I am moderately concerned. I am no longer taking metformin and I have suspended insulin injections. Basically, I have stopped medicating my self for the diabetes. I have lost my appettite and am losing about 5 lbs per week. my diet consists of a glass of instant breakfast at 6 am and a 6 nch spicy Italian sub from subway. My fasting BS is around 150. I'm ok with the weight loss at the moment because i've been sedentary since my accident and recovery, but i'm not sure what to make of this situation. I'm not alarmed, just curious.
Have to ask why you’ve stopped your insulin & Metformin & for how long? Even if you’re not eating a lot, you still need to take meds & insulin. Quite risky not to.
If your BG is high, this will cause weight loss. Of course, so will not eating. You mentioned your 150 fasting, which is high, but how are you doing after the instant breakfast & sub?
Are you feeling ok other than loss of appetite? Depressed? Stomach problems? Can’t imagine you have much energy with potentially high BG & not eating. Sleeping well? I go through periods when I don’t feel like eating much due to it being such a pain with what we have to do with dosing, counting, correcting. What helps me is getting out of the rut of eating the same thing & getting some exercise.
I’m sleeping well…sometimes too well. the instant breakfast jacks me up to about 220 and the sub will send me to about 190, but will last through the remainder of the day/evenig. lately i seem to have ost the normal symptoms of going low. last month i was in the low 50’s 3 times before I caught it. the only symptom was my legs got cold like they were wet. two snickers bars and a bag of doritos later only got me up to 88. that is what got my attention. so, something is going on. just havn’t figured it out yet.
thanks
danny
You say you are not alarmed, but curious. I find that not only alarming but disturbing. You have taken steps to stop your medication which you need. Then you note that you are having high blood sugars and observing weight loss which is a primary signal of your ill health.
Let me clear about this. When you don’t have enough insulin, your body cannot absorb nutrients and the observed weight loss may well be your body in the process of shutting down. I have to ask you whether you realize that this process is literally “eating” away your body. Sure you will lose some body fat, but all of your muscles and organs are being hurt.
I think you should be concerned. You have stopped your medications, you have signs that your health is failing in major ways and you are not even alarmed, just curious.
Please restart your medicine again at the proper levels. If you want to lose weight, there are safe ways to do that.
Danny, I think there are a number of issues under the surface here… I can’t be sure of all of them, because I’ve only seen a few of your posts, and I don’t know you personally… But, this incident, seems very similar to what happens when people put themselves on really strict diets, and strict and unrealistic exercise regimes, that don’t fit their needs, nor their likes. What happens is that the minute those harsh sacrifices are not paying off enough in return (ie, quick weight loss, good numbers, etc), or the minute we let ourselves enjoy something we like, we beat ourselves up… and then we binge, out of guilt. We binge, and we let go of ALL the plan, instead of just considering it a bump in the road, and moving on. I don’t know what kind of lifestyle, diet, or exercise regime you were following… or if you have guilt with it, or people who guilt you when you “fail,” but… Right now, you need to let yourself feel whatever it is your are feeling, and then FORGIVE yourself… And move on. Tomorrow is another day, and you need to take those meds and insulin… even if you don’t decide right away to follow a healthier meal plan, because otherwise, well… You know the drill. It’s time to reassess, and free yourself from your guilt… and find what will work best for you… Not for the doctor, or the nutritionist, or exercise guru, or for your family… but for YOU. It might also help to see a therapist, to help deal with some of these emotions… because it is a HUGE upheaval of life, and routine… and it can get so overwhelming, sometimes. Just don’t stand idly by getting people’s reactions, on our forum, and not taking it as seriously as it is…
thank you all. I am not sure what to make of this. I AM keeping a close eye on my blood sugar. if it gets up to 300 i’ll go to see doctor. at the moment, BS has been hanging around 220 This happened to me once before about 2 yrs ago. i got down to 168 lbs and my appetite returned. i found it curious then as I do now. I am the sort of person who feeds cravings an I take a vitamin every day to be on the safe side. I may be mildly depressed, but understandable considering the circumstances I find myself in. it may be i am sitting too much. because of my injury the doctor suggested I find an occupation that is less physically demanding, so I’m in a transition phase. I have always been active as a carpenter (20+ yrs). I have been more sedentary now than at any other time in my life. prescription strenght aleve takes care of the headaches. Doc told me scar tissue will cause headaches for a year or more and slowly ease. I will start taking insulin tonight and tomorrow and see what happens.
thanks for your feed back.
danny
yea. just getting reactions from people was not my intention. I was really hoping a doc or nurse would have some insight to what is going on. i’ve had it happpen to me a few yrs ago and when I dropped to 168 lbs my appetite returned… I’m usually very active as a carpenter and now I’m very sedentary…I suspect that is the reason for this loss of appetite. i’m keeping a close watch on my BS and if It goes any higher, I will start insulin again. thank you for your feedback. I hadn’t considered depression.
sincerely
danny
As a diabetic, I don’t eat because I’m hungry. I eat because it provides me nutrition. It certainly is hard to push back from the table when you are still hungry. Even more disturbing at times is that you need to eat when you are not hungry. I am one of those people who just does not really get hungry. I eat on schedule. I will eat when I am not hungry, and there are times that I have had to eat when I just felt sick of the food and did not want it (and I am not talking about having to eat lima beans as a kid).
I’m glad you are going to start the insulin, that is what really worried me. Think about trying to eat to a plan, even though you may not be that hungry. Sometimes, being hungry is just not a good signal of when you should eat.
I am deeply concerned for you Danny. You sound depressed to me, like you’ve given up, and said what the H**L! Who cares. Well, I am here to tell you that all these people can’t be wrong, we all care. Not eating properly, is not the way to lose weight, it’s not the way to deal with your “D” and it’s certainly NOT the way to work through your depression.
Danny, come on…I know it’s hard, I’m doubting that it’s even harder for you than most. But you’ve got to get a handle on this.
Tom is right, you are slowly killing yourself because you aren’t doing anything…call your doc, fess up to what’s going on, and get back on track. Pleeeeze…we need you around here.
bsc,
thank you. I guess i didn’t phrase my question right, but this is the info i am looking for. the last ouple of weeks just the sight of food is not appealing. I’ve eaten a package of instant breakfast in the morning and a subway sandwich in the afternoon. I added a can of grapefuit this evening. I just chked my bs and it is 210. .I thought it would be lower than that. I took insulin last night and this morning…
anyway, as a carpenter, i was always busy. I ate a huge breakfast a sandwich for lunch and amoderate supper. Now, I am sedentary and sit at a desk all day and evening. My first thought is this is just my bodies way to adjust to new caloric needs. The idea of forcing myself to eat makes me a little green, but I guess i could stock up on fruit.
I’m a little embarassed by all the attention. really, i was just wanting to know if anyone else had this experience with appetite…
btw, I met a woman at work with two t1 children. I gave her this web address. her name is maria m. thanks again for the feed back
danny w
i stopped meds because i was curious to see what BS would do without them. i think deep down i am not covinced i diabetic. if i drop the weight my needs will correspond.
this insight came after several hours of introspection.
danny w
Thank you seagator. I am surprised by the response to my question…gratefully so and appreciative for all the caring soles…guess that is why I spend so much time on the site. Anyway, over the past few days i have doing some deep sole searching. I may have been a bit depressed. Doc is sending me some Citolapram for depression. i think though that i was trying to convince myself i really wasn’t diabetic. today, someone brought pizza to work. Three slices and i reaquainted myself with diabetes. My blood sugar is finally under 200 and i am starting to feel good again. my appetite is back. i’m still not sure why my appetite disappeared and I waas curious to know if anyone else had it happen to them. I guess the insulin is what perked up my appetite I had my normal instant breakfast drink this morning and by 10 am I was REALLY hungry. I dove into that pizza and I am still full from lunch. The nice thing about diabetes is the ease of losing weight. my doctor wants to modify my insullin, so guess I’ll be playing with that for a few weeks.
thank you all for sharing your wisdom.
sincerely
danny w
