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Post 1709, Day 225 of 2016
- 2,051 days since I started this blog -
- 2,051 days since I started this blog -
Daily Comment
Last night, at my favorite open mic, about an hour-and-a-half after my usual Irish (neat) at the bar and maybe 20 minutes after a smoke out back, I began to feel light-headed.
I was slightly buzzed from the alcohol, baked from the smoke, and the light-headedness was accompanied by a little dizziness, and an intense desire to pee. I suspected I was having a blood sugar crash.
Wanting to leave required me to do two things: Get my bass from stage-left, and go to the bathroom. I had to pee, but I was also feeling a little dry. I got up from the bar and started to walk to the men's room, but didn't get too far when I had to sit down. There was a convenient sofa.
A moment's rest, and I felt good enough to walk around the bar to the men's room, got to the urinal, did my business leaning against the wall for stability.
I felt more light-headed, then dizzy. Next thing I remember was looking up from a sitting position on the bathroom floor. I was sitting, but didn't remember sitting down, didn't remember hitting the floor.
I tried to get up. Next thing I remember, there are people, friendly faces, helping me to my feet, walking me out of the bathroom. I remember saying I was all right, then (at least this time, outside the bathroom), I fainted again.
I think it was only for a second. Then I had a crowd around me, and people helped me up to the bar, where Cheryl the bar manager had some kind of thick, sweet fruit juice waiting. After a few sips, I was recovering - no more light-headedness, no more dizziness. I had been sweating, but I was cooling down quickly.
In another moment or so, I felt all right. After a few more moments, spent reassuring people that it was just a momentary blood sugar problem, finishing the juice and drinking a little water, I said to one of my friends I thought I would like to get my bass and leave. He said he would get it for me, but I said it would be a good test for me to walk to the other end of the bar and back.
I accomplished this task easily, only to have Pat (the owner and "Mac" of Mac's Bad Art Bar) waiting for me to say he was worried and had called the paramedics, there was an ambulance outside, and I should get checked out before I left. Which I did.
At this point, I was feeling normal. As far as I was concerned, except for the embarrassment at having freaked people out, the incident was over.
My blood sugar was taken: Perfectly normal. Pulse-ox, respiration and blood pressure were (in the words of the paramedic who took them) "better than mine, and I'm 30 years younger." They offered to take me to the hospital, which I declined.
The boss of the paramedic team, who was a friend of Pat's, drove me home, and Pat followed in my car. I thanked the paramedic at the wheel, thanked Pat ("Don't ever scare me like that again!"), walked up to my apartment, watched a DVR'ed episode of Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll, drank some water, went to bed.
This is the first time, since undergoing my hep-C treatment, that anything like this has happened. I think the problem was that my big meal of the day was more than six hours past, and my Quest bar is designed not to raise my blood sugar.
I think the hunger plus the alcohol, plus the forty minutes under hot lights, plus the high-quality smoke crashed my blood sugar, then my blood pressure, and accounted for the blackout.
I did not realize I'd landed hard enough on my butt in the bathroom to bruise my tailbone until I got up from watching TV, about an hour after. That's going to be an unpleasant reminder of this incident.
It is not something I am worried about, but I may be a little more cautious with my eating-drinking-smoking when I'm out in the future.
I was slightly buzzed from the alcohol, baked from the smoke, and the light-headedness was accompanied by a little dizziness, and an intense desire to pee. I suspected I was having a blood sugar crash.
Wanting to leave required me to do two things: Get my bass from stage-left, and go to the bathroom. I had to pee, but I was also feeling a little dry. I got up from the bar and started to walk to the men's room, but didn't get too far when I had to sit down. There was a convenient sofa.
A moment's rest, and I felt good enough to walk around the bar to the men's room, got to the urinal, did my business leaning against the wall for stability.
I felt more light-headed, then dizzy. Next thing I remember was looking up from a sitting position on the bathroom floor. I was sitting, but didn't remember sitting down, didn't remember hitting the floor.
I tried to get up. Next thing I remember, there are people, friendly faces, helping me to my feet, walking me out of the bathroom. I remember saying I was all right, then (at least this time, outside the bathroom), I fainted again.
I think it was only for a second. Then I had a crowd around me, and people helped me up to the bar, where Cheryl the bar manager had some kind of thick, sweet fruit juice waiting. After a few sips, I was recovering - no more light-headedness, no more dizziness. I had been sweating, but I was cooling down quickly.
In another moment or so, I felt all right. After a few more moments, spent reassuring people that it was just a momentary blood sugar problem, finishing the juice and drinking a little water, I said to one of my friends I thought I would like to get my bass and leave. He said he would get it for me, but I said it would be a good test for me to walk to the other end of the bar and back.
I accomplished this task easily, only to have Pat (the owner and "Mac" of Mac's Bad Art Bar) waiting for me to say he was worried and had called the paramedics, there was an ambulance outside, and I should get checked out before I left. Which I did.
At this point, I was feeling normal. As far as I was concerned, except for the embarrassment at having freaked people out, the incident was over.
My blood sugar was taken: Perfectly normal. Pulse-ox, respiration and blood pressure were (in the words of the paramedic who took them) "better than mine, and I'm 30 years younger." They offered to take me to the hospital, which I declined.
The boss of the paramedic team, who was a friend of Pat's, drove me home, and Pat followed in my car. I thanked the paramedic at the wheel, thanked Pat ("Don't ever scare me like that again!"), walked up to my apartment, watched a DVR'ed episode of Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll, drank some water, went to bed.
This is the first time, since undergoing my hep-C treatment, that anything like this has happened. I think the problem was that my big meal of the day was more than six hours past, and my Quest bar is designed not to raise my blood sugar.
I think the hunger plus the alcohol, plus the forty minutes under hot lights, plus the high-quality smoke crashed my blood sugar, then my blood pressure, and accounted for the blackout.
I did not realize I'd landed hard enough on my butt in the bathroom to bruise my tailbone until I got up from watching TV, about an hour after. That's going to be an unpleasant reminder of this incident.
It is not something I am worried about, but I may be a little more cautious with my eating-drinking-smoking when I'm out in the future.
Food and Diet
Today's Weight: 201.6 lbs.
Diet Comment
Previous Weight (8/11): 201.8 lbs.
Net Loss/Gain: - 0.2 lbs.
Diet Comment
I ate very lightly yesterday, with nothing but a whiskey after lunch. I had my little 'event' (see above). Today I find my weight still trending down (as I suspected with my less-than-normal calorie intake, although the crazy-sweet fruit juice that got my blood sugar back up counts for something).
Food Log
Breakfast
3:35pm: A chopped salad with Roast beef, shaved parmesan, spinach, kale, chard, cabbage, chia seeds, hemp seeds and balsamic vinaigrette.
Lunch
7:30pm: A Quest bar.
Dinner
Dinner
11:45pm: Pepperoni and Dubliner cheese and cole slaw.
Liquid Intake
Liquid Intake
Espressos: 0; Coffee: 0 oz.; Tea: 18 oz.; Water: 80+ oz.
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I think you should get checked out. Just cos you think it is a blood sugar problem doesn't mean it is. Both Andy and I have blacked out like that. Love you
ReplyDeleteI had complete blood work done, and a follow-up exam, exactly a month ago. Everything's good. I also know what a sugar crash looks and feels like from my three-plus years of hospital work, and from personal experience (that did not lead to a black-out, but close...). And remember, I was assessed by paramedics (and police!) within minutes. Also, I was restored by drinking some kind of disgusting fruit nectar nearly instantly. Meanwhile, there IS something hinky going on with my thyroid hormone, which, after 30+ years of titrated supplementing and balance, is showing excessive amounts in my blood. This I am following up on (in fact, new blood was drawn the morning after the incident, and I've just heard from my doctor that he is changing my prescription, because, after halving my dosage (taking it every other day) it hasn't budged after a month. So, I have no worries, and a lot of confidence that this is avoidable in the future.
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