Possible exhausted pancreas without damage?

[EIB]

Hi,
   I'm a 35 year old male who recently took a 2hr glucose tolerance test which was confusing. I had results of 64glucose (normal says 65-99).  My insulin level, however was <2 (normal is 6-27). My head has been feeling lousy & somewhat nauseous, in especially the morning & at other times during the day.  I feel especially nauseous after eating sugar & my eyes burn much of the day and are slightly red.

  I was wondering if it is possible that the pancreas could be run down without actually having lost the ability to create insulin & can be recovered.  I have been under a lot of stress during the past year and have been eating excessive amounts of sugar (lots of red bull type energy drinks, pizza, chocolate along with coffee.  I quit drinking coffee about 3 months ago & was eating more sugar to compensate for not having the caffine, & recently noticed how I take sugar to pick myself up when I'm feeling down- the same way I used to habitually drink coffee & espresso. I have been avoiding carbohydrates as much as possible, especially now that they make me feel bad.  I'm going to go see a doctor & I have a nutritionist looking at the results of my blood work as well.

As a side note- I also had been seeing a non-force chiropractor who adjusted my inner organs, and coincidentally, that is when I started noticing these symptoms, about a month ago.

Thanks

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Hello EIB,
As you may know, we're all volunteers with lots of diabetes experience, but none of us is a medical professional.  

Reading your very careful explanation of context and symptoms, I'm wondering if the underlying culprit might be stress.  The stress drove you to overdo caffeine and then sugar -- perhaps you need to nurture your body and allow yourself to rest when you're tired.  A terrific trick is to incorporate regular exercise into your routine, if your doc agrees.  Both the physical workout and also the hormonal impact of exercise lead to better sleep and better coping with life's stresses.

I'm not qualified to interpret your blood test results, but from what I've read, *high* levels of insulin can be a problem because that can signal insulin resistance where the body resists the effects of insulin and stresses the pancreas to produce more & more.  This is often present in overweight folks who are pre-diabetic or already have developed diabetes, as described here:
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/

If you're purposefully having a very low carb diet, then your pancreas has no need to produce insulin to cover your food, and just produces what's needed for other cell functions.

Some easy measures to try while you wait for a more thorough workup & diagnosis by your physician include -- drinking plenty of non-caffeinated beverages to keep yourself hydrated.  Burning eyes might simply be dry or irritated from allergens that're around this time of year.

I hope some of this information is useful for you & perhaps others will have additional suggestions for you.

[EIB]

Thanks very much for the feedback, JDRF- I'm just been nervous because I can't seem to shake this cloudy feeling in my head.  Combine that with an extremely low score on an insulin test, nausea when eating sugar, and noticing tonight for the first time symptoms of hunger and thirst (after reading these symptoms today), I've pretty much convinced myself that my pancreas has stopped producing insulin and I have type1 diabetes.  Did I mention that I am a hypochondriac?

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

I hear your concern, EIB.

Insulin tests are not the customary way to detect diabetes.  A glucose tolerance test is often given.  Type 1 diabetes comes on rather quickly in many cases.

Given your pre-disposition to worry about having diseases that you may not have, you may find success working with your health care provider on that issue.  Here's a website that may point you to a reasonable course:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001236.htm

As you know, a potentially dangerous irony with hypochondria is that a health care provider dismisses as imagined a complaint that is real -- because of the patient's legacy of complaints.  Good luck with all of this.

[JDRF Team SGG]

When reading your comments, it occurred to me that your symptoms, including the slightly low glucose reading on your glucose tolerance test sound more like hypoglycemia than diabetes. Hypoglycemia means that your blood sugar is too LOW, not high (diabetes). Symptoms of low blood sugar are exactly what you have written: sometimes a slightly nauseous feeling, lack of energy, dry eyes (I am a contact lens wearer and have noticed extremely dry eyes when glucose is low) and mouth, craving for sugary foods (because your body is crying out for carbs). Other symptoms can be headache, depressed or anxious feeling, frequent yawning for no reason, or feeling unexplainedly hot or cold (sometimes with sweating).

Large amounts of caffeine in your diet can make this problem worse, for the caffeine speeds up production of insulin by the pancreas -- many hypoglcymic people are told to avoid foods or beverages with caffeine. Also, many typical sufferers of hypoglycemia find that they will have hypoglcyemic episodes after eating sugary foods. This is called reactive hypoglycemia, and it means that the body over-responds to the sugary food by producing too much insulin, therefore causing the blood sugar levels to drop.

People who live with hypoglycemia often can control this problem by eating a carefully-chosen diet (do a Google search on Hypoglycemia to see suggestions). It is important to understand what is happening when you feel this way, for your reaction times when driving can be affected if glucose levels are too low, and so this can be a dangerous condition if it happens when you are behind the wheel of a car. If the symptoms happen with regularity, you may want to purchase a home glucose monitor and test your glucose when you feel bad. If your glucose levels are below 70, you probably want to drink a small amount (half cup) of orange juice and perhaps eat some nuts or cheese to bring the glucose levels back to normal quickly. Certainly this should be done before you drive a car if your glucose levels are normal. You may want to discuss this with your doctor, who can help you alter your diet to one that won't trigger these symptoms.