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Dealing with illness


Thanks @Lamont. I’m wondering if the 9 o’clock drops might be having a shower rather than food and getting ready to go to work etc? I seem to get a lot of symptoms in the morning.
 
I have heard some people’s levels drop when they shower and am wondering if this explains the regular dips in the morning? Does anyone else get this?
 
My bg dips a little with a shower, and around 1mmol/l for the duration of a dip in the hot tub. But neither have ever given me hypo type symptoms. Although I have had occasional low blood pressure dips with getting up too quickly - that may be an avenue for for you to pursue...?
 
I used to get dips if I suddenly stand straight, but isn't that BP?
The wife gets higher levels after a bath.
It's the same after hot flushes, and other things.
The hormonal response to how everyday life can affect your metabolism is something especially in a woman is a mystery to me.
You only have to think of what adrenalin can do to you!
Never mind your thyroid.
 
Rose, I know that you said you were told, and your experience has shown, that you need to eat small frequent meals. Did your gastroenterologist, however, give you any other diet advice for your chronic pancreatitis?

Just wondering since everything I found stressed low fat since fat is hard on the pancreas, low carb since pancreatitis increases you diabetes potential, and high protein for the nutrition value. Small amounts of coconut or MCT oil, but no greasy, fried or whole fat foods. Things like fried eggs, bacon, and avocado could be stressing your already stressed pancreas.

It also seems that a lot of the non-pain symptoms of pancreatitis are very similar to the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Sweating, pounding or rapid heart beat, shakey or rough, nauseous, thirsty, tired. This makes it difficult to say one is the cause and not the other.

Your nighttime glucose readings seemed fairly stable. Is it possible that the pancreatitis is causing low levels of pain during the night which prevent you from getting solid sleep? Not enough to say “OMG I hurt!”, but enough so that you become restless and uncomfortable, waking you up?

I wish I could get your doctors together so they could figure out what is causing what and how best to treat it. You have been uncomfortable for too long. Could your primary care physician mediate or better consolidate what your specialists think and recommend. I would hate for each specialist to say it is the other speciality causing your problem and discomfort, leaving you in the middle without appropriate care. This frustrates me, I can only imagine how much it frustrates you.

Oh, my glucose goes up with a shower, like Lamont’s wife, not down.

Yeah, the dizzy dips in BP when standing is called orthostatic hypotension. I’ve got that too. Did the total neuro work up, including EEG, after actually passing out when standing about 40+ years ago. Conclusion....eat more salt.
 

Thank you for your thoughts and understanding I am soooooo frustrated. I have another issue going on aswell so got a GP appt this morning and met my new GP! A pleasant enough guy but I’m not sure he’ll be fighting any battles for me, I’ll have to wait and see. He is sending me for a raft of blood tests again, thyroid etc! He took my blood pressures, temperature etc etc and said I had low mood but no anxiety.
In the night I wake every 2 -3 hours, normally with thumping heart, followed by sweating, sometimes my stomach churns so I have to eat or I don’t go back to sleep. By the morning I’ve often got a headache and if I’m really bad it can take all of the following day eating regularly to feel any better.

I haven’t really had much advice on diet. I have given up alcohol completely now although hardly drank anything anyway. I do eat a little bacon but strangely enough have gone off Avocados? I didn’t realise fat could do even more damage
 

It doesn’t sound like your physicians are pro-active, getting you the support and education you need. This is a great place for the blood glucose difficulties, diabetic or not. However, while pancreatitis can lead to diabetes, diabetics do not necessarily have pancreatitis. Also, I doubt many of us are physicians. You might want to add a chronic pancreatitis support group to your site list. That way you can get information and support for both conditions. Although it is not based in the UK, here is a site with information and a support group. I think they even have a cookbook, a weakness of mine. I figure you can bounce back and forth between us. That way you can hopefully get the information you need to make the best choices for you.

https://pancreasfoundation.org/pancreas-community/

Since I am in the USA, my searches bring up sites here. There may be a site closer to you which you would prefer.
Keep us up to date on how you are doing. We all want you happy and healthy.

PS. I can’t help it. He took your blood pressure and temp concluding you have a low mood. Why does this bring images of Mary Poppins measuring tape to mind?
 
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