A New York woman who people thought was drunk actually had a rare tumor on her pancreas that made her act as if she were intoxicated.
Friends of Rockland County real estate agent Rosemary McGinn presumed she’d downed one too many when she started talking to herself and swaying backward and forward.
Sometimes sent home from work, she often had trouble remembering the year and the name of the president — and as she was driving even forgot where she lived.
Doctors initially diagnosed her with hypoglycemia — a condition where her blood sugar would drop to outrageously low levels.
But despite constantly having snacks and juices — which caused her to pile on 25 pounds — to boost her energy, she continued to suffer the same symptoms.
After two years of frustration she visited Mount Sinai Diabetes Center.
Dr. Ronald Tamler found her blood sugar levels were some of the lowest he’d ever seen.
“A normal blood sugar is around 100 mg/dl, and most people start feeling poorly when their sugar dips below 70,” he said.
“But Rosemary had a sugar (level) of 20. Some needs to stay in the blood stream. It acts as fuel for red blood cells. if the brain doesn’t get enough sugar you’re in real trouble,” he added.
Tamler diagnosed McGinn with insulinoma, a rare tumor on the pancreas that continues to make insulin — which absorbs sugar from the blood — even when the blood sugar level drops too low.
Referred to specialists, they removed the half-inch cyst in January — and McGinn has not suffered a “drunk” episode since.
“For almost two years, I wasn’t living,” she told ABC News.
“I’d be having 3,000 different conversations with myself. It was scary. I thought there’s no way in hell I could live like this. They basically saved my life.”
