Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hypochondria

I don't feel very good very often.  I have chalked it up to fibromyalgia, the mystery disease, and taught myself to bear up under it.

Lately I've developed a paranoia.

I have a fair number of diabetes symptoms:

flu-like symptoms (achiness, lethargy, etc.)---check

extreme fatigue---check

bad circulation (cold extremities; feet, legs, arms falling asleep)---check

troublesome gums---check

bladder issues---check

excessive thirst---check

retinal (eye) problems---check

irritability---check (um, yes, and especially when I haven't eaten for a long time and my blood sugar dips)

OK.  So.  This is really scary.  Especially for someone whose favorite lunch is a serving of chocolate milk.  I looked up the diabetic diet, and you can't eat anything.  Literally.  You have to totally moniter your carbs, obviously, because they mess with your blood sugar levels.  You can't have too much protein because it is hard on your already over-stressed kidneys, and you can't have too much fat either, for the same reason.

Low carb, low protein, low fat.  Um.  Hello?  Is there a kind of nutrition that doesn't fall into one of these categories?  I suppose vitamins (they never filled anybody up--also here's betting that vitamin metabolism is hard work for your kidneys, too, if you don't take exactly the right amount).

They suggest eating unlimited amounts of things like chopped onions with chili powder and shredded cabbage with vinegar.  I really don't think I can do this.

To be truthful, I don't need to lose a lot of weight.  And already there are only so many things I can eat with braces.  I've lost apples and almonds, which used to be staples in my diet.  I get hungry just thinking about it all... then I get sick to my stomach.

Here's to V-8 juice.

Oh wait, that's high sodium.

3 comments:

Hope T. said...

I had gd a few years ago and learned a lot about timing of meals and portion control. For example, I liked to have a big bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast. Changing that to a medium bowl of cereal with milk at night made a huge difference in how I felt.

As for the almonds, could you replace them with smooth almond butter? You could make your own V-8and adjust the salt to your taste.

ruth said...

Welcome Hope!

Actually, I do drink a store (Wegman's) brand of no-salt-added vegetable juice. I have been living on it. I was being kind of (a little bit) exaggerative. If that's a word.

I have thought of almond butter--it's probably not that much more expensive than almonds. Too bad I am sensitive to peanuts. Maybe I will get some almond butter.

Thanks for the suggestions. I miss my stone ground wheat crackers, too. It will be nice when I can chew hard stuff again.

Niall MacC said...

Sounds awful. Have you checked this out with your doctor?
Ruth