained consciousness as two shirtless teenagers, I’ll call them “Bill and Ted,” knocked on my window and said, “DUUUUUUUUDE… are you alright?”
I recall the sand and their shirts flying out of their back pockets as they took off when the ambulance and police sirens approached.
Managing Type 1 diabetes at this time involved multiple daily injections of insulin and a hell of a lot of discipline. It was seven years since my diagnosis (that story is linked here).
The EMTs arrived. I felt confused, frightened, and lost. I’m sure they thought I was drunk.
PSA: Hypoglycemia is often mistaken for being intoxicated.
After consuming an unknown number of orange-flavored sugar tablets, my brain and cognitive function slowly returned.
I was so conscientious with managing my diabetes; I couldn’t explain to the EMTs what went wrong that night. Then one of the EMTs asked, “Have you been under a lot of stress lately?”
I thought to myself: *What does that have to do with anything?!* and quickly offered, “My mom just died.” It was indeed harrowing two months prior witnessing her transition after a two-year not-graceful battle with cancer.
As soon as I uttered the words, I felt the dark power and heaviness of them settle at my bottom perched on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. Then I realized I could have killed someone tonight or caused an accident or easily have died!
My life changed that night—or at least my understanding of it. The experience made me realize that managing diabetes is far more than counting carbs and taking insulin.
The Overlooked Connection Between Stress and Diabetes
Here is where science meets lived experience.
Stress hormones—adrenaline and cortisol—directly affect blood sugar levels. They can cause glucose to spike or crash, sometimes without warning. This happens because the body’s stress response triggers energy release into the bloodstream to prepare for action, even when no physical danger exists.
Without a functioning pancreas to regulate insulin naturally, stress hormones make blood sugar control far more volatile.
When you live with diabetes, your body's “Fight Flight, or Freeze” response can become a reinforcing feedback loop that feels like a physiological trap.
We often equate weight management and heart disease with diabetes, yet stress is a prominent factor we dismiss as “modern life.” It doesn’t have to be this way.
Research shows that stressful events and circumstances can exert powerful effects on both diabetes onset and blood glucose management (Lloyd et al. 2005). Find the study here.
Stress Management Is Metabolic Medicine
All these years later, I navigate stressful situations as part of a high-performing science team and one living with diabetes.
What I've learned is that stress management is NOT a luxury — it is a metabolic necessity.
My ability to witness and respond to stressful circumstances is a superpower essential to living a vibrant life. It’s not about eliminating stress but developing awareness of how it moves through the body.
And it’s motivated me to grow, learn, and teach what I’ve learned to others.
Reflection and Invitation
Do you have a story or circumstance where you felt blindsided by stress and it changed your perspective?
What is your mechanism to quell anxiety, stress, or emotional upset?
I’m curious and would love to know. Drop a comment below.
Do you want to know what I do to re-center after a stressful situation?
That’s where my Luminous Life Blueprint starts, by bridging science, breath, and awareness so your nervous system can finally exhale.
- When Stress Hits the System: A Wake-Up Call About Stress Management and Diabetes - 10/18/2025
- Identify and Overcome 12 Hidden Energy Drains - 08/01/2025
- Yoga Therapy - 07/31/2025
