Somebody Get Me Some Crack

And on the 40th day, there was a headache.  Well, it actually started the 39th day.  The roots of sugar addiction run deep, and my brain is jonesing for its crack (not really, just sugar) fix.  Everyone gets their Day 2 or Day 3 headache, but this one came out of nowhere.  There is nothing a nurse dislikes more than someone droning on and on about their health issues, so I won't do that to you either.  But there is a protective, dysfunctional mechanism waging war in my brain, and you may or may not face the same thing.

2 years ago, I did the a 10-week Paleo Challenge. I clearly remember the wheels nearly coming off the bus around week 5.  I was new to Crossfit, and new to Paleo.  During this week, out of nowhere, I experienced lethargy, nausea, agitation, but mostly a splitting, grouchy-inducing headache.  After talking to some experienced Paleo eaters and Instantaneous-Therapist-On-The-Go-Crossfit-Owner Dave May, I learned that sugar addiction can rear its ugly head up to 8 weeks after being removed from the diet.  I decided to look into this a little further, while at the same time looking for anyone to yell or scream at.  

Here's why I KNEW I was having a withdrawal problem:  Normally, I'm a loving wife, happy fun mother, and dog lover extraordinaire.  During this week 2 years ago, I literally spent a day googling "Military Boarding Schools for Boys" and "Bernese Mountain Dog rescue."  I think my kids didn't do their homework and didn't empty the dishwasher.  The dogs were probably just hungry and needy, but so was I.  Dave calmly told me to step away from Google, and keep the kids at home (they should be eternally grateful to him), that this too will pass. And it did.  So I took the medical knowledge I have of drug and alcohol addiction, and began applying it to my thirst for information regarding sugar addiction.  I stepped away from Google, and went to Google Scholar instead, to see what the actual scientists were researching and publishing. 

If you are a nurse or a doctor or work in a hospital, you have read medical abstracts, journal articles, and published results of experiments and research studies.  This is complicated stuff, because scientists and doctors rely on experiments and studies to advance medicine, but their communication of those results is typically, well, scientific.  You can thank me later, but I just read 5 different studies, all done between 2008-2012.  The common theme between all of them was that they set out to prove that sugar addiction elicits the same response in the brain, both behavioral responses and involuntary physiological responses, that opioid, or drug, and alcohol addiction does. 

From the 5 articles I read, I took the similarities in the studies and the conclusions, and will sum it up here.  I'm not citing or referencing anything because that's a pain and this isn't a college course.  If you want to know more go to Google Scholar and search "Sugar Addiction Withdrawal." 

• Addictive substances, including sugar, activate the reward response in your brain.  Sugar releases opioids and dopamine, causing an addictive potential.


• Rats that became sugar dependent demonstrated the behaviors of craving, binging, and withdrawal, and then developed eating disorders and obesity because of their addictive behaviors.


• Rats that were addicted to cocaine, opioids or alcohol took less of those substances when they were exposed to saccharin to drink, suggesting that saccharin provides a stronger response in the brain's reward centers. 


• Rats that were given Narcan reduced their sugar intake.  And let me tell you about Narcan, because every ICU or ER nurse has a good narcan story.  When a patient is stoned out of their mind, to the point where they are too messed up to breathe, Narcan is given.  Narcan reverses the effects of morphine, but also for many of the abused, illegal opioids as well.  A completely gorked patient becomes immediately awake, and some of these people may not have been clear-minded in a long time.  These now instantly sober people sometimes become wild, irrational, combative, and straight-up crazy because they don't typically do "sober" too well.  Their failure to breathe is no longer a problem, but they have just become your Workout of the Day. When the addicted rats were given Narcan, their brain's opioid receptors were completely blocked, and the rats avoided sugar when it was presented to them. 


• Some rats had their sugar intake gradually reduced until it was eliminated.  They were then re-exposed to sugar after 4, 6, and 8 weeks of having been sugar-free.  Many of them demonstrated addictive behaviors, including binging and aggression, to obtain the sugar.  They also demonstrated physical withdrawal when it was taken away; tremors, teeth chattering, vomiting, and lethargy. 

So, I'm not crazy, but I do have a sugar addiction.  I am the rat right now.  On Wednesday night, after the challenge, I had 2 small glasses of wine.  I ate wings that might have had gluten somewhere on them (grains or gluten have exorphins, which cause the exact same response that your brain gives to morphine).  I believe those two small dietary lapses have caused this headache I am currently experiencing, because it elicited the withdrawal response once again in my brain. 

So consider yourself warned.  Not everyone, but many of you, will experience the same kind of re-exposure relapse.  Just like the rats, some did not experience the symptoms, but most did.  If you find yourself cheating just a little, and end up with a whopping headache, know that you are a rat.  Just as I did before, I will power through.  A little Excedrin and tons of water, along with B vitamins, should help give me the added push. 

Just Say No!