Two issues that really get in the way of trying to manage blood sugar

I enjoyed reading all your posts this evening. Your family sounds lovely-- four girls! So cute, waving at you as you came home and getting into the car with you. I know they must be a handful at times, but what an extraordinary blessing, too.

>I have two issues that really get in the way of trying to manage my blood sugar, so I wondered if anyone had ideas.From a very young age, I have had a sweet tooth, big time.<

Researchers are telling us that for some people, the only thing that works to shut up that demanding sweet tooth is to starve it out of existence. Yes, you'll go nuts the first few days/weeks, but eventually those cravings will go away. For someone like you, the rule should be-- no refined sugar, and no high fructose corn syrup. That means examining labels, looking for all the -oses (glucose, sucrose, fructose), being very suspicious of foods labeled "sugar free" or "low carb" or "low calorie". Most people who have the sweet tooth problem also cannot handle artificial sweetners-- it's not just what the sugar/HFCS do to your metabolism that's the problem but also the whammy it does to your taste buds.

Try Overeaters Anonymous. It's a wonderful program, and there's a form of it online. There IS help out there; you just have to reach out for it. After all, you have as big a problem, just in a different form, as someone with alchohol or drug issues-- working the 12 steps and getting a sponsor will go a long ways towards getting you "sober".

>I feel like I am always hungry.<

Physical hunger, with hunger pangs, shakiness, saliva in your mouth, etc? Or is it psychological, in the form of a craving or of a bad habit? It can be both, of course.

Diabetics often get physical hunger pangs when their blood sugar is too high. I know for myself, if I've eaten within a couple of hours and my stomach starts growling and complaining "feed me", many times I'll see 200+ on the meter-- eating is the absolute last thing my body needs at that time.

>Obviously, a ton of sweets are going to burn through the system quickly<

"Sweets" are poison to us diabetics. Picture a skull and crossbones stamped over whatever junk it is that appeals to you-- a cookie, ice cream cone, etc, with a big ugly black poison symbol superimposed over it isn't nearly as appealing, is it.

I dunno, do any of those ideas help?

It's real hard to be a foodie as a diabetic, for sure... but only you can make a quality decision to take yourself by the short hairs and make good decisions about eating healthy, on time, and in the right quantities. A lot of us struggle with the same issues, so we absolutely understand.