Psycho-Babble Psychology Thread 977627

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Re: Feeling anxious

Posted by Solstice on January 22, 2011, at 8:56:28

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Phillipa, posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 8:34:44

> I really hope he's not going to suggest insulin. I really shouldn't have insulin on hand. I can't be relied upon to remember to take it, and I can't be relied upon to remember if I've already taken it. Not even to mention those times I get upset and have self destructive urges. I no more want to have insulin available than I want a gun in the house.
>
> I wonder if I should tell the doctor that. I barely know the man.


When I wrote my last post, I hadn'd read these last three you wrote.

I want you to know that I know what you're talking about with insulin being similar to having a gun on hand. All I can say, is that when I was in the deepest dispair of my depression, for all my fantasy & research about using insulin to relieve my pain - I ultimately didn't. Of course, I didn't have a choice - because without insulin I *might* live one week. I hope your therapist calls Monday and gets you in - because I don't know about telling the prescribing dr. about this issue, but telling your therapist about it would be the way to go. Maybe you guys could work out a 'deal' where anytime an urge like that becomes intrusive, you have to call him. And I don't know if that would work for you.. I just know that ongoing high blood sugar will destroy a body in a million different ways. The only way to manage blood sugar is with insulin. If your pancreas isn't making enough, or if your body is not using it efficiently, then you'll have to inject it. And I'll tell you this: I've had Type I for 30+ years, and I just had a complete work-up. I have Zero complications. Zero. No retinopathy, no nerve damage, kidneys are perfect, everything is good. I don't want you to be afraid of insulin.

Solstice

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Solstice

Posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 9:12:34

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious, posted by Solstice on January 22, 2011, at 8:41:40

Thanks, Solstice. That is a helpful way to think about it.

I had rather vaguely suspected that the jump had more to do with my pancreas getting tired than it did with my food choices since they keep getting healthier. Or, since my belly is getting as round as if I were pregnant without my weight changing, that something was going on with that. My last quarter was pretty stressful with work, and I find that whenever something in my body changes for the worse it's usually after a stressful period at work.

My doctor was apparently one of those who didn't push the daily readings so much, as long as the quarterlies were ok. I had called his office a few times because my fasting blood sugars were high, though my after meal blood sugars were more or less what you'd expect. He basically said not to worry about it, so I mostly quit testing unless I am feeling bad. Well, to be honest, when I'm feeling bad I might actively avoid testing because it might upset me. I'm a bit of an ostrich.

I suppose I should start testing to see how foods affect me. My boss has one of those monitors. It has helped him immensely. He used to get so sugar low, and whenever we would see he was zoning out, we'd tell our office manager who would gently tell him he needed some sugar. Or call the paramedics. He's doing much better now, though he's a scary image of what can happen even if you are obsessive about following the rules. If you can get that machine, I think you'll find it can change your life. At least it changed his.

My mother's been on insulin for years. She doesn't watch her diet at all, and she's not overly responsible about taking it either. She showed up for Christmas dinner in the late afternoon/early evening without having taken any insulin all day and had to leave after dinner to go home and take it. Of course, she's also always having problems with retinopathy and part of both feet are missing.

Hmmm... No wonder I'm depressed.

I know that insulin can actually be a better choice than pills. My boss has been trying to convince me of that for years. I just don't trust myself. I'm not trustworthy.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Solstice

Posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 9:19:06

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious, posted by Solstice on January 22, 2011, at 8:56:28

I suppose I should call him again.

It's partly that I'm just not very good remembering to do something, or remembering that I've already done it. My OCD makes that even worse. My dog with kidney problems would likely not still be here if my husband and son weren't so much better than I am about remembering.

It's also partly because I'm afraid that when I'm not thinking clearly I might do something stupid.

But it's also because when I'm feeling depressed I tend to get obsessions and compulsions. Even if I never do anything, having it available would be a nightmare in terms of obsessions and compulsions.

I suppose I should talk to my therapist.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by sigismund on January 22, 2011, at 12:07:36

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » sigismund, posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 8:27:50

I don't know if he was talking about the same kind of bread, but my son told me the bread in the US was really sweet and he wondered if it had corn syrup in it.

Fructose is something to watch, though I have forgotten anything I knew about it.

 

Re: Feeling anxious

Posted by annierose on January 22, 2011, at 16:36:49

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious, posted by Dinah on January 21, 2011, at 20:47:35

I hope you did call him again. Sorry that you are feeling so anxious. I hate hate hate that feeling. You know yourself better than anyone I know - so trust yourself to take care of you.

Did you call him again? Remember he is bad at calling back and often needs reminders. Let him know you need him.

I'm sorry your mom's issues are rearing their ugly head once again. I'm thinking of you.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by floatingbridge on January 22, 2011, at 17:33:28

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Solstice, posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 9:12:34

Sending good thoughts to you, Dinah.

fb

Btw, you seem trustworthy to me. Sorry you're having an intensely hard time. It will pass soon. (I'm not being trite.)

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by floatingbridge on January 22, 2011, at 17:36:52

In reply to Feeling anxious, posted by Dinah on January 21, 2011, at 20:47:35

Between you and Solstice, I'm sure you have this covered, but I thought of the influence of age related hormone changes....

(I have no idea what age you are, and I'm not asking. Just a thought....)

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by Phillipa on January 22, 2011, at 19:32:26

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Phillipa, posted by Dinah on January 22, 2011, at 8:34:44

Dinah sorry to get here late but I feel that two heads are better than one. So I feel both docs should know. Insulin is a very powerful hormone and must be strictly adhered to . I'd inquire about getting an insulin pump inserted as will release insulin when needed. I'm not sure who or how the pump is filled will have to google as new when I was nursing. And Floating Bridge has a point as as menopause nears and for some the transition can take up to 15 years or more diabetes is an autoimmune disorder and seems to tie in a lot with thyroid issues which could also help explain weight gain. Some some things to think about and maybe also search for you. Phillipa

 

Re: Feeling anxious » sigismund

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:23:22

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah, posted by sigismund on January 22, 2011, at 12:07:36

It would depend on the bread, I suppose.

I actually find the healthier the bread is the more unpleasantly sweet it is. I can never figure out how to butter really healthy bread, and peanut butter clashes. (Maybe that's the point.)

I doubt the crunchy french bread we in New Orleans love so much has much sugar in it. Or my homemade bread. :) Machine made, I should say. I never got the hang of having bread rise, unfortunately. I've got grandma's bread recipe and can't use it.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » annierose

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:27:27

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious, posted by annierose on January 22, 2011, at 16:36:49

I think I maybe overreacted with my mother. Trouble is probably brewing, but I should probably check to make sure before I get too upset.

At this point, should he ever bother to call, I'm thinking of thanking him for giving me time to think over whether I really need to see him, and that on second thought I probably don't.

Which is likely true. What can he do? He'll probably just annoy me with foolish statements. He's good at that.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » floatingbridge

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:42:47

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah, posted by floatingbridge on January 22, 2011, at 17:36:52

Hmmm... It does look like age related hormones may play a role.

I appreciate your confidence, but I'm really not very reliable or trustworthy - at least in some ways. If my husband doesn't wake me up in the morning with my pills, and put me to bed every night with them, I forget them until I feel so awful that I'm forced to remember. If it weren't for pill boxes with days of the week on them, I'd probably take meds more than once when I did remember to take them.

I'm positive that a few dogs have been sent to the grave earlier than they ought to be because as much as I want to do so, I simply can't remember to give medications every single day. I console myself with the knowledge that my dogs generally outlive their diagnosis, so I must be doing something right. My husband and son have both appointed themselves to make sure my current dog gets her fluids every night, or I would forget on a regular basis.

My father used to call me the absent minded professor. My husband is less polite. I walk around being only partly present at best. And somewhere else entirely far too often. I live in my head, where there are no dates or times. I can have entire conversations with no recollection of them as soon as I quit talking (probably *while* I am still talking). If there's something important, my husband will sometimes have me repeat it back to him to make sure I was actually listening.

I'll admit that the obsessions and compulsions probably greatly outweigh my impulsiveness. I probably think I'll behave stupidly more often than I do so. But even not counting the horrible feeling of being caught in an obsessive desire to kill myself with a really available means, I just am not trustworthy to do something so important.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Phillipa

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:53:31

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah, posted by Phillipa on January 22, 2011, at 19:32:26

Thank you, Phillipa. I got a couple of books and have been reading them with my husband. The poor dear tries to help, but his idea of what's healthy and what's healthy for a diabetic aren't really the same. It really is not intuitive in many cases. As it turns out, potatoes are the worst of the carbs. I can live without potatoes. And pasta is better than rice!

The really sad thing to me is that I was pretty proud of myself. I had gotten much better with portion control, and had largely avoided those foods that I have trouble controlling. I hardly ever eat sugar, aside from the sugar in fruits I suppose. I'd even lost a couple of pounds, though my weight redistributed itself to my belly so that my pants keep falling off. I think I need to get maternity clothes.

It's really depressing that when I thought I was being healthier, I get an unprecedented jump in glucose readings.

Of course Christmas was in that time period. But that's only a couple of days of Yorkshire pudding and Mrs. Smith's deep dish apple pie.

mmmmm..... Mrs. Smith's deep dish apple pie....

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by floatingbridge on January 23, 2011, at 14:28:42

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Phillipa, posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:53:31

Dinah,

You sound a bit better today. Try not to blame yourself, if you are tempted, for the spike in the diabetes. Some people get too much on their plate, (so to speak), and we are only just humans.

Illness really can s*ck. And so much in our environment (culture, media, popular thought), put so much stock on self-control and 'self-determination'.

fb

 

Re: Feeling anxious

Posted by emmanuel98 on January 23, 2011, at 18:32:07

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Phillipa, posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 9:53:31

You don't have to eat sugar to get glucose spikes. All carbohydrates turn to glucose in the body. Refined carbs turn to glucose faster, because they are easier for the stomach to digest.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah

Posted by obsidian on January 23, 2011, at 19:44:44

In reply to Feeling anxious, posted by Dinah on January 21, 2011, at 20:47:35

I hope your anxiety is less today.
Sending you good vibes~~~~
-sid

 

Thanks, Sid and » floatingbridge

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 20:52:02

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious » Dinah, posted by floatingbridge on January 23, 2011, at 14:28:42

I am feeling a bit better today, though I might not after I hear from the doctor. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

Re: Feeling anxious » emmanuel98

Posted by Dinah on January 23, 2011, at 20:55:58

In reply to Re: Feeling anxious, posted by emmanuel98 on January 23, 2011, at 18:32:07

I've been reading all about various starches and how things like cooking method can affect the absorption. It's all kind of interesting, even if it is also depressing.

 

He wasn't all that helpful

Posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 8:38:15

In reply to Feeling anxious, posted by Dinah on January 21, 2011, at 20:47:35

But my boss with diabetes was, a bit at least. He made the insulin pump sound wonderful.

I've also done some research that makes me feel like an idiot for not going to an endocrinologist earlier. I could have done something about the fact that my fasting blood sugars are worse than my after meal ones. Oh well, I can't change the past.

My therapist said he was listening and caring, but... he wasn't all that helpful. Other than that he did strongly agree with me that having insulin around the house could make the obsessions and compulsions worse when I get stressed and have suicidal ideation. I kind of miss thinking he was magic.

 

Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot.

Posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 10:03:07

In reply to He wasn't all that helpful, posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 8:38:15

If my body responds to adrenaline by by my liver pumping out glucose, that would explain why I wake up at three am (with the cortisol surge that people get around that time) yet can't wake up in the morning and take forever to become functional (because my glucose level is high).

And my involuntary naps when I'm upset could be partly because of the adrenaline causing my blood sugars to rise. It does feel very physical.

I wonder if that's possible?

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » Dinah

Posted by Solstice on January 26, 2011, at 11:42:13

In reply to Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot., posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 10:03:07

> If my body responds to adrenaline by by my liver pumping out glucose, that would explain why I wake up at three am (with the cortisol surge that people get around that time) yet can't wake up in the morning and take forever to become functional (because my glucose level is high).
>
> And my involuntary naps when I'm upset could be partly because of the adrenaline causing my blood sugars to rise. It does feel very physical.
>
> I wonder if that's possible?


Yes! I was planning on giving you some details about the myriad ways blood sugar levels affect us, and how blood sugar levels are affected.

So yes - those of us who are prone to over-sensitive parasympathetic reactions to stress (i.e. frequent adrenalin spurts) are certainly subject to our liver converting glycogen back into glucose in preparation for a survival effort :-). In addition, those with Type II diabetes have cell receptors that are not accurately recognizing insulin, which is the 'key' to opening the door to the cell to accept the glucose. I'll have to look at it when I have more time - but there's a mechanism involved in Type II whereby a cell receptor of some type decreases in number in response to being trained by frequent elevations in blood sugar due to frequent simple sugar intake. That's where pills for Type II come in - they help increase sensitivity to available insulin. But over time, the problem with sensitivity gets worse and pills just aren't enough. This same mechanism comes into play with gestational diabetes - which usually occurs (when it occurs) in the last part of pregnancy and is not so much diabetes, as it's 'insulin resistance.' Type II is like a magnification of 'insulin resistance,' and women who develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancy/s in their 20's and 30's are highly likely to develop Type II as they age.

But yes - blood sugar levels affect emotional state, and emotional state affects blood sugar levels. This seems to be more true for Type II than Type I, since Type I's like me don't make insulin in the first place.

Type II's and hypoglycemics have issues with insulin production and glycogen conversion mechanisms being under-over sensitive. Type I's simply have no beta cells to produce insulin. Type II's have working beta cells that produce insulin, but it's either under- or over-activated, and/or cell receptors are not functioning properly.

A lot of people don't understand that basic enormous difference between Types I and II. They mistakenly think Type I = anyone who takes insulin, and Type II = anyone who doesn't take insulin.

The newest pumps are very, very cool. I have never wanted to go the pump route myself (which drives my endocrinologist nuts. I've been seeing him for going on 30 years. He's watched me grow up, have babies, and my babies grow up - and I've watched him grow from an arrogant genius specialist into an old man who wants to retire :-). Anyway, I am, though, looking at a cool thing that is an implanted glucose monitoring device. Wireless. totally cool.

Solstice

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot.

Posted by sigismund on January 26, 2011, at 13:07:54

In reply to Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot., posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 10:03:07

I had this pattern of high blood sugar leading to excessive insulin release leading to high cortisol to bring it down, and the 3 hour GTT looked as if it was weaving all over the road. After I started eating differently it became a much smoother curve less subject to choppy over-corrections.

I wanted to find an answer to the early morning waking in this but it has been pretty difficult.

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » Dinah

Posted by floatingbridge on January 26, 2011, at 18:39:24

In reply to Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot., posted by Dinah on January 26, 2011, at 10:03:07

That's pretty big.

Hmmm. I have to nap (if possible) after I'm triggered (aka upset).

So, not seeing an endo earlier...means diabetes' progression could have been slowed? :(

(Disenchantment is a literary term. Lose the magic. Sorry about that.)

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » Solstice

Posted by Dinah on February 2, 2011, at 20:29:20

In reply to Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » Dinah, posted by Solstice on January 26, 2011, at 11:42:13

You mean a totally implanted one? I've got my eye on a continuous glucose monitor. It might cost me one session a week with my therapist, but it might be worth it. I have to think it would help compliance a lot.

I ended up not having to be on insulin at this point. They added a medication that left me hypoglycemic the first day so that I'm making sure I eat more carbs for breakfast than I otherwise might eat. That was scary because I had no idea at all it was happening. I have an appointment with a dietitian soon. I sure hope this one is better, and personalizes more, than the last two. I can read nutrition data myself. :(

I've been having fun (sort of). There's apparently an app for that, and I've been recording my every bite and its nutritional value. And also finding out how the pancreas works. I don't know if it stays that much fun, long term.

I also read something somewhere that struck me. No, I don't ever want to give up bread or pasta. But a lot of the carbs I eat are eaten from habit, not because they're all that delicious. So I've been thinking before I choose whether this is a carb I actually would get some benefit from eating. A lot of them aren't. It seems to be working better for me than global prohibitions and guidelines.

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » floatingbridge

Posted by Dinah on February 2, 2011, at 20:35:05

In reply to Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » Dinah, posted by floatingbridge on January 26, 2011, at 18:39:24

I'm not sure really. I think definitely that my doctor's total lack of interest beyond whether my quarterly readings were ok hurt me. I think I figured that if he wasn't interested there was no reason for me to be either. And of course my poor pancreas just had to work harder until it's tired.

But I'm not all that impressed with my endocrinologist either. She only wants daily glucose readings. That's better than quarterly, but still doesn't indicate an interest in my various choices individually. While I think I'm better with details than with the big picture.

Disenchantment. Yes, I like that. There is such a huge difference between a *therapist* and a person you like and value.

 

Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot. » sigismund

Posted by Dinah on February 2, 2011, at 20:36:37

In reply to Re: Oh my goodness. This might explain a lot., posted by sigismund on January 26, 2011, at 13:07:54

My morning fasting blood sugars are now the highest of the day, on this new med. But on the other hand, I take it in the morning, so maybe it's worn out at night.

I don't know. It's confusing.


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