False Hypoglycemia:

Before you ignore this post due to thinking it is pretty much the same as the last one, lend me your ear.  Okay, didn't know it was detachable.  Was meant to be figurative, but, well, okay then.  Moving on.  False hypoglycemia is something that I've encountered for two periods in my life, both before I found out I was diabetic and after when my a1c test came back significantly higher than was expected.  Hypoglycemia is, as mentioned in the last post, when the body is receiving too few sugars in the blood stream and has a need to eat in order to balance itself once more.  The problem is, the body adapts to prolonged periods of deviation from the norm.  People who live in areas with extreme cold get used to more mild cold temperature changes much more easily than those that do not.  People who live in areas with high heat and humidity still hate both, but they get used to it much more than someone in a milder area does.  People living at extreme elevations get used to the thinner oxygen levels.  Everything is relative, yes, including your Aunt Georgina with the hairy mole on her chin despite your protestations to your parents.  The issue with false hypoglycemia is exactly that.

False hypoglycemia happens when the body thinks that it is getting too few sugars because it has been getting too many for too long.  Before I found out I was diabetic I thought I was fine and needed to eat more because my body kept wanting more.  After I was diabetic, there was a period I thought I had a good handle on it and started eating a lot more varied foods without testing my blood daily, instead just checking it once every three days.  Some foods I ate were much, much higher in carbs than they seemed though, even though they didn't taste sweet.  That's the issue with being diabetic, it isn't just 'traditional sugar' that comprises the problems with carbohydrates.  It is any form of carbohydrates, though those lower on the glycemic index are less of a problem.  As I felt I was doing fine, I was eating just a bit more as I felt hungry, not a lot and still taking my insulin, but I wasn't checking my blood daily, let alone more often.  It made sense, I mean, the blood strips are expensive and not covered by most insurance companies despite being anywhere from fifty cents to a dollar per test strip depending on the company.  Insane, isn't it?  Regardless, my blood would test fine in a few days because I wasn't typically eating as much the day before, but it was still coming up higher than before when I was testing regularly.  Not significantly enough to think there was a problem, but I should have been curious about that.  Most diabetics and even those who aren't who have blood sugar issues should though.  The issue was that my body was used to the highs more than the lows, and as a result I was consuming way more carbs on the days I wasn't testing and my blood sugars were still elevated a few days later, though not as much as the day after I tested.  My a1c read way too high and I resolved to simply trim out a small amount of carbs from my diet slowly and lower it.  I started feeling even hungrier, even getting the shakes, but I knew something was wrong since my insulin intake hadn't gone up enough to cause a crash.  So I tested my blood.

My blood sugars were still higher than they should be, on the upper threshold of normal.  I took to the internet and found out about false hypoglycemia, something which I had not even considered before despite my knowledge of individuals whose body had adapted to extremes.  My craving for carbs was merely my body crying out to be put back into what it thought was the new normal!  As I ate low glycemic index foods to take the edge off, mostly a small amount of peanuts and strawberries, I steadily fought back against the urges to eat much more.  I've brought my blood sugars back down to the level they should be, though I still have to test regularly in order to ensure I'm not going too far down (which I've been only twice since finding out I was diabetic) or that I'm too high.  Because the body adapts to resist using too much insulin, the only recourse to deal with it appropriately is diet control.  Exercise helps, but little burns enough carbs to make an impact.  Calories, yes, which is still good, but most of what is burned up through exercise is fat, with protein being broken down to rebuild itself stronger.  That's why a balance of carbs and protein is recommended when exercising, leaning more on the lean protein side than carb side.  My next a1c test won't be for a while, but armed with the knowledge of what false hypoglycemia was doing to my body and the ability to test frequently enough to ensure it didn't rear its ugly head again, I'm sure I'll do better on the next one.