I quite often feel tired/down for no obvious reason.Insulin?,diabetes?,diet? not sure but definately effects me and hard to explain to others.Have you got any answers yet?
Tiredness
- Thread starter SarahW
- Start Date
scottyandrew said:
Hi scottyandrew ...
Are you by any chance on Lantus ???? ...
The reason I ask is my 15year old son was exactly the same and suffered horrendous problems with Lantus ... Just had hi changed to animal insulin nearly 4 weeks ago and the transformation in him .. I cant explain ... I tried to put it in to words on the "Changing Lantus" thread .. have a quick peak ...
Heidi
xx
scoots
Active Member
- Messages
- 39
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
I get exhaustedly tired, and similar to other's description of just literally having to sleep, I just can't keep my eyes open and my brain closes down. This will generally last for 20 minutes and then I come around again, but in that time I'm truly out for the count, almost as if I'm drunk. I also find it most frustrating that my brain doesn't work the way it did before, gets very foggy.
I never had this before the diagnosis, for me it has to be linked either to the diagnosis or treatment.
Jen
I never had this before the diagnosis, for me it has to be linked either to the diagnosis or treatment.
Jen
Jen, do you test your blood sugar level when you feel really tired like this? It could help to know, so you can try to understand whether the tiredness is linked to extreme blood sugar levels...scoots said:
scoots
Active Member
- Messages
- 39
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Dobbs
It is definitely linked to when my blood sugar is either high or going up quickly (for example after a meal), however it is pretty instant so seems almost too soon for it to be the meal, and when I check the blood sugar it may be higher or normal. Sometimes I think it must be sky high, check it and it is normal. I tend to get tiredness with both high and low sugars, and also as I said when it is normal, it really has been a recurring and consistent symptoms associated with the diagnosis, continuing throughout various insulin treatments.
'Normal' for me when it is controlled (as it was with levemir) is generally between 5 and 7; when it is less controlled it can be more erratic, often between 5 and 15-20, which I know is not good. I'm working on it...! The tiredness is present regardless of how well controlled it is at the time. I just thought that was something you had to put up with once diagnosed with diabetes!
Thanks,
Jen
It is definitely linked to when my blood sugar is either high or going up quickly (for example after a meal), however it is pretty instant so seems almost too soon for it to be the meal, and when I check the blood sugar it may be higher or normal. Sometimes I think it must be sky high, check it and it is normal. I tend to get tiredness with both high and low sugars, and also as I said when it is normal, it really has been a recurring and consistent symptoms associated with the diagnosis, continuing throughout various insulin treatments.
'Normal' for me when it is controlled (as it was with levemir) is generally between 5 and 7; when it is less controlled it can be more erratic, often between 5 and 15-20, which I know is not good. I'm working on it...! The tiredness is present regardless of how well controlled it is at the time. I just thought that was something you had to put up with once diagnosed with diabetes!
Thanks,
Jen
Hi Jen
The tiredness ur feeling does not sound normal. There could be another cause for it unrelated to you diabetes, and you should see your doc. However don't rule out that insulin,presume you're on analogue?, is making you feel this way, because what you've described sounds very similar to mine and many others' experience. Many people liken it to feeling drugged or poisoned.
If your feeling unwell and got lousy control on the insulin you're on, has your doc not suggested changing your insulin? Regardless of the tiredness, you need to be on a treatment that works for you, and there are many different insulins on the market, despite what many patients are led to believe :cry:
Hope you get things sorted soon
Jus
The tiredness ur feeling does not sound normal. There could be another cause for it unrelated to you diabetes, and you should see your doc. However don't rule out that insulin,presume you're on analogue?, is making you feel this way, because what you've described sounds very similar to mine and many others' experience. Many people liken it to feeling drugged or poisoned.
If your feeling unwell and got lousy control on the insulin you're on, has your doc not suggested changing your insulin? Regardless of the tiredness, you need to be on a treatment that works for you, and there are many different insulins on the market, despite what many patients are led to believe :cry:
Hope you get things sorted soon
Jus
Hi Jen, I felt exactly the same way and lost my short term memory within a week of diagnosis, was falling asleep all the time and just couldn't manage. I assumed it was one of the insulins I was on until my 6 month review where the diabetologist pointed out I'd had very severe flu pre-diagnosis and the combination of undiagnosed type 1 diabetes plus the flu had resulted in what he thought was post-viral fatigue syndrome (aka chronic fatigue syndrome aka ME).
I found it hard to accept at first even though it was logical, but over time I have got slowly better and follow the 'typical' (if there is one) pattern of PVFS recovery. I still have my moments where I think 'lantus' however if it was the lantus, I wouldn't be getting better. I do find that they play off each other, and when I'm really tired and have no energy 'in the bank' then I feel every last tiny rise in blood sugars, sometimes having to sleep after every meal (which I can't do at work... so work's interesting on occasion).
Also though, when you've been accustomed for a long time to higher blood sugars, these symptoms can be due to the fact your body is perceiving normal sugar levels as 'hypo'. It's worth remembering that quite a few type 1s (not all of course) are diagnosed after an infection or virus, so it might be worth exploring the PVFS/CFS avenue further with your GP.
On the point of the original subject, I get very tired after a hypo, due to the fact PVFS reduces your cortisol levels because you're always using them to get through the day, whereas most people have stocks of it ready for action and type 1s normally release some of it after a hypo to help them get over it, according to my diabetologist. The worst was getting down to 1.9 and having to take the next day off work to sleep.
I found it hard to accept at first even though it was logical, but over time I have got slowly better and follow the 'typical' (if there is one) pattern of PVFS recovery. I still have my moments where I think 'lantus' however if it was the lantus, I wouldn't be getting better. I do find that they play off each other, and when I'm really tired and have no energy 'in the bank' then I feel every last tiny rise in blood sugars, sometimes having to sleep after every meal (which I can't do at work... so work's interesting on occasion).
Also though, when you've been accustomed for a long time to higher blood sugars, these symptoms can be due to the fact your body is perceiving normal sugar levels as 'hypo'. It's worth remembering that quite a few type 1s (not all of course) are diagnosed after an infection or virus, so it might be worth exploring the PVFS/CFS avenue further with your GP.
On the point of the original subject, I get very tired after a hypo, due to the fact PVFS reduces your cortisol levels because you're always using them to get through the day, whereas most people have stocks of it ready for action and type 1s normally release some of it after a hypo to help them get over it, according to my diabetologist. The worst was getting down to 1.9 and having to take the next day off work to sleep.
scoots
Active Member
- Messages
- 39
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
Hi moonstone and janabelle, thanks for giving me food for thought (as opposed to food for raised blood sugars...!).
To be honest I hadn't thought it would be anything other than the diabetes, and thought that these symptoms (specifically tiredeness and impaired memory) were intrinsically linked to this. While it can be linked to rising blood sugars, it can't be just this as it generally lasts for 20 minutes and then instantly lifts, regardless of whether I have taken any insulin. Also, it does not seem to be linked to extremes of blood sugars - I can get the symptoms and the BS is only 7 for example.
It is also unlikely to be linked to which type of insulin I am using, as these symptoms have been consistent despite being on different insulin types. I can see that logically it may be linked to a post-viral effect, and my body certainly had to get used to running on lower levels and does seem sensitive to changes in blood sugars, so any of these things may have a part to play.
The great thing about the forum is the sharing and knowledege that we're not alone in how we're feeling.
I will check it out with my docs, thanks! :wink:
Jen
To be honest I hadn't thought it would be anything other than the diabetes, and thought that these symptoms (specifically tiredeness and impaired memory) were intrinsically linked to this. While it can be linked to rising blood sugars, it can't be just this as it generally lasts for 20 minutes and then instantly lifts, regardless of whether I have taken any insulin. Also, it does not seem to be linked to extremes of blood sugars - I can get the symptoms and the BS is only 7 for example.
It is also unlikely to be linked to which type of insulin I am using, as these symptoms have been consistent despite being on different insulin types. I can see that logically it may be linked to a post-viral effect, and my body certainly had to get used to running on lower levels and does seem sensitive to changes in blood sugars, so any of these things may have a part to play.
The great thing about the forum is the sharing and knowledege that we're not alone in how we're feeling.
I will check it out with my docs, thanks! :wink:
Jen
Hi Moonstone,
Diagnoses of illnesses suchas ME/CFS/FMS, and not based on reliable medical tests. I'd take any diagnosis like that with a pinch of salt.
When I contacted my local ME group around 2006, it was suggested I should get referred to a Fibromyalgia Specialist; a proffessor in a London hospital. I was in a dreadful state and phoning the fibromyalgia help-line most days in tears. My rheumatologist at my local hospital referred me to the eminent Proff, as he could find no reason for the pain I was suffering, or how ill I was feeling.
Before the consultation with the Proff, I was examined by a junior doctor, who prodded me here and there, and asked me when I felt pain or tenderness. The Proff then told me I did indeed have Fibromyalgia and prescribed me a drug called a dopamine agonist. He advised me on how to manage my activities and avoid over-exertion.
I don't know what made me doubt the diagnosis, but I wasn't convinced. It was only in 2008 when I contacted the IDDT and changed to animal insulin that I found the real cause of my ill health. Not because I suspected Lantus was making me ill, but because my BG levels were yo-yo-ing most days, and some days I was low or high for no reason. I'd been type-1 since 1989 and never experienced such unpredictable or erratic BGs.
I can understand how I was misdiagnosed as the side-effects I was suffering were pretty identical to Fybromyalgia/ME symptoms; exhaustion-sometimes after activity,anxiety, depression, tremor, IBS symptoms,leg cramps, sleep disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, pain particularly shoulders, neck and arms. I don't remember a time when I didn't have pain during those 4 years, and sometimes I'd wake after having really vivid dreams, and feel like I'd had no sleep at all.
I was at my worst in 2005-2006, sometimes I'd think I was getting better, but the "ill" days would come out of the blue, and I couldn't plan anything as I didn't know how I was going to feel the next day.
My mis-diagnosis of Fibromyalgia was apparently caused by the stress of losing my father to cancer, and my son going through cancer treatment in 2003. The diagnosis was complete guesswork, and in my case completely wrong.
Jus
PS I have since discovered that the Fibromyalgia "specialist" I saw was involved in research for treatments-I realise now I was just cannon-fodder. I contacted him when I discovered what had made me ill-he couldn't have been less interested,didn't suit his purpose I suspect. :evil:
Diagnoses of illnesses suchas ME/CFS/FMS, and not based on reliable medical tests. I'd take any diagnosis like that with a pinch of salt.
When I contacted my local ME group around 2006, it was suggested I should get referred to a Fibromyalgia Specialist; a proffessor in a London hospital. I was in a dreadful state and phoning the fibromyalgia help-line most days in tears. My rheumatologist at my local hospital referred me to the eminent Proff, as he could find no reason for the pain I was suffering, or how ill I was feeling.
Before the consultation with the Proff, I was examined by a junior doctor, who prodded me here and there, and asked me when I felt pain or tenderness. The Proff then told me I did indeed have Fibromyalgia and prescribed me a drug called a dopamine agonist. He advised me on how to manage my activities and avoid over-exertion.
I don't know what made me doubt the diagnosis, but I wasn't convinced. It was only in 2008 when I contacted the IDDT and changed to animal insulin that I found the real cause of my ill health. Not because I suspected Lantus was making me ill, but because my BG levels were yo-yo-ing most days, and some days I was low or high for no reason. I'd been type-1 since 1989 and never experienced such unpredictable or erratic BGs.
I can understand how I was misdiagnosed as the side-effects I was suffering were pretty identical to Fybromyalgia/ME symptoms; exhaustion-sometimes after activity,anxiety, depression, tremor, IBS symptoms,leg cramps, sleep disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, pain particularly shoulders, neck and arms. I don't remember a time when I didn't have pain during those 4 years, and sometimes I'd wake after having really vivid dreams, and feel like I'd had no sleep at all.
I was at my worst in 2005-2006, sometimes I'd think I was getting better, but the "ill" days would come out of the blue, and I couldn't plan anything as I didn't know how I was going to feel the next day.
My mis-diagnosis of Fibromyalgia was apparently caused by the stress of losing my father to cancer, and my son going through cancer treatment in 2003. The diagnosis was complete guesswork, and in my case completely wrong.
Jus
PS I have since discovered that the Fibromyalgia "specialist" I saw was involved in research for treatments-I realise now I was just cannon-fodder. I contacted him when I discovered what had made me ill-he couldn't have been less interested,didn't suit his purpose I suspect. :evil:
yep im like that all the time .but there is a lot of other things related to diabetes that it could be,Do you snore?as OSA is common in diabetic`s :?:
HI,Pump994,pump994 said:
what are you like all the time- do you mean tired or someting else besides? I don't snore, never have, and never heard of it being associated with type-1 diabetes.
Jus
Sleep apnoea's associated with type 2, but - yes! I raised it with my GP recently cos I keep waking up with my airways collapsed, it's hideous. It won't be the type 1 that did it to me, I've got old neck injuries that have turned into osteoarthritis and a terrible vicks sinex habit!!! I don't think it can be helping matters. But for me it went like this - undiagnosed slow-onset type 1, then truly savage flu, followed by lots of infections, I went to the Dr because I hadn't recovered from the flu several weeks later and felt really terrible and he said (word for word) "There's nothing wrong with you". He was a diabetes specialist GP. Hm. Never mind. A few weeks later, type 1 was diagnosed, FBGs of 19 and 21, +1 ketones, HbA1c 12.6%, every bit of me was disintegrating, but I realise it could have been a lot worse. For the first week, I could feel the insulin doing me good, but then boom I didn't know where I was or what was happening from one moment to the next - my short term memory had completely disappeared. I was drowning in sleep, that's how I described it at the time - like someone would put a gun to my head and say 'Sleep. Now.', whatever my levels. My brain would just switch off. A week after that started, I started honeymooning too, and was having 2 hypos a day for a further 2wks until it was recognised what was happening and my doses were cut almost to nothing. I literally had no brain left and found surviving through the day to be an extremely tough deal. I became a piece of weetabix, my hair was made of pasta, I was having to eat so many carbs to counter the hypos. I went through the lucozade and digestives like there was no tomorrow. So that was the situation I found myself in, and 6 months later PVFS was first mentioned. I had completely assumed it was something to do with my insulins.
It is a conundrum. You're diagnosed with PVFS/CFS by presenting certain symptoms that appear consistently in the syndrome, after ruling out other things. So what do you do? I did ask to change to Levemir a few weeks ago but because my waking times are all over the place because I'm permanently knackered, they said it wouldn't be right for taking Levemir twice a day and sticking to the right times. But they did say, if I really want to, I can give it a go. I'm still thinking about it, because it will involve yet more problems with my levels while I try to get it right and I'm just not sure I can cope with it right now. I had CBT with a very experienced clinical psychologist who said everything I was saying was very common with PVFS, and the things she said would happen in my recovery are happening, so I do err on the side of PVFS over anything else, and seriously, that flu was truly savage - two people at work who had it went to hospital, and they didn't have undiagnosed type 1 underneath it all! I am improving, but I still have terrible days. I've noticed a huge, huge improvement in the last two weeks with my memory but still have black holes. Sometimes I wonder, if it isn't all down to the fact I was so ill for so many years before finally getting diagnosed, and it's just taking my body a long time to put itself back together......
I once asked my consultant why I seemed to feel the ups and downs in my levels so fiercely and he said some people are just "exquisitely sensitive" to sugar. I actually think it's related to how tired I am - the more tired, the more I feel it. Oooh, it's all so flipping difficult sometimes!! Why can't I just have one 'thing' to deal with??!
It is a conundrum. You're diagnosed with PVFS/CFS by presenting certain symptoms that appear consistently in the syndrome, after ruling out other things. So what do you do? I did ask to change to Levemir a few weeks ago but because my waking times are all over the place because I'm permanently knackered, they said it wouldn't be right for taking Levemir twice a day and sticking to the right times. But they did say, if I really want to, I can give it a go. I'm still thinking about it, because it will involve yet more problems with my levels while I try to get it right and I'm just not sure I can cope with it right now. I had CBT with a very experienced clinical psychologist who said everything I was saying was very common with PVFS, and the things she said would happen in my recovery are happening, so I do err on the side of PVFS over anything else, and seriously, that flu was truly savage - two people at work who had it went to hospital, and they didn't have undiagnosed type 1 underneath it all! I am improving, but I still have terrible days. I've noticed a huge, huge improvement in the last two weeks with my memory but still have black holes. Sometimes I wonder, if it isn't all down to the fact I was so ill for so many years before finally getting diagnosed, and it's just taking my body a long time to put itself back together......
I once asked my consultant why I seemed to feel the ups and downs in my levels so fiercely and he said some people are just "exquisitely sensitive" to sugar. I actually think it's related to how tired I am - the more tired, the more I feel it. Oooh, it's all so flipping difficult sometimes!! Why can't I just have one 'thing' to deal with??!
In reply to the tiredness question, a few months ago I developed a bit of lethargy and it resulted from my thyroid - so another thing to have checked out.
I have been on Lantus for a long time and prior to my thyroid issues had loads of energy. In my opinion it appears that this board loves to blame Lantus for everything.I am not saying don't look into the insulin as a possible cause because we are all different and perhaps suited to different types of insulin but lantus suits me well and some of the attitudes re lantus is really starting to upset me - yes it may have caused problems for some people but its a God send to others.
I have been on Lantus for a long time and prior to my thyroid issues had loads of energy. In my opinion it appears that this board loves to blame Lantus for everything.I am not saying don't look into the insulin as a possible cause because we are all different and perhaps suited to different types of insulin but lantus suits me well and some of the attitudes re lantus is really starting to upset me - yes it may have caused problems for some people but its a God send to others.
nats12 said:
I should point out that this Forum has no policy or an agenda about Lantus. It is just another drug, so to say that 'this board loves to blame Lantus' is not correct.
There are SOME people who blame Lantus for things, that is their right as members here and just their opinions. That has been discussed at length elsewhere and when comments got too emotive the posters were warned to tone the language down that was being used.
People can get passionate about some things and can sometimes forget to see that there is another side to the discussion. Another point of view.
Members were warned recently that this Forum would not allow itself to be used as a platform or campaign against Lantus. That was made crystal clear.
We here take the stance that Lantus has helped many people around the World, we also accept that there are also people who have problems with it.
We take a balanced view and so long as everybody is sensible in their responses all comments are welcome. That is all this board, this Forum does.
cugila
Forum Monitor
Well said Ken.
Nats, I can't quite get my head around why people having a reaction to a drug you happen to be taking would upset you so much. Please be assured that the people suffering the adverse reactions are far more upset than you'll ever be. Does this upset stretch to penicillin, wheat, or any other substance people frequently react negatively to?
No one on this forum has blamed Lantus for everything, that's a ridiculous statment; people have probs on all types of medications, analogue insulins included, and it's important that people are aware of that. You're doing well and love the insulin you're on, and that's great, but please don't be upset that not everyone shares your experience. It doesn't upset me to read how well people are doing, but it does when I read of people having problems.
Jus
Nats, I can't quite get my head around why people having a reaction to a drug you happen to be taking would upset you so much. Please be assured that the people suffering the adverse reactions are far more upset than you'll ever be. Does this upset stretch to penicillin, wheat, or any other substance people frequently react negatively to?
No one on this forum has blamed Lantus for everything, that's a ridiculous statment; people have probs on all types of medications, analogue insulins included, and it's important that people are aware of that. You're doing well and love the insulin you're on, and that's great, but please don't be upset that not everyone shares your experience. It doesn't upset me to read how well people are doing, but it does when I read of people having problems.
Jus
Hi Nats12, yes my thyroid was tested along with various other things and everything was ok... so no answers there! The only reason I have niggles about lantus is the fact it all happened to me within a week of starting my injections, and I have similar symptoms to some other people who've had problems with it. By the law of Occam's razor, the simplest solution is normally the right one... if you start taking a medicine and within a week have these symptoms that some other people report are related to that same medicine... well it just niggles me sometimes, but as I say I err on the side of PVFS. Actually I think I just have a problem accepting it sometimes, because it's so frustrating... it's been 2yrs now... I could have done with my brain and body being with the program for much of that time!
Diagnosed 2 years ago and being treated as type 1. Use novorapid and lantus. Most of the time I'm very tired, heavy head/feeling drugged up, very bad short term memory at times, exhausted. Was on levemir for almost a year and started feeling the tiredness then but ended up taking 100units with a body weight of 73kilos. Almost collapsed with exhaustion so changed to lantus..taking avg 28 units but still feeling very tired. Had all the usual test for thyroids, lack of iron etc.but all tests are ok. Now I see that many people have the same tiredeness. I'm 62 and do a lot of lifting driving at work and BMs can drop from 10s to hypo within the hour. What is it like using Porcine Isophane. I need something to stop the tiredness. My DSN says she don't know what to suggest??? At present my BMs are up and down as I've been feeling bad since November 2011.
Have you been tested for Vitamin D deficiency? They seem to do the blood tests for everything else except this one. It can make you feel like you do. I felt terrible for nearly 3 years until I finally got diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency, take supplements now, prescribed by doctor and feel loads better.
^+1 Joe...........My get up and go got up and fekked aff ages ago......I always feel like someone has stuck a big needle in me and drew out all may energy out......
Bob
Bob
