Hi, I was seriously ill at the end of 2019 and when I came out of hospital in June 2020 I had lost most of my pancreas which put me into a type 2 diabetic. For the first 12 months out of hospital my blood glucose levels were good. I was taking metformin and glicazide. But for the last 9 months my sugar levels are all over the place. My doctor has increased my glicazide but not to much avail. I look at my food intake but the more I read the more I get confused on what food to eat. There is a lot of contradictory information out there. If I get a high reading is there anything that I can take to reduce my levels quickly. Any help on diet and quick response methods would be most appreciated. Regards Alan.
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Hi, new to this forum
- Thread starter Alan W.
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admc26
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- Type 1
Hi there @Alan W. and a very warm welcome to the forum!
It sounds like you've had a few ups and downs over the past couple of years! My Type 2 knowledge is limited but there is a wealth of information and people on this forum who I am sure can give you suggestions.
Do you by any chance know your HbA1c level? And have you informed your doctor that the increase in glicazide isn't working? They might be able to help with some other strategies for lowering you BG readings.
Please feel free to ask any questions though as someone will be happy to help I am sure.
It sounds like you've had a few ups and downs over the past couple of years! My Type 2 knowledge is limited but there is a wealth of information and people on this forum who I am sure can give you suggestions.
Do you by any chance know your HbA1c level? And have you informed your doctor that the increase in glicazide isn't working? They might be able to help with some other strategies for lowering you BG readings.
Please feel free to ask any questions though as someone will be happy to help I am sure.
Robin
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- She/Her
If you’ve lost most of your pancreas, then presumably you’ve lost most of your insulin production, and you should probably be treated more like a Type 1 (there is a category for people who have lost their pancreatic function, and therefore fit neither the Type 2 Classic insulin resistance type, nor the Type 1 auto-immune type, and it is known as Type 3c). So prescribing Gliclazide, which works by getting the pancreas to release more insulin isn’t going to produce any major impact on your blood glucose levels, I wouldn’t have thought. Are you being treated solely by your GP surgery? If you have come to diabetes via an illness and loss of most of your pancreas, it sounds like you should be being seen by a hospital consultant clinic, and treated appropriately (which may mean insulin, and may also mean taking Creon if your pancreas has also lost its digestive enzyme producing function). I’m going to tag our resident expert on pancreatic problems, @eggyg , who has had most of her pancreas removed
eggyg
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- Type 3c
Hello @Alan W.
As @Robin mentioned I had most of my pancreas removed many years ago. I too was initially diagnosed Type 2, also on Metformin. As the rest of my pancreas deteriorated of course my blood sugars went higher. I knew no better until I joined this forum. After a bit of badgering and doing my own research into what I now know to be Type 3c, I was put onto insulin and treat as a Type 1. It took a long time to get to that stage but I think the medical professionals are more clued up about it now. Do some research ( use the search facility on the forum) and go back to your GP/doc/specialist nurse and present your findings. It may help to have a food /BG diary to help your cause. Good luck and any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll do my best. Elaine.
As @Robin mentioned I had most of my pancreas removed many years ago. I too was initially diagnosed Type 2, also on Metformin. As the rest of my pancreas deteriorated of course my blood sugars went higher. I knew no better until I joined this forum. After a bit of badgering and doing my own research into what I now know to be Type 3c, I was put onto insulin and treat as a Type 1. It took a long time to get to that stage but I think the medical professionals are more clued up about it now. Do some research ( use the search facility on the forum) and go back to your GP/doc/specialist nurse and present your findings. It may help to have a food /BG diary to help your cause. Good luck and any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll do my best. Elaine.
Proud to be erratic
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Hi @Alan W. Welcome to this forum.
As others have said it does sound as though you are Type 3, probably 3c (although that might depend slightly on why you lost most of your pancreas in 2019). But the significant thing is that, in my non-medical opinion, your original diagnosis as T2 was flawed from the outset.
It also sounds as though you've moved from getting some insulin from a boosted failing pancreas (thanks to the oral meds of Metformin and Gliclaczide) and now need to be injecting insulin. That might sound alarming but in fact is most likely to bring you stability and control with your blood glucose; it's not something to dread - rather something that will greatly help.
The way forward will initially be a bit tortuous and you URGENTLY need your GP to refer you to a Specialist Diabetes Clinic. In general T2 is dealt with by GPs and many surgeries will have a nurse who deals with patients with diabetes; that nurse may well be the focal point for diabetes in the GP clinic, but is highly unlikely to know much about other types of diabetes. I'm not criticising or trying to be rude about GP clinic diabetes nurses, but they are a long way from being Diabetes Specialist Nurses (DSNs) who work in hospital based Diabetes Clinics.
To further complicate matters T3c is pretty rare, misunderstood and can be, incorrectly, categorised as T1. I was discharged after my total pancreatectomy with my notes stating I was T1; totally wrong BUT at least it ensured that I was recognised as insulin dependent and automatically became eligible for the full spectrum of treatment that T1s can receive. There is confusion within the NHS about T3 (any flavour from a-h) and because 3 comes after 1 & 2 it is sometimes seen as minor (less severe) than T1 or T2. So I've had to wrestle sometimes with well-meaning but poorly informed medical professionals, explaining that T3c can be an even less stable form of diabetes than T1. Eggyg alludes to this, but is generous in thinking that medical professionals are more clued up nowadays; my experience is that they aren't. So be prepared to be robust in getting what you need. I am wholly dependent on Creon to replace my non-existent digestive enzymes which went when my pancreas was removed; even that needed polite but strong vocabulary to stop someone thinking I could manage without!
So I recommend be politely robust, get your GP onside and recognising that your case is probably outside the scope of general practice - thus get a referral to a Specialist Clinic.
Good luck.
As others have said it does sound as though you are Type 3, probably 3c (although that might depend slightly on why you lost most of your pancreas in 2019). But the significant thing is that, in my non-medical opinion, your original diagnosis as T2 was flawed from the outset.
It also sounds as though you've moved from getting some insulin from a boosted failing pancreas (thanks to the oral meds of Metformin and Gliclaczide) and now need to be injecting insulin. That might sound alarming but in fact is most likely to bring you stability and control with your blood glucose; it's not something to dread - rather something that will greatly help.
The way forward will initially be a bit tortuous and you URGENTLY need your GP to refer you to a Specialist Diabetes Clinic. In general T2 is dealt with by GPs and many surgeries will have a nurse who deals with patients with diabetes; that nurse may well be the focal point for diabetes in the GP clinic, but is highly unlikely to know much about other types of diabetes. I'm not criticising or trying to be rude about GP clinic diabetes nurses, but they are a long way from being Diabetes Specialist Nurses (DSNs) who work in hospital based Diabetes Clinics.
To further complicate matters T3c is pretty rare, misunderstood and can be, incorrectly, categorised as T1. I was discharged after my total pancreatectomy with my notes stating I was T1; totally wrong BUT at least it ensured that I was recognised as insulin dependent and automatically became eligible for the full spectrum of treatment that T1s can receive. There is confusion within the NHS about T3 (any flavour from a-h) and because 3 comes after 1 & 2 it is sometimes seen as minor (less severe) than T1 or T2. So I've had to wrestle sometimes with well-meaning but poorly informed medical professionals, explaining that T3c can be an even less stable form of diabetes than T1. Eggyg alludes to this, but is generous in thinking that medical professionals are more clued up nowadays; my experience is that they aren't. So be prepared to be robust in getting what you need. I am wholly dependent on Creon to replace my non-existent digestive enzymes which went when my pancreas was removed; even that needed polite but strong vocabulary to stop someone thinking I could manage without!
So I recommend be politely robust, get your GP onside and recognising that your case is probably outside the scope of general practice - thus get a referral to a Specialist Clinic.
Good luck.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Alan W.
Hope some of the suggestions and support from our Type 3c’s help you begin to move towards a more appropriate treatment regime.
If your surgery haven’t come across the term ‘3c’ (it isn’t all that well known, even among medical professionals), this page might be helpful
www.diabetes.org.uk
Hope some of the suggestions and support from our Type 3c’s help you begin to move towards a more appropriate treatment regime.
If your surgery haven’t come across the term ‘3c’ (it isn’t all that well known, even among medical professionals), this page might be helpful
What is type 3c diabetes?
You may have heard of the more common types of diabetes like type 1, type 2 and gestational. But there are actually many other types of diabetes that aren't as well known. Type 3c diabetes develops because of the damage to the pancreas, which can happen for a few different reasons. And although...
Hi, I lost most of my pancreas when in 2019 I was admitted to hospital with gall bladder problems but developed sepsis which attacked all my organs. My pancreas took the brunt of this condition and I lost about 80 per cent of it through infection. I now also take creon. I’ve got a doctors appointment in a few weeks so I will be able to discuss all the points that you have all been so good to discuss.
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