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paul4denny

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Hello everyone,

Need a bit of help with a few things if possible please. Husband had pancreatis two years ago, lost two thirds of his pancreas, and now the inevitable has happened and diabetes type 2 has developed. He has been put on Metmorfin sr 1gm twice a day. He is struggling big time with muzzy head, high and low dips, been given a blood glucose monitor for the weekend, was 7.5 this morning, this evening 17.1. He just feels so fed up with it all, trying to understand the low carbs etc, but finding the whole situation confusing. Is this a normal reaction? The Gp and Nurse being very supportive, but feels if he can clear the head, he will be able to cope, any suggestions on what we can do to help the situation? Does anyone else have this dizzyness? or is it a side effect of the medication? dr seems to think it will clear once the levels settle, but we are struggling to get it right. Has been diagnosed two weeks ago. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Hi there
Sorry to hear of your husbands struggle hope it does get better for him
You have a blood tester to test before every meal and two hours after this way you will see how food affects him
Tell him to not get disheartened its early days sure he will feel better soon
Good luck :-)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
hi welcome :)
Metformin wouldn't normally cause dizziness the tummy is the normal complaint with met, im not medical so this is all just opinion, the basic gist of low carbing is..... when you eat carbohydrates they turn into glucose in the body (or sugar) when your sugar get really high or really low it has horrible effects on the body therefore by eating lots of carbs that means you ate lots of sugar that means your glucose levels are high that means you feel like ****. simples, as the merecats would say :) now the tricky part is that different foods contain different amounts of carbs and you have to teach yourself what has what in it, the obvious culprits are bread rice pasta and potatoes, this is a huge portion of most peoples diet so this means that when you first approach low carb it seems like you cant eat anything but this is not the case, once you learn about the foods you will discover that in fact there are many foods in our armoury to keep us alive, but yes it isn't easy and to make things worse some foods effect some people worse than others for example someone could be ok eating wholegrain bread where as the next person will get elevated glucose levels just by walking down the street past the bakery (joking) so the only way to find out which foods effect him is to test bloods before eating then 2 hours later, the 2 hour thing is to see how hes body is dealing with what he ate and therefore gives you a clue as to what he can get away with and what he cant, this takes a little time so you will have to be patient but it does become easier because we tend to repeat what we eat so eventually you will just know to avoid certain foods, to begin with try to avoid heavily processed foods or high GI as they tend to be simple carbohydrate laden, instead opt for complex carbohydrate or low GI foods like wholegrain bread instead of white, new potatoes, brown rice and pasta, sugar of course, but there are a zillion foods too many to list here all with varying amounts of carbs youll have to read, you will be surprised that
things like fruit that is good for everyone....no its not its very sweet, and for me for example I only eat fruit that ends in berrie because the rest is too carby, but its very complex a subject, there are many here will suggest a moderate carb diet with reduced portion control is the way forward, only you guys can decide but until you get hes bgs stable avoiding carbs (or sugar, same thing) is a good idea, also losing some weight for heavy people and exercise is a very useful tool which isn't always welcome :) and not everyone can exercise so all in all diabetes sucks but it is what it is, we have to learn to live with it and in time it will I promise get easier and less overwhelming, you will be forced into a healthier life style which is what we should all be doing anyway :)

on saying all that im not medical and don't know the ins and outs of hes pancreas condition so this is just what I would do :)

we have all been where you are now and any questions I haven't answered or that crop up we will try our best to answer

best wishes

Andy
 
Hi sorry to hear about ur troubles :-(

I always thought that removal of pancreas (or part thereof) would lead to type 1 diabetes not type 2 as there wouldn't be enough insulin production?

Dizziness etc can be attributed to levels being too high or can be when your levels HAVE been really high but are coming down due to better control... If ur hubby is going from 17 to 7 that might explain to fuzziness as its quite a drop....

Welcome to forum :-)


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 22 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 
Thank you all for your replies, nice to know we having support.

Dr has said if tablets dont work, then insulin, Appreciate it is early days, but walking around the supermarket takes even longer now, :lol: am sure we will get there, have been through worse when he was ill before, but this blood sugar, carbs situation is just so confusing. Have read him your replies and he realises that he has to be patient. Only have the monitor for the weekend, but has another dr visit on monday, so maybe they will let him keep it for a bit longer, just to see what is happening, then maybe we will get the idea.

Thanks again.
 
Sure everything will sort itself out
This forum has some amazing people who love and are happy to help so keep asking questions
Know what you mean about the supermarket you should take my hubby with you he's a nightmare lol



Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
It takes time to learn about the foods that suit you. In addition to avoiding all the sugary stuff, biscuits, buns, chocolate, sugary drinks, sweets etc, even things like bread have a similar effect. Try to read up on Low GI foods. Even though some of them are high in carbs, they release it more slowly, so it doesn't raise the blood sugar levels as much. But, it is still there being released slowly so you still have to watch how much you eat. Low GI isn't the be all and and all, but its a good thing to start learning on.

A few weeks in and I was still getting high figures along with some nice low figures. It took me 20 weeks to get a grip on things and slowly move them down. There are no quick fixes and a patient long term approach will be necessary. But rather large numbers of people do cope with it all so take heart from them. Many have done it for decades.
 
Hello :)

I am a type 1 and often get fuzzy headed when my levels are high.
Regarding the feeling fed up... I would say it is normal... Well I still feel fed up of it sometimes and I have had it 2 years!
However try not to get down about it... It has only been 2 weeks! It will take time to get used to it.

I hope things pick up for you both! :)
 
Update.

Hubby not doing too badly, keeping to the low carbs, bs are coming dow, head not so muzzy, still has the blurred vision, that being the main problem now. Last couple of days, random tests bs in single fingers. Off on holiday on tues, which a month ago we thought would have to be cancelled as he was feeling so rough. Taking it as another test,, greek sunshine should make us both feel better, :D Has a hospital appt in october, and docs are keeping a close eye on him. Thank you all again for your support, the feeling we wasn't on our own was very comforting. Picking up all sorts of tips, and he wants to try the jelly when we get home. :lol:
 
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