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Always tired...

EmilyW1801

Member
Messages
16
Location
Birmingham
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
It's only happened within the last year or so that I now struggle to find the energy to do anything. Previous years I have been working long days in the sunshine delivering fitness classes and then dancing in shows in the evening on a relatively normal carb diet.

Within the past couple years I have leaned towards low carb, nothing too strict as i do enjoy fruit and a bagel. I now find that I don't want to go to the gym like I used to (5/6 times a week) nor do I want to walk much like I used to love.

My food usually consists of a bagel for breakfast. Quinoa, chicken and veg with some nuts for lunch. Then dinner will vary depending on if I am teaching fitness class that evening. Just wondered if anyone has any tips on how to get more energy back in my days
 
How are your blood sugar levels??

If it were me eating your diet ( breakfast) the bagel would put me right to sleep. Starchy carbs are notorious for that. Maybe you e developed an intolerance to wheat / gluten.

Maybe try a different breakfast with out grains like eggs or avocado and see if it makes a difference.

Sweet potatoes knock me out !!
 
Go back to the "old" diet why don't you? IMHO the real low carb thing has sorta taken over the world. Our Sun Basket "mail a meal" service has Paleo, my wife has a paleo magazine, and I do avoid white carbs myself. But it might not be good for everyone. And as an aside why does it seem like all the Type 1 ladies on this UK forum are so utterly beautiful? I mean they all seem to look like my 3 daughters. And my daughters don't have diabetes.
 

It's worth mentioning your lack of energy to your Dr, they'll likely run some bloods tests to rule out conditions that can result in tiredness and low energy levels.
 
I'd start with reverting back to your prior diet, because you knew things were fine on that. But as @noblehead has rightly said, get bloods done first.

I eat moderate carb and low carb for short periods to drop weight quickly. I don't see the low carb thing as a sustainable way of life, simply because I refuse to ramp up my fat and protein intake to compensate for a lack of carbs. If you're not substituting your lack of carbs with either (or both) of the other two macronutrients, then that could well be why you're feeling tired.
 

Thank you! The bagel helps me combat the low that I will surely happen after either the gym or teaching fitness classes the night before. We are still working on my basal as in the morning having no carb breakfast, my blood always slowly starts to rise. We are trying to get me through days without hypos, I have a fair few with amount of activity I do. I just wish I had more energy to do them.
I will speak to my doctor, perhaps it's an iron deficiency
 
it gets so hard to separate the feelings we get from our BG readings -- I have suffered with total tiredness over the last few years -- I finally got a diagnosis of hypothyroid after almost 2 years of constant visits to the GP
I know it is not much fun , but you must keep pushing your care team to find out what is going on with you
[[[hugs]]] !!

and by the way -- my BG's are pretty good as is my HbA1c !!!
 
@EmilyW1801 I found my no-carb breakfast of 2 boiled eggs when I first started having those for breakfast instead of porridge would make my blood sugar rise and rise - and I now bolus for two eggs as if I were having 12g CHO. I now find I'm on the straight and narrow until lunchtime. Protein in the absence of carbs raises blood glucose.

I'm not anti-porridge (nor anti-bagel!) but in my own experience even with the right ratio and the best bolus timing I could manage, I would more often than not get a huge spike followed by a crashing low, as well as being ravenous by 10.30!

Sorry to hear about the tiredness - I'd probably want to get things like iron and thyroid function tested.

 
Rule out anemia (iron def) and hypothyroid. Easy blood tests.
 
It did resolve itself yes but only in that I can only think that it's not at its best now, to the point where I want to ask for advice. I didn't ever have anything medically to fix the lacking energy but slowly was able to see the use of carbs for my exercise to fuel my body properly. It is something that is a big thing with me to try and live life to the biggest ability I have so not having energy or drive to do things I love is quite upsetting.
Thank you for your help. Will get my bloods checked. I don't really eat red meat or enough dark green veggies so perhaps it is iron deficiency.
 
Hi
I get tired and have noticed it more over the last few years.
I have put it down to the length of time I've been type 1 (43 years) combined with me rapidly approaching 50 and at times a slightly higher or lower blood glucose as it happens.
I don't allow it to stop me from doing things though I give myself a mental punt up the posterior and then once in my stride I'm fine.
On balance however I don't exercise to the extreme you appear to so my above comments may be utter rubbish!

Good luck
Tony
 
TheBigNewt said:
Rule out anemia (iron def) and hypothyroid. Easy blood tests.
Click to expand...
Sadly most GPs in UK run the TSH test as conclusive over whether a patient is hypothyroid, rather than testing for FT4 and FT3.
I was undiagnosed for a decade until a GP agreed to test for antibodies.
Once diagnosed GPs use the TSH to determine whether a thyroid condition is adequately 'treated'.
'Easy' inUK if you want to pay for the tests
Geoff (hypothyroid)
 
Agree with the others about the blood test, by the way try a banana instead of a bagel for the post low after exercising, a banana is an ideal hypo avoiding treatment for me.
 
Autoimmune conditions often occur together, so it should come as no surprise that a T1 might develop an autoimmune thyroid condition As @himtoo said, and as I can concur, it can be a struggle to get a GP to acknowledge this. A TSH test is not definitive. Push rather for FT4, FT3 and antibodies tests. For a decade I 'highly suspected' I was hypothyroid. Increasingly I was TATT.
Medication helped improve that
You may or may not be hypothyroid.
Geoff
 
The other thing I note is that you don't seem to eat very much. Your breakfast and lunch probably don't account for much more than 750 calories, which may also be a reason for lack of energy.
 

I can imagine it must be so upsetting, maybe just up your carbs until you reach a level where you feel more energised, but do get checked out at your Dr's to rule out other causes. Best wishes.
 
You mentioned being less active, and mentioned being out in the sun in your first post. Are you spending less time in the sun this year? It can have quite a big impact.

Might be worth getting a Vitamin D test done.
I know that I was deficient (as shown by a private test because my doc didn't think it was necessary) and when I started supplementing, and my levels reached optimum, I felt soooooo much better. More positive, more energetic, more stamina, just generally all round better.
 
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