Unexplained Thirst



R

Radioactive Man

Guest
As I've previously mentioned, I'm 31 years old and have had type 1 since July of 2003. I use 2 daily
injections of basal insulin (totaling about 18 units) and a bolus (1 unit per 15 g of carbs) of
either regular or novolog depending on the nature of the meal. My 2-hour readings are nearly always
in the 65 - 100 range (according to 2 different meters), but I am still plagued with excessive
thirst and dry mouth from ~1 hour after a meal until ~3 hours later. This happens whether I eat a
big meal with lots of carbs or something low enough in carbs to meet the Bernstein criteria (such as
a subway salad with double meat, no croutons or crackers). Interestingly enough, the thirst problem
doesn't result from smaller snacks, be they nuts and cheese or a small granola bar (which is covered
by a little extra Lente about 5 hours earlier). The point is that the granola bar has about the same
carb content as the chicken salad, yet does not cause the subsequent thirst when both are adequately
covered. Thirst seems to be proportional to the size of the meal, whether it has significant carbs
or not, assuming that it is adequately covered.

Any ideas as to the cause or possible remedy of the thirst problem? Due to crappy insurance, it will
probably be a couple of more months until my next endrinologist visit. I already asked a dentist
about this issue yesterday and he didn't have an answer.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Radioactive Man <[email protected]> wrote:

> As I've previously mentioned, I'm 31 years old and have had type 1 since July of 2003. I use 2
> daily injections of basal insulin (totaling about 18 units) and a bolus (1 unit per 15 g of carbs)
> of either regular or novolog depending on the nature of the meal. My 2-hour readings are nearly
> always in the 65 - 100 range (according to 2 different meters), but I am still plagued with
> excessive thirst and dry mouth from ~1 hour after a meal until ~3 hours later. This happens
> whether I eat a big meal with lots of carbs or something low enough in carbs to meet the Bernstein
> criteria (such as a subway salad with double meat, no croutons or crackers). Interestingly enough,
> the thirst problem doesn't result from smaller snacks, be they nuts and cheese or a small granola
> bar (which is covered by a little extra Lente about 5 hours earlier). The point is that the
> granola bar has about the same carb content as the chicken salad, yet does not cause the
> subsequent thirst when both are adequately covered. Thirst seems to be proportional to the size of
> the meal, whether it has significant carbs or not, assuming that it is adequately covered.
>
> Any ideas as to the cause or possible remedy of the thirst problem? Due to crappy insurance, it
> will probably be a couple of more months until my next endrinologist visit. I already asked a
> dentist about this issue yesterday and he didn't have an answer.

Could it be a function of how salty the meal is? Even in something low carb like the Subway salad,
there could be a fair amount of salt in the meat and the dressing.

--
AF "Non Sequitur U has a really, really lousy debate team." --artyw raises the bar on
rec.sport.baseball
 
On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:50:44 -0500, Alice Faber <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Could it be a function of how salty the meal is? Even in something low carb like the Subway salad,
>there could be a fair amount of salt in the meat and the dressing.
>
>--
>AF "Non Sequitur U has a really, really lousy debate team." --artyw raises the bar on
>rec.sport.baseball

Good point. Salt is usually excessively high in all fast foods.

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
 
On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:50:44 -0500, Alice Faber <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, Radioactive Man <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> As I've previously mentioned, I'm 31 years old and have had type 1 since July of 2003. I use 2
>> daily injections of basal insulin (totaling about 18 units) and a bolus (1 unit per 15 g of
>> carbs) of either regular or novolog depending on the nature of the meal. My 2-hour readings are
>> nearly always in the 65 - 100 range (according to 2 different meters), but I am still plagued
>> with excessive thirst and dry mouth from ~1 hour after a meal until ~3 hours later. This happens
>> whether I eat a big meal with lots of carbs or something low enough in carbs to meet the
>> Bernstein criteria (such as a subway salad with double meat, no croutons or crackers).
>> Interestingly enough, the thirst problem doesn't result from smaller snacks, be they nuts and
>> cheese or a small granola bar (which is covered by a little extra Lente about 5 hours earlier).
>> The point is that the granola bar has about the same carb content as the chicken salad, yet does
>> not cause the subsequent thirst when both are adequately covered. Thirst seems to be proportional
>> to the size of the meal, whether it has significant carbs or not, assuming that it is adequately
>> covered.
>>
>> Any ideas as to the cause or possible remedy of the thirst problem? Due to crappy insurance, it
>> will probably be a couple of more months until my next endrinologist visit. I already asked a
>> dentist about this issue yesterday and he didn't have an answer.
>
>Could it be a function of how salty the meal is? Even in something low carb like the Subway salad,
>there could be a fair amount of salt in the meat and the dressing.

I'm not completely sure about that. I often eat nuts and cheese as a snack between meals and don't
experience the thirst problem. Thirst seems to be at its worst after lunch and is somewhat dependent
on the volume of the meal.