Alcoholism, Addiction, and Hypoglycemia

At the age of 47, after being clean and sober for 5 years, I moved from New York to a very small town in the midwest, where you watched the corn grow,  it was my choice, so I remained. I had bought a very large home prior to my arrival and planned to live there, never to move again, but that’s another story.

During the first year of transplanting, I realized that  the only game in town was Health Care and I had little to no experience in that field; thefore, I conceeded and went back to school. I have done many things to earn a living and support my 3 children, but the only experience I had in Health Care was the raising of those children.

I had made a committment, that fist year, to attend a 2 year program for Substance Abuse Conselor, during which I worked full time, nights, as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a Nursing Home 35 miles from my home. I attended classes every Saturday from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM for that 2 year period of time and didn’t mind at all that I had to work on Saturday night at 10:30 PM. Midway through my first year of school, I was asked, by the Administrator of the Nursing Home, to attend an additional College for Nursing, because of the Nursing Shortage. I did attend both Colleges and did receive both degrees, Associates of Science (Counselor) and Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) degree. My point here is, that I did get the necessary education for the insight into addiction via hyperglycimia.

As I stated, earlier, I was clean & sober for 5 years, the very day of my arrival here in this Corn Belt Metropolis, and I had many friends, back in the Big Apple, who were also clean & sober. We kept in touch, even after my leaving Home, and still do.  Sharing Sober experiences is the thing we like to do the most, but from time to time we do recall, with gratitude of being sober, our war stories during our drinking and drugging days. It was during one of these 4 hour phone sessions (conversations), that it dawned on me that we  (Drunks & Junkies)  may all just have a SUGAR Problem, more than an alcohol or drug problem.

By this time I had received my Nursing License and worked the night shift, The following night, I did my routine rounds, gave the required medications, and finally the time came to take glucose readings of the designated Patients. All the results were with normal limits, and each were given the predetermined amount of insulin; however, it was on this morning, at 5 AM ,that I took my own Blood Sugar Reading.  To my shock my glucose reading was a whopping 17.

 Now I want you to know that anyone else with a reading of 17 would have been close to coma; yet, I was toileting the Patients, passing medications, and documenting all medical results for the Facility.  I was running on EMPTY. I had nothing in my system with which to think, talk, or reason.  I was mearly functioning.

Prior to me learning this, I would tell the staff to “Write it down” after 4 AM. I became abrupt, abrassive, and short tempered with the staff, after 4 AM. We all thought that it was because I was closing up the shift and was under pressure, but it was because I, instinctivly, was preserving what little fuel I had left for the responsibilities I had remaining during the time I had left.

I have, as I said earlier, 3 sons, all of whom have had an alcohol, & drug addiction. They, too, have low blood sugar. My father, died of alcohol and drug addiction, and he had low blood sugar issues. Every one of my friends, who is  in recovery, has issues with their blood sugars falling rapidly and dangerously.

It is with this data, that I present my belief that HYPOGLYCEMIA (or HYPERINSULINEMA) is one of the main factors, which contributes to our use of alcohol &/or drugs.  The absense of fuel, (glucose) which is necessary to function is easily replenished by alcohol, since alcohol is  converted to sugar (glucose)once filtered by our liver. It gives us the “Quick Fix” we need at the time, in order to think when it raises the glucose level in our blood, provides us with the balance we need at that time, and deminishes our acting out behaviors, that we demonstrate when our sugar level is low. 

I’m happy to say that all of my  sons are and have been clean & sober for over 3 years each.  Their secret? ICE CREAM, in a pinch, peanut butter, for the long term, it’s protein. I will be celebrating my 25th year clean & sober, so you figure out my age, if you want, but just to let you know, that I would not exchange one day sober for any of the years tha I was using.  God Bless you all. Maintain a balance in your glucose level.

Oh, by the way. I told my Primary Care Giver of my discovery, when the result was 17, but she refused to accept it. I respect her and she is a very good friend, but she doubted me, none the less. I had a GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST done, by her. When my sugar dropped to 35, after several hours and I was becomming irritable, and nasty to her staff, she admitted that I did, in fact, have HYPOGLYCEMIA  My point is, be persistent, and insistant with your Medical Provider, and have the test, it’s well worth the time, and peace of mind.