High Blood Sugar Sucks

I'm pretty lucky, I suppose. Nearly two years ago, after a bunch of letter writing/nasty phone calls/Specialist persuasion, my HMO allowed me to have an insulin pump. It's nice in that I was really, really growing tired of poking myself five or six times a day with a BD UltraFine. When the stupid pumpie actually works, I feel pretty good (Manufacturer name not listed - read http://www.diabeticinvestor.com/ and you'll see who leads the pack in Insulin Pump-Making).

Every once in a while my blood sugars are uncontrollable. Right now it's a post-cold /PMS issue. When this does happen, I'm reminded how grateful I am that I've changed my life - that yucky existence: Married w/no medical insurance. If I feel this crappy now, I can only contemplate how crappy I felt when my blood sugars were awful for years.

So, my list for today.

Reasons Having High Blood Sugar Sucks

1. Your head hurts and nothing can help it. Apparently high sugar content in the blood does something awful to your blood vessels/capillaries and the like. Swells em up. Like having a perma-migraine. And migraine meds won't help, you just have to sustain lower blood sugars.

2. You get dehydrated. Imagine having to pee every hour, even when you haven't had anything to drink. Also, see #3.

3. You have diarrhea. Ick.

4. Your joints/muscles hurt. A lot. I'm sure it has something to do with the vessel/capillary issue - See #1.

5. You don't sleep well. Unless it's high enough to die/go to the ER, which is pretty high for me...700 or 800 on the meter. Your dreams are weird. You get up every couple hours to pee like some pregnant lady. Your body hurts when it's in one position too long. Like some arthritic senior citizen.

6. You gain weight. Simply because you have to take more Insulin. And boy, do those pounds pack on fast. I remember one week several years ago where the weight on Monday was 20 lbs. less than the weight on the following Monday. 20 lbs., people. That's hideous.

7. Your immune system is compromised. Meaning it's easier to pick up weird infections and illnesses.

8. You are bitchy. Mostly because you feel like shit, but I've discovered that some of the worst fights I've been in were when my blood sugars were a mess.

9. You get depressed. When you can't feel good enough to do much except lay around, who wouldn't be depressed.

10. Exercise makes you sick. I know I'm supposed to be out there running my ass off when my blood sugars suck, but I usually end up dizzy and throwing up.

11. You throw up. I forgot that part. When it's pretty bad you'll throw up, even when you don't eat. It's acidic and it's violent and it hurts and it will change your mind about bulimia forever. Stupid bitches.

12. You can see your lifeline drifting away like sands in an hourglass. Yucky, I know. But true. Every time your blood sugars are a mess your veins/capillaries/vessels/heart suffer damage. Leading to future issues: eyes/dead nerve endings/heart/stroke.

That's my whine for the day. I'm going out to the living room to optimistically pack more household items.




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