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What friends & family should know..

sasharhianna93

Well-Known Member
Messages
52
Location
Rockford, Illinois
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi there! I am a new member of this wonderful website, and I am also fairly new to diabetes. I was just diagnosed as Type 2 in February and I am still learning how to properly manage everything. My friends and family are also new to this and I have just been wondering what sort of things should my friends/family be aware of? What signs should they look for that I may be going too low/high? What can another person do if I am having a low and can not correct it by myself? Does anyone know of any good classes, or tutorials? Any and all advice is appreciated. I just want to be able to inform my friends and family how to help me if I am ever in a situation where I can not help myself. Thank you!
 
Is your condition and medication such that you may experience hypos?
 
dbr10 said:
Is your condition and medication such that you may experience hypos?
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Yes! I recently had a pretty scary experience and came to the realization that no one knows what to do in these situations and being that I am so new to it I am not really 100% sure what to do either. I have been having a hard time recognizing when I am getting low as well. Up until recently I had never had an issue with going low. I was always on the higher end.. however my doctor recently changed some of my medications around and I have been having significantly lower levels since then, sometimes even too low.
 
Someone with personal experience will be able to advise you. I'm just on metformin and don't experience hypos so far.
 
You are Type 2 .. so you should not get to low .. if you leave your sugar levels very high you will get problems. I would focus more on how to adjust your lifestyle to keep your bs numbers in the good range. Do let family and friends know you are T2 if you want to, then they may understand why you are changing your lifestyle.

Edit to add, what medication are you on and how low is low ?
 


I know! Like I said I have not had any issues up until recently with being low. But I have had several readings under 50, and the lowest was 33! I'm on metformin & glipizide and a few other medications not for diabetes. I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong, or if its just because my doctor recently increased the amount of meds I take in a day or what.
 
@sasharhianna93 - Also, you mention you're on other medications - I presume your doctor is fully aware of everything you're taking? - as some drugs can have an impact on how others work. It's very important that any potential interactions between drugs are taken into account.
 
Alison Campbell said:
How are you getting on with finding a new doctor?
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Its a stressful process.. But I am getting there. I recently switched insurance providers so I am having to find someone in network. Many people have suggested seeing an endocrinologist.. is that usually something you need a referral for? I know it sounds ridiculous, but prior to finding out that I'm diabetic I never went to the doctor much, and it seems really complicated to me.
 

Yes, she is aware of all my medications. She is the one who prescribed all of them. She hasn't really warned me of the side effects of any of them though. I just kind of found out for myself.
 
I see - I wonder if there is some interaction in that case - this might sound strange, but do you eat grapefruit, or drink grapefruit juice..?
 
There's some evidence that grapefruit increases the effectiveness of metformin - so I thought it was worth asking, in case that was the cause of your hypos!
 
Odin004 said:
There's some evidence that grapefruit increases the effectiveness of metformin - so I thought it was worth asking, in case that was the cause of your hypos!
Click to expand...


Oh! How strange!
That is interesting! This is such a wonderful site. I am already learning so much!
 
It will be the Glipizide that is causing your hypos. Metformin doesn't work that way. Glipizide stimulates the pancreas to produce extra insulin. Too much insulin and your levels can drop low. If you are keeping your carbs low you need less insulin, and it may be you need the glipizide dose reducing but you need to discuss this with your doctor. It may even be your pancreas produces enough insulin without help. This is all a matter for your doctor.
 
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