Noticed a huge improvement in my energy levels since lowering blood sugar?

[TheJungleFour]

Too early to shout about any success yet, but I'm already feeling the difference with my energy levels.. My HbA1c in January was 125, the year before was 121. My records from before then are a bit hazy, can't seem to find numbers in my NHS portal - but in 2023 I think was around 80~90. Had been warned I was 'pre-diabetic' for a few years around the time of Covid and lockdown. Always been fairly overweight all of my adult life and since working from home it's between 95-105kg.

My reading HbA1c continued to stay high during 2024 because I decided to have a year off. Definitely not medical advice anyone should follow.. But in my head I was really, really struggling with knowing how to tackle it - I wasn't getting any support from anywhere - and I just wanted some time where I could live my life again and ignore it. Though I did make some changes - cutting out daily takeaways and reigning in the alcohol. Though I was still very sedentary, and my blood sugars stayed high as I was continuing to eat junk and heavily processed foods. Needing to wee every hour and having no energy to do anything really started to spoil things towards the end of 2024.

I'm now 6 weeks following a conversation with my GP/Diabetic Nurse. I was put on Gliclazide immediately and they touted the idea of going on Mounjaro, which I started last week. I've also come off Gliclazide beginning of this week as my bloods were trending too low.

The biggest hurdle for me in the first few weeks was dealing with the extreme tiredness and lethargy.
My daily routine most days looked something like this..

00:00 - 09:00 - Asleep
09:00 - 12:00 - Sat at my desk working
12:00 - 13:00 - Asleep/lying down in bed
13:00 - 18:00 - Sat at my desk working
18:00 - 21:00 - Asleep
21:00 - 00:00 - Lying in bed watching TV


Presuming that was due to high blood sugars.. breaking out of that cycle and stopping the naps was really difficult at start. But I knew they were bad and I had to stop them - my blood sugars were all over the place from so much sleeping.

Pleased to say I've now gone 4~ weeks without a mid-day nap and evening snooze! This week I've even started with morning and evening walks - and I don't feel drained or stressed about doing so either. Something that was just unthinkable for me 6 weeks ago. My bloods are averaging 4.5-5.5mmol/l and I haven't been higher than 6.5mmol/l for a few days now, even after stopping the Gliclazide.

Did anyone else notice a significant jump in their energy levels from dropping to healthy blood sugar levels after experiencing elevated levels for so long? I find it quite remarkable what a difference it has made to just that part of my life alone. I'm curious what it is about high blood sugar levels that actually makes you feel so tired?

 

[Outlier]

You are doing terrifically well! My congratulations - your story will be inspirational to many.

My energy levels increased significantly once I ditched carbs - those brown this and wholemeal that carbs which we get told are healthy. The only sugars I had were from fruit - and boy! did I eat a lot of fruit. All that is healthy for non-diabetics but not for those of us whose systems have crossed the divide so that we are now diabetic. This applies to T2 not other types of diabetes, of which I have little to no knowledge. Now I don't feel like falling asleep after meals - those days are long in the past. I get more time out of each day.

 

[Chris24Main]

@TheJungleFour - congrats on a great start, and glad to hear that things have gone well having stopped the Gliclazide - I'm assuming you haven't yet discussed that with your GP? It may be a good idea to just let them know. In the end everything is your choice, but always better to keep the medical team on side.

"I'm curious what it is about high blood sugar levels that actually makes you feel so tired?"

What a great question - it seems totally opposite to what you expect - have something sweet for a boost ...

Two simple things at play:

1. Insulin doesn't work to bring back blood glucose to "normal" - in the case of a rise and fall (trying not to use the "spike" word) the end result is usually that you end up with less blood glucose than you started with - so having something you expect to boost yourself will usually leave you with less available energy.

2. Your cells don't like too much glucose. Assume that your insulin is working perfectly, and shunting all the glucose from your blood into your cells - now your cells have more than they need - oversimplifying, but what happens when you overload a fire, it burns less well, and produces more smoke - same thing in your cells; you produce less energy, and more free radicals.
On top of this - your insulin is likely not to be working perfectly - and particularly in your brain; your brain needs to be sensitive to insulin, first to allow insulin inside the brain, then to allow insulin to tell the brains cells to burn glucose - both of those things are hampered if there is insulin resistance.

 

[Lamont D]

Just to add to the reason for this, is the overproduction of insulin because of mainly insulin resistance and high BG levels. A continuous rollercoaster ride of high and low BG levels causes many symptoms.

My light bulb moment was in hospital doing a fasting test. By the third day my brain had woke up, cleared, any residual symptoms were going. And the surge of energy levels was unreal.
I still have great energy levels mainly because my BG levels are in or around normal levels.
I was diagnosed over twelve years ago.
And I couldn't cope with everything unless I had great energy levels.
Close to seventy, my lot are amazed at what I can still do.