hello, i'm here for me mum

[martome123]

hello there everyone,my mum is in her 70's and has had diabetes for about 14 yrs and tried every (or nearly every ) insilin combination,medication which has been offered to control her b/s levels... she is verry active still, works part time always gardening or riding her bike,But always had high b/s levels (10- 30s). recently diagnosed enimic which as i understand has/can have an effect on the way that the blood deals with the glucose
Recently she has been going verry low with b/s for no reason and was wondering if its possible for the body to start to produce insolin again or can it produce irratic (not food sugar related) spurts of insulin... if so could this cuase low sugar levels readings (in effect 2 lots of insulin ) so the b/s would get lowered faster and possibly causing this.
I am verry aware that diabetes is not an exact science by any meanes and every one is differant its just mums diabetic clinic doesent seem to be up to date with the latest findings... thanks if you have taken time to read my opening essay...much appriciated.. ps.mums clinic is not sure if she is type 1 or 2 (and i was'nt aware that there was a type 1.5 which ive found out through the site)... marto

 

[Northerner]

Hi Marto, welcome to the forum 🙂 What insulin is your mum on? Does she adjust her doses according to what she eats, or does she have fixed doses?Things can change from time to time, although I would think it is unlikely that her pancreas is waking up after 14 years. How long has she been on insulin? What levels is she falling to?

Sorry for all the questions, but it will help people to make some suggestions 🙂

 

[Manicarrie]

I don't know for sure but one of my friends was telling me that her sister was type 1 using insulin with every meal, she lost a load of weight and started exercising and now doesn't need to take any meds at all. Maybe she was eating stuff with hidden sugars? I know my mother was using coffee whitener and had high bg, and all the other things associated like abscesses and fungal infections, she didn't realise that coffee whitener had such high sugar in it. I have had a shock too with no added sugar products, I naively assumed that they would be low sugar until I started reading labels. I found some NAS products had more natural sugar than more processed varieties. and other things I assumed were healthy, for instance cereal bars, ones that look healthy like nut bars, some brands have more sugar than toffee and chocolate cereal bars. I know that after 14 years she is probably well aware of stuff like this, but maybe with supermarkets supposedly adding less sugars and salts and stuff, something she has been used to has had a change of recipe?

 

[Northerner]

It's not just sugar you need to be aware of - all carbohydrates will raise blooe sugar levels, so bread, rice, potatoes, pasta etc. will all have an effect. I find it worrying that your mum has had poor levels for so long without her healthcare team helping her to get to grips with it - she certainly sounds as though she is doing her bit by keeping active. With a close relative with Type 1 it is certainly possible that your mum would also be Type 1 (or a slow onset Type 1.5). The type doesn't really matter though, the important thing is for her medication to match her diet and activity levels to keep her blood sugar in single figures.

Have a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter and see if your mum is following the principles outlined.

 

[martome123]

thank u all verry much for quick replys ... i will have to find out exactly what her mealtime one is but i know that she uses lanctus at bedtime ( 14 units im told that this is slow acting and 24 hrs) and am i right thinkingthat this insulin stops or slows the b/s/l from dropping too fast at the bottom end (sorry so confusing at times) and she injects 4 times daily before meals and adjusts amounts of insulin accordingly...she has up unlill recently been difficult to manage high(10-25 b/s ) but my concern is suddenly its hard to mannage lows suddenly anything from 3.2 to 4.5 b/s...(well that is where she notices the warning sighns )she doesent seem affected at all by the high end readings ... also.. would b/s/l's go low if she was injecting and producing her own naturall insulin or what would happen to someone who is a normal person (not diabetic )if they was to inject insulin ...would the b/s drop abnormally low for that "normall" person.
ps. sorry forgot to mention that she does grow her own veggies and eats verry little but has at least 5 fruit n veg daily and is verry small build and never been overweight ....verry active ...ok' im done ...thank u all once more....

 

[Copepod]

Just to add - anaemia doesn't so much affect how the body deals with glucose in blood, but can affect the way HbA1c blood tests that record long term blood glucose levels work, as they basically count which proportion of red blood cells have glucose attached, so if RBCs don't live as long as usual, then that will change results.

It's quite possible that she is still producing some of her own insulin, and with a relatively low carbohydrate intake, she does need to take only the insulin she needs. However, getting warning signs at 4.5 to 3.2mmol/l is pretty good, as she can take a couple of jelly babies at that stage and prevent it dropping further, then perhaps reduce short acting insulin dose at next meal if it's within a couple of hours or so.