Unsure Which Type Of Diabetes I Have.

[TBSimon]

Hello,

I was diagnosed as being diabetic when i was 17 with my sugar levels just over 30, i am now 28 and my diabetes has never been under control and i feel im not receiving the best treatment i could be. I was started on metformin 500g twice a day when i was 17 and then put onto gliclazide aswell. They put up my metformin to 1000g twice aday but my sugar levels didnt drop. when i was about 20 they started me on novorapid 3 times a day and lantus at night. Im unsure now if im type 1 or type 2 diabetic? Im now injecting 80 units at breakfast, 110 units at lunch and evening meal and 120 units of lantus before bed. My sugar levels at now around the 20 mark but wont drop any lower. I seen my consultant tuesday and he thinks im insulin intolerant, he could only suggest to me that i increase my insulin but he doesnt think that will help or use a new treatment called exenatide. i also suffer from high colesterol, which mine is around 11 - 14 and they havent given me anything to reduce it. i am now suffering other problems such as numbness and loss of feeling in my arms, legs, hands and feet. He tested me and i couldnt feel anything from my feet upto my knees and my hands upto my elbows. i am also having memory less, dizzyness, fatigue, muscle weakness and spasams, babbling/stuttering, jerking/twitching of muscles, tingling, balance problems. i told the consultant about all this and he didnt care. Im not sure what to do as i am aware them above problems relate to ms and i know ms is related to diabetes and ms does run in my family. Could anybody help me what steps i could take to help myself?

 

[robert72]

Hi

Just a thought - rather than taking more and more meds, have you tried reducing your carb intake to see if you can reduce blood sugars that way? A lot of members here seem to do very well on lower carb diets. It's not really my area but there's tons of information about it on the forum.

Hope you find a way to get those levels down.

 

[phoenix]

Hi,
exenatide is also called Byetta. If you do a search on the forum you'll find a lot of posts about it.
According to what I read, It works by increasing the amount of insulin your own pancreas creates (so presumably your doctor thinks you are able to produce some)
It also helps stop some of the release of glucose from your liver The high dose of lantus is supposed to be doing that at the moment.
I also slows down the rate of digestion so glucose is released from the stomach after a meal more gradually and lastly helps reduce appetite, so aids weight loss.
I think that you really have to try everything possible to reduce those blood glucose levels. As Robert says have a read around the forum, there's lots of info that might help
Perhaps you need to talk to your GP about your neuropathy and fears about MS. (I assume he will get a letter about your consultants findings). I'm actually very surprised that you haven't been given any medication for your high cholesterol; I suppose it could be age related but there are many people with diabetes that are prescribed cholesterol lowering drugs when their levels aren't really raised much at all.