Day 730 of Staying the Fuck Inside

Today is the two year mark. Two years ago, it was decided that we should stay inside for two weeks to “flatten the curve.”

Today, I offer some medical advice.

Several years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. My body was in total meltdown mode. I had a full bladder every 10 minutes, I couldn’t stop drinking water, my vision was getting blurry, and I ended up in the ER with a glucose level of over 400.

Normal is around or below 100.

We got things under control, I’ve been on medication ever since.

A while back, I misplaced my test kit. I thought something had happened to it during one of our fire evacuations. I wasn’t concerned, as I’d been testing consistently for years, and I thought things were under control.

Obviously, this was not the best idea, but I felt confident things were okay. I’d been eating well, watching my sugar intake, and taking my meds. I felt fine. I feel fine. I had an accidental spike in late November/early December that I quickly got under control (some things I was ingesting had far more sugar than I’d thought). But again. I’ve felt fine. I feel fine.

Last week I had some routine lab work done, and guess what? My numbers are through the roof again. This time I’ve had NO symptoms.

I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday morning, and in the meantime, I’m left wondering how. How did this happen?

Some cursory googling indicates that stress can cause your pancreas to decrease production of insulin and exacerbate Type II Diabetes.

Stress.

YMMV, but the last two years have included:

  • Pandemic, including “holy shit, we’re all gonna die”
  • losing friends and loved ones
  • “how do I keep myself and my family alive”
  • “when will there be a vaccine/when can we get vaccinated/when can we get the kid vaccinated”
  • daily stress of having to play live action Berzerk just going to the store
  • several rounds of “oh look, a new variant!” and more
  • LIfe disruption – working from home
  • employment uncertainty (early on in the pandemic, and yet again when my employer merged with another company)
  • Fires – fire season decided to do its thing early in the pandemic, pre-vaccines, and we had to evacuate a few times
  • hyper-vigilance over cooties
  • Domestic Political Upheaval – all of it
  • Assorted Automotive Issues – again, seem infinitely worse when an important part of feeling safe is having a method of escape/exit
  • Russia/Ukraine – my family came to the U.S. from Ukraine about 120 years ago. I’m sure I may have some remote relations there, but I have no idea who or where they are. Regardless, this has stirred up some deep-rooted stuff in me that I didn’t even know was there. I’m not happy about what’s happening
  • Sundry
  • Misc.
  • Etc.
  • And more.

This is a lot. A LOT for two years. And while I don’t know for certain that this is causing my latest diabetic surge, I’m sure as fuck that it isn’t helping things.

So, my advice: if you’re diabetic, keep an eye on things. Test yourself, if it has been a while. Diabetes is a sneaky bitch, and this time she got right past me. I am asymptomatic. You may be too.

After two years of the plague, I just now feel safe going to the doctor’s office. But I freely admit, in retrospect, there was more I could have done on my own.

Now that I know that I can’t rely on symptoms to tell me what’s going on, I am returning to more reliable methods. I recommend that you do, too.So. Doc’s appointment on Tuesday to figure out what’s next. In the meantime, I’m staying hydrated, and taking my daily sugar intake down as much as possible (not that I’ve been eating boxes of donuts or anything – I’ve been pretty cognizant of my sugar intake, and not overdoing it, other than the accidental December spike).

Today’s numbers – not as bad as the other day, but still way higher than they should be.

Stay safe. Be well.

Published by K.