New T3c looking for advice

[billy3c]

Hi guys, I'm coming here today to hopefully get some help
I'm a 60 year old lady called Billy I'm still working full time, although hope to retire next year.
I work for a local authority, running a children's home.
I'm a happy go lucky person, with a half full attitude.
My story
In January this year I had a tummy bug I thought, and after various medical test I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Had surgery in March, then told 3 weeks later it hadn't been cancer.
Relief to put it mildly
However I am now diabetic as I've lost most of my pancreas
But not 1 or 2, type 3C.
I hear you all say, never heard of it
Nobody has, not even my GP
My problem is my GP is treating me like a type 2, telling me to watch what I'm eating, giving me 2x2 daily metaformin 500mg, and I'm sure I keep having hypos
I become very light headed, feel sick and start sweating, I have a hot drink (with sugar) and 10 mins later I'm fine.

I really don't know what to do

Advice please xx

 

[therower]

Hi @billy3c . Welcome to the forum. I'm going to tag @DCUKMod . The forum has a sub forum especially for type 3c diabetics. You may find more help and advice there. Your post can be moved.

 

[DCUKMod]

Hi guys, I'm coming here today to hopefully get some help
I'm a 60 year old lady called Billy I'm still working full time, although hope to retire next year.
I work for a local authority, running a children's home.
I'm a happy go lucky person, with a half full attitude.
My story
In January this year I had a tummy bug I thought, and after various medical test I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Had surgery in March, then told 3 weeks later it hadn't been cancer.
Relief to put it mildly
However I am now diabetic as I've lost most of my pancreas
But not 1 or 2, type 3C.
I hear you all say, never heard of it
Nobody has, not even my GP
My problem is my GP is treating me like a type 2, telling me to watch what I'm eating, giving me 2x2 daily metaformin 500mg, and I'm sure I keep having hypos
I become very light headed, feel sick and start sweating, I have a hot drink (with sugar) and 10 mins later I'm fine.

I really don't know what to do

Advice please xx

Hi Billy3c, and thanks for tagging me in @therower .

Billy, if you'd like me, or any of the other Mods, to move your post, just shout, and we'll do it.

It does sound like you have some questions you might like to ask, so please do post them and I'm sure members would like to help you.

The Type 3c sub-forum is here, should you want to have a read before deciding. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-3c-pancreatic-diabetes.73/

 

[billy3c]

That would be great, thank you

 

[billy3c]

Tried going to that site, keeps telling me there's a problem with the page

 

[catapillar]

My problem is my GP is treating me like a type 2, telling me to watch what I'm eating, giving me 2x2 daily metaformin 500mg, and I'm sure I keep having hypos

You might want to seek a referral to the diabetic clinic if your GP hasn't heard of type 3c. You probably should be being followed up after a Whipple procedure with hba1c and possibly cpeptide tests to see what your insulin production is looking like.

You can find the type 3c forum from the main menu on the forum. You can also select type 3c as your type.

Type 3c often means no insulin production, so is treated like type 1 with basal/bolus insulin. But it is more complex that type 1 because type 1s only loose their insulin producing beta cells but type 3cs also loose their glucagon producing alpha cells so must be even more cautious about avoiding hypos. Type 3c also often need to take pancreatic enzymes to help them digest food and my understanding is that this Creon doesn't match well with a high fat diet so you may need to be cautious about advice for a low carb high fat diet.

 

[DCUKMod]

Tried going to that site, keeps telling me there's a problem with the page

I'll re-post the link, here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-3c-pancreatic-diabetes.73/ . If you continue having issues accessing the page, please let me know.

 

[billy3c]

Yes, still won't let me in

 

[DCUKMod]

Yes, still won't let me in

Billy - I'll raise your issue with the techies tomorrow when they're in the office.

In the meantime, if you want to have a read around in there, you could try getting there by going to http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/ , then scrolling down the list of sub fora there, then click on the Type 3c link there.

If for some bizarre reason you can't follow the forum link, please try typing it into your browser bar (thankfully, i isn't too long!), but please let me know how you get on, as that information might help the techie investigating.

 

[Starburst02]

Hi guys, I'm coming here today to hopefully get some help
I'm a 60 year old lady called Billy I'm still working full time, although hope to retire next year.
I work for a local authority, running a children's home.
I'm a happy go lucky person, with a half full attitude.
My story
In January this year I had a tummy bug I thought, and after various medical test I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Had surgery in March, then told 3 weeks later it hadn't been cancer.
Relief to put it mildly
However I am now diabetic as I've lost most of my pancreas
But not 1 or 2, type 3C.
I hear you all say, never heard of it
Nobody has, not even my GP
My problem is my GP is treating me like a type 2, telling me to watch what I'm eating, giving me 2x2 daily metaformin 500mg, and I'm sure I keep having hypos
I become very light headed, feel sick and start sweating, I have a hot drink (with sugar) and 10 mins later I'm fine.

I really don't know what to do

Advice please xx

Hi billy3c,

I had Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer 15 years ago. I am diabetic as a result of the surgery.

The doctors classified me as Diabetes type 2. When I mentioned I am NOT type 2, I was told insulin deficiency (due to surgery) is the same thing as insulin resistance and treatment is the same as type 2. After reviewing many articles on treatment of surgically induced diabetes, I learned the doctor who told me that and insisted on keeping me on oral meds. was not correct. I changed doctors. It seems few PCP's (or GPs) have experience in treating Type 3C diabetes. After having been prescribed a variety of oral meds for diabetes, all of which caused numerous episodes of low blood sugar, I found that following a strict diet and exercise routine, I could maintain fairly good control and had an acceptable A1C. (The surgeon was able to save most of my pancreas, but I still ended up with diabetes.) As years passed, either my pancreas produced less insulin over time, or as a result of plain old aging in general, my A1C started creeping up. As a result, starting early this year I take a small injection of basal insulin at bedtime.

On two separate occasions, I tried taking metformin. While it did not cause low blood sugar problems for me, it caused extreme muscle fatigue and weakness that got progressively worse within weeks of starting the medication.

Do you take pancreatic enzymes? I take Creon. Enzymes like Creon can affect blood sugar levels. The main effect is blood sugar spikes within the first hour after eating and then quickly dropping. Not extreme drops, but I can feel both the sudden rise and then falloff of the sugar levels. I resisted starting insulin therapy for a long time, even though the medical articles I found generally agree insulin therapy is the correct treatment for surgically induced diabetes. The long acting insulin reduces the extent of the spikes. So, starting the insulin has helped me feel better in general, and it has lowered my A1C number into an acceptable range. If you are not taking enzymes, and assuming you need them, then you are likely not absorbing full nutrition (or calories) from the food you consume. Taking diabetes meds while not absorbing adequate nutrition may cause problems with low blood sugar.

Is it possible for you to be referred to an endocrinologist? That will likely be your best chance at finding someone with knowledge to treat surgically induced diabetes. I hope you find the help you need soon.

 

[billy3c]

Thank you for reply. Like you my gp had no idea about type 3c, and gave me metaformin, diet sheets and a referral for a t2 diabetic group!!
I've asked my gp to refer me to a diabetic specialist, which he agreed to. In the meantime I'm being careful with food and am only taking 500mg metaformin a day, so far so good
I'm not taking creon as it played havoc with my digestive system, and I seem to be
digesting ok