first of all i d like to introduce myself as a new member. I m a 30 year old german, living in france and working in switzerland , diagnosed with t1d about 10 years ago. Didnt have big troubles so far and without paying a lot of attention to my diabetes all Hba1c were below 7%. Im running on an omnipod since one year.
So far so good. My problem is that although my level is failry good im often feeling like sh%&. This means tired, unfocused, aching muscles, weakness and so on. Lately i gotten problems with my stomache: often feeling nauseous, blown up but at the same time it feels like as if i havent eaten for a day. I was checked for Coeliac disease, thyreose and even went to an esophagogastroduodenoscopy but without any result.
Since especially the tiredness occurs in the mornings (more than it should be and this is as well when i have my bolus peak i was wondering if anybody has had similar problems or experiences... My glucose level was monitored a couple of times over 48 hours but was always quite stable. So to me it seems like as if my body struggles but compensates so its not possible to see it in the values but obviously has an effect
I would only say it's too much basal if you're "pushing" against your BG all the time, running low before meals a lot, or perhaps eating "early" to "catch" lows or various other ways to manage that situation.
That being said, I seem to be in a situation where .8U hour is a bit "hot" and seems to push me down but, when I tried cutting back to .775U/ hour recently, it wasn't quite enough. I'd rather push against lows than be correcting moderate highs so I've gone with .8 for now but am keeping protein to 40-50% of calories which seems to help me control my weight.
hmmmmm since all your medical test came back ok your bs's seem ok, this may sound wacky but maybe it is a food allergy even though you were tested for celiac you could still be sensitive to gluten... do you hyrdrate enough...could you have sleep apnea where your symptoms are worse in the morning... so many variables.. anything to be depressed about just putting out everything I can think of... hope you get to the bottom of this soon. blessings, amy
I think too much basal would just lead to more lows. But in a way it is true that most insulin dependend diabetics have to inject more insulin than is really needed. This is because the micro-dosing of the healthy body can not be compared to the administration via injection or even the pump. Insulin does not only regulate the glucose transport it does regulate the potassium transport too. It will cause the cells to consume more potassium from the blood stream and this can lead to a chronic deficit. This is also stated in the package insert of insulin and is called Hypokalemia. I would suggest to get yourself tested for this. The problem can be fixed by eating more food with potassium and additional supplements.
Another point might be your vitamin levels. Some studies do indicate that in T1 diabetics the capability to synthesize vitamin D is declining with age. This can be checked too and I would include vitamin B levels as well to rule out pernicious anemia.
The gorilla in the room might be the fact that T1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. For you it has manifested as T1 but the underlying autoimmune reaction can lead to the development of other autoimmune conditions as well. I would suspect that most of us develop more than one condition in our life. This is coming in waves and 10 years is a pattern I have experienced myself:
-a very likely condition is an attack against the tissue of the thyroid. A blood test of T3, T4 and TSH will be helpful. Medications can help to overcome these deficits.
-another condition might be an attack against the pancreas. As a result the pancreas will produce less encymes to support the digestion. Do you often have fatty stool or diarrhea? Enzyme capsules with every meal will help to normalize the digestion again.
Holger, you are right. Eleven years ago, I had pernicious anemia ( B-12 deficiency) as well as low thyroid. Only had minor symptoms from the low thyroid( hair somewhat thinner, dry skin); but was completely exhausted, weak and eventually could not walk from the nerve damage from having low B-12. Both of these are auto-immune syndromes. Symptoms were reversed with proper treatment. Yet, I still have slight nerve tinglies/tightness in my legs and feet,some back pain, but not sure whether it is a b-12 remnant, or stable neuropathy from long-term diabetes, or resultant effects from a compressed spinal nerve. My doctors do not know either...Anyway, Jebusfu, do get your thyroid and b-12 checked out.Welcome to Tudiabetes!!
To the above good advice let me add that you may not be testing your BG enough. If you feel bad (tired, unfocused, weak, etc), TEST. See what your BG is. You may use more strips than you normally do for a while, but you may find these symptoms are determined by your BG, or by rapid swings in your BG, or indeed by taking too much or not enough basal or bolus insulin. Hba1c is your average, but your moment to moment BG is more important in determining how you feel. The only way to know that is to test more.
