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Just fedup!

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willownuts

Member
Messages
9
Hi all,

Totally and utterly fed up!!

Diabetes out of control. Was put on gliclazide before lockdown and it was like someone flicked the starving switch.

Suffered with depression last year, dr gave me mirtazapine as i had stopped sleeping, this caused my appetite to increase even more. And now I'm being battered by the menopause.

My hba1c was 89 last week.

I have pleaded to be taken off the gliclazide and the mirtazapine. All fell on deaf ears. Now ive been put on
Dapagliflozin, looking at reviews i am worried. I already suffer from frequent UTI's.

Added to the above i also inject 1.8 of victoza daily.

I'm trying exercise (not easy after months of almost zero sleep, i kid you not, if i get 2 hrs a night thats an event to celebrate!) i have cut out carbs to almost nothing, i am hungrier that i have ever been. My husband and children are terrified of my next breakdown!

I honestly am at the point of just eating what i want and throwing the drugs in the bin. If it kills me, it kills me. I can't carry on much longer.

Can anyone please help me with proper advice?

Rachel
 
I hear you! Not quite where you are but struggling.
Have you ever managed to have a lower hba1? Guess it must be high all the time due the the number of drugs you're on.
Others will be better with support with the meds but know you're not alone!
 
Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

Last hba1c was 68 before lockdown in 2020. So its jumped up.

Feels like im falling down a hole!

Rachel
 
Is that why they put you on the meds? I've only been diagnosed 2 years and only been on metformin. But when first diagnosed managed to get it properly down with diet. But I know I have not done well over lockdown and it will have gone up lots.

In terms of wanting to give up, you're too important to do that! Somehow you need to give yourself a break and look after yourself for a bit. Easier said than done!
 
Extra question... are you eating enough protein and are you allowing yourself higher fat? That helps with hunger. I say that - althoigh I haven't followed my own advice recently!
 
Hi,

I got diagnosed in 2015 and for a few years i was on it like nothing else. It was so well controlled with exercise, diet and metformin. My hba1c used to hover around 49 ish. Even went to 47.

Now ive lost control of the reins and im just wailing about and i cant seem to make anything stick. A couple of weeks ago i ate a whole french stick with a block of butter spread on it and i couldn't help myself. I feel like its either feast or famine and never anything inbetween. And the more i try to lower the blood sugar the less it actually lowers.

Rach
 
I'm T1 myself, however, today I am fed up, too. I spoke with my Diabetic Educator today and she doesn't mind if my A1C is 7% or just above. I think that's too high. I'm almost 74 and have only been dealing with this for just over 4 years. Here is something I found on the diabetes uk site:
  • A normal pre-prandial (before meal) blood glucose level will be between 4 and 7 mmol/l.
  • After eating (post-prandial) levels should be below 9 mmol/l when tested 2 hours after a meal.
  • When going to bed for the night, levels should be no more than 8 mmol/l.
It's so confusing, because I want my BG to be in these ranges. So, why does the DE not mind if it goes above after meals. I am on low carb and today 2 hours after lunch it went to 14.4 (mmol/l). I did a correction and it's only gone down to 13.6 and that's after an hour. I am extremely confused and fed up.

And, I, too, want to eat something from before T1D and say to heck with it. So far, I haven't caved in, however, it's very hard not to. Also, I'd rather have someone on the Med team who actually hasT1D so they know exactly how difficult this is and exactly how we feel. I'm sure it would be better for T2s also. With all the new studies today, book learning from 25 years ago is not cutting it. UPGRADE!! Thanks for listening to my rant. Hopefully we can all get a handle on this.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Had tea at 7pm, small jacket potatoe, size of half a fist, no butter, dessert spoon of cottage cheese. Large salad - lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers. Walked 1 mile briskly before tea. Eaten nothing since then and only had water.Just checked blood now at 9.40pm - 16.5!! Ive NEVER seen it so high!!! Thats after 1 gliclazide and 2 metformin. What is going on with it?

Rach
 
A whole French stick is literally my dream.
Metformin on their own don't lower BG, not in the same way other meds do. But with the other meds I would have presumed it would be lower. Potatoes of any kind throw my BG up hugely and that's another craving I miss a jacket spud!

Someone suggested Fork in the Road, a website and book which had very quickly refocused me. I am definitely a carb addict. The book explains what happens in your brain when you eat carbs as an 'addict' and, boy, did it resonate with me!
It sounds like you should be contacting your diabetic nurse as it is a bit odd that BG I'd so high.
 

No wonder your hungry @willownuts not a lot of useful food in your meal. I'm assuming that you are T2, the carbs in your baked spud will have ended up as glucose, which we have trouble using for fuel because out insulin doesn't work as it should. The other nutrients that we can use are protein and fat which seem to be lacking in your meal. The advantage of basing our meals on protein and healthy fats is that unlike carbohydrates they don't get converted to glucose when digested and we have no trouble using them as fuel.
 
@willownuts
So sorry to hear what you're going through.
With all these doctor visits have they ever checked your fasting insulin or C-peptide levels ?
 
Hi and thanks for your replies.

I spoke to diabetic nurse yesterday and she said i should up the metformin and put me on dapagliflozin. I told her my blood readings over last week or so. I said i was struggling desperately and she said to cut out all carbs and fat and do more exercise. I asked to stop the gliclazide as it makes me ravenous. But just got more medication thrown at me.

In answer to the last reply, ive had my fasting blood glucose checked when i was first diagnosed, but no idea about c-peptide.

Rach
 
In my opinion she was half right, cut out all carbs yippee some common sense.
DO NOT cut out the fat, increase it to compensate for the drop in carb calories.
 
If I had had your evening meal I would be absolutely starving! The starch in the baked potato would be rapidly digested into glucose which would set off a rapid insulin response. If the insulin was not able to allow the glucose to enter cells then the glucose would remain in the blood. Meanwhile the exercise would signal the need for more glucose in the muscles which would in turn increase the insulin released from the pancreas. Stress hormones would also activate the pathway that breaks down glycogen in the liver and muscle to release even more glucose into the blood stream. Result: high blood glucose, hunger, needing to eat preventing sleep, ongoing vicious circle.
Although it is counterintuitive I would ditch the potato and replace it with a healthy source of protein and fat.
Your nurse, imho, is ill- informed at best. You should insist on further tests as well. Good luck going forward.
 
Hi, not entirely in the same shoes but I feel your pain! Hbac1 of 97 and Christmas Eve was told I would need to start injecting insulin if the levels didn’t come down. My finger prick test was hitting 22 so got very depressed tbh. I generally had a moan and basically went berserk over Christmas eating and drinking but a doctor friend put me onto a book by Dr Jason Fung called the Diabetes code and since reading this and adapting it to my lifestyle my finger prick test is now down to 9.1 this morning and I have lost 3lbs in weight. Now I’m not plugging this book but it certainly hit home for me. I started Tuesday the 4th Jan with low carb diet and fasted from 6pm till 8am everyday I also stopped drinking Alcohol as well. So there is a lot of possibilities as to why my bloods have dropped but I believe that the fasting is the important part. It’s not easy by a long shot but at the time of writing this I am into a 24hr fast and my bloods are 9.1mmol. If my levels stay the same over the next week I will stop taking my Meds, I have another test in March so I need to keep this up as hopefully this will state that my type 2 diabetes is in remission
 
The mirtazapine munchies. Yes, been there. And it’s not broccoli they make you hungry for - is it? - it’s cake. Well, it was for me. For me it was a starting transient that went away after a few weeks (along with the new spare tyre) but if you’re unlucky, it keeps doing it. It’s a highly effective drug - like you I was put on it for depression + insomnia - but alternative anti depressants are available, if not perhaps with quite the sedating effect. Your GP will want you to give them a fair chance, but if you continue to struggle with uncontrollable hunger, you could ask again for a review.
 
Sorry to hear your so fed up. I second Dr Fungs books, I have two on audible. You can also check out his videos on YouTube.

I know you will find lots of support here, being fairly newly diagnosed I can only go by what’s worked for me, definitely low card, cutting all bread, rice, pasta, potatoes. Sticking to above ground vegetables, proteins and healthy fat. You can do this @willownuts !
 
@Lynnzhealth I don’t want to derail this thread, but suggest you start one of your own where Type 1s will answer with lots of advice. The post you made shows you are trying to attain levels after eating expected of a Type 2 not someone on insulin.
 
Hi all and thanks for your advice.

I have taken it all onboard and have bought the books suggest also a couple of others on carbs, fats etc. Some interesting reading!

I feel i really have been given some poor advice from my gp and nurse and it makes my goal of controlling my glucose impossible tbh. I have been told walk 10,000 steps a day, eat nothing but veg, dont eat fruit, don't eat any fat, don't have any carbs, don't drink a lot of water, do drink a lot of water! Don't eat red meat, do eat red meat, don't have eggs, don't eat oats, do have cereal! Eat fish, stop eating fish!

So i am taking control of it by myself (thanks to you all) and being brave and looking for a way back with the help of my new books and some fresh knowledge. Starting from the absolute beginning. Food diary, carb selection, calories, exercise.

I feel brave and positive.

Thanks xx
 
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