Then do you really have "diabetes"? By my definition, you don't. Count your blessings and keep low carbing.

Hi XXovereasy,

Yesterday I again got dizzy, fuzzy headed, vision blurry, couldn't think straight. I was this way most of the day at work. By the time I got home I was a mess. I started figuring up how many carbs I had all day & it wasn't but about 7. Actually mean't to have more than that, but was told I would only be working a half day & ended up being all day, & I had only taken a salad. Anyway, I just knew it had to be from the lack of carbs, & I felt so bad that I actually ate a tablespoon of honey. I waited an hour & a half & still no relief. Was on the computer checking email at the time & a friend had sent me an article on water. Made me start thinking, Ok how much water have I had today? I usually make myself drink the amount I am suppose to, since I have had kidney stones & I know it is good for everything. Unfortunately I don't get thirsty so I have to make certain routines in order to accomplish this. Well, the job I did yesterday was a one day thing and out of routine. After figuring up how much I had all day (it was 90 deg. & the air conditioner went out) I realized I had only had 40oz. all day! Not anyways near enough for a big girl like me on a very hot day. Anyway I guzzled two quarts & all symptoms went away. Now I am trying to remember if the last time this happened when it seemed to fix it by eating fruit, did I also drink water? You said it also fixed the problem for you when you ate the fruit! Did you also drink water at the same time? You may want to keep tabs on this, & just a reminder to EVERYONE (especially myself) DON'T FORGET THE WATER! I will keep you informed on any further developments in this area.

WATER.....WATER.....WATER.....WATER.......

Bratina

Hey Bratina, I think you are on to something about the water - its so easy to forget, and we've been conditioned to think that we need a carb fix. Last week I was in a similar situation, and was in a Burger King. I dutifully ate the meat from a burger and discarded the bun - then realized that I had downed about 32 oz of diet soda. Why? I had been dehydrated and never known it. Will try to remember to keep hydrated. bill

Thanks for posting, Bratina.

Good reminder!

Having been a victiom of both too-low blood sugar and dehydration, I should have made the connection myself. You're right, the symptoms are very close, and it would be easy to mistake the one for the other. I'll be keeping an eye on the water, too, from here on out...

You did not say if you are on any medications to lower BG's, so I assume that you are not.

What could cause the low BG's is a rebound of eating a high carb meal. For someone who is "borderline" diabetic, or has insulin resistance, once you eat carbs, your BG's will tend to rise very fast, faster than your impaired system can correct. So as your BG's rise, your body continues to pump out insulin, and eventually BG's start to drop, and insulin production shuts off. But it is too late, you already have too much insulin in your bloodstream, and BG's continue to drop until all of the insulin is used up, or in your case, you eat more carbs.

Dr. Bernstein describes this in his work. I would guess that your fasting BG's are normal, but if you have an HBA1c test ran, it would be higher than normal.

This is not safe. The temporary high BG's, and corresponding high insulin could eventually burn out your pancreas and develop into clinical diabetes.

Go to the doctor and have an HBA1c ran just to be sure.

Hi Shaftd,
Thank you for the info on blood sugar. No I am not on any medication & have never had high or low sugar before. If you will read the post I wrote a little while after this one you will see that I figured it out. It was actually a dehydration problem. Since I have been REALLY making sure that I am getting plenty of water I have had no problems. It is amazing how some symptoms can mimmick different things. My husband ALWAYS drinks lots of water everyday & doesn't even have to think about it like I do, however two nights ago he was rushed to the emergency room by some friends of ours while I was gone, displaying signs of a heart attack. Turned white as a sheet, fingers were tingling, short of breath, & collapsed. Thank God it was not a heart attack! He had gotten very busy at work & didn't drink his usual amount of water, came home & rode his bicycle 11 miles in 90 something degree weather to our friends house.then drank a beer! The IV dinner of saline soloution & the Gatoraid the hospital gave him was a lot more expensive & not nearly as fun as going out for a steak & drinking the proper amount of water. ONE MORE TIME EVERYONE....WATER......WATER......WATER
Thanks again,
Bratina

Bratina...

This time of year when temperatures soar in many places, you make a very good point. DRINK YOUR WATER! By the time you actually feel thirsty, you are already mildly dehydrated. Since we're entering the dog days of summer, now is the time it's especially important to drink plenty of water (more than you normally do if it's very hot).
Glad to hear that your DH is okay, but what you described are classic symptoms of heat exhaustion and this is the time of year (at least in climates that are temperate) that we all need to be reminded to be alert to the possibility that it can happen to anyone, even the young and healthy, and take steps to prevent that from happening. Generally, the very young and the very old are more prone to heat exhaustion, probably because they are more prone to forget to drink when they need to, but it can happen to anyone if they let themselves get dehydrated in hot weather.

I *think* I was latent diabetic or working my way to it. I was sugar addicted and could go through a lb of chocolate covered raisins or a whole bag of dark chocolate dove chocolate bites in a day - it was BAD!

I think it is true that if you do LC long enough, you give your pancreas time to heal some of the damage and may be able to reverse your condition, for some that may mean 100% or it may mean 50%. This is a very UNSCIENTIFIC opinion but I think our organs have a remarkable capacity for repair. I have read that if you go to the health food store and purchase PANCREAS formula (taken from *organic livestock* only I think it is) that it literally revitalizes your organ (much in the way eating organic liver restores the liver). I know, it sounds gross but if I knew my glucose numbers were poor, I would certainly consider it, as I would consider organic liver if I had liver damage. Just a thought

Right now, the jury is still out on whether or not Beta cells can regenerate once they've been burned out. The evidence right now is on the side of "they don't". Does that mean you are doomed once you're diagnosed with diabetes? I don't think so at all! There are many things that you can do to get better control and keep it such as losing weight (to increase insulin sensitivity and put less strain on your existing beta cells), cutting carbs (again, to put less stress on your pancreas) and excercising (increases that insulin sensitivity again).
I've been low carbing for over 2 years and maintaining near-normal blood sugars around the clock. Am I cured? No way! One high carb meal shows me that on my blood sugar meeter within 2 hours or less.
Could someone with better pancreas function who is still diabetic get away with eating that same high carb meal? Maybe, but given that the high carb meal is causing the pancreas to work harder again, are they really getting away with anything? I fell into that trap several years ago, thinking that since my blood sugars were okay with the way I was eating (higher carb), I was okay and it bit me on the butt big time.
I don't honestly believe that there is any such thing as being "cured" of diabetes. There's only better or poorer control IMHO and we all have control over that if we wish to exercise it.

i am a type 2 diabetic also i started the atkins low carb on 10/22/2003 before then i was taking 3 kinds of diabetic medicines a day.
glucophage 850 mg 3x's a day
glucotrol xl 10 mgs 1x's a day
actos 30mg 1x a day
but since i have been on atkins low carb i have not took my medicine at all as my bs has been 99 to 119 so if i took my medicine i would of been to low. I have lost 5pds as of saturday when i weighed so i dont know what i am now as i weigh one time a week only that is saturdays so i wont know till this saturday what i weigh but i can tell you this i have more energy my face is better as far as before because of having high blood sugar it would be broke out alot and now it has not been broke out it seems from the first day i started this diet now if all this is happening and it seems to be good why when they send you to a dietiatin do they tell you eat this and that all seems to be carbs but low or no fat well i think i will be more than happy to stay right on the atkins and continue to feel better.

Would be really nice if what you said re control was true Lisa...I can try as hard as I might, but how MY BODY reacts to food/insulin is 75% under it's control...there are lots of other body functions that come into the equation. To a large degree we can contol what goes into our mouths, but after that point...it really is anybody's best guess !! Eve (T1)

hi Lisa N:
i agre with you. i also believe that diabetics have also generic predisposition. this desease was sneking upon us for years.this is what is called metabolic disorder. it's not simple, and not always life style related. even out tendency to gain and store fat in some cases is not because of sugar bunges and pigouts. it's what we probably are born with, as well as we are born with a certain number of fat cells. why some of us can eat tons and never gain weight, and others struggle with weight even without abusing diet a lot. so, we'd never be "cured" and diabetes can't be reversed as some folks claim. it can be just controlled more or less depending on ones dedication and degree of obsession (like in my case).
regards,
dina