SUGAR’S HIGHS & LOWS: “Yes, I get that initial blast of euphoria when I get my sugar fix, but oh, that letdown is a killer. I shake. I feel like I’m chained to the sofa. I just can’t move. I’m so lightheaded, and my thoughts become totally confused. And the moods! I bark when asked the simplest question or request. I just want to curl up and die.”
TURNING POINT: “My most embarrassing moment involving sugar also is the defining moment that made me seek help. It was Easter, and I was over at my mother-in-law’s house. Of course, she had all this wonderful Easter candy and more delicious sweets in the refrigerator. All the sweets were calling my name over and over and over again, and I was dutifully giving in. I consumed an immense amount of sugar that day and blacked out in my mother-in-law’s kitchen, right next to the refrigerator. I was so embarrassed to wake up to find my husband, his mother and all the rest of my family looking down at me, panicked. I knew then and there that I had to find out what was wrong with me. A visit to the doctor and a Glucose Tolerance Test confirmed that I am severely hypoglycemic. That diagnosis and advice from a dietitian put me on the road to recovery from my sugar addiction. I haven’t blacked out for many years and generally feel better than I ever thought I would feel again.”
SUGARFREE BLISS: “I definitely like myself much better when I am off sugar and so does everyone else around me. I am so much more positive, so much less depressed. It is amazing how many more things I can shoehorn into my day when I’m sugarfree. My energy is so much more sustained, and I seem to take more pleasure in doing things, even somewhat mundane everyday things. But most important, my relationship improves with others, especially my husband and son. They have been saints throughout my struggle, but our relationship is much closer and joyful when I’m sugarfree.”
– Myra P., 44, Monroe, New York (Mostly sugarfree for 15 years.)