If my blood sugars are not spot on, I am very unsteady with my walking and my speech. So.........this happens every time I eat. It is making me even more insecure about my diabetic existence.
When you say "if my blood sugars are not spot on" I'm assuming you are referring to even minor highs and lows. No, I have never heard of people experiencing that with minor flutuations. Have you spoken with a doctor about it? I think it's a temptation to just assume everything relates to D when something else entirely could be going on.
No I have not talked to MD about it as she is retiring and I find it hard to tell my whole story to another MD. I did have a head trauma two years ago, but I just find it odd it only happens when my blood sugars are off that I experience these issues. Just reaching out to see if other diabetics have this issue.
Define "spot on". Are we talking 10 points, 20 or what? High or low?
I think that unsteady walking would warrant talking to a doc, possibly a specialist. It may be that the doc who is retiring is comfortable but I'd say it's time to move on and sooner, rather than later. You are a treasure to our communities (disclaimer, I see Karen around other places too, I keep waiting to run into you here in Naperville, one of these days!) and , like brboyer said, depending on what you mean by spot on, I have been through a pretty rough year, with several complete cluster#8%$ BG timeframes but never had too much trouble walking or talking, unless my BG is like 20. Or I've drank too much?
I don't have unsteady walking with minor fluctuations, but I'm extremely sensitive to minor highs. I feel 130's, and I usually fall asleep around the time I hit 150. This makes it extremely hard for me to eat carbs, even in small amounts. Even my endo thinks I'm crazy sometimes...
Did you have this before your head injury? Maybe your endo might not even be the best doc to bring this up with--a neurologist might be better if it started after the head injury.
fluctuation of any sort and I am unsteady below 90 and above 140
my neurologist was pretty much done with me right away, even though I had 3 fractures and was dizzy for a long time and a lot of other issues, mainly because CT was normal. I have had a CT since and it was normal again. Not sure what I will do, don't think an endo would be helpful and my primary at one time said the longer I have diabetes the more sensitive I will become to anything but normal blood sugars. I think a DEX could be helpful so that I can react quicker to blood sugars changes. Ahhhh who knows, but I do know I hold on a lot to my husband when I am out and about. I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in April, which is doing a lot better but I am very unsteady as well if I am not wearing the right shoes, so perhaps it is that. Guitarnut it is extremely hard for me to eat carbs, because I am so sensitive to the blood sugar swings.
I agree. There is something else going on and it would be good to have whichever doctor you trust pursue this.
If I am low like 55 or less, I can start talking confused or slurry. If I get over about 240 I get sleepy but still walk and speak fine. Unless you have neuropathy, your gait should not be affected by BG's within a typical range. Likely not T1D related unless it was a stroke. I would see a neurologist or even a speech pathologist to investigate further.
Although we think of loss of feeling in our feet and hands as peripheral neuropathy, it can manifest in a bunch of ways. And both speech problems and balance problems can happen. Do you think you might have some neuropathy? Do you think lows and highs might make it worse?
Is it possible that you have some vitamin/mineral deficiency ?
I was also suffering from many symptoms like pain in foot , dry mouth etc when my BGs were in 100 to 140 range. I have lowered by intake of Vit B complex as I read that its excess could cause foot pain. Also I read about potassium and how insulin depletes it. The potassium deficiency can also cause some neurological issues. I have started taking like 1/2 banana with meals and also green vegetables and symptoms on high BGs are not as strong. I need to experiment bit more as I just started. However these things doctors should tell us when we go on something new like insulin. Yesterday my bg was 175 but I didn't feel it at all and which is a good and a bad thing. I liked it though.
Other people please also put your comments about Vitamins/minerals !!
Dr. Brian, I am starting to think that is my issue, so what type of MD should I turn to?
Thank you, this is very helpful. I do have a lot of foot and leg pain in the evening, and omg the dry mouth thingy. Gonna start buying bananas. I don't eat enough fruit and veggies that is for sure, seems like I will bolus for a cookie but avoid fruits and bolusing. I so get your enjoyment of not feeling the 175, ha.
I appreciate the compliment, but I am definitely not a medical doctor.
A neurologist is probably best at diagnosing your peripheral neuropathy. Even though you did see a neurologist after your injury you have not gone to one inquiring about diabetic neuropathy. As to treatment, that is another question. A neurologist may or may not be helpful with treatment. The best thing to do is control your blood sugar, but you don't need some doctor to tell you that. And your endo or regular doctor may be just as qualified to help you with whatever other treatments are available.
Thanks Dr. Brian and I did a search on diabetic neuropathy and of course control your blood sugars. :(
I only get physical manifestations with more severe lows (I'm trying to fix a sort of unawareness issue, it seems very random now if I'm unaware it's weird, I might already have neuropathy or something...) and severe highs (namely I want to cry/my anxiety goes through the roof even if i'm not worried about my sugar, I pee a lot, I shake (oddly enough I have a low symptom when I"m high so that's why I don't blindly treat shakes as lows that kinda stuff)) so I'm not too sure. It does seem if I'm not at the 100's at work I have issues? but only then? If I"m at home or something it doesn't matter? Probably because physical activity makes me drop like a rock?
I had a low while shopping this weekend and could barely walk, so I do believe all these issues for me are related to blood sugar fluctuations. So hard to function and/or have a normal existence.
"my primary at one time said the longer I have diabetes the more sensitive I will become to anything but normal blood sugars."
Any doctor who says this is goofy! This is exactly the OPPOSITE of what happens, the longer and more frequently you experience fluctuations in BG, the less able you are to feel them, especially in the lows (hence higher rates of hypoglycemia unawareness in those who have had D longer) but also the highs....
[Ugh. I get a little worked up about things like this, D is hard enough when there's accurate info involved, its only worse when our "medical professionals" make largely unsubstantiated statements like this (or state things so unclearly as to be heard backwards by the patient).]
Also food intolerances (or legit allergies) can manifest in some pretty bizarre ways too, but they aren't very easy to definitively determine- its a lot of trial and error in another N=1 experiment, but if you can track down that you do react especially poorly to a food or ingredient, sometimes some "unrelated" issues can disappear. [I had been diagnosed with "surgery-worthy" trigger thumb in both hands, and after determining a nightshade issue (a class of veggies including potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers), I have full thumb function back in both hands, no surgery required.] I think its really easy for both ourselves, and our medical team to put so much focus on the diabetes-side of our health that we can overlook/forget that we are still just as susceptible to "regular people" issues too.
Good luck finding a solution!