Symptomology 101

Throughout these posts, I have mentioned symptoms and associated many of those symptoms with possible root causes. I've made dramatic lifestyle changes and I'm experiencing either a resolution of or a decrease in the intensity of my symptoms.

I call that success!

I decided to take a moment to celebrate my successes and speculate on which life change may have contributed to the improvement of symptoms.

Acne
Significant changes in not only what I eat, but when and how much I eat have contributed to completely clearing up acne breakouts. I'm positive that going dairy free, and eliminating potatoes, rice, and white flour, have contributed to eliminating this particular malady.

Excessive Sweating
While I haven't found the off switch for this lovely symptom, it is greatly reduced. I've noticed that the onset is usually when my blood sugar levels are high that I'm particularly susceptible to sweating. Further, when I'm exercising my sweating is within acceptable limits, so long as I drink plenty of water before, during, and after an activity. I'm fairly sure that eliminating caffeine and drinking buckets of water have been key to alleviating this fun symptom.

Assorted
Some of the following symptoms I know are addressed by using a CPAP. Others depend on my blood sugar levels, amount of daily excercise, and my stress levels. Still, significant improvements overall.

• Anxiety reduced
• Depression reduced
• Daytime fatigue reduced
• Forgetfulness reduced
• Lack of energy during the day reduced
• Loud snoring gone!
• Mood changes reduced
• Morning headaches reduced
• Sleepiness reduced
• Slower reaction time reduced
• Restless sleep reduced
• Recurrent awakenings reduced
• Insomnia reduced
• Vision problems reduced
• Waking up with a very sore or dry throat gone!
• Waking up with a choking or gasping sensation gone!

Related Links

• How lifestyle, daily routine affect blood sugar
• Patient information: Diabetes mellitus type 2: Alcohol, exercise, and medical care (Beyond the Basics)
• Pre-Diabetes&Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Caffeine Quandary

According to the Americian Academy of Sleep Medicine:

Caffeine reaches a peak level in your blood within 30 to 60 minutes. It has a half-life of 3 to 5 hours. The half-life is the time it takes for your body to eliminate half of the drug. The remaining caffeine can stay in your body for a long time.

Well, that is an eye-opener.

How long does the remaining caffeine stay in your body?

That depends on you, and your state of health. What I found was a range from as little as 14 hours to as long as 100+ hours. Doing the math, if I consumed 100 mg of caffeine, then I'd get that buzz within an hour. About five hours later, I'd still have about 50mg floating around in my system. By the time I'm ready for bed, I'd still have about 50mg doing the back stroke in my bloodstream.

So, let's say I snag a latte from Starbucks one my way to work at about 7 am. That gives me about 150mg of caffeine buzz. For my 10 am break, I'm ready for another latte. Let's do the math:

Time	Caffeine Intake	Half Life	Accumlated
7 Am	150mg	75mg	75 mg
10 Am	150mg	75mg	150mg
10 pm	-	-	150mg

It looks to me like, by the time I'm ready to go to bed, I could have as much caffeine in my system as I did when I drank my first morning latte. Over time, a lot of caffeine can have accumulated in my bloodstream. For many people, accumulated caffeine doesn't have an affect. I remember reading somewhere, and now I can't find the site, that caffeine creates an insulin-resistant-friendly environment. Well, okay then. As I'm working diligently toward reversing insulin resistance so that I don't end up permanently with type 2 Diabetes, I will forgo caffeine, gladly.

Related Post:  Coffee Calamity

Related Links

• Caffeine Metabolism
• How Long Does Caffeine Stay in the Body?
• Sleep & Caffeine 

Coffee Calamity

There is quite a buzz out there in the interwebs for those with insulin resistance on the topic of coffee, specifically the caffeine in coffee, giving rise to blood sugar levels.

That's just not okay. I love my coffee! I have great need of coffee. I'm a troglodyte without coffee!

To say that I'm taking this news badly doesn't even come close to my state of abject horror at the thought of no longer partaking in my beloved beverage. There must be some mistake. Surly I can find a loophole somewhere... but no.

I know the truth of caffeine and what it does to me and my blood sugar by the neuropathic response I get whenever I drink coffee, or anything with caffeine, for that matter. I was happy ignoring the symptom. Didn't matter that I have a reaction to drinking my (legal) drug of choice. It didn't matter, that is, until I read the dreaded words on the Glycemic Index. Yup, coffee is listed in the red zone. Not only did I have physical evidence that coffee spiked my blood sugar, (which I chose to ignore), but now I have it in writing, too. Somehow, that just made it too important to ignore.

What am I going to do? I just recently switched to soy lattes because dairy does a number on me. Now I have to give up lattes altogether? Nooooo!

Turns out that while that caffeine isn't a good thing for me, decaf coffee isn't a bad thing. As I switched to soy lattes with nary a second glance, I think I can make the switch to decaf soy lattes, eventually. I'm not saying that I can go cold turkey, no way! Starting tomorrow, I'll ask for a split, or 1/2 decaf soy latte. Eventually I'll get to all decaf, sooner rather than later.

Nothing is certain except for change, eh?

Related Post:  Caffeine Quandary

Related Links

• Does caffeine affect blood sugar?
• Why does black coffee raise my sugars?