messtafarian
Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2013
- Messages
- 814
So the last month or two things have gone from bad to worse. I still have my cervical spinal issues which are bad enough, but my metabolic and stomach issues have been bad enough that I've been nearly bedridden since March.
I've been to see a lot of doctors who as usual assure me that I am perfectly healthy. I've become a professional hypochondriac and mostly sit up in my bedroom and google things that could be wrong with me.
Ruled out:
Mercury poisoning
ALS
Gallbladder
Parkinson's
Etc.
A neurologist checked me out and made me tap my fingers together and so on, and referred me to an endocrinologist, for whom I will wait six weeks to see. Since I am now "euthryoid" I sincerely doubt much will happen at that appointment.
Usually I will wake up feeling okay. I am not really even sore in the neck area although my neck and back spasm all night long. However by no later than two PM I will feel horrible. I will have endless and relentless adrenergic symptoms ranging across tremors, flushing, double vision, heavy pouring sweat, fine shaking and trembling ( including lips and eyelids) and utter exhaustion. My back and neck will hurt and my jaw will feel tight. Sometimes stomach issues, too, vagal symptoms and diarrhea. Sometimes, not always.
Pulse will range between 90-100, even when I am lying down.
I've been having to chug liquid potassium and switch over to sports drinks just to stay out of the range of hypokalemia.
I will eat something and lay down, eat some more things and THEN -- around seven PM or so...suddenly I don't feel as bad as I did before. I will still feel slightly shaky and headachey and like I ran a marathon in the desert, but actually nearly functional again.
So today I was pondering this and my next theory is that this has something to do with hypoglycemia. I mean it just has to be part of it. Spent some time googling reactive hypoglycemia and came to something called "dumping syndrome" and fast gastric motility. My pancreas for some reason might be working overtime and driving my blood sugar way down which might be why I feel okay after an overnight fast but start to go quickly downhill about four hours after waking and my first meal.
I've been reading about how a drug called Acarbose can help this by blocking the digestion of starches; the class of drugs is called "alpha-glucosidase inhibitors" and they are used to lower blood sugar load in diabetics. There are some natural analogs that apparently do the same thing and I'm thinking about ordering a couple of them to see if they might help with this.
The standard advice for hypoglycemics is to eat less carbs and more protein and fat -- "slow carbs" that create a slower insulin response. Sugar of any kind is discouraged because the pancreas is overactive -- this is a different situation than in Type 2 diabetes where the beta cells are not producing an adequate supply of insulin. I have no problem eating fat but the problem is that if I eat *too much* it makes my gallbladder hurt and I am trying to hang onto it. I am actually not even sure if that would help. I seem to be experiencing this every day no matter what macronutrients I eat. I've tried different things; even went back to eating peanut butter for a couple days; starch/no starch, fruit/no fruit...etc.
Is there any Peat on this topic? Peat would not go for the "starch and no sugar" advice. Does he say anything anywhere about overreactive beta cells or overreactive gastric motiity...?
I've been to see a lot of doctors who as usual assure me that I am perfectly healthy. I've become a professional hypochondriac and mostly sit up in my bedroom and google things that could be wrong with me.
Ruled out:
Mercury poisoning
ALS
Gallbladder
Parkinson's
Etc.
A neurologist checked me out and made me tap my fingers together and so on, and referred me to an endocrinologist, for whom I will wait six weeks to see. Since I am now "euthryoid" I sincerely doubt much will happen at that appointment.
Usually I will wake up feeling okay. I am not really even sore in the neck area although my neck and back spasm all night long. However by no later than two PM I will feel horrible. I will have endless and relentless adrenergic symptoms ranging across tremors, flushing, double vision, heavy pouring sweat, fine shaking and trembling ( including lips and eyelids) and utter exhaustion. My back and neck will hurt and my jaw will feel tight. Sometimes stomach issues, too, vagal symptoms and diarrhea. Sometimes, not always.
Pulse will range between 90-100, even when I am lying down.
I've been having to chug liquid potassium and switch over to sports drinks just to stay out of the range of hypokalemia.
I will eat something and lay down, eat some more things and THEN -- around seven PM or so...suddenly I don't feel as bad as I did before. I will still feel slightly shaky and headachey and like I ran a marathon in the desert, but actually nearly functional again.
So today I was pondering this and my next theory is that this has something to do with hypoglycemia. I mean it just has to be part of it. Spent some time googling reactive hypoglycemia and came to something called "dumping syndrome" and fast gastric motility. My pancreas for some reason might be working overtime and driving my blood sugar way down which might be why I feel okay after an overnight fast but start to go quickly downhill about four hours after waking and my first meal.
I've been reading about how a drug called Acarbose can help this by blocking the digestion of starches; the class of drugs is called "alpha-glucosidase inhibitors" and they are used to lower blood sugar load in diabetics. There are some natural analogs that apparently do the same thing and I'm thinking about ordering a couple of them to see if they might help with this.
The standard advice for hypoglycemics is to eat less carbs and more protein and fat -- "slow carbs" that create a slower insulin response. Sugar of any kind is discouraged because the pancreas is overactive -- this is a different situation than in Type 2 diabetes where the beta cells are not producing an adequate supply of insulin. I have no problem eating fat but the problem is that if I eat *too much* it makes my gallbladder hurt and I am trying to hang onto it. I am actually not even sure if that would help. I seem to be experiencing this every day no matter what macronutrients I eat. I've tried different things; even went back to eating peanut butter for a couple days; starch/no starch, fruit/no fruit...etc.
Is there any Peat on this topic? Peat would not go for the "starch and no sugar" advice. Does he say anything anywhere about overreactive beta cells or overreactive gastric motiity...?