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No energy & weak muscles

S

Shoelace1973

Active Member
Messages
42
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello
I have been type 2 for just over a year, but ever since diagnosis my energy levels have gradually gone down, and all my muscles getting weaker.

I have had every blood test possible at the Drs - for anything that could be causing this - other than diabetes but all have come back normal.

Yesterday I had a lazy day at the beach, round of crazy golf- but today woke up with every muscle in my body aching & no energy to do anything! This is how I am now, permanently.

I am taking Metformin, Algoliptin & dapagliflozin. After being high for most of the year, my blood sugars are now only slighter than they should be.

A great sentence taken from this site - 'In people with diabetes, insufficient insulin prevents the body from getting glucose from the blood into the body's cells to use as energy'. This is exactly how I feel.

If my blood sugars are now near normal - why do I feel so ****, all the time? How do I get some energy?! Could I be wrongly diagnosed as type 2 & be something else?

Thank you
 
Hi @Shoelace1973

High sugar levels do cause extreme tiredness but now your levels are down it is time to go back to your doctor for more help with this. You need some tests to rule out vit defieciency etc by med professionals
 
Can I ask what makes you say that your blood glucose is only slightly higher than it should be?
Are you relying on your HbA1c test for that?
Or are you testing to see if your blood glucose is spiking high after food, or dropping low at certain times?
The HbA1c is just an indicator of your blood glucose average, and won't really give you an idea of your highs and lows - both of which can make you feel pretty grotty.

And did your doc give you an actual figure for your blood test result? Always worth asking for the details, and a printout of the results. Then you can come home and do some research online. Sometimes docs are very vague, or economical with the truth, which actually makes us feel we are doing fine, when really we are not. They think they are protecting us, or maybe they simply can't face being questioned for answers on the detail, but it is ALWAYS worth getting as much info as possible.

You asked if it could be something other than D making you feel rough - and the answer is yes, any number of other things could make you feel lacking in energy, so always work going to the doc and asking for a checkup.
 
There's a myriad of things that could cause this other than diabetes. Your thyroid could be out of whack, vitamin D deficiency isn't always tested for, (or vit. B, magnesium and iron for that matter), or it could be diagnoses-related depression. (Not to say you're imagining it, but depression does cause very real, physical fatigue and muscle weakness). I've always had low vitamin D because I barely get out of the house (anxiety disorder), so I simply don't get enough sun. Add a messed up thyroid to that... I thought my fatigue was to blame on those two issues, or three really, as rheumatism is thrown in too, but turned out I'd been a type 2 diabetic for *years* and didn't know it. When you say you got checked for "everything", that must have been a lot if vials, because there can be so many causes... Like someone else suggested, get the testresults, all of them, and check them online. Seek out things that might not have been tested for and get those checked. When I first went to my doc she indulged me with tests while she thought it might simply be depression... That revealed the fatty liver that later got explained by diabetes. Don't give up until you have an answer!

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
Dapagliflozin has a tendance to show lower levels on your meter than the true picture. Are you checking for ketones on this med.
I highly recommend you return to gp today or go to a walk-in centre to have your ketones checked for ketoacidosis. Check
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/diabetic-ketoacidosis.html
to put your mind at rest but please still get checked for dka. You know better than anyone when your body isnt right.
I bought test strips on-line to use when I was on it's sister med canagliflozin. I ended up with 2 bulging discs whilst using it too. Horrific thrush for my efforts too. Luckily I stopped it after my second attempt. I didnt test in my second attempt but I was ill on it too.
Check your dapagliflozin info leaflet for more info.
Please let me know how gp or walk-in centre check goes today.
 
Are you tking Statins because they can cause muscle problems for some people?
 
Alison Campbell said:
Hi @Shoelace1973

High sugar levels do cause extreme tiredness but now your levels are down it is time to go back to your doctor for more help with this. You need some tests to rule out vit defieciency etc by med professionals
Click to expand...

I've had tests for vit defiencies - but all came back normal.
 

My last HBa1c was 80! But since the dapagliflozin was added, I test myself and levels are near normal. Yes, they do occasionally go to 12 after a meal, but I'm assuming this shouldn't be a problem?

I would love to totally do
LCHF - but don't like the alternative food!
 

I've had many blood tests over the last 6 months & thyroid vit & minerals all checked. I think they might only do something the day I collapse in the street!
 

I didn't know dapagliflozin shows lower levels on the meter than the true picture. I just assumed the nurse checked the ketone levels at the yearly review - although this was before I started taking dapagliflozin. I shall get checked. Thanks.
 

Hi again.
Glad you have seen some improvement
But i think if you are testing at 12 after a meal, then you are probably going significantly higher. Our tests are an indication, at a set time after eating, but with carbs in the meal we usually peak much higher soon after the food and then drop down by 2 hours. So your 12 was probably higher half an hour to an hour after food - and that is hard on the body. The rapid ups and downs are very tiring and wearing.

There are a few studies (you can find them discussed on www.bloodsugar101.com) that suggest type 2 diabetics are experiencing/risking further beta cell damage and long term complications the more time they spend with raised blood glucose. And those same studies show that 'raised blood glucose' is anything above 7.8 mmol/l.

Well done for getting those vit tests done. That has eliminated quite a few options.
Obviously, I can't say that your symptoms are definitely caused by your blood glucose levels/fluctuations.
But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that even if your symptoms are caused by something else, if you manage to even out your blood glucose, you will feel somewhat better, even if the original problem persists.

Doctors rarely tell you about how unpleasant the blood glucose fluctuations are. They don't experience them, and they think they are normal, and unavoidable. But those of us who manage to stay in the normal range of 4-7 mmol/l (by diet and/or exercise and/or medication) feel so much better.
 
You get BG readings of 12?
I get concerned at anything over 7.5 after eating, and my last Hba1c was 41.
I could not take the tablets prescribes as I felt so ill so I eat low carb - I can't see any other option so I am glad that there is so much I can eat and keep my BG steady, but I'd do whatever it took to stay in normal ranges. As you have a meter, could you try to reduce the numbers and see if that helps to restore more normal energy and metabolism?
 
12s on your meter whilst on dapagliflozin is a concern. Please see your dn or walk-in centre.
 

Hello
Thank you for this - yes I do believe my tiredness is all/or somewhat related to my high sugars. This morning, after a small bowl of bran flakes (supposedly healthy!) I got up to 14! Iam on the max no. of tablets (before ending up on Insulin) and I think I now realise the ONLY way to deal with this is to go Low Carb. Because there doesn't seem to be any other option?
Presumably this means I am producing very little insulin?
I have just started a type 2 X-PERT diabetes course and it has been a bit of an eye opener!
 
At a rough estimate two thirds of the bran flakes would be carbohydrate- not a good choice even in small quantities.
'Healthy' is very subjective - for many food processors it means the same a s profitable.
I used to work for Allied Lyons and saw how their development work was done.
You could be producing masses of insulin - but it is being ignored by your cells.
The idea of low carbing is to give your pancreas a rest and push your metabolism back towards normality.
It cam be very effective, so you will need to use your meter to see what is happening, and watch out for hypos due to the medication you are on.
I have dropped my Hba1c to below half what it was at diagnosis, without tablets.
I have lost weight and changed shape - I have been throwing out clothes for the last 6 months, and shoes as well - my feet have shrunk.
 

Hello

Thank you - this has been very useful.

Well done on getting your Hba1c down without tablets.
 
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