WordPress database error Lost connection to MySQL server during query

My error log continues to show the following error or something very similar:

WordPress database error Lost connection to MySQL server during query for query SELECT post_id, meta_key, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE post_id IN (74736) ORDER BY meta_id ASC made by require(‘wp-blog-header.php’), wp, WP->main, WP->query_posts, WP_Query->query, WP_Query->get_posts, update_post_caches, update_postmeta_cache, update_meta_cache

Another example:

WordPress database error Lost connection to MySQL server during query for query SELECT post_id, meta_key, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE post_id IN (3073,10214,14670,15235,23244,32376,32388,32617,32669,32967,40099,40425,40643,40758,41212,50110,59661,72186,73115,74244,74256,74269,74487,74531) ORDER BY meta_id ASC made by require(‘wp-blog-header.php’), require_once(‘wp-includes/template-loader.php’), include(‘/themes/mytheme/page-events.php’), query_posts, WP_Query->query, WP_Query->get_posts, _prime_post_caches, update_post_caches, update_postmeta_cache, update_meta_cache

Does anyone know what could be causing the problem? I’m on a shared host and can’t increase max packets allowed. I feel like something else is at the root of the problem though. Any guidance would be appreciated!