hypoglycemia- UPDATE 10-19 it's diabetes mellitus (post 34)

[beeniesmom]

Hey, How are you feeling and did they give you any more information about the nodule they found? I am taking my MIL for a consult tomorrow with a surgeon. They want to remove her thyroid because of all the problems it is causing.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I forgot to update my status last week, sorry. I went to the dietitian last Tuesday. She was working at a diabetes/endocrinology center that morning, so that's where I saw her. She helped me a good bit and said I needed to add some carbs to my diet. That opened a whole 'nother can of worms I'll get to in a minute... I told her I had a possible thyroid issue, but couldn't get an endocrinologist appointment. She said "hold on" and talked to the receptionist. She came back and said the endocrinologist there had a cancellation and could see me shortly.

I saw him next. He felt around on my neck and said he wanted a biopsy of my thyroid. I'm thinking "great, when will that be???". I lucked out. He had an opening for the next morning (Wednesday) so I went ahead and scheduled it. So far so good! I went in to see the dietitian, ended up seeing the doc too on the same day and keeping the ball rolling on the biopsy.

Wednesday morning I got up and checked my blood glucose. It was like 140 or something, even though I hadn't eaten since midnight so I skipped breakfast. I drove to my mother-in-law's house and checked it again. It was now like 160, 6 hours after I'd eaten. I figured I would casually mention this to the doc when I saw him for the biopsy. I told him and he said that sounded more like diabetes, but the glucose test would have shown that. I reminded him that my general practitioner never ran any kind of tests, other than an initial finger stick and sending off bloodwork. Endocrinologist said I needed a glucose tolerance test (GTT) which he scheduled right after the biopsy. So 2 days in a row I went in for one thing and ended up getting something else done that I really needed to do! My glucose was finally down to 106 when they gave me the sugar syrup and 211 2 hours later. They drew blood at the beginning, 1 hour later, and an hour after that. After the GTT, nobody told me anything other than to go home and wait for the lab results. I checked my sugar when I got back to the house and it was up to 280. I was hungry so I ate a piece of turkey and when it started coming back down I went back to work. That was Wednesday of last week....

I feel better but have not heard any results of any of last week's bloodwork. I will call them tomorrow. I was looking at my insurance company's website and they listed something about "NONTOX MULTINODUL GOITER" as a diagnosis. I guess that was from the biopsy? I'm not too worried about it at the moment. I am more concerned with my blood sugar issues for now... and I don't even know what my issue even is officially. That's what bothers me. I don't know what's wrong with me, or what I can do about it.

My boyfriend just blows everything off and tells me not to worry. He doesn't even seem to care that deep down I'm worried and confused about all of this...

[beeniesmom]

Wow, I'm so happy you were able to get all those tests done. It does sound like diabetes to me too. That will cause a lot of your symptoms. 280 after a sugar test is high but not sure if it's expected after ingesting the crap they make you drink. I hope you get good news tomorrow. hugs

[mrspunkysmom]

As a diabetic, I might be able to answer some of your questions, even the ones you haven't asked yet.

First of all, many of the docs act like they have the answers and they don't. There is still a lot about diabetes they don't know.

Our cells need carbs. I view carbs as cellular go juice. Without it, we crash.

I learned in the last two years that the liver stores sugars in case of emergency. It will make a sugar dump if you get hungry or need to eat for energy. What medical science has recently learned is that sometimes the liver makes a sugar dump when it isn't needed. This raises your blood sugar. This is one of the reasons type two diabetics have difficulty controlling blood sugar levels. I have found that if my sugar is high in the morning, I take my medicine and I still eat. Even without the medicine, my blood sugar usually comes down if I eat correctly.

Exercise is essential. What the docs won't tell you is that your body doesn't need insulin to process carbs if you are exercising or very active. The insulin is used when your body is inactive, such as sleep. Too much inactivity leads to too much insulin use, and thus you develop insulin resistant diabetes.

In short:
You have to eat regular meals or you liver will dump sugar and the sugar level might go up. The less exercise you get, the more insulin you need. This also means you need to eat more high carb foods to get energized. This is a never-ending cycle.

Good luck with your health and I hope I didn't confuse you. I also have thyroid issues. I hope that yours can be easily treated with medicine. Female hormones also mess with the thyroid and weight loss and vice-versa. It's so complicated.