I have felt like crap for 4 months now.This month alone I experienced 4 low B/S which is new for me. I hate that feeling. Today I had an appointment with my endocrinoligist. I just new she would find something wrong. I told my wife i would probably have to start insulin today.
I went to my appointment and laid out all my symptoms.I told her i went from 1 cheat day to 3 maybe 4. I quit excersizing because i felt so sick all the time.
The doc said my A1C was 6.4 weight 188 my B/P was 125/70- i have not seen that number in 15 years. Reccomendations from doc> have only 1 cheat day. tighten up your carb counting. lose a couple pounds. Go back to excersizing. NO Insulin. you are the healthiest diabetic i have.
for being so healthy i sure dont feel very good. But she does come highly reccomended by many and my blood tests show nothing out of wack.
Did you talk with the endo about what symptoms you are experiencing? It's one thing for them to say that according to the tests you are healthy (and yes, that's nice to hear!), but if you are feeling ill a lot of the time something might be going on that you need help with!
It seems that I find myself agreeing with Zoe quite often. I find that my doc seems to treat me as two different people. One that has diabetes and one that has other ailments. If I'm in for a Diabetes check-up he doesn't want to discuss anything else. He just wants to talk about my numbers and I have to almost force him to discuss other issues. I'm finding that I must control the conversation if want to accomplish my goals for the visit.
I have always seen a GP only for all my health needs but I am changing that, I have an Endo appointment coming up soon. I am taking my diabetes care away from the GP so that Diabetes isn't the 800 pound gorilla in the room when I see him.
You have seen the Endo maybe now it's time to see the GP to see why you don't feel well it could after all be something else.
Gary S
Right back at you, Gary: That's a good point that specialists tend to have tunnel vision for their own area of concern.
I would question the "no insulin." You might feel SO much better even on low doses of insulin.
I really question the wisdom about the delay in putting Type 2 diabetics on Insulin versus prescribing oral medications that is forcing an organ that is already having difficulty to produce MORE insulin. To me that just seems like you are going to burn out your pancreas a lot faster on oral medications versus low doses on insulin. Not to mention the potentially bad side effects a lot of these oral medications have. Perhaps maybe you would feel better on a low dose of insulin. A second opinion never hurts, and if you feel something isnt quite right, more than likely something probably isnt. No one knows our bodies like we do.
Perhaps if you dont mind sharing the symptoms you have been having, not that I'm a doctor, I'm just cuirous and might shed some insight o whether they could be diabetes related or not.
I have previously questioned if karatejoe's "Type 2" diagnosis is correct. If he is LADA/adult-onset Type 1, he needs insulin even at low doses.
Endos can be hesitant to prescribe insulin for many reasons including, they fear the liability of possible lows & guiding patients to use insulin takes time. They'll keep throwing pills at diabetes for as long as they can, which usually isn't the patient's best interest. They too often wait until BG is very high rather than take proactive steps. Also bear in mind that most doctors don't have particularly high standards for A1c's.
You feel ill too often & that's the bottom line. Glad your BP is excellent & other results are good.
It's tragic that doctors put so much stock in lab tests that they don't hear what patients are telling them about symptoms. And for all their adoration of labs, they often don't run the appropriate tests.
If you're keeping logs, show them to your endo. Black & white records get the story across.
You have a right to feel better, highly recommended endo or not.
I completely agree with you on this, Gary. For a long time, I only saw an endo because I really didn't have any other health issues. Then I had an emergency non-diabetes related surgery and didn't have a primary care doc to call.
Now that I have a primary care doc (an internist) and an endo, I feel like my health care is more balanced. They are in the same clinic and communicate well with all test results in the same folder. I also like having 2 doctors to bounce things off of - sort of a built in second opinion.
I find that when I'm having health issues or feel out of sorts, the hardest thing to figure out is what kind of doctor you need to go to. There's alot of overlap sometimes. For example, with hormones, you can get treatment from an endo, a GP, a Gyno, a urologist (depending on if you're male or female)...then you have to figure out who will give you the best and most appropriate treatment.
Karatejoe, You can have a good A1c and still have alot of swings in blood sugar because the A1c is an average. I have found that when my blood sugar is swinging widely that I feel bad. I feel best when there's less fluctuation. Eliminating the cheat days will probably help reduce the carb rollercoaster effect on your bg.
Maybe try testing more frequently for a week to get a better handle on what your blood sugar is doing between your normal finger stick times. You may also want to think about asking your doctor to put you on a trial cgm for a few days to see what your fluctuations are like. That would also provide alot of information to the doc and may explain some of why you're feeling bad. At the very least, it would give you more information to use if you decide to seek a second opinion.
Good luck and take care. Hoping you find some help and feel better.
congrats on the great a1c. what sort of sickness are you dealing with?
I have a general I dont feel good feeling. Like I always have the begining of a flu virus . you know you dont feel good but you can keep going on but you dont feel right. Dizzy, head aches. The doc didnt say much . I think she feels its from the b/s swings. reading the forums here thats what it seems like to me. Energy level is gone long gone.
She gave me Onglza 5 mg to take once daily. its suppossed to help stop the swings. Im leary of it because no one seems to like taking it. Its fairy new to the market.
Ive had blood work, MRI, EKG,. I pass it all. Im just gonna be this way. Hopefully the b/s swings are causing some of it. Im starting back into my pre diagnosis excersize program.Ive tightend my diet up again. I see.
I am also Type 2 and I have had that "flu feeling" for years now. The dizziness and lack of energy is a problem for me too. My current GP thinks it is the Metformin and, if so, it will have to be endured. The only thing that seems to help is exercise. I wonder if it has something to do with insulin resistance? I mean, if someone is truly Type 2, then their insulin is not working properly. I think that if insulin is hanging around in your body, it can make you sick. The onglza is supposed to help with that. Of course, I am only guessing. I hope the onglza works for you and that you will feel better soon. Please keep us posted. Joanne