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Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April of 1980. I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. I hope to share my struggles, my successes, and everything in between.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It Is Not Always Diabetes

I feel that I am pretty tuned in to my body. I have been forced to pay attention to the little signals my body sends, that perhaps others can easily ignore.

Most of the time I can tell when I'm dehydrated. I can tell when I'm a bit low, and I can usually tell when I'm really high.

One of the major clues to myself that I'm high is that I get terribly sleepy. All I can think about is catching a few seconds where I can shut my eyes. I can't focus on any tasks or perform any functions. All I want to do is sleep.

When I notice that I feel this way, I will start to think back on the last two or three hours - to see if there was any potential for miscalculation, unwise food choices, hard to measure foods, recently replaced infusion set. an over treated low or a number of other possible causes for a high blood sugar.

Only to test my blood sugar and come in at a perfect 84. Is it a strange sign that I'm slightly confused by a normal blood sugar when I'm feeling a bit "not normal"? Is there a name for the condition of thinking every bad feeling or ailment is actually related somehow to diabetes?

You know, it is possible for a headache to be simply that - a headache, or feeling sleepy because I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night...

Crazy to think, but it's not always related to diabetes.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm exactly this way about thirst. I'm always certain I'm high if I'm thirsty. I've usually got my fingers on the buttons ready to bolus as I wait for the test result.

I still get surprised by a 'normal' number. I still forget it is possible just to be a little bit thirsty!

11:11 AM  

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