Rant!!!!!!!!

[imtrying]

ok, sorry first off lol I need to vent.

there's a woman I work very closely with who, after apparently being forced to have a gastric bypass, now seems to be suffering with hypos and highs. I googled it and told her it sounded like 'non-diabetic hypoglycemia'. I imagine this is what she's also been told.

Problem is, she's going round telling everyone at work that she has hypos now, and letting them all think she's basically diabetic. She's not correcting them to say it's not the same thing, but more putting herself in the same box as me...and this is really bugging me, majorly, for some reason.

When she has 'hypos' her readings can be as low as 1.6 but I'm not sure that this is the same as I would experience a 1.6. To treat it, she just has to eat carbs, or according to her this morning, nuts. There's no way these things would get us out of a hypo.

Problem is, I don't know anything about what she's going through to challenge her, I only know it doesn't sound at all what I experience, and it's really, really upsetting me that people are just assuming she's diabetic.

I don't even know if there's an answer to this post, and I thought this would make me feel better lol but now I just feel more wound up!!!

 

[Steff]

Strange woman why on earth would you be wanting people to think your diabetic, is she an attention seeker? I assume she knows your diabetic Katie? she should be careful what she says cause it might just come back and bite her on the backside, if people find out she is not diabetic and she carries on letting them believe her she may become very unpopular in the office

 

[imtrying]

Strange woman why on earth would you be wanting people to think your diabetic, is she an attention seeker? I assume she knows your diabetic Katie? she should be careful what she says cause it might just come back and bite her on the backside, if people find out she is not diabetic and she carries on letting them believe her she may become very unpopular in the office

thing is she is a lovely, caring woman, but is also attention seeking. I think she's very insecure as I find any sort of compliment she ends up retelling me - now I just switch off!

I do keep telling her if she's suffering hypos she needs to tell the DVLA and her insurance company lol

but yeah, the main thing is her thinking she's the same as me, and others thinking the same. surely her hypos are not the same as what diabetics experience???

 

[ukjohn]

Katie.
I'm not quite sure why you are getting yourself so wound up over this. The other person may play on this even more if she finds that you are uptight about her seeking attention. Remember your own thoughts at the bottom of your message.

Smile, it could be worse.

Just rise above it Katie, remember you can be in control of your own actions,but not hers.

Good luck
John.

 

[cherrypie]

Hi,

If you read this article, reactive hypoglycemia is the cause .http://www.allina.com/ahs/bariatric.nsf/page/PossProbsAfterGastricBypass

Print it off and shove it on her desk. Get someone else to ask her if she knows about the hazards of driving with low blood sugars and possible outcomes with DVLA.

 

[HelenM]

If she's not suffering this possible side effect as a result of too much googling and does in fact have hypoglycaemia induced by the bariatric surgery the hypos could be potentially serious . http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/10/12/13727.aspx
The first treatment seems to be cutting out fast carbs, let's hope for her sake that measures like that work since otherwise the treatment seems to include a removal of part of the pancreas.
The sufferers are not diabetic but the cause of the hypos is similar; too much insulin, hers would be an overproduction of natural insulin, rather than an excess of injected insulin. A level of 1.6 is below the level when the brain becomes affected but from personal experience I appear.. at least to others to be able to function quite well at that level.
Maybe you need to tell her the right way to treat a hypo!

 

[Freddie99]

If it's any consolation, a lot of my colleagues on the ward I've just finished on s*** themselves when I got my pump out and proceeded to explain it. I'd been cracking on all day with a critically ill patient and hadn't shown any sign of it. A large number of people, most irritatingly professionals, are very ignorant.

Just a case of head down, arse up and carry on.

 

[lucy123]

If it's any consolation, a lot of my colleagues on the ward I've just finished on s*** themselves when I got my pump out and proceeded to explain it. I'd been cracking on all day with a critically ill patient and hadn't shown any sign of it. A large number of people, most irritatingly professionals, are very ignorant.

Just a case of head down, arse up and carry on.

Hi - well technically I shouldn't have hypos but I certainly do. I found it very frustrating trying to get people (especially the medical profession) to actually believe me. It was only after being admitted to hospital under an endocrinologist that the hypos were actually seen and recorded that people now listen. I do find that even a friend who is a type 1 still struggles to accept that I am having a hypo - but on actually seeing me have a quite bad one when an ambulance was called - she believes me now.

I was just wondering if maybe rather than get annoyed by her you might be able to have a chat with her and see if you can offer any advice? She may not be diabetic but surely if her bs are going to 1.6 she must be having hypos?

I have only been down as low as 2.x but felt pretty rough.

If she is making it up to attract attention, then please forgive me, but surely she couldn't fake a 2.1?🙂

 

[PhilT]

If she is not diabetic how does she know what her BG's are, why would she have a BG tester in the first place? Or is someone else testing her BG's?

 

[imtrying]

hey everyone, thanks for all your replies - views and links.

She's not 'faking' it...she does suffer from non-diabetic hypoglycemia. At a follow up appt they tested her and she was having a hypo. since then she has a blood test machine and strips.

I've tried educating her on the differences and that the reasons for the hypos are not really the same...maybe I'm being harsh and she just doesn't get it, but she does crave attention and seems to always be in the middle of a drama or some illness.

I shall give benefit of the doubt and set out to support her and educate her 🙂

 

[lucy123]

I am struggling to understand what the issue is - really sorry🙂
If she is having hypos and is saying she has hypos then what is she doing wrong? A hypo is nasty whether diabetic related or not isn't it?...Or are you bothered that she may be making people think she is diabetic? Has she actually said this.

Hope you don't think I am having a go - just trying to understand the problem from your side -as have been on the other side myself.🙂

 

[Catwoman76]

hey everyone, thanks for all your replies - views and links.

She's not 'faking' it...she does suffer from non-diabetic hypoglycemia. At a follow up appt they tested her and she was having a hypo. since then she has a blood test machine and strips.

I've tried educating her on the differences and that the reasons for the hypos are not really the same...maybe I'm being harsh and she just doesn't get it, but she does crave attention and seems to always be in the middle of a drama or some illness.

I shall give benefit of the doubt and set out to support her and educate her 🙂

thats a great response, well done. some people make a big deal out of things while others are more, well reserved. Head down 🙄 and help wherever you can. Have a good day. Sheena

 

[imtrying]

I am struggling to understand what the issue is - really sorry🙂
If she is having hypos and is saying she has hypos then what is she doing wrong? A hypo is nasty whether diabetic related or not isn't it?...Or are you bothered that she may be making people think she is diabetic? Has she actually said this.

Hope you don't think I am having a go - just trying to understand the problem from your side -as have been on the other side myself.🙂

lol that's ok Lucy...I'm guessing this may seem a bit weird to others!

she is essentially having hypos (I believe it's called non-diabetic hypoglycemia), and is experiencing the side affects too. She also seems to be experiencing side affects from being high (for her this is anything above 8, and up to 14).

My problem is that she's not educating people. She says she's had a hypo and so ate some nuts. As a diabetic, eating nuts would not do anything for us! but for her seems to work, which is great. The problem is she spends a lot of time complaining about her hypos and people are assuming she's diabetic, and she's not correcting them. Rather than pointing out it's different, and we're not the same, she actually talks about her and my hypos in the same sentence. I think this is just confusing for people. If I have a hypo, I don't want people potentially feeding me nuts for example!! She needs to differentiate between our hypos - whilst it seems we both suffer with them, and both experience some of the same side affects, she does not seem to treat hers in the same way.

Her hypos are down to food passing through her small stomach too quickly and not being digested. Her pancreas is releasing insulin for the food, but the food is not always processed & ends up in her intestines very quickly, so the carbs/sugar don't end up in her system. Just getting something in her stomach usually seems to do the trick.

I am not sure if this is how she's supposed to treat them, as I am totally in the dark about what she should be doing, and I don't know if just eat is what she's been told to do or not.

I can totally understand that for you having someone thinking your hypos are not the same as theirs is incredibly frustrating. But I do appreciate she is suffering from them and does feel the affects the same as I do, but I just don't like that she keeps talking to everyone about hypos (which are commonly associated with diabetics) and not explaining why she's having them (i.e due to her surgery and nothing to do with diabetes).

Have I made any more sense? Or am I just confusing even more!!??

 

[margie]

In a non-diabetic levels can fall to hypo levels but what would normally happen is your body would detect it and try to correct the situation by reducing the circulating insulin and at the same time do what it can to increase the blood sugar. If you are injecting insulin as you are the fist option is not available to you.

Its possible that for your colleague - the body's natural responses are correcting things for her. You could try asking why she is eating nuts and seeing what response you get. You could also try talking it over with your DSN to see if they can suggest a way you can approach the situation.

 

[Copepod]

lol that's ok Lucy...I'm guessing this may seem a bit weird to others!

she is essentially having hypos (I believe it's called non-diabetic hypoglycemia), and is experiencing the side affects too. She also seems to be experiencing side affects from being high (for her this is anything above 8, and up to 14).

My problem is that she's not educating people. She says she's had a hypo and so ate some nuts. As a diabetic, eating nuts would not do anything for us! but for her seems to work, which is great. The problem is she spends a lot of time complaining about her hypos and people are assuming she's diabetic, and she's not correcting them. Rather than pointing out it's different, and we're not the same, she actually talks about her and my hypos in the same sentence. I think this is just confusing for people. If I have a hypo, I don't want people potentially feeding me nuts for example!! She needs to differentiate between our hypos - whilst it seems we both suffer with them, and both experience some of the same side affects, she does not seem to treat hers in the same way.

Her hypos are down to food passing through her small stomach too quickly and not being digested. Her pancreas is releasing insulin for the food, but the food is not always processed & ends up in her intestines very quickly, so the carbs/sugar don't end up in her system. Just getting something in her stomach usually seems to do the trick.

I am not sure if this is how she's supposed to treat them, as I am totally in the dark about what she should be doing, and I don't know if just eat is what she's been told to do or not.

I can totally understand that for you having someone thinking your hypos are not the same as theirs is incredibly frustrating. But I do appreciate she is suffering from them and does feel the affects the same as I do, but I just don't like that she keeps talking to everyone about hypos (which are commonly associated with diabetics) and not explaining why she's having them (i.e due to her surgery and nothing to do with diabetes).

Have I made any more sense? Or am I just confusing even more!!??

Nope, that all makes perfect sense - I think you've solved the issue by identifying the issues. Although she's given out some medical information about herself (hypos), you probably need to be a bit careful about addind the reason (gastric bypass), unless that is also common knowledge in your workplace. But you have every right to say that her hypos are not like yours, as that affects you. Eg you probably don't want anyone to even hand you food when hypo, so there's no chance it could be interpreted as needing help, with DVLA implications.

 

[imtrying]

If she's not suffering this possible side effect as a result of too much googling and does in fact have hypoglycaemia induced by the bariatric surgery the hypos could be potentially serious . http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/10/12/13727.aspx
The first treatment seems to be cutting out fast carbs, let's hope for her sake that measures like that work since otherwise the treatment seems to include a removal of part of the pancreas.
The sufferers are not diabetic but the cause of the hypos is similar; too much insulin, hers would be an overproduction of natural insulin, rather than an excess of injected insulin. A level of 1.6 is below the level when the brain becomes affected but from personal experience I appear.. at least to others to be able to function quite well at that level.
Maybe you need to tell her the right way to treat a hypo!

thanks for the link to the article Helen, really appreciated, as I actually think she will find that quite helpful so going to pass it on. Gives a really good explanation and she's been experiencing a lot of the symptoms. thanks.

 

[imtrying]

In a non-diabetic levels can fall to hypo levels but what would normally happen is your body would detect it and try to correct the situation by reducing the circulating insulin and at the same time do what it can to increase the blood sugar. If you are injecting insulin as you are the fist option is not available to you.

Its possible that for your colleague - the body's natural responses are correcting things for her. You could try asking why she is eating nuts and seeing what response you get. You could also try talking it over with your DSN to see if they can suggest a way you can approach the situation.

thanks Margie. Yes I do think I need to speak to her about it more, and to not let myself get wound up straight away. Maybe trying to help her more will also help me. Good advice re: DSN as well - hadn't even thought of that!

 

[imtrying]

Nope, that all makes perfect sense - I think you've solved the issue by identifying the issues. Although she's given out some medical information about herself (hypos), you probably need to be a bit careful about addind the reason (gastric bypass), unless that is also common knowledge in your workplace. But you have every right to say that her hypos are not like yours, as that affects you. Eg you probably don't want anyone to even hand you food when hypo, so there's no chance it could be interpreted as needing help, with DVLA implications.

lol I know what you mean but it's definitely common knowledge - she's gone from a size 18-20 to a size 8-10!! (although she still maintains she needed it for medical reasons and the weight loss was just a plus...very jealous of that though!!)

i think that's it - although we suffer hypos, I don't want people putting us in the same box or categorising us the same...our illnesses are VERY different and I supposed I'm almost scared that people will see us/our complications etc as the same.

I am going to mention DVLA to her again - I mentioned it before but she brushed it off. I'm not sure what her guidelines would be as I would imagine she doesn't have to be above 5.5 before driving etc....just guessing here! but I do know that DVLA and her insurance company need to know she suffers from hypoglycemia.

 

[Ellie Jones]

Katie I can see why this is griping you a tad...

It's the perception her hypo's and how she treats them impact on your work colleagues and how that might effect you if you have an hypo both how you handle said hypo or if you need assistance how they may assist you.... Very disconcerting to feel that if you need somebody to get you to drink/eat a fast acting carbohydrate and all they do is try to shuffle nuts down your throat...

A lot of what she's saying and doing, I would say she is still struggling with her operation and the need for it... She's will still be facing the same battle with food as she did before the operation, the operation will have enforced her into some form of portion control, but it doesn't fix the mental need/perception of food... And it's still possible if the mental perception isn't addressed over time you can end up at square one.. And it seems that using 'another' medical condition is a way of avoiding and dealing with a eating disorder..

I think your best way forward, is actually slowly tackling your colleagues, using an explanation of why your type of hypo is so dangerous, you have no ability to natural rectify it..

As the her driving well not a lot you can do, apart from pointing out if she hasn't spoken to her consultant/dvla etc concerning these hypo's then if she has an accident then she could find herself landing up in court facing several convictions, from driving without due care, without a valid licence, death by dangerous driving and to top it all off she would invalidate her car insurance as well... If she's fails to listen then nothing you can do, if she does have an accident, then never blame yourself as you told her the score she failed to listen.. You did what you could

 

[Copepod]

lol I know what you mean but it's definitely common knowledge - she's gone from a size 18-20 to a size 8-10!! (although she still maintains she needed it for medical reasons and the weight loss was just a plus...very jealous of that though!!)

i think that's it - although we suffer hypos, I don't want people putting us in the same box or categorising us the same...our illnesses are VERY different and I supposed I'm almost scared that people will see us/our complications etc as the same.

I am going to mention DVLA to her again - I mentioned it before but she brushed it off. I'm not sure what her guidelines would be as I would imagine she doesn't have to be above 5.5 before driving etc....just guessing here! but I do know that DVLA and her insurance company need to know she suffers from hypoglycemia.

Yep, see what you mean about change of size from 18 - 20 to 8 -10 🙂

Just in case you haven't found it already, here's a DVLA page for Driving and Hypoglycaemia (although it only asks about Diabetes, not other conditions that can cause hypoglycaemia) http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/MedicalRulesForDrivers/MedicalA-Z/DG_185631