diabetes and myasthenia (mg)

[ray white]

Hi- am a new member so pls excuse me if I **** this up -
just been changed from type1 to type 2 and now started on insulin( fast acting long acting in 1 pen) -2 weeks-2 stabs a day, b4 breakfast(14units of insulin) and b4 evening meal 20 units-and stopped the januvia but still on metaformin, Was on januvia -max dose and metaformin 2000mg-
My problem is that because of M.G. i am incacaple of any physical activity after 5 mins-fatigue sets in v.quickly- am on predisone 20mg(which caused the diabetes in the 1st place -fact-) and mestinon 300mg-whilst i was on the oral meds my suger levels varied between 7 and 15 b-but always every morning my sugar levels were never below 10 -`dawn phenomena` proven no matter when i took the oral medication.
I do sleep during the day- not for long periods but up to 1hr and prob 2 to 3 times, with most of my time in my recliner chair
My sugar levels do drop during the day to evening to around 7 b4 evening meal (after 14units of insulin) but they did with the oral treatment -however when i test the following morning my sugar levels are higher 10-12 even when i took the 20 units at 11-30 pm just to see what the readings would be -10.1 at 7-a.m. :?: same as the oral levels- ime totally confused,frustrated,and stressed lol :crazy: :crazy: -obviously the mg treatment is playing havoc with my suger levels but any suggestions, theories, would be appreciated.
thanks.
ray white

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Hi Ray and welcome to the forum. I too was diagnosed after long term taking of Pred for a respiratory program.

Pred can does and will play havoc with your blood glucose (bg) are you off it now or are on it for the long haul as it will make quite a bit of difference...

Your tiredness is almost certainly down to your running fairly high bg levels which insulin should help, I was put on MDI thats multiple daily injections so I would take a shot of medium/long term insulin at night to keep my bg levels down through the night and then a short acting insulin before meals and I found that once I got the hang of working out how much to inject to cover the food I was eating I got really good control fairly easily BUT I was taking 10mg of Pred daily and started reducing it over a 6 month period to wean me off it and that definitely helped me too.

Hopefully someone (Daisy) will post the information we give to new members which can be helpful when your still a bit unsure of things, but one thing to definitely watch is the amount of carbohydrates that you eat, as all carbs turn to sugar (glucose) in your stomach and inter your bloodstream via your intestines so you might find it useful to cut back on the amount of carbs you eat.

Some people will tell you to cut them down to a minimum but I have never found that necessary but it is a great help if you dont over do the potatoes and bread, swapping to wholegrain bread is also useful too, I found that wholemeal was just as bad as white bread but a couple of small slices of wholegrain I find OK.

With the insulin regime you are currently on you will have to eat enough carbohydrate to balance the insulin you are taking so dont suddenly cut back on the carbs as you will need to balance it with what you eat, so slowly slowly does it and you should find that if you get your bg levels down to a happier level you will get your energy back.

Have a good read of the info for newly diagnosed and any questions you have just shout. :thumbup:

ps heres a link to the information I mentioned...viewtopic.php?f=39&t=26870

just remember to watch how you cut back on the carbs as you have to balance them to your insulin. It might be a good idea to get a referral to a diabetes specialist from your doctor now you are on insulin, they operate out of most local hospitals or else in the community. They have a much better level of diabetes knowledge than most gp's :thumbup:

 

[daisy1]

Hi Ray and welcome to the forum

Here is the information (which Sid mentioned and posted the link to) which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Andrew S]

Hi Ray,

My mum had myasthenia gravis (it seems to be in remission now) and I know that it can severely affect energy levels. Good luck with managing both conditions.

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