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Diabetes type 1 - feeling unwell

T

Tracy

Member
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9
I take novorapid and lantus and feel unwell most days was diagnosed as type 1, 8 years ago in my 30's. I decided to inject just after finishing food this was following a bad experience of nearly passing out when injecting before. It's starting to get me down I feel really weird after injecting usually at lunch times. Can anyone offer me advice please - is this just me with this problem or does anyone else have the same symptoms?

Thanks
 
Hi Tracey, I had problems on Lantus, if you read my postings it'll explain. It may not be the problem, but prob worth looking into.
While on lantus I had no predictablility from day to day with my blood sugars and I felt deathly. I repeatedly reported the problems to my GP, hospital doctors and nurses, no one suggested that lantus may be causing the problems. I had lousy control and started to think there was something really wrong with me. I'd have days when it didn't seem to work at all, and days when I was severely hypo all day, and I wouldn't dare take my rapid acting insulin. It was scary, and very frustrating . I had been type-1 on insulin for 15 years before I went on Lantus- I had never experienced anything like this previously or since. I went on to Lantus on the advice of my hospital nurse, as she assured me it was superior to other insulins. I came off it bout 6 weeks ago, and changed to Porcine Isophane and life is far better. I now have good control and feel better generally. Every day, my blood sugar is predictable and I feel that I can trust the insulin I am taking is acting in the correct way. Other people report similar experiences and symptoms, suchas severe lethargy, feeling flu-like and generally unwell, muscle pains and tremor- these are some of the symptoms I experienced.
It's prob worth you doing a google search yourself, and seeing if the symptoms and problems other people experience are similar to your own. Glargine(lantus) is an Insulin Analogue and not actually insulin-it's a drug that lowers your blood sugar.
Of course, none of what I have said may have anything to do with why you're feeling unwell, but worth looking into.
Jus
 
Thanks Janabelle do you take Porcine Isophane with Novorapid. I can certainly relate to some of the side effects you have listed, particularly feeling hypo and shaky even though my readings appear to be normal plus extremely tired , palpitations and spaced out. I hardly ever eat before I go to sleep I don't feel hungry and I put on weight. I find it very hard to relax and for some reason diabetes makes me feel worse and more nervous at job interviews. Everytime I go to the hospital clinic I meet with yet another trainee doctor and I just seem to be updating him on what he should already know from my notes. When I did get a chance to speak to a consultant he was awful and said it wasn't diabetes and referred me back to my doctor who just keeps giving me tablets for being anxious!! Strangely enough about 18 months down the line I was listening to a lady attending clinic who had exactly the same symptoms unfortunately she was called in for her appointment and I never got the opportunity to discuss further with her. It would be nice to feel I could live a normal life I am a single parent and work full time - all I want to do is sleep!!

Thanks again for your reply.
 
Hi Tracy,

Levemir is a popular alternative to Lantus, although it usually needs to be taken twice
a day to give proper 24 hour coverage.

Good luck,
timo.
 
Hi Tracey, I take Porcine Isophane, and I split the dose. I take 22 units in morn and 12 in eve and I am on Humalog. I have been assured by the Manufacturers of humalog that they are safe to take together as long as they are not mixed in the same syringe.
Animal insulins may not suit you, but there are other alternatives to the new analogue long-actings.
I can relate to your experience of hospital, I always feel I am educating them- where are the experts??
The only way you will find out whether your insulin is the problem is to change insulins. You can't go on the way you are and as none of your "health professionals" have any better suggestion, maybe you should give it a try. Expect some resistance from your doc- they never like patients to know more than they do.
If it doesn't help, you can always switch back.
Have a chat with your GP, and get him to really listen to the concerns you have and experssed on this forum. It was a flippant comment from my husband that made me realise that my "insulin" was the problem,and not me! The husband of a friend of mine recently came off Lanuts for the same reason- he thought it was making him ill. Advice I sought fom the IDDT made me realise I didn't have to live like that anymore.
Diabetes if well controlled should not make you feel ill.
Please keep us updated about how you get on.
Jus
Jus
 
Also I meant to say, I started to experience palpitations about a year after being on lantus, and the spaced out feeling I understand- I felt like I was in a bubble, and in a trance-like state some-times. I have been referred to barts for my heart, and everything's fine. I also had a cortisol test, because of the nervous, hypo feelings and tremor. That was also fine- the test was performed at the diabetic clinic at my local hosp, and my consultant and the specialist nurses I was reporting my symptoms to didn't even suggest the "insulin" may be the problem.
All the problems I have had with my health recently directly relate to when I went on lantus- I'm bloody angry with myself and these useless health professionals that it took 4 years to realise it! I worry that if it's caused such adverse reactions, not to mention the erratic blood sugar levels, what are the long term implications for my health? . Lantus is a new product and no-one knows what the long-term implications are for patients, However I am fairly sure that there will be more people like you and I coming out of the woodwork in the next few years.
Jus
 
Thanks both to Jes and Timo for your advice and support. I will ask if I can change to one of alternatives recommended and if that doesn't work will try the other. I was on Humalog mix for the first two years which made me feel really ill. I avoided eating because everytime I had a meal I felt so rotten afterwards and was subsequently quite under weight. One solution does not fit all , hospitals treat us as groups not as individuals. I found help by by word of mouth hence my switch to novorapid/lantus. Shame I can't book a Dtrs appointment today they are half day closing!!!

Tracy
 
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