"What's the matter," my husband wanted to know as I fell into a well-needed hug last night.

"Blech. My period's kicking my ass and it's not even here yet," I blurted.

To be absolutely frank, I loathe what my period does to my diabetes management. Yesterday I was doing absolutely excellent-for a while that is. I had a semi-high fasting of 150, but after a walk and two hours I was down to a respectable 114. Two hours later I tested at 70 and enjoyed a snack even though I wasn't really hungry. Barely two hours later I was ready for lunch and tested at 107, which I was very happy with.

But after a bowl of soup and some carrots-a lunch that would normally fill me up-I felt ravished. I held out for the two-hour mark so I could test. I suspected I ate too many carrots when I tested at 161. I was a little confused because the Byetta had been keeping my appetite under control; I didn't understand why I felt so hungry, especially since that 161 wasn't enough to give me that high-blood-sugar-hunger. I hated the choices I was faced with. I hated that I was so hungry and had few options for food that wouldn't further wreck my blood sugar.

As I was preparing to scavenge my purse for change for the vending machine, I remembered the microwave popcorn I had in my drawer. Excellent, I thought. A mini-bag of popcorn will surely tide me over until dinner. But no, I was still hungry-popcorn didn't even put a dent in my hunger. I succumbed to the call of the ancient vending machine and scarfed down a candy bar. I actually felt sort of satisfied.

But by dinner time my appetite and my brain were out of control. I ate everything I could find just to satisfy this beast in my stomach. It took me a bit to realize that I needed to check the calendar. I knew the old witch wasn't due right now, but sure enough I found that I'm smack dab in the middle of my cycle-prime time for ovulation and my hormones to go completely nuts.

Not to mention prime time for me to give in to every single craving. Which is exactly what I did when I went to the store for a couple gallons of milk.