22 down to 14 and not feeling well?

[gingercat]

I usually have high blood sugars, always in the early twenties, but this evening felt weak: my legs wobbly and head feeling fuzzy :crazy: So I took a reading and found that it was down to 14! This is low for me, and this was a reading after I had a pasta meal.. Anyone any advice? Really appreciate it as very shaky too..

Thanksx

I am type 2

 

[etmsreec]

Hi Gingercat,
To me, that's all the symptoms of hypoglycaemia. If you normally run in the early 20s and you were down to 14, that would also match.
Treatment for this is usually fast acting carbs like lucozade or ordinary cola.
Any reasons for you going low? Were you exercising more? Alcohol intake?
Best wishes
Steve

 

[Sid Bonkers]

I usually have high blood sugars, always in the early twenties, but this evening felt weak: my legs wobbly and head feeling fuzzy :crazy: So I took a reading and found that it was down to 14! This is low for me, and this was a reading after I had a pasta meal.. Anyone any advice? Really appreciate it as very shaky too..

Thanksx

I am type 2

Is there a reason you 'usually have high blood sugars?' Those are dangerously high levels gingercat. The wobbly legs and fuzzyness may have been a false hypo brought on by the pasta which is going to hit your blood stream later than some other foods especially if it contained a lot of cheese (fat) so delayed stomach emptying could have caused the sudden drop.

Personally I would steer well clear of pasta along with white bread, rice and potatoes and most other carbs until you bring those numbers down to a safer level.

Good luck

 

[Daibell]

Hi Gingercat. I agree with Sid that your BS numbers are far too high and one way or another your 'normal' level in the twenties has to be brought down if you are to avoid long-term damage. You are on a range of non-diabetes drugs which will be taken into account in any diabetes medication offered by your GP, but for your level of BS, Metformin (ideally the SR version to minimise side effects) would normally be prescribed and possibly additional drugs such as the ones I'm on following my discussion with my GP and my regular Hba1C blood tests. How old are you? Are you over-weight? Do keep to a low'ish carb diet and test 2 hours after a typical meal; don't rely too much on a fasting test. Do see your GP again if the BS numbers don't reduce. Hope things improve for you.

 

[etmsreec]

I usually have high blood sugars, always in the early twenties, but this evening felt weak: my legs wobbly and head feeling fuzzy :crazy: So I took a reading and found that it was down to 14! This is low for me, and this was a reading after I had a pasta meal.. Anyone any advice? Really appreciate it as very shaky too..

Thanksx

I am type 2

Hi again Gingercat,

What do your healthcare professionals think about the levels that you normally run at please? Do they consider them too high or too low or just right or is it not something that's been discussed? If it's not been discussed, maybe it's something that you could raise next time that you're speaking to them?

Steve

 

[gingercat]

Thank you all for your advice. I was drinking alcohol. I am on metformin SR but it doesn't bring it down very much.The higher I am the better I feel physically. At the surgery I did a wee test and the nurse found ketones although I had been eating as usual. This diabetes thing is so confusing - sometimes I feel like I should just ignore it and it will go away. :cry:

 

[))Denise((]

Hi gingercat

It sounds to me like you need to go back to your GP and get your medications reviewed as these levels are way too high. You should also look at your diet as suggested by other posters. It may be that you are not Type 2 after all - you may be LADA or Type 1.5. If they can't sort you out then you should ask for a referral to an endocrinologist.

 

[Sjbalswin147]

Ok I am type 1 but please get guidance. High bg does the long term damage and should be avoided. Sadly it doesn't make you feel Ill. You need to maintain levels at worst no more than 10. It sounds like your body needs to calibrate. Please get some help.

 

[gingercat]

Thank you for your replies which have been very helpful to me. My doctor did wonder if insulin may be better - may never followed it up. Also what is LADA and 1.5? My morning BG reading this morning, after not eating for 15 hours, was 14.9 then after a small meal was 16.4. That's the thing, I feel so sick when they are this low, and feel better when they are high. It is as if I know by how I am feeling what the reading will be. Oh dear..what a mess. :cry: :cry:

 

[))Denise((]

You are probably used to the high levels and your body thinks you are going hypo when they go lower - this is known as 'false hypo'. As you get your levels down, it will get used to lower levels and you won't feel so bad.

Here is an explanation of LADA http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_lada.html and Type 1.5 http://www.diabetes.co.uk/type15-diabetes.html

You must get an appointment with your doctor to sort all this out, the longer your levels are high, the more risk of complications such as neuropathy and eye bleeds.

 

[gingercat]

You are probably used to the high levels and your body thinks you are going hypo when they go lower - this is known as 'false hypo'. As you get your levels down, it will get used to lower levels and you won't feel so bad.

Here is an explanation of LADA http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_lada.html and Type 1.5 http://www.diabetes.co.uk/type15-diabetes.html

You must get an appointment with your doctor to sort all this out, the longer your levels are high, the more risk of complications such as neuropathy and eye bleeds.

Thanks Denise for the link.

 

[Monkey201]

Hi gingercat
Please, please, please get referred to your hospital specialist diabetic unit! Your symptoms match how mine were and I urge you not to leave this as the damage doesn't wait for anyone.

I was diagnosed diabetic 2008 & diet-only for 1 year but have now degenerated to max dose Metformin plus Exenatide injections twice daily (great stomach bruises). My count is now 6-10 but apparently this is the best I can hope for. I also had counts in the 20's, which I thought was ok as I felt worse when it dropped. However, a friend worried me when they said they were surprised I was upright and not collapsed in a heap. This made me take notice but with hospital red tape, it's taken 1 year of unmanaged levels to get anywhere near control. I've been exhausted constantly, nauseous with gut problems & losing feeling in my fingers and toes with many bodily pains. I now find out my lower left leg is badly nerve-damaged by the diabetes & probably can't be fixed. I could lose my leg - a stark reality. My liver is now also diseased (NFALD) & I have to have 3-monthly biopsies to check for cirrhosis. I'm 40, don't drink alcohol or smoke and eat healthily though Diabetes is literally crippling me, preventing exercise as I can't even walk properly now. Losing 4 stone doesn't seem to have made a difference, I can only work part-time now and am virtually knocked out if I do too much, which can be just hoovering! My immune system is shot & should "live in a bubble" as am prone to all infection now. I'm half the person I was, psychologically with physically fast catching up.

Don't let this happen to you - it makes me cry to think someone else will go through my agonies. Keep us updated, Monkey201 x