Old Addictions

If you know me very well, you'll know that I used to be addicted to Mountain Dew...seriously!

Several times I "tried to quit" (haha) and always got these terrible headaches. It wasn't until our school system that I teach for started doing these health assessments for our insurance that I decided I had to do better. We are tested every 6 months, and the first two times my blood sugar levels came back in the upper 90s and low 100s. The nurses said they consider that "pre-diabetic". That scared me. When I was talking to my dad, he told me that both of my aunts (his sisters) are diabetic.

At that point I was probably drinking 2-3 cans of MD while I school and then a glass in evenings with my dinner. All I drank, ever, was probably MD or water. After talking with the nurses, I cut out the MD during the day and limited myself to only once glass with dinner. This worked, most of the time. ;)

It wasn't until I began feeling sick last June and went to the dr that I totally quit drinking it. We thought I had stomach ulcers and those are triggered my caffeine. Knowing this, I quit "cold turkey". It was weird because when I tried cutting back or quiting earlier, I always got these bad headaches...but this time -nothing. It was almost like I KNEW I had to quit bc of the stomach pains and nausea.

Well, we laugh now - but I actually was 3 months pregnant and that's why I was sick...not ulcers. Go figure. :) But from that point on, I did not drink ANY MD until after Aidyn was born. I take that back. I can recall 2 or 3 times that I did, but it wasn't good anymore. Isn't it weird how that happens?

After not drinking any caffeine during my pregnancy, I had a sweet tea with lunch at school one day in Nov/Dec...I don't remember exactly. Apparently it was caffenated and I thought I was dying. My heart started beating soooo fast, I had to stop just to catch my breath. It was very scary. From that point on, I was very careful what I drank. I mostly drank water or sprite. I continued on this path even though Aidyn being born and my breastfeeding (pumping actually) since the caffeine also triggered his reflux and made it worse.

Lastnight, Ben and I decided we were hungry at 10pm. Haha...we ate such a big lunch after church that we weren't hungry earlier in the evening. With our 10pm warmed up leftovers, I had a can of MD that Ben's aunt had brought over for the lunch. Keep in mind though, not the whole can...maybe half. When we went to bed at midnight, I COULD NOT go to sleep. I wasn't restless, but I just laid there for what felt like forever! I used to be able to drink TONS and it really had no effect whatsoever on me. Well...I guess not anymore.

So, it looks like no more MD or anything caffinated before bed for me.