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shar515

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 3c
Hello Everyone!

I am new here and glad to be a part of this wonderful community.

I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, which I guess is Type 3c. My GP has currently prescribed metformin, but I doubt it will be of much help as I have a history of Chronic Pancreatitis and my pancreas is atrophic. As far as I know, pancreatitis induced diabetes is very much like Type 1 and can be managed only by insulin.

There's a slight improvement in my Blood Glucose readings though. My fasting and PP levels were 11.7 and 17.4 at the time of diagnosis. That was about a month ago. My current readings are averaging around 7.5 and 10.5.
 
Hello and welcome!

Don't really know anything about T3c as I'm a pretty bog standard T2 but just wanted to welcome you to the forum 🙂
 
shar515 said:
Hello Everyone!
.................................
I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, which I guess is Type 3c. My GP has currently prescribed metformin, but I doubt it will be of much help as I have a history of Chronic Pancreatitis and my pancreas is atrophic. As far as I know, pancreatitis induced diabetes is very much like Type 1 and can be managed only by insulin.

There's a slight improvement in my Blood Glucose readings though. My fasting and PP levels were 11.7 and 17.4 at the time of diagnosis. That was about a month ago. My current readings are averaging around 7.5 and 10.5.
Click to expand...
Metformin encourages the liver to dump less glucose into your bloodstream, thus is useful if you suffer from a high BG on the mornings (Dawn Phenomenon). So is only of much use if your pancreas is still producing insulin.
However that difference between BG levels at diagnosis and those now is quite significant and likely to mean you are producing at least a fair bit of insulin currently.
What have you changed between then and now? - Cutting down on carbohydrates ?
 
Hi @shar515, I’m also type 3c due to the removal of two thirds of my pancreas in 2007. The remaining third is now atrophied. I didn’t become diabetic for three years after my op and started on Metformin which worked, sort of, for four years, I then went on mixed insulin, then MDI ( multi daily injections). NICE guidlines suggest Type 3c diabetics start on Metformin therapy first, and if that doesn’t work then onto insulin, usually mixed. It seems that the Metformin is doing something at the moment, are you also trying cutting down on your carbs? Type 3c is a minefield, what works for one of us won’t work for another. Do you take Creon too? I would carry on with the Metformin, reduce your carbs, go onto our food section for ideas, and see how it goes. You might be surprised how much insulin your pancreas is still spurting out! What was your HbA1C on diagonosis? And when’s your next review? That will be the test to see if the Metformin and low carb are working, if not then a discussion will need to be had. Any questions fire away, I’ll do my best to answer. Elaine.
 
ianf0ster said:
Metformin encourages the liver to dump less glucose into your bloodstream, thus is useful if you suffer from a high BG on the mornings (Dawn Phenomenon). So is only of much use if your pancreas is still producing insulin.
However that difference between BG levels at diagnosis and those now is quite significant and likely to mean you are producing at least a fair bit of insulin currently.
What have you changed between then and now? - Cutting down on carbohydrates ?
Click to expand...
Hello Ian,

Yes I have cut down on my carbohydrates intake since diagnosis. It appears my pancreas is still producing some insulin as my C-peptide test results were in the normal range.
 
eggyg said:
Hi @shar515, I’m also type 3c due to the removal of two thirds of my pancreas in 2007. The remaining third is now atrophied. I didn’t become diabetic for three years after my op and started on Metformin which worked, sort of, for four years, I then went on mixed insulin, then MDI ( multi daily injections). NICE guidlines suggest Type 3c diabetics start on Metformin therapy first, and if that doesn’t work then onto insulin, usually mixed. It seems that the Metformin is doing something at the moment, are you also trying cutting down on your carbs? Type 3c is a minefield, what works for one of us won’t work for another. Do you take Creon too? I would carry on with the Metformin, reduce your carbs, go onto our food section for ideas, and see how it goes. You might be surprised how much insulin your pancreas is still spurting out! What was your HbA1C on diagonosis? And when’s your next review? That will be the test to see if the Metformin and low carb are working, if not then a discussion will need to be had. Any questions fire away, I’ll do my best to answer. Elaine.
Click to expand...
Hi Elaine,

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, I also take Creon with meals. However, I must add that even if I skip Creon for a few days I do not face any problems with digestion etc. I take it just because my doctor has asked me to. My HbA1C on diagnosis was 71.6 and my next review will be in late November. Your advice sounds great to me, and I plan to continue with Metformin, cut down on my carbs and see how things go.
 
Hi @eggyg, I have been closely monitoring my BG levels and there are a couple of questions I wanted to ask you. My fasting levels are now within the target range (between 5.5 - 7). I guess metformin, along with a low carb diet is doing it's job. However, my post meal readings are not too encouraging. No matter how hard I try, I am not able to get them below 10. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

My levels are significantly better if I check them 3 hours after a meal instead of 2 hours. For example if I take a meal at 11 am, my levels would be around 10.5 by 1 pm, and will drop down to 8 by 2 pm. That's a reduction of about 2.5 mmol/L in 1 hour.

Why is it taking 3 hours to get to the target range instead of 2? If my pancreas is releasing some insulin, is it releasing it too slowly?

I have been diagnosed only recently and do not understand the phenomenon behind these fluctuations, specially with so little information available online about Type 3c. I will really appreciate any comments/suggestions that you may have.
 
I wish I could give you a definitive answer. It could be the type of food you’re eating, legumes for example take ages to get through so they won’t start showing in your BG for hours. Other food, like mashed potatoes in my case, could spike you quickly. Can I just say my levels at two hours are always mega high, and I take insulin! As long as they’re not high all day every day I really wouldn’t be too concerned at the moment. It’s very early days. The problem with having a damaged pancreas is that it will spurt insulin out whenever it feels like it I’m afraid, that’s one of the biggest challenges of being Type 3c. I would wait and see what your hba1c is at your review next month. That will let you know exactly what’s going on. In the meantime just keep doing what you’re doing. Do you exercise at all? Even walking everyday can help keep your BGs stable.
 
Thank you Elaine. What you are saying makes sense. It is indeed too early to make any conclusions. I guess I will just stop thinking about it too much and wait for my next hba1c results.

Yes, I take brisk walks for about an hour almost everyday, and can see the positive effects already.
 
Hello @eggyg

How are you? I am getting back to you about my recent H1AC results. It has come down from 71.6 to 45.4 in 4 months. Looks like low carbs diet and exercise worked.

This should have been good news for me, but unfortunately it is not. 2 weeks ago I suffered a severe acute pancreatitis attack and was admitted to the hospital for 5 days. Ever since I got out, my daily blood sugar levels have almost doubled. I have tried fasting, liquid diet etc. but nothing seems to get the daily numbers down. All the hard work has been spoiled by this 1 attack.

I think my pancreas has lost the ability to produce whatever amount of insulin it was producing. I am really frustrated about this, and really don't know what to do now.
 
Hi @shar515. Great news about your low HbA1c but really sorry to hear about your pancreatitis attack and higher BGs. Firstly, don’t despair, get over the attack first, you’ll be feeling pretty rotten I would imagine and any illness, even a common cold will raise your BGs. If you’re not eating much your body could be reacting to this by thinking you’re starving yourself and will compensate by chucking glucose from your liver into your bloodstream. Let your pancreas settle down first and see what happens. Unfortunately, every pancreatitis attack will damage another part of the pancreas and obviously will hinder its performance. I would contact your GP/ consultant/DSN or whoever provides your care and discuss your concerns with them once you’re feeling well enough. Good luck and keep in touch. Elaine.
 
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