Good news/bad news

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Maxus
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Good news/bad news

Post by Maxus »

I've been in this janitorial job for about four months now. Thanks to being constantly moving for 3.5-4 hours a day, five days a week, I've lost about thirty pounds. I mean, the other week I weighed in at 232 pounds. Today, I weighed myself and I'm at 227.

Bad news? I've been having extreme hunger and thirst and frequent urination. Those rang a faint bell and I did a little checking. Tomorrow I'm making an appointment to get checked for diabetes. It MIGHT not be anything, but...I'd like to know. Diabetes can be some harsh shit if it's untreated, and I'd rather not go blind or anything like that. I suppose Frank'll swoop in with some med school lore.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

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Post by Username17 »

The bad news is that yes, those are symptoms of diabetes.

The good news is that those are also symptoms of weight loss. You're more than 60% water, so if you lost 5 pounds, you'd expect to have more than 3 pints of water go out and that didn't go in recently. A big chunk of that has to come out in urine. Furthermore, when your adipocytes shrink, they tell your body that you're starving - which in a certain sense you are (if energy out continually exceeds energy in, you will eventually die). That translates to pretty severe hunger.

Anytime you experience substantial changes in weight - even when it is expected - you should probably get your blood sugar tested. But in this case there is a perfectly rational explanation for what you have described. Unless your urine is smelling like Lychee or something.

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Maxus
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Post by Maxus »

FrankTrollman wrote:The bad news is that yes, those are symptoms of diabetes.

The good news is that those are also symptoms of weight loss. You're more than 60% water, so if you lost 5 pounds, you'd expect to have more than 3 pints of water go out and that didn't go in recently. A big chunk of that has to come out in urine. Furthermore, when your adipocytes shrink, they tell your body that you're starving - which in a certain sense you are (if energy out continually exceeds energy in, you will eventually die). That translates to pretty severe hunger.

Anytime you experience substantial changes in weight - even when it is expected - you should probably get your blood sugar tested. But in this case there is a perfectly rational explanation for what you have described. Unless your urine is smelling like Lychee or something.

-Username17
Part of what has me worried is the fact that I can drink a 32 oz glass of water when I'm thirsty...And be fine for, oh, a bit. Maybe forty minutes And then I'm downing another huge glass of water again.

It's much the same with eating. I ate a big lunch today, warming up a plateful of leftovers rather than just whipping up a sandwich, because I was hungry.

Then, woops, less than an hour later I feel like I'm starving again.

But, still, thanks, Frank. It's comforting to know that this can also be normal.
Last edited by Maxus on Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Josh_Kablack »

Maxus wrote:Part of what has me worried is the fact that I can drink a 32 oz glass of water when I'm thirsty...And be fine for, oh, a bit. Maybe forty minutes And then I'm downing another huge glass of water again.
A dude your size who is physically exerting himself in hot conditions will likely sweat out a pint to a quart of fluids each hour.

From personal experience and some internet training advice columns, I recommend carrying a water bottle around and taking smaller drinks more frequently, but drinking a quart every 40 minutes by itself is not cause for panic.

It's still worth it to get tested though - much better safe than sorry.
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Crissa
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Post by Crissa »

Some people are just steam powered. If I'm doing any sort of exertion, I can expend over a liter an hour in sweat alone!

Sometimes I get dehydrated because I can't absorb the amount of water my body seems capable of exuding :P

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Post by Maxus »

Crissa wrote:Some people are just steam powered. If I'm doing any sort of exertion, I can expend over a liter an hour in sweat alone!

Sometimes I get dehydrated because I can't absorb the amount of water my body seems capable of exuding :P

-Crissa
I sweat a lot anyway. Thankfully, it's cooled off (Although I found out I've become a complete wuss about the cold since it warmed up this spring). But on a hot/humid/both day when I'm doing the outside at work (That is, parking garage, the flower beds, sidewalks...), people very concernedly ask if I need something to drink. I went by a mirror when I was wearing a gray shirt and understood why--My shirt was sweat-soaked down down past my ribcage.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Calibron »

Same thing happened to me a few years ago, I was about 210 and dropped to around 150 in a few months, had the same symptoms as you.(went from a chubby moderately man-titted young man to a veritable stick, these days I'm back up to 180 or 190, but it's mostly muscle now, yay me.) Keep water, preferably vitamin water, propel, or something of that nature, and healthy snacks with you while you work if you're able.

I suggest doing a set or two of push-ups during your lunch break, one before you eat and one after, along with other exercise at home; that's what I did anyway, and it worked out very well for me. Definitely get tested for diabetes though, better safe than sorry. I didn't get tested and it worried me a little in the back of my mind for about a year.
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Post by Maxus »

That makes me feel even better, Still, going to get checked...

Also, total quibble. I adhere to the SBTB definition for what I have and what you had.

"A man-boob is flabby and you don't really want to look at. Man-titty is completely different, being a large, very developed pectoral muscle that is absurdly well-supported"

http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ ... d-horrify/

Also, very awesome website. I keep an eye on it for cool stuff which frequently pops up.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Count Arioch the 28th
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Post by Count Arioch the 28th »

I would get it checked, because it would take a doctor to test your blood sugar.

That being said, as a larger gentleman myself, what you described sound fairly normal. By virtue of sheer mass, your muscles are exerting themselves more than a smaller person doing the same work would do (Especially if said weight is not self-supporting, although muscle burns through calories just sitting around than most people realize by it sheer existence.)

When I am active, I literally am unable to eat enough to stop being hungry without rupturing something. And I am highly prone to dehydration so I drink water almost nonstop if available. (Blood sugar has checked out for 29 years thus far, except for one anomalous reading. However, I didn't know the doc was going to do bloodwork that day and I at a couple doughnuts and drank a 20oz coke. which I think skewed results. I feel comfortable in disregarding the outlier.)
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Post by Maxus »

Thing is, my appearance doesn't match up with the fact. I'm 22. When I started this job, a couple of people kept asking how old I am. Upon being told, they then said I looked 18. I had a Wal-Mart clerk check two forms of ID because she thought I look even younger than that (I was buying God of War II.) Then, the other day, I was getting on the bus to downtown and someone asked if my school is in the direction I always approach from. When I said I was 22, he said, "Wow, you look 18."

Then there's my build and weight; I'm 5'10" and looked overweight, but people tend to be vocally surprised about how heavy I actually am. Even at 240-250, people said I looked about 200-220. I guess I have more muscle mass than it appears, but, still, it's weird to know that my appearance is that far off from the numbers.

Heh. Still. Not like I should complain. At least it's off in a good way.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Crissa »

My spouse likes to complain that when we hike, our daily range is more limited by the number of water bottles we can carry than any sort of time or footwear.

Maxus, drink more water! Or gatorade. ^-^ You'll feel less hungry, at any rate.

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Post by tzor »

Crissa wrote:My spouse likes to complain that when we hike, our daily range is more limited by the number of water bottles we can carry than any sort of time or footwear.
I've got the perfect thing for you. It's like this thing out of DUNE (well not exactly). It's a water carrier in the form of a backpack with a long tube that you can use while keeping it on your back. I think it was designed for hunters as it is covered in green camoflauge. So far I have never had a real reason to use it.

I need to take a photo of it.
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Post by Maxus »

A Camelbak.

Those things are nifty.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by mean_liar »

They're called "hydration packs". One of the more popular brands is a company called Camelbak.

http://www.camelbak.com/sports-recreati ... packs.aspx
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Post by CatharzGodfoot »

A camelbak doesn't help you carry more water, assuming you've got a good pack and you're carrying a decent amount of stuff anyway. It just takes less time to use than a bottle. Tzor, this is probably why you haven't seen a real reason to use one.

If you only want to carry water and you can find a big enough camelbak, then you might get something in the way of improved weight distribution.
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Post by Avoraciopoctules »

I like vests covered in pockets for carrying things. If you stick different canteens into different pockets, you can distribute weight much more easily, and you can easily memorize where everything you are carrying is. It doesn't look as weird as a backpack or hydration pack either.

Oh, and I certainly hope your condition turns out to be regular weight loss as opposed to diabetes, Maxus. That is a nasty affliction. I've heard (haven't done any research myself) that it might be a bigger problem than cancer nationally.
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Post by schpeelah »

Count_Arioch_the_28th wrote:I would get it checked, because it would take a doctor to test your blood sugar.
Not quite true. There are sugar checking devices for personal use, I've used one. You just put a drop of blood in it and it give you a reading.
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Post by Crissa »

I would rather drink my water out of clean or cleanable containers, thanks.

:P

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Post by CatharzGodfoot »

Crissa wrote:I would rather drink my water out of clean or cleanable containers, thanks.

:P

-Crissa
I'm pretty sure you can just full them up with warm soapy water and shake, just like a normal bottle.
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Crissa
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Post by Crissa »

Have you tried to clean the mouthpiece? And flexible plastic is really hard to brush down.

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Post by Avoraciopoctules »

And/or boiled water. When I say canteen, I generally refer to things like this:

Image

Big, durable, plastic bottles with screwtops. Very easy to clean, and I think the plastic is less unhealthy for storing beverages than a lot of the softer plastic bottles and cups.
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Post by Crissa »

Our pressure-proof bottles say not to expose to more than 110F water.

I think nalgene bottles are nasty, too.

Steel bottles and #1 plastic sealed water are my preferred types. They're easy to store, durable, the pre-filled water bottles are recycled locally and easy to portion, measure, and store.

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Post by shadzar »

Play the game, not the rules.
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good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
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Post by Ganbare Gincun »

Kleen Kanteen is the way to go.
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Post by cthulhu »

Camelbaks are great because it's so much easier to drink large quantities of water if you're hiking in hot conditions. Because you want to carry your extra 4 litre bottles at the bottom of your pack, it's typically a pain in the arse to get them out after you've drunk whatever you carry on your webbing (typically much less.) 3 litre bag works great.
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