Thank you for accepting me

[Sani Thomas]

Hi, thank you for accepting me in the community.
I was diagnosed with T2 about 4 years ago. Initially started on Metformin with some success, gradually increasing doses and adding other medications. By last September I was taking in addition Saxaglipine and gliclazide at max doses. Unfortunately my bg stayed hi and no effect.
Eventually I was referred to the diabetic team in the hospital where I was tested for antibodies and started on basal insulin.
My result showed that I was indeed T2 but my bg still being high I was commenced on rapid insulin.
So I'm struggling at the moment to find the levels that will lower my bg. Las week we achieved good values but for the last several days the values have gone up. I am feeling disheartened although I know that eventually something will change for the better.
And I've noticed that when my bg goes higher eg 13 I feel very unwell and trembling.
Is everybody like this?
Thanks

 

[AdamJames]

Hi, thank you for accepting me in the community.
I was diagnosed with T2 about 4 years ago. Initially started on Metformin with some success, gradually increasing doses and adding other medications. By last September I was taking in addition Saxaglipine and gliclazide at max doses. Unfortunately my bg stayed hi and no effect.
Eventually I was referred to the diabetic team in the hospital where I was tested for antibodies and started on basal insulin.
My result showed that I was indeed T2 but my bg still being high I was commenced on rapid insulin.
So I'm struggling at the moment to find the levels that will lower my bg. Las week we achieved good values but for the last several days the values have gone up. I am feeling disheartened although I know that eventually something will change for the better.
And I've noticed that when my bg goes higher eg 13 I feel very unwell and trembling.
Is everybody like this?
Thanks

Sorry, I don't take those meds so my experience may not be relevant to yours.

All I know for sure is that last year, when I was regularly getting 16s, it was all I could do to stay awake. Not trembling or week, just constant fatigue. 20 hours a day sleeping.

Recently it's when I get very low when I feel week and shaky (not scarily so, just a bit).

So my answer is no, I'm not like that, but maybe that's because of the medication. Hopefully someone will come along who is on a similar combo.

Here's one member accepting you into the community, anyway!

The only thing I can think to suggest, since you observed last week you got good levels, is to start a logbook if you haven't already. What you eat, when, and what medication you took.

 

[Sani Thomas]

Sorry, I don't take those meds so my experience may not be relevant to yours.

All I know for sure is that last year, when I was regularly getting 16s, it was all I could do to stay awake. Not trembling or week, just constant fatigue. 20 hours a day sleeping.

Recently it's when I get very low when I feel week and shaky (not scarily so, just a bit).

So my answer is no, I'm not like that, but maybe that's because of the medication. Hopefully someone will come along who is on a similar combo.

Here's one member accepting you into the community, anyway!

The only thing I can think to suggest, since you observed last week you got good levels, is to start a logbook if you haven't already. What you eat, when, and what medication you took.

Thank you for your reply. You cheered me up a bit as letting me know about the fatigue. I have been like this since the autumn. I felt so tired that it was like being in a state of hibernation. I am still tired but nowhere near. I've started attending an exercise group once a week and it drains me. Now I know it is not me being lazy. :-D

 

[AdamJames]

Thank you for your reply. You cheered me up a bit as letting me know about the fatigue. I have been like this since the autumn. I felt so tired that it was like being in a state of hibernation. I am still tired but nowhere near. I've started attending an exercise group once a week and it drains me. Now I know it is not me being lazy. :-D

Yes my fatigue was pretty severe.

The way out of it was to reduce blood sugar, and I did try exercise which may have helped but really the thing that did it was careful attention to what I was eating and regularly using a blood glucose meter.

Don't worry about thinking you're lazy. I've always been so active that I've 'got away with' being overweight for most of my life. My heaviest was 21.5 stone (many years ago now), and even then it was me dragging friends at work out to go walking and climbing. People may think that I 'gave in' last year and decided to sleep for 20 hours a day, but it hits you like a ton of bricks and it's very hard to escape from as you no doubt have found out yourself.

Now that I've 'escaped' from what felt like a pit of fatigue, I've found that I need to be very careful with exercise. I do a ton of walking especially at the weekends, easily clocking up 20 hours, but that can lead to (and requires, to do it comfortably / safely when in some of the more remote hills) eating a fair bit of food, and that raises my fasting levels, and I felt the tiredness creeping back in the last couple of months. I'm just getting on top of it now by paying close attention to what I eat again.

So if you find your new exercise group too draining, don't feel like you've failed even if you give it up. You can do just as well by sitting still and eating sensibly initially, then when you have been out of toxic blood glucose levels for a while and start to feel good, if there's anything active you enjoy then go for it, but always monitor your levels - they must come first.

 

[Sani Thomas]

Yes my fatigue was pretty severe.

The way out of it was to reduce blood sugar, and I did try exercise which may have helped but really the thing that did it was careful attention to what I was eating and regularly using a blood glucose meter.

Don't worry about thinking you're lazy. I've always been so active that I've 'got away with' being overweight for most of my life. My heaviest was 21.5 stone (many years ago now), and even then it was me dragging friends at work out to go walking and climbing. People may think that I 'gave in' last year and decided to sleep for 20 hours a day, but it hits you like a ton of bricks and it's very hard to escape from as you no doubt have found out yourself.

Now that I've 'escaped' from what felt like a pit of fatigue, I've found that I need to be very careful with exercise. I do a ton of walking especially at the weekends, easily clocking up 20 hours, but that can lead to (and requires, to do it comfortably / safely when in some of the more remote hills) eating a fair bit of food, and that raises my fasting levels, and I felt the tiredness creeping back in the last couple of months. I'm just getting on top of it now by paying close attention to what I eat again.

So if you find your new exercise group too draining, don't feel like you've failed even if you give it up. You can do just as well by sitting still and eating sensibly initially, then when you have been out of toxic blood glucose levels for a while and start to feel good, if there's anything active you enjoy then go for it, but always monitor your levels - they must come first.

I'm constantly checking my glucose. When I go for the exercise I check before and after. Strangely, I found that sometimes they may increase. One time through the exercise it was 12 and when I went home after it was 12.6 or thereabouts.
I find that I've lost muscle mass. My weight is stable but sc fat has redistributed and now I have skinny legs, wrinkled bum and fat belly. I was rather skinny for most of my life and even now my bmi is 22.
At the moment I'm trying to stick to the exercising even if sometimes I do little. I have become very isolated and this provides me with social interactions too.
Diet wise, I don't eat much, I avoid sugars, except in fruit and veg, breakfast is usually a pocket of oatcakes equivalent to 2 slices of bread. Even this is enough to cause a spike.
One of my torments is the constant advertising of chocolates, food, etc. Ah, well, I better get some sleep. Cheers and huge thanks.