Doing and saying stupid things

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Gottapee

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Hi all

I’m new here. Wanted to say hi and ask a question. I’m t2 30s f and was diagnosed 2 years ago. Since then I’ve tried a few different things including metformin jardiance and aloglyptin. None of which have helped get my bloods under control despite healthy diet and being active. Pic of last 24 hours attached for context.
I’m on the Endo waiting list (of at least a year) with the dream to be to moved onto an injectable- I don’t do well with oral meds at all, usually gagging and throwing them up.

Anyway my point - since getting a cgm I have noticed that when I have my big “drops” I have been doing and saying really stupid and inappropriate things. Today at work I was feeling rubbish and made a stupid comment and am now (in the middle of the night) really worrying about it.
Is there any way to Combat this? Not sure if I should talk to my boss as it might just some across as an excuse? Any help appreciated
 

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If you work out what is causing the spikes then you could change your diet to reduce the spikes and so reduce the drops. Do you keep a food diary and is there any patterns of what foods cause the spikes?
 
Thanks Lucy. There seems to be no pattern. It spikes when I eat low carb or high carb or small or large or not at all. Exercise can either lower or raise it. I’m already low carb (under 50 a day) and exercise regularly. When I go super high and then down again I feel awful.
 
Hi @Gottapee, sorry to hear you’re having a rough time of it. Large drops from the highs would most likely make you feel bad. If your body is used to high BG then even the readings around 9 may feel like a false hypo to you. Also I tend to get ratty and am irritable when my BG is 10 or more (thankfully this is usually rare now due to the insulin bringing it down quickly). As to whether to talk to your manager about this or not, it would depend on what your relationship is like with them and how sympathetic they are. I would like to think that a manager would be understanding and care about their staff so it would be worth having a conversation.

I would encourage you to speak to your GP in the meantime whilst waiting for your endo appointment, show them the charts from your Libre so that they can see the spikes and BG levels, maybe this will help get a more urgent referral so that you can get everything sorted out. It could be that the GP may be able to start you on insulin (mine did initially before the hospital took over).

Good luck and take care!
 
Sorry to hear about your zig-zaggy glucose experiences, despite the effort you are putting in to reduce your glucose variation.

Do you think it might be worth keeping a food / activity diary for a week or two, then at the end of the fortnight comparing food and glucose outcomes to see if patterns emerge?

Sometimes I find it easier to “pattern spot” after the events, as I’m not so emotionally tied to the frustration of any wobbles. And sometimes the patterns are hard to spot as they are either subtle or complex - eg, “Ah, so the day after a run I had a different reaction to eating x which is usually fine”, Or “Hmmmm following an ultra low-carb day it looks like my liver gets twitchy and dumps glucose to ‘help’”

I also agree with others that rapid drops from high levels can bring on hypo-like symptoms for me (which do include feeling a bit woolly, confused, and talking nonsense) even if my levels are still above 4 and so not technically hypo.

Might be worth having a chat with your line manager to try to explain what you’ve been experiencing, and how the brain can go a bit on the fritz?

Have you considered insulin as an option? That might allow you to bring some more carbs back in for a more mixed diet, which might help stabilise things?
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry to hear about your zig-zaggy glucose experiences, despite the effort you are putting in to reduce your glucose variation.

Do you think it might be worth keeping a food / activity diary for a week or two, then at the end of the fortnight comparing food and glucose outcomes to see if patterns emerge?

Sometimes I find it easier to “pattern spot” after the events, as I’m not so emotionally tied to the frustration of any wobbles. And sometimes the patterns are hard to spot as they are either subtle or complex - eg, “Ah, so the day after a run I had a different reaction to eating x which is usually fine”, Or “Hmmmm following an ultra low-carb day it looks like my liver gets twitchy and dumps glucose to ‘help’”

I also agree with others that rapid drops from high levels can bring on hypo-like symptoms for me (which do include feeling a bit woolly, confused, and talking nonsense) even if my levels are still above 4 and so not technically hypo.

Might be worth having a chat with your line manager to try to explain what you’ve been experiencing, and how the brain can go a bit on the fritz?

Have you considered insulin as an option? That might allow you to bring some more carbs back in for a more mixed diet, which might help stabilise things?
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Thank you for this.

Im in Scotland and my doctors have been terrible to be honest. They won’t let me go on anything, Including insulin, without seeing an Endo first. I have a huge family history of both t1/t2 and I am absolutely fine with insulin as an option - it’s my gp who won’t let me. I’m trying to get a private referral to see one quicker and hopefully do a test for LADA, as I would like to rule this out.

I’ll speak with my boss though - I do feel like my brain is fried. The CGM has been a life saver because I can link my moods / energy drops / feeling like I’m gonna die to my blood sugar huge fluctuations and now at least I don’t feel like I’m going crazy anymore.
 
Yes, it sounds like you might be LADA when you are getting those sorts of readings on a low carb diet. Good luck getting something sorted because those elevated levels must be making it difficult to concentrate let alone having those nasty false hypos.
 
rebrascora said:
Yes, it sounds like you might be LADA when you are getting those sorts of readings on a low carb diet. Good luck getting something sorted because those elevated levels must be making it difficult to concentrate let alone having those nasty false hypos.
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Thank you - I feel awful

When I’m at work and drop suddenly I’m also prone to doing and saying things I normally wouldn’t - think flippant comments without thinking about them and I am so worried that I’m going to get in trouble for these. It’s definitely linked to mood and blood sugar but it feels like an excuse. I think I’m going to tell my boss though
 
I think that is wise.
Judging by that Libre graph you have uncontrolled diabetes which will impact your mental ability and emotions and you are currently waiting for an appointment to get appropriate treatment but there is a waiting list. If you say to your boss that you are aware that sometimes you say things out of character or not appropriate and it is a known symptom of uncontrolled diabetes/erratic BG levels and that you are doing your best to manage it with a very strict dietary regime but it needs additional treatment, which you can't get until you get an appointment with a specialist, hopefully it will sound more like you are self aware and doing your best, rather than making excuses. Definitely better for it to come from you, as wait until someone else raises it with your boss, perhaps in the form of a complaint.
 
rebrascora said:
I think that is wise.
Judging by that Libre graph you have uncontrolled diabetes which will impact your mental ability and emotions and you are currently waiting for an appointment to get appropriate treatment but there is a waiting list. If you say to your boss that you are aware that sometimes you say things out of character or not appropriate and it is a known symptom of uncontrolled diabetes/erratic BG levels and that you are doing your best to manage it with a very strict dietary regime but it needs additional treatment, which you can't get until you get an appointment with a specialist, hopefully it will sound more like you are self aware and doing your best, rather than making excuses. Definitely better for it to come from you, as wait until someone else raises it with your boss, perhaps in the form of a complaint.
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I wonder..do you have a way testing for ketones...you should have, and if your ketones are high it would be legimate to present to A and E and then they may get you some sort of urgent referral?
It doesn't seem right that you have had to deal with those levels for 2 years.
 
Tdm said:
I wonder..do you have a way testing for ketones...you should have, and if your ketones are high it would be legimate to present to A and E and then they may get you some sort of urgent referral?
It doesn't seem right that you have had to deal with those levels for 2 years.
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Thank you for your validation of exactly how I am feeling. To be honest I agree - I have been fobbed off every which way from the practice non specialist “diabetic” nurse (who unlike hospital trained diabetic specialist nurses has no power to prescribe anything) who just has, and continues to tell me, that I must be doing something wrong with my diet or secretly eating bars of chocolate multiple times a day. Or not exercising enough or not this enough or not that enough. GPS have been better but they are kind of just shrugging their shoulders at me now. I feel like I’m so young and it’s just so uncontrollable and I’m losing hope for what my future looks like.

It’s very uncontrolled and I have tried everything. I am tired and frustrated and fed up. I have considered going to a and e when they get really high (believe it or not the graph I shared is just a basic day - there are days where I regularly hit mid 20s) but I think my good old British sense of “I’m not unwell enough” guilt kicks in and I end up just not going.
 
rebrascora said:
I think that is wise.
Judging by that Libre graph you have uncontrolled diabetes which will impact your mental ability and emotions and you are currently waiting for an appointment to get appropriate treatment but there is a waiting list. If you say to your boss that you are aware that sometimes you say things out of character or not appropriate and it is a known symptom of uncontrolled diabetes/erratic BG levels and that you are doing your best to manage it with a very strict dietary regime but it needs additional treatment, which you can't get until you get an appointment with a specialist, hopefully it will sound more like you are self aware and doing your best, rather than making excuses. Definitely better for it to come from you, as wait until someone else raises it with your boss, perhaps in the form of a complaint.
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Thank you Barbara for your kind words and your great suggestions. This is just a standard “day in the life of my blood sugar” but on several occasions over the last few weeks I have had several mid twenties spikes which makes my mood and exhaustion levels worse. I am on medication but it just doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I agree it’s better to come from me, and I am in a bit of a catch 22 where I can’t do anything about it until I see an Endo. So frustrating. I’m going to talk to him on Monday. Thank you again!
 
Not much to add apart from totally feel ya on the fighting with GPs who won't budge on doing anything useful.
I think they paid more heed to what I was saying when I said "I'm not a protocol, I'm a person and things aren't going great" after the usual well we have to wait x time before doing anything.
It was DSN who I was finally referred to after my a1c bounced back up (test was done early) and she had decided I needed insulin within 2 mins and had it in my hands the next day. Different ballgame.
(Scotland too)
Good luck and hugs x
 
I can relate, I act drunk apparently when I go too high or low, it’s awfully worrying especially when I was well enough to work in a people facing role .
 
For most type 2s eating a low carb diet and seeing a return to close to normal numbers is almost diagnostic.
The fact that you are not seeing that should be getting some reaction from your HCPs, and that nurse should be given a sharp lesson in how to speak to patients. I had similar comments for almost half a century and I began to respond in kind as it was getting beyond a joke.
Perhaps asking if you should use A & E when you are acting strangely might get some response. I do hope that you can get some attention soon rather than the dreadful indifference you describe.
 
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