Lab report: metabolism
Feb. 5th, 2015 16:56![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillHaving unintentionally conducted an experiment, I figured I'd write it up.
(I'm eating as I write this, just so you know.)
Today I went over five hours without food -- well, effectively so, since the 100-calorie granola bar I had in the middle of it disappeared like a snowflake in hell. By the time I was driving home, I realized that the set of symptoms I was having felt rather familiar, and many of them were sharper than they had been in two weeks. Now that I know what to look for, I wanted to note down exactly what happens to me when I run out of fuel.
My motor skills, memory, and strength seem to be pretty normal. Well, other than the fact that my hands shake very slightly. Driving is as easy as it always is, working is fine, though the anxiety may cause me to rush a little so that I accidentally prune my finger or something. (ow.)
Emotionally I get shaky, anxious, defensive, and a bit resentful, though I don't seem to get outright annoyed. I want to be left alone, or to be taken care of by one person I trust. I get way more introverted.
One other thing is that I can continue in this state for hours. It's uncomfortable, but it takes quite a while (half a day) before I have to worry about not being functional enough to do necessary tasks. I get really tired by the end, partly because the pain is exhausting, and I have to recover afterward.
I've had hypoglycemia sometimes in the past, but the main things I noticed were feeling very tired, sort of numb, and fumbling things. This latest set has a little overlap with the classic symptoms of mild hypoglycemia, but some seem to be from the mild condition and some from the moderate one, and while I get cold, I never get clammy. I wouldn't have connected my inflammatory level to my nutritional condition, either. Also, my impression is that most people progress reasonably quickly from mild to moderate to passing out, and need to get food within an hour or so or else they become nonfunctional. I don't. Maybe it's just that my body dislikes burning glycogen, and goes into a stress mode when I have to rely on it.
I suppose the next thing to do is pick up a glucose meter and actually start getting some numbers... I'd like to confirm that this is what I think it is, and collect a little data in case I need it when talking to a doctor somewhere down the line. (I suspect that if my metabolism comes up in conversation during an office visit, having actual numbers to wave at the medical professionals might be useful.) If my symptoms of mild hypoglycemia are just different from the average, that's fine, but I should keep an eye on it for a while.
I'm still not jumping to get a doctor's appointment over this... the odds of it being something serious (like a pancreatic tumor or whatever) are pretty low. Mainly, I'm convinced that I've had this condition off and on for years, and it may have enhanced a lot of my CFS symptoms, especially while I was working and attending school. If it's not a new condition, I'm less worried. I may just finally have stumbled on a solution to a problem which has hounded me for years, because -- once again -- my body is atypical. Just like the OB/GYNs couldn't track my cervical pain to cramping pelvic floor muscles, nobody would have known to suggest that some of my pain and anxiety might be related to not eating enough. *sigh*
I want a manual.
(I'm eating as I write this, just so you know.)
Today I went over five hours without food -- well, effectively so, since the 100-calorie granola bar I had in the middle of it disappeared like a snowflake in hell. By the time I was driving home, I realized that the set of symptoms I was having felt rather familiar, and many of them were sharper than they had been in two weeks. Now that I know what to look for, I wanted to note down exactly what happens to me when I run out of fuel.
- I can't seem to get warm.
- I lose my edge; I can focus, but it's more difficult. My judgment appears to be fine.
- Everything aches, and my inflammation level is up.
- I'm anxious. It's desperate, overwhelmed, drowning anxiety; I end up breathing like I just climbed a hill.
- I'm lethargic -- not worn out, definitely not sleepy, just less inclined to move. If there's a reason to, I will, but I'm in energy-conservation mode.
- I'm hungry. After a while the complaint from my belly just blends into the general aches.
- I start to get a little of the floaty numb feeling after considerably more time, but it's just on the edges of things.
My motor skills, memory, and strength seem to be pretty normal. Well, other than the fact that my hands shake very slightly. Driving is as easy as it always is, working is fine, though the anxiety may cause me to rush a little so that I accidentally prune my finger or something. (ow.)
Emotionally I get shaky, anxious, defensive, and a bit resentful, though I don't seem to get outright annoyed. I want to be left alone, or to be taken care of by one person I trust. I get way more introverted.
One other thing is that I can continue in this state for hours. It's uncomfortable, but it takes quite a while (half a day) before I have to worry about not being functional enough to do necessary tasks. I get really tired by the end, partly because the pain is exhausting, and I have to recover afterward.
I've had hypoglycemia sometimes in the past, but the main things I noticed were feeling very tired, sort of numb, and fumbling things. This latest set has a little overlap with the classic symptoms of mild hypoglycemia, but some seem to be from the mild condition and some from the moderate one, and while I get cold, I never get clammy. I wouldn't have connected my inflammatory level to my nutritional condition, either. Also, my impression is that most people progress reasonably quickly from mild to moderate to passing out, and need to get food within an hour or so or else they become nonfunctional. I don't. Maybe it's just that my body dislikes burning glycogen, and goes into a stress mode when I have to rely on it.
I suppose the next thing to do is pick up a glucose meter and actually start getting some numbers... I'd like to confirm that this is what I think it is, and collect a little data in case I need it when talking to a doctor somewhere down the line. (I suspect that if my metabolism comes up in conversation during an office visit, having actual numbers to wave at the medical professionals might be useful.) If my symptoms of mild hypoglycemia are just different from the average, that's fine, but I should keep an eye on it for a while.
I'm still not jumping to get a doctor's appointment over this... the odds of it being something serious (like a pancreatic tumor or whatever) are pretty low. Mainly, I'm convinced that I've had this condition off and on for years, and it may have enhanced a lot of my CFS symptoms, especially while I was working and attending school. If it's not a new condition, I'm less worried. I may just finally have stumbled on a solution to a problem which has hounded me for years, because -- once again -- my body is atypical. Just like the OB/GYNs couldn't track my cervical pain to cramping pelvic floor muscles, nobody would have known to suggest that some of my pain and anxiety might be related to not eating enough. *sigh*
I want a manual.
