06/03/2026
The more you know...
Thankfully, my labs have always been “normal”.
My A1C? Normal. ✅
My glucose? Normal. ✅
Yet I knew I wasn't sleeping as well as I should.
So recently, I started digging deeper: 🧐
I’ve been wearing a continuous glucose monitor which, interestingly, showed my blood sugar dropping very low repeatedly through the night.
I also took a 4-point cortisol test which showed my cortisol level is off the charts in the early morning hours. 🤔
Looking at either test by itself might not have meant much. Looking at them together painted a different picture. 💡
When blood sugar drops overnight, the body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to bring it back up….this continued over and over and over. It’s great for keeping me alive…not so great for restful sleep.
As a pharmacist, I absolutely believe medications have an important place….that place, however, isn’t always first.
Poor sleep doesn't always mean you need a sleeping pill.
Fatigue doesn't mean you need more caffeine.
Heartburn doesn’t always mean you need an acid blocker.
Etc., etc., etc.
The challenge is that our healthcare system is designed to “manage symptoms” quickly rather than investigate why they're happening in the first place.
Instead of asking, "What can I take for this?" Let’s start asking, "Why is this happening?"
Get curious. Pay attention. Track your symptoms. Ask questions. Run the right tests when it makes sense. Look for patterns.
And remember that "normal" does not equal good‼️
Sometimes the difference between managing a symptom and solving a problem is simply having more pieces of the puzzle.
The more you know, the more empowered you become. We’re here to help! 💚
