Alanem
Active Member
Hi
I’ve been Type 2 since 1986 and I am 69. I have been plodding along seeing my local surgery every 6 months and having an annual blood test which has always been said to be perfect and my condition very well controlled with the 3 – 25mg Glipizide and 3 – 500mg Metformin per day that I had been prescribed. I didn’t test myself as I believed I had no reason to and it had never been suggested.
Every year my wife and I go to India for a few weeks early in the year and for the first time ever this January I picked up a stomach bug that I couldn’t shake off. I had 3 courses of anti-biotic and although it left for a while it always came back. I was feeling pretty rough and some days I couldn’t eat and when I was particularly bad I stopped taking my pills but in the main I carried on taking them. During a check up with an Indian doctor he suggested my condition was not very well controlled and he also found I had got a heart murmur and urged I got it all checked out when I got home.
After we got home my GP prescribed yet another course of anti-biotic once he had got results back to say I wasn’t carrying anything infectious and I had no parasites. I asked if my meds were adding to the problem. I was told no and I must carry on as normal. Then one evening I nearly had an accident at the top of the stairs. I just couldn’t coordinate my movements and it frightened me. I concluded I must have been having a hypo for the first time in my life. I tried some fruit juice and things returned to normal. I went to see an emergency doctor the following day as it was week end. He measured my blood sugar and pronounced it more normal than his and suggested the problem I had had was down to the stomach problem and that I should carry on taking my pills.
I came to realise that things weren’t making sense and something was wrong and decided to start checking my BG myself. I went to the weekly drop in diabetic clinic at my local Health and Well Being centre simply to get some advice on getting a meter. An advisor said I was entitled to one and showed me how to use it by making me do a test on myself and it was 2.8. I was told I was having a hypo and the reaction of the advisor was like the place was on fire. Everybody was running round trying to find glucose tablets and Lucozade. I didn’t feel any different and just sat there bemused. When it all quietened down and they realised I wasn’t going to pass out I was told in no uncertain terms I should not be taking my pills when I had a stomach problem especially Glipizide.
After a week of controlled tests and a long chat with a specialist diabetic nurse it was obvious that I knew vitually nothing about my condition and that I must have been having low counts for years and my body had become immune to the effects. I have no memory of ever feeling ill or having a hypo in the past and had been merrily going along thinking all was well. It was only the weight loss caused by the stomach bug that brought matters to a head. The nurse changed my dosage and regime and the priority was to get me to recognise when my body was telling me I had a low count. My readings are now higher and I now have days when I know I am low.
I have seen two specialists one for my heart and one for my stomach (all turned out OK) and I asked both about taking diabetic medicine with a stomach complaint. One said definitely not and the other said talk to your GP so the score is two GPs said keep taking them, three people said don’t and one abstained.
The lessons I have learned from this episode and the reason for this epistle is I now know that it is a serious mistake to leave it all to your local GP because your annual test is OK. You must test yourself and talk to your local diabetic nurse if there is a query. As the nurse said this must be the only common complaint where a second opinion is welcomed if not suggested by the doctor.
Thanks for your time. I hope it helps someone. Keep up the good work. Alan
I’ve been Type 2 since 1986 and I am 69. I have been plodding along seeing my local surgery every 6 months and having an annual blood test which has always been said to be perfect and my condition very well controlled with the 3 – 25mg Glipizide and 3 – 500mg Metformin per day that I had been prescribed. I didn’t test myself as I believed I had no reason to and it had never been suggested.
Every year my wife and I go to India for a few weeks early in the year and for the first time ever this January I picked up a stomach bug that I couldn’t shake off. I had 3 courses of anti-biotic and although it left for a while it always came back. I was feeling pretty rough and some days I couldn’t eat and when I was particularly bad I stopped taking my pills but in the main I carried on taking them. During a check up with an Indian doctor he suggested my condition was not very well controlled and he also found I had got a heart murmur and urged I got it all checked out when I got home.
After we got home my GP prescribed yet another course of anti-biotic once he had got results back to say I wasn’t carrying anything infectious and I had no parasites. I asked if my meds were adding to the problem. I was told no and I must carry on as normal. Then one evening I nearly had an accident at the top of the stairs. I just couldn’t coordinate my movements and it frightened me. I concluded I must have been having a hypo for the first time in my life. I tried some fruit juice and things returned to normal. I went to see an emergency doctor the following day as it was week end. He measured my blood sugar and pronounced it more normal than his and suggested the problem I had had was down to the stomach problem and that I should carry on taking my pills.
I came to realise that things weren’t making sense and something was wrong and decided to start checking my BG myself. I went to the weekly drop in diabetic clinic at my local Health and Well Being centre simply to get some advice on getting a meter. An advisor said I was entitled to one and showed me how to use it by making me do a test on myself and it was 2.8. I was told I was having a hypo and the reaction of the advisor was like the place was on fire. Everybody was running round trying to find glucose tablets and Lucozade. I didn’t feel any different and just sat there bemused. When it all quietened down and they realised I wasn’t going to pass out I was told in no uncertain terms I should not be taking my pills when I had a stomach problem especially Glipizide.
After a week of controlled tests and a long chat with a specialist diabetic nurse it was obvious that I knew vitually nothing about my condition and that I must have been having low counts for years and my body had become immune to the effects. I have no memory of ever feeling ill or having a hypo in the past and had been merrily going along thinking all was well. It was only the weight loss caused by the stomach bug that brought matters to a head. The nurse changed my dosage and regime and the priority was to get me to recognise when my body was telling me I had a low count. My readings are now higher and I now have days when I know I am low.
I have seen two specialists one for my heart and one for my stomach (all turned out OK) and I asked both about taking diabetic medicine with a stomach complaint. One said definitely not and the other said talk to your GP so the score is two GPs said keep taking them, three people said don’t and one abstained.
The lessons I have learned from this episode and the reason for this epistle is I now know that it is a serious mistake to leave it all to your local GP because your annual test is OK. You must test yourself and talk to your local diabetic nurse if there is a query. As the nurse said this must be the only common complaint where a second opinion is welcomed if not suggested by the doctor.
Thanks for your time. I hope it helps someone. Keep up the good work. Alan
