Tuesday, January 05, 2010

It's The Hormones, Duh

Yesterday, I made the decision to try to eat more fruit to round out my diet, and was pleased by the two clementines I had for a midmorning snack.

My sugars were good most of the day. I didn't think twice about what I ate.

Today, I just demolished a bag of chips. After my sugars have been high all morning.

What happened?

I started my first Lupron shot last night.

Googling "Lupron" and "food cravings" didn't bring me anything definitive. While writing the infertility chapter for my book, I only got people to say that "maybe" some of the IVF drugs could affect your sugars, and maybe they wouldn't. (Though I believe progesterone is linked to higher blood sugars). Needless to say, based on my own history over the years, I would say these drugs do something to make my body crave certain foods and to make my sugars act erratically.

I'm actually always surprised when I manage to note some kind of trend that shows that, hello! It's not just me: hormones are powerful things! Craving crap and thinking certain things about my body nearly always comes the day or two before my period does. My sugars are often so much more reasonable when I'm, say, off birth control versus on it.

Why should IVF drugs be any different?

1 comment:

MFA Mama said...

Hi Lyrehca! Longtime lurker here. I don't have diabetes but I did have some issues with reactive hypoglycemia that ultimately resolved either as a result of having a baseball-sized ovarian tumor (benign thankfully) removed or the substantial weightloss during post-op complications...my endo (I have an endo to begin with because my thyroid is a lemon) flat-out TOLD me to expect my blood sugar to skyrocket in the second half of my cycle in response to foods that have minimal effect on it during the first half (because the second half of your cycle is when you have the most progesterone, which is apparently also why some non-diabetic women get GD), and carry glucose tabs because the lows would be worse, too. In going over information with him during the "problem visit" where he diagnosed the hypogycemia issue I discovered that the fainting spells that had caused me to go and see him had occurred in...the second half of my cycle. He even went so far as to suggest that I stay away from hormonal birth control, which sent me back to my OB/GYN, who then found the tumor. So hell yes to hormones affecting blood sugar (and I know that the more fat you have the more insulin-resistant you are but I haven't had a low since having that tumor removed, not even one, and have been able to stop taking Acarbos and testing my BG so I totally blame the tumor) and keep that in mind while you're on the PIO :)