Question for Lyndacarol??

[sojourner]

Hi Lyndacarol,

I read your post on SIXSIX's thread concerning hypoglycemia and I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.

One of the strange things that happened to my husband after his diagnosis of MS was a change in his metabolism (that might not be the right term, but I am not well versed in this metabolism/insulin stuff).

Before dx, he really never HAD to eat. Of course, he did, but it never was an extremely urgent need. He could go, go, go all day long without needing to break for as much as a snack. It actually used to bug me because I need to eat--like, every 5 minutes or so.

Soon after his dx he changed------now, if he did not eat promptly (breakfast, snack at 10:30 and lunch at noon) he would wilt like a flower. He felt awful and had all of his symptoms return. He did not get that classic "shaky" feeling of low blood sugar, but he did feel baaad. He called it, "going south."

Now after 9 months of antibiotics he no longer needs to eat like clockwork---this occured about 6 months ago and kind of resolved slowly. One day I said, "hey, don't you need to eat?" He replied, "no--that's weird, I don't"

We really don't know what to make of it. We never did blood sugar level tests or anything, so we are just purely going on feel here. I thought maybe with all of your knowledge you'd be able to shed some light on this crazy phenomenon.

Anyway, we are glad it no longer happens and thanks in advance for any input.
Lexy

[lyndacarol]

Lexy, the mention of hypoglycemia in my post came from a friend with MS in Ohio. I should have made that clearer.

You wrote:

We really don't know what to make of it. We never did blood sugar level tests or anything, so we are just purely going on feel here. I thought maybe with all of your knowledge you'd be able to shed some light on this crazy phenomenon.

I don't have any special knowledge (no background in science or medicine); like you, I am going on feel. For me, excess insulin seems to be strongly involved. I was tested and know it is high; that is the reason I suggest to every MSer I know to request a "fasting serum insulin test." And 5 who did found high levels, too.

Although I have no identified problem with hypoglycemia, many with MS do (like my Ohio friend). This seems logical to me if excess insulin is removing every bit of glucose from the bloodstream (which is used for energy or, if not needed, stored as fat). This would seem to account for slim (high metabolism or high level of activity) or heavy (slow metabolism or low level of activity) folks.

In my case, I believe my cells have already become resistant (the natural next step in response to the constant barrage of insulin!) and will not take in the insulin (resulting in a lack of energy often=fatigue) so the pancreas makes more and more; the excess just floats through my blood reeking havoc on blood vessels until the kidneys (it irritates them and bladder and urethra, too) filter it out.

Simplistic, I know; but it seems logical to me. It may not explain your husband's experience; I don't know. I only share my thoughts.

By the way, I have had NO appetite at ANY time for at least the last 10 years! I was diagnosed in 1992; but, like most, in retrospect I know it was there years earlier.