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Stopping insulin

J

jaynealecock

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I was diagnosed with type 2 eight weeks ago.
After three weeks of various levels of gliclazide and metformine (which made me really sick), I was persuaded to try insulin.
I'm now on 46 units of levemir a day split into two doses and 160mg of gliclazide a day, and I feel rubbish. I suffer from dizzy spells and headaches which are so severe they have stopped me from driving and working.
I've discussed this with my GP who says that this is most likely psychological, but I don't believe this as I am in severe pain for pretty much all of every day.
I want to take control and say I don't want to take any further medication to get things back to normal.
I felt perfectly fine before my diagnosis which was as a result of an annual health check.
Has anyone else experienced similar side effects taking insulin, and what are the consequences of stopping my medication?
 
Sorry you are feeling like this.

What are your blood sugars like when you have these dizzy spells?
 
Anywhere between 8 and 12, my insulin dose is being increased by around 8 units each week, but I've yet to get my blood sugar back to acceptable levels. My GP and nurse keep telling my I should feel better by now, but I'm not and I'm beginning to think nobody is listening to me, hence I don't feel in control.
 
jaynealecock said:
After three weeks of various levels of gliclazide and metformine (which made me really sick), I was persuaded to try insulin.
I'm now on 46 units of levemir a day split into two doses and 160mg of gliclazide a day, and I feel rubbish
Click to expand...
Dumb question but if you felt ill on the Gliclazide why are you still taking it? Surely you would be better off just using the insulin?
 
It may be as well that your body is getting used to returning to lower blood levels.
Personally I've nevee had gluc tablets but I think its more likely to be tablets than insulin.. Hypo's can make you feel bad but at levels between 8-12 you are no where near hypo.
 
It could be that you are having false hypos - where because you have been running high for a while bringing your levels down to normal makes you feel hypo, even when you're not.

Gliclazide has side effects of headaches. I don't know, I've never taken it.

Levemir has reported side effects of flu like symptoms. I've never had anything like that on levemir, I would imagine it's pretty rare.

I can completely understand the desire to take control if you are feeling rubbish. But it seems like you are on a fair bit of insulin & your levels still aren't down to normal. Do try and discuss the risks and benefits of medication or no with your doctor so that you can be sure you understand the decision - they might even be able to come up with alternatives (like, literally, an alternative insulin) or just stopping the Gliclazide as you come down to normal levels.
 
Hi. I'm slightly surprised you are taking both Gliclazide and insulin as they both increase the insulin in your blood and from many posts it seems once you start insulin you stop Gliclazide (as I did)? Glic doesn't often cause side effects but there will always be exceptions. Are you overweight? What sort of diet are you having? Having Metformin with insulin is quite common and if you had the SR (Slow Release) version then stomach problems are a lot less likely. I think you need to discuss/challenge (politely) with the GP the medication regime to understand what the aims are. If you are overweight and not already low-carbing then do think about that. Do low-carb even if not overweight to help control blood sugar.
 
Hugs.... I couldn't answer your question in regard to meds other to say I was taken off all oral meds when I was put on insulin. But for me I was told oral meds would no longer work. How often are you testing? When you say you get 8-12 mmol, is that when you feel real sick? or is that your morning fasting glucose number? I'd imagine being on both oral med and insulin would put you at much higher risk of hypos though. It sounds like you need to have a discussion with your diabetes team as it doesn't sound like things are working too well.
 
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