Diabetic Binge Eating

Today on 5-1-11

So, it is now 9:00 am on Sunday morning and I check my morning blood sugar: 39 mg/dl. “Where did I go wrong?” I said to myself and then realized I didn’t have time to figure it out. I was so hungry but instead of eating I drank some lemonade.







I grabbed it out of the refrigerator, downed an 8 oz glass and proceeded to wait. But I couldn’t wait. But I knew I’d have to or I would feel like crap the rest of the day. I was so hungry.



One of my more memorable binges was a few years ago - right before bed. I ended up eating myself out of house and home. It felt so good to binge that evening!



At the point you feel like you are starving, you will eat just about anything regardless of the consequences. If you were a vegetarian, you might eat a whole ham with a side of steak - hold the fries; and you’d need to leave some room for that gallon of ice cream to top it off.



This fine evening I started with my normal glass of Newman’s Own lemonade and I added peanut butter on the side. I sat there with spoon in hand and a full jar of peanut butter. I devoured it, spoonful after heaping spoonful. Then I added two more glasses of lemonade before I polished the whole jar of peanut butter off.



The consequences of that evening were great. I woke up with my stomach feeling woozy. I tossed and turned all night. When I woke up the next morning, my blood glucose was through the roof. I tried to compensate with extra insulin but a few hours later I was hypoglycemic again. My blood sugar levels bounced around all day until I eventually leveled out 24 hours later. Never again I said to myself, but I have said that many times before.



So here I am, back in the present, on the first day of May in 2011 facing that epic question again: to binge or not to binge.



This week happens to be the first day of my blogs for the month covering the topic of bingeing, and me? I started “binge month” on the blog with the same decision every diabetic has to face.



So I started looking for something to eat in the refrigerator and poured myself another glass of lemonade while continuing to search the shelves for something to satisfy my growing appetite.



One of the best things I find is that during a reaction just about anything or any combination of things taste great. So I found what I was looking for: pre-made tuna fish salad that I bought at the grocery store, nothing to make and easy to eat.



I grabbed the container and a small fork, the kind one uses when you’re just starting to eat real food as a child. With this very tiny fork, I slowly ate in tiny forkfuls while sipping the lemonade.



By the time my blood sugar had returned to normal and my hunger drifted away, I had had only 4 ounces of lemonade and 1/8th of a pound of tuna fish. I gave myself a small injection for the extra lemonade after seeing that my blood sugars had stabilized. I cautioned toward high blood sugar levels so I didn’t give too much insulin.



Two hours later, my blood sugar levels were normal for me and my day wasn’t ruined by shifting high and low blood sugars. I consider this technique “Binge Prevention.”



Has this happened to you? Share your own experience with bingeing by responding to this dblog below. I’d love to hear from you.



I greatly appreciate you. Thank You.


Make sure to Follow Me on Twitter: @DiabeticTalks

Try Crystal Lite Lemonade. It is sugar free and great tasting!