I’m trying very hard to stay positive and proactive, but the last few days have been brutal. I will take any positive vibes and e-hugs I can get. If you have advice, I’ll take that too.
Quick recap:
March 2010 - Became symptomatic and began seeing lots of doctors
October 2010 - Dx Pre-Diabetic
January 2011 - Dx Type II
April 2011 - A1C good (5.7), but BG swings between 45 -300* with the swings becoming more severe than they had been in the past
*My diet is tightly controlled. I limit carbs to 30 per meal and 15 per snack. Although, I try to go as low as possible.
In April, my endo mentioned that I might be a “special” type of diabetic and ordered extra tests for my follow-up in July (three more weeks to go until the appointment). In the past, I have been negative for antibodies, and my c-peptide was 1.9. I also have Hashimotos and Fibro.
Since April, I’ve lost another 5 lbs, which has started to generate a lot of comments from co-workers and strangers. (I’m 5’6” and 107lbs.)
Now, the last few days I’ve started to go low randomly. (I take Metformin once daily.) In particular, I’ve noticed that my BG is lower 2 hours after I eat than it was before I ate! This happens regardless of the amount of carbs I eat so I don’t think it is reactive hypoglycemia, but then again, I’m new(ish) to all this.
I’m sorry to blabber on, but I only know one diabetic (He’s Type I), and I haven’t joined a support group because they can’t decide what type I am. I’m frustrated that I don’t know what to do or who to talk to about things. I feel like all I can do is wait for things to get worse before they will get better.
This can be such an infuriating disease sometimes - no rhyme or reason it seems to all. The Metformin can contribute to the weight loss. As Emmy suggested, talk to your doctor about cutting back your does. It sounds like you may have good enough control for that. Huge hug to you for all you’ve been enduring. And, give a big pat on your own back for that great A1C you are definitely doing something right!
I’ve been on the Metformin since October so I didn’t even consider that to be a factor. Of course, you can always start reacting differently to meds at anytime.
Thank you for the support. I really needed it tonight. In some ways, I feel like a wimp, especially when I read what others on TuD have endured … but some days just hit you harder than others.
I don’t have any words of wisdom; your situation does sound complex, and I hope they figure it out soon. Meanwhile, stay safe. Do test frequently and treat your lows with glucose tabs so you don’t overtreat and go on a roller coaster of low to high. And keep us many good logs of your experiences, what you eat and what your numbers are, so you can bring it to the endo. Oh yeah, and BIG HUG! I was where you are two and a half years ago. Having no idea why my numbers just kept rising and going crazy trying to figure it out. I hope you get some answers soon. Hang in there and use your support network. They may not understand your D, but they care about you. Eat healthy, get plenty of sleep and do nice things for yourself to counter the stress you are under. I hope you get good results from the endo, he sounds like a good one.
I agree with Zoe. I know stress can have a large effect on my numbers. Try to relax, and not worry about it. If you are testing regularly, controlling it, and not having any emergency situations - that’s a good thing.
I also know how you feel about playing the waiting game. I had to do the same thing for about 2 weeks before I got to see my regular doctor and get a final diagnosis. It’s true that the waiting is the hardest part.
Your random lows are probably due to the speed that your metformin is working and it might be better to increase the carbs a bit to help prevent this and you could try between meal snacks - such as carbohydrates in the form of bread or a piece of fruit or crackers - or something that you like.
Is the weather hot with you at the moment? Heat can affect the blood sugar levels - either making you high or low and you need to check a bit more frequently. Dehydration can make you high, so drink plenty and then some more. Keep out of the sun.
I admit I have no knowledge of hashimotos, but I do know about the Fibro. I have it and so does my mother and pain can make your blood sugars swing.
I wonder if you might do better on some insulin? Or a combination of the metformin. I never had the metformin, I had gliclazide but went onto insulin after about 4 months because I was swinging from one extreme to the other.
Just thoughts. Meanwhile, sending you warm hugs from a sweltering UK (where we measure in mmols, so am a bit confused about your figures!) and sending prayers too.
It will get easier but diabetes (either type) is a fickle disease, you think you have it sussed and it changes the goal post.
Sending BIG (((((((HUGS)))))) and Positive Vibes to you. Hopefully you’ll get this in proper line, so you can Smile again and worry much less. Patience and practice.
I’m so sorry. This can be really frustrating. You feel like your whole life is spreading out before you, a train wreck in slow motion. And what really makes my blood boil is that the people that are supposed to help (medical team) and sometimes they don’t see it as a big problem. To them it is just confusing. Well, clearly to you, this is a big problem. Instead, they would rather just wait until your are really, really sick and then it should be obvious.
On the lows, before I started insulin, I always had high fasting blood sugars and following a low carb diet, I would often find I was lower after a meal than when I started. I didn’t have hypos, but I would often be 20-30 mg/dl lower than before I ate. It was as though my body didn’t bother to put out any insulin until I ate. But going down to 45 mg/dl is a definite hypo. If you are having ractive hypos after eating, a low carb diet may help, particularly eating protein. You may also find you can avert this by having an after dinner mini snack/dessert of just 10-15 g carbs.
But I would urge you to look on the bright side. Your endo is actively looking into what may be going on. And also, you are doing everything you can to take care of yourself. I know that at times it must feel like your world is falling down around you and nobody seems to give a cr*p. But that is not really true. Have confidence, you will get this figured out and you will get through this.
I’ve never used glucose tabs to correct. Usually, that’s when I’ll grab a forbidden item to eat in moderation until I’ve corrected. I noticed that you recommended using tabs instead on other threads. Is that because the correction is more controlled?
I do live in a super hot climate! (I live in Phoenix where the highs have been 115 degrees lately.) I drink a lot of water, but I can always drink more if it helps.
I didn’t realize that pain could impact your BG. That is definitely something to consider because my neuralgia has flared again.
I agree with Emmy. Since you are a relatively small person, you probably need a smaller dose of Metformin than what is typical. And your body is probably so much more sensitive to small changes than someone who is larger. Aahh… the curse of being thin!
Metformin should not lower blood sugar to the levels you’re seeing. It helps the body utilize the insulin it already makes better, but it generally will not cause blood sugar to go too low (Metformin reduces insulin resistance, and therefore results in blood sugars coming back into normal range among T2Ds and also helps people with T1D deal with insulin resistance).
The antibody tests are not always conclusive and some people with T1D can even have negative antibody tests. You may want to consider a second opinion, especially in light of the fact that you already have Hashimoto’s (an autoimmune disease). You could be seeing the early stages of a slow-developing T1D. I feel like other people on here who have developed LADA have described similar situations in which, in the beginning, their BGs fluctuated widely.
What are your fasting BGs like? Are you high when you wake up in the morning?
Just didn’t expect that from my endo!