MikeO

yes the 15/15 rule 15 carbs (simple sugar) and wait 15 minutes. then back up with a few carbs (i do 8g with a protein) so for me this will keep my blood sugar even an stable and i will not end up with a overcorrection. Of course you could just eat a meal as well. I will have to look for the sweet potato chips i like trying new foods. I just bought some cauliflower crackers, has a bit of a funky taste to them.

This is the most important can't count the number of times i have had to sit down right where i am standing even at the grocery store (sit on the floor and pretend i am looking at stuff of the bottom of the rack) @Pistolknows this one. Like you i am not exactly sure why i get stuck in a rut at times but i found that taking a bolus of fluids does help and to keep moving and not stand in one place too long and not use the recliner helps. my goto to correct low blood sugar is plain sugar water (4 cubes) and then back it up with some saltines and a little cheese or sausage. Have you had a tilt table test yet?

Hi Salt Sunflower, So just like you describe i get seasonal flares in these time frames. the itchy eyes and a super runny nose with some sneezing almost always happens but i would also get GI flare ups. This spring i did get into a gasto and they found i have some notable inflammation in my GI tract and are treating it with pantoprazole which i believe acts just like a OTC H2 blocker but is just stronger? IDK both meds blocks the production of stomach acid. Well anyways so far i have not had my spring flare up since starting treatment. Have you seen a Gastro for your GI?

Not sure what is up but my email updates from stat went dead. to be honest i do not have faith in the product as to helping.

following!

I don't have POTS but the seasonal allergy will provoke symptoms. Like you the fall and spring time is consistent times i need to be aware. I do become vasodilated during these times so i have assumed it is from producing a lot histamine. blowing my nose can cause me to pass out or go pre-sync. i have incorporated short runs of taking a antihistamine and seems to help. Good job on identifying your triggers and coming up with a plan to deal with them!

yes being fasted before the tilt table test is routine.

I was going to say contacting patient relations but on facebook i see this all the time with Mayo and personally ran into the same scenario at UW madison.

Happy to hear all is going well @MaineDoug. I see better days in your future.

Agree.....I can tell first hand that not eating is bad. Once i figured that food is a stressor and sorted out it all out GI/Endo wise i am in a better place for sure.

Some foods do trigger GI symptoms for me so yes bloating and bad heartburn and (profuse sweating) but no pain. The abdominal pain attacks have been on a empty stomach so far and are very disabling (thinking i am having a heart attack painful) At the store i had not eaten yet for the day. I had a bad (sweat episode) at the Atlanta airport. eaten some pot stickers and started sweating to the point of being soaking wet. worst part i had no place to really go and ride it out so found a air conditioner duct and stood there until i dried off. was a bit embarrassing

When i complained about this to my last PCP she just said it was male menopause (ok) been in menopause for a decade now Lol. I get flashes or very warm in the most inconvenient places. just happened at the grocery store while standing in line wasn't sure if i was going to start sweating and have to go run off outside for a bit.

My care team did discuss strategies. For now we will tow the line as lows (more so) are just as much a concern as the highs. So we did talk about bolus techniques and will try to see if i get improvements. The insulin pumps do use the fast acting insulin which is not all that fast acting IMO. Not sure how predictive the pumps really are when it comes to BG spikes but sure they do work.

I did question if diabetes was the cause of my issues or if a ANS problem is the root of the blood sugar highs/lows. as far as i know i have been dealing with this for years from a viral infection? I do get the temp dysregulation as well. bitched about it for years.

Doubt any testing would help. tilt table been there 3 times. qsart test (sweat test) what does this tell you? we already suspect what the issue is. here is a link to autonomic neuropathy. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autonomic-neuropathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20369829

I think it would fall under Autonomic neuropathy idk maybe @Pistolcan correct me on this.

Saw my PCP yesterday. we did discuss Dysautonomia in length. He seems to well educated on the subject since this was first brought up a couple of years ago. I did bring up my struggle trying to get to a root cause as to why or how which the speciality clinic should have been able to explain or help with but did not. My Doc then came up with: "It is suspected he has diabetic dysautonomia from occult diabetes over the years." Could this be a valid interpretation? We did also talk about that getting tested with just the blanket label of dysautonomia in mychart will get you turned away at the health care provider in my state that does the testing. so i think he put the new verbiage in the chart for another future attempt to identify a specific item out of dysautonomia besides the orthostatics.

It happens....fast acting insulin peaks at 2 hrs and then tapers off. by the 4th hr it is pretty much done working. I'm sure the late spike is i was slow to digest the food that i ate.

these i will notice or better said present symptoms. increase in HR (palpitations) and blurry vision are the first heads up that the BG went high.

well here attached saturdays graph so you can see a example. i fasted until dinner and even with the insulin i still spiked 3 hours later.

Haha beer is good Lack of energy comes from If you don't have enough insulin, glucose builds up in your bloodstream rather than getting into your cells to provide energy. My Endo does not feel i am as much insulin resistant but i have a deficient release of insulin when food challenged. so in my mind is a kinda vicious cycle. get high blood sugars that remain unused in the bloodstream so no energy to do anything and get tired so back onto the recliner napping it off while the pancreas finally catches up then because of the inactivity none of the glucose goes to the muscles because they are already full and ends up in the liver as stored fat then it's time for bed so i never burn the fat. next day rinse and repeat Haha. My world according my Mike. Yeah be surprised what your body can/will do to maintain homeostasis. sure this is what mine has figured out when my BG drops from 180 to 105 and i am not even the wiser it happened. Sorry to hear that you have some GI issues sure it is throwing a log into the middle of the road as you try and sort thru issues. I have been dealing with some of my own GI woes and was put on a PPT med to deal with some inflammation. one thing that helped me before the Gastro Doc working out the issue is i avoided acidic foods like tomatoes, salsa, pastes and anything that has citric acid. made a difference in the short term. I too also did a food reset, well more than once more like years. only took me three years to finally get to the root of some of it. side note if any of your providers tell you "it's just the way it is and to drink more water and get up slowly" fire them as they probably won't help.

Been here. I was to the point of not eating or eating very few carbs and fasting a lot just because food was not always a pleasant experience for me. this IMO is stressful on the body and aggravated some of my symptoms. Haha was to the point it felt like i could hardly get out of my own way. Like you after eating a (bad and even with good) carby foods my heart rate would increase (along with other symptoms) and would last from 30 minutes to 4-5 hours. it was like clock work. My Endo gave me the talk that some carbs are needed and to ignore some of the diets that promote getting your energy solely from fats and proteins especially if one has other health issues. He said that i don't necessarily need to hit the recommended 145 carbs a day but would need to find out how many works for me. he suggested around 80 carbs is good. i average around 60-80. Not sure why insulin has stopped my post meal palpitations outside of keeping my blood sugars in range but i will take what i can get. i definitely have 10 times the energy since starting to use it. This is a good resource and works to some extent. i found that barley does not spike my blood sugars much at all. i use it in soups as a substitute for rice.

@Sea otterI tried using a wedge pillow and for me it was very problematic to use and lost plenty of sleep using (two of them side by side). I kept working my way off the wedge pillows and had to kept adjusting my way back on them. i ended up buying a body pillow to help keep myself positioned up on the wedges. over time my lower back started hurting. i have to assume i was putting pressure on the spine as it is the point where it was bending for the elevation..

Beyond something i would even consider.....

@Sarah TeeGreat job with being persistent advocating for your care. I really hope the test will give you the answers that you have been looking for a long time. Please post back as to your progress and results. we are pulling for you!