Hypos as a type 2 can anyone help please?

[swimminglots1]

Hello,
I wonder if anyone can help? As a T2, diagnosed in Dec 2011 and put on Metformin immediately, I started experiencing the symptoms of hypos about 2 weeks after starting the Metformin. I was not believed, as T2s on Met are not supposed to get hypos! I eventually made enough waves and was eventually given a meter. After nearly a year of testing and having had 3 months off all drugs, then back on, then recently had the Metformin doubled (!), I am still getting hypos, sometimes 3x per week. Each hypo makes me feel truly dreadful-I feel anxious, my head aches, I feel suddenly so hungry that I feel sick and I usually cannot concentrate on what I need to do, which is find some quick acting food! All of my hypos are measured at between 3.3 and 3.7. The lowest I had, at 6.30am, was 2.6-rather scary, as had a long distance swim scheduled! The hypos happen at different times of the day and seem to bear no relation to what I have eaten, or when! Today I hypo'd (3.7) only 2.5 hours after having eaten breakfast of 2 oatibix with skimmed milk and a cup of tea, a trip to the supermarket and back and in the car! Usually I walk there and back and sometimes hypo then as well!

I eat approx every 3 hours, working hours permitting. I swim 5 times a week-a total of 10kms. I walk daily. My diet contains a variety of food and I don't eat to excess.
I am at a loss as to what to do and have simply been told that as a T2, I 'am an anomaly'!
I am wondering whether I am unable to metabolize carbs?

A long first post, I know! I would be very grateful for any replies, as the Nurse at the Surgery has been unable to give me any advice. The DN on one of the forums told me that swimming 10kms a week was an excessive amount of exercise!

I am 56 years old and have built up the long distance swimming over a couple of years.

Thank you for reading!
Meds: Metformin 2x 500 tabs per day
Symbicort 400 2x per day
Statin 1 per day
Singulair 1 per day

 

[elaine77]

Hi and welcome,

If you are definitely a type 2 . Metformin doesn't cause hypos but I'm not sure about the others, if they make the pancreas produce more insulin then they may be causing you to produce more than you actually need - hence the hypos.

I'm no medical expert -Someone else might have some better advice than me but that's just what I would personally do


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[AileenF]

Hiya, I am new to this forum and have only started metformin 2 x 500 mg daily also, and 1 Atorvastation tab daily, 3 months ago. I have the same problem as you, been having hypos, (didnt know it was a hypo or hyper ) till I read the forum. I was out last night with some friends and had one, and was sweating all over, and felt anxious and dizzy, my friends said my colour looked a bit grey. It wore off after about 5-10 mins. However, sometimes it happens when I am hungry and when I have not long eaten, I feel as it if is quite random too. Sometimes happens at work which is awful as I work in a main reception of a health centre, and I have to carry on, cant get away till I feel better, as it is so busy. I spoke to my diabetic dietiican about this and she also seemed confused, as she thought it might be low blood sugar, until explained it happens when I have eaten. She suggested carrying sweets about with me etc. Which I have tried, but usually it is too late by the time I realize what is happening. It is getting quite worrying and annoying, so much so that I feel like I cant go out socializing as much as I would like.

I also feel exhausted all the time, and cant sleep at night lie awake for hours, I cant wait to get home from work for a lie down. I am due to get my bloods done tomorrow, so see what this shows, but I honestly feel worse since starting the medication in January. But was told I had to start it as my sugar and cholesterol were getting higher.

I cant afford or want to be off work, but I feel as if things dont improve I will be forced to stay off work for a rest. My GP brushed it off as hormonal when I told him about the sweats etc as i have been perimenopausal for nearly 9 years, I am 47. But I explained it was different from the hormonal flushes etc. He is a man I might add.

If I get any more information, I will let you know.

Thanks, Aileen x

 

[Philby]

Hi all, this is my personnel experience. I am newly diagnosed in late Feb and I was suffering from hypos like you on a nearly daily basis (maybe 2 a day) in the last couple of weeks. I was and still am concerned about them. My lowest reading was 1.4 (scary). Well after this occurred I contacted my Diabetes Medical Team and after reviewing my readings it was decided to take me off all medication (1x500mg Glucophage and 2x30mg Diamicron). I have only being off the meds since last Thursday, the BG readings, since then, are on the low side (close to 4) but the number and severity of the hypos appear to have reduced (one reading of 3.6 in last 48 hrs). However If the BG reading stay low the medical team will review my case next week.

However the way that the doctor explained it to me was that the pancreas (damaged as it is) was working "overtime" to produce insulin to counter act my high blood sugars (and it wasn't doing a good job). But when I was diagnosed, I turned around my diet and started to watch what I was eating (watching carbohydrate intake). The doctor believes that the body is still producing higher than necessary amounts of insulin compared to the amount of glucose entering my system, thus causing the hypos. I am unsure as I write this that the information if factually correct :? , I will need to carry out some research.

I am no medical expert nor am I an expert in Diabetes (I am still learning) but please talk to your medical team. That was the advice I got off this forum when I asked a very similar question a few week ago .

 

[Geocacher]

A person can have reactive hypoglycaemia and be T2, and it's not as uncommon as you may think. In fact it's very common among women with PCOS, yet another condition that predisposes a person to diabetes. Reactive hypoglycaemia means that your body overreacts to stress or carbohydrates by producing too much insulin. If you are also T2 what is often happening is that you get a high followed by a low because the mechanism for triggering the release of insulin gets slower.

I recognised that I was having hypos in my early 30's and, a few years later, when I finally got a GP to believe me by having a spetacular hypo in front of her (her fault for asking me to come in for a fasting blood test!), I was given a meter so I could keep a record of my lows and was sent to see an endocrinologist who gave me metformin as a treatment, which worked. I didn't expect it to, but I was willing to try anything at that point. After a few years I started to notice I was also getting the odd high BG reading and was told I was also a T2.

Metformin works for boths highs and lows because it makes your body more sensitive to insulin rather than making it produce more insulin. After years of daily hypos, fierce mood swings triggered by any stress, and nearly losing more than one job because of those, it was a relief to know that I wasn't losing my mind and didn't have anger issues, just a treatable medical problem. My father's side of the family is famous for developing a bad temper in middle age, I now know that it is a product of the reactive hypoglycaemia that precedes diabetes for those of us in the family who are unluckly enough to get the bad genes.

The hypos are real, as real as being T2. Based on my own research, and what has worked for me. Metformin alone rather than with any other diabetic medications seems to be the best treatment. It's the only medication that cannot cause low blood sugar. That doesn't mean when taking metformin you will never have a low, but it will keep them to a minimum.

That's what I've learned along this journey... hope it helps.

 

[LittleWolf]

Hello there!

Although its no good thing either of us are suffering, it does ease confusion;
I suspect I am Type 2 (high fasting BS) but after a meal I drop to 2s and 3s, averaging 3.1 just like you. I also have PCOS like you.

Seeing as these circumstances aren't so unusual after all and we can see patterns in eachother it might help us work what's going on or what to do or make it known to doctors that it happens. Most sources I've seen insist a type 2 only has hypos from overdosing insulin or not eating at all, reactive hypoglycemia doesn't happen 0_o??!

I wish you all the best with working out what do do with your medication/lifestyle to mange your condition, and if you get good results others with similar circumstances could learn from you.

We could be friends if you like x


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