• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What's up with me?

B

blackbox

Member
Messages
5
Hello All....

Fellow diabetics, I call upon you for some advice.....

OK, my diabetic control isn't so great. My last Hb... whatever it is, was around 14%. I''ve been T1 for around three years. Unfortunately this result is nothing new and I am working on it.

Aside from that, since last September I've been feeling unusually drained - I just want to sleep all day and I've hardly any motivation to do anything. My hair is thinning and I rarely have periods any more. What's more is that I suffer from excruciating leg cramps, often 2-3 (at worst 7) nights a week. On top of all these, I feel forever miserable.

Now I know you'll say that I should take a trip to my GP, but I know he'll put it down to poor control. However, I've only started 'suffering' these past six months. Poor control has been on-going for near enough three years.

Aside from all that, I'm healthy - I walk miles in anyone day (at least before I became so tired), I only drink still water - no tea, coffee. I don't smoke and I'm in my mid-twenties.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be wrong?! I will go to my GP eventually! Are these symptoms related to poor control? Any advice would be great.
 
Hi Blackbox and welcome to the forum.Do you take simvastatin by any chance? This particular statin can cause muscle pains.
If your blood sugar levels are that high then yes the tiredness etc will be caused by the high blood sugars.
 
I'm on Novorapid and Levemir.

Thanks for your suggestion. I suffer with exreme lack of energy/motivation even on the rare occassions I can get blood sugar down to below 10. I can barely wash up without feeling light-headed and needing to take a seat!
 
If you constantly run on high BG then ,if it drops down, you will feel hypo,even if this is not hypo range because your body is so used to running high.If you can bring it down slowly then that feeling will pass.
 
Welcome to the forum, blackbox.

Your HbA1c of 14% puts your average blood sugar at somewhere around 20 mmol/l.
This may explain why you're not feeling 100%.

Could you tell us what insulin you use (and doses) and what your usual diet is like?

Regards,
timo.
 
Hi Blackbox,

What you are complaining of is very typical of high blood sugars, and yours are extremely high - around 3 times what they should be! The cause is very simple - you are taking on board more carbohydrate than the amount of insulin you are taking is able to deal with.

You have two choices - either up your insulin to deal with the BS or change your diet so that the BS doesn't get so high. If you decide on the first then hopefully one of our brilliant type 1s will be able to offer some advice. If you want to try a diet change then any of us can help you.
 
Timo, hi.

On about 40 units of Levemir and 10-12 of Novorapid with food.

I do understand how if you run high then suddenly drop, you experience hypo-like feelings. However, I've had plenty of these in my time and its not the same kind of feeling. Its not a hypo-light-head! There's something elso going on.

What are these night cramps about? They're starting to ruin me! They're even happening during the day on occassion. I don't know if things have come to a head after three years of poor control, or what.
 
I should also add that I've lost my appetite. I barely eat much food any more. If i do, its all chicken and spinach, lettuce, salad, etc. Fortunately I hate the taste of sugar! Quite lucky in that respect.

Out of interest, perhaps you could post me a typical healthy diet for a T1. I guess common sense should tell me that its the same as any other healthy diet.

Why would my hair be falling out in great chunks. That's not related to diabetes, is it?
 
Some of those symptoms sound like low thyroid. I know more about dogs in this than people, but hairloss is a thyroid symptom in dogs. Tiredness would also show up if thyroid hormones are low. It sounds like you are not eating much carbohydrate, so that's not a likely cause. Thyroid problems and T1 do sometimes go together. Go see the doctor and don't leave until he checks that thyroid. How are you in cold weather? You are too young to keep for long with potentially dangerous symptoms. Go make a fuss at the doctor. You need sorting out.
 
Hi blackbox,

I agree with hanadr, it's doctor time!

Good luck,
timo.
 
hya,
you definately need to see the dr, a those are symptoms of thyroid trouble too and need sorting out, ive had both under and overactive thyroid for 16 yrs now and it could definately be underactive
 
Agree with the others - and make sure you get an actual *number* for the thyroid, what different doctors consider OK may vary drastically from normal. If not that then some other part of the endocrine system may be askew. Either way getting this sorted should greatly improve your control. Referral to an endo may be a plan, if possible try to get T3 and T4 as well as TSH tested.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…