Pancreas stopped working

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Janwhy

Janwhy

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
My Step-son has just called us and said he’s had a call from his Doctor and been told that his Pancreas is not working and has died, he has a Libre sensor and has been given another one, not sure if it’s the same, in the other arm, his consultant is calling him today, he has to have an adrenalin pen and it has to be injected into his heart if he collapses. This all seems very worrying for us.

He’s on a low acting insulin Pizzer in the morning and fast acting Tresiba in the evening/over night, they are going to be changing at least one if these. What is his prognosis with this?

thank you
 
Sounds like your stepson has Type 1 diabetes - the cells in his pancreas that produce insulin have been destroyed by his immune system.
Typically, a healthy pancreas will produce insulin throughout the day in response to the glucose that you liver will drip most of the time. This is what the slow acting injected insulin will replace. I think this is the Tresiba - it is not fast acting, it last up to 3 days.
In addition, you pancreas will respond to rises in blood sugar from the carbohydrates that we eat. We inject a fast acting insulin for this. I am not familiar with the Pizzer insulin you mention.
If we inject too much insulin, our blood sugars will fall too low. I think this is what the addition additional pen is that you mention. It is not adrenaline but glucagon. This is not to be injected in the heart.
The Libre tracks his blood glucose.

The prognosis for Type 1 diabetes has not been better. Do not look at life span as it is based on historic data before the recent advent of better insulins and technology such as the Libre.

Whilst there are risks with Type 1, we have great opportunity to minimise these. I was diagnosed 20 years ago. My eyes, kidneys, heart and liver are tested annually and they are all functioning well … probably better than other people at my age without diabetes.

The Learning Zone on the orange tab at the top of the page will tell you more.
 
Yes @Janwhy, stay calm and keep your feet firmly planted. @helli is right. Type 1 diabetes is a nuisance, as is any other permanent ailment, but there has never been a better time to join this nuisance club.

If the pancreatic problems are not from the Type 1 autoimmune conditions that we've assumed from your opening post - I am walking proof that life can go on without a pancreas! I had to surrender mine to Pancreatic Cancer and I am thus profoundly insulin dependent but not Type 1 - I'm "as if T1" because I also need insulin regularly.
 
helli said:
Sounds like your stepson has Type 1 diabetes - the cells in his pancreas that produce insulin have been destroyed by his immune system.
Typically, a healthy pancreas will produce insulin throughout the day in response to the glucose that you liver will drip most of the time. This is what the slow acting injected insulin will replace. I think this is the Tresiba - it is not fast acting, it last up to 3 days.
In addition, you pancreas will respond to rises in blood sugar from the carbohydrates that we eat. We inject a fast acting insulin for this. I am not familiar with the Pizzer insulin you mention.
If we inject too much insulin, our blood sugars will fall too low. I think this is what the addition additional pen is that you mention. It is not adrenaline but glucagon. This is not to be injected in the heart.
The Libre tracks his blood glucose.

The prognosis for Type 1 diabetes has not been better. Do not look at life span as it is based on historic data before the recent advent of better insulins and technology such as the Libre.

Whilst there are risks with Type 1, we have great opportunity to minimise these. I was diagnosed 20 years ago. My eyes, kidneys, heart and liver are tested annually and they are all functioning well … probably better than other people at my age without diabetes.

The Learning Zone on the orange tab at the top of the page will tell you more.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reassurance. Nit sure where he got the injection into hear from, will have to investigate more. Such a worrying time when you have your own Diabetic and other medical problems to deal with.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Yes @Janwhy, stay calm and keep your feet firmly planted. @helli is right. Type 1 diabetes is a nuisance, as is any other permanent ailment, but there has never been a better time to join this nuisance club.

If the pancreatic problems are not from the Type 1 autoimmune conditions that we've assumed from your opening post - I am walking proof that life can go on without a pancreas! I had to surrender mine to Pancreatic Cancer and I am thus profoundly insulin dependent but not Type 1 - I'm "as if T1" because I also need insulin regularly.
Click to expand...
Thank you for replying and for your own problems with the pancreas. I will take a deep breath and wait further information once he’s spoken to his consultant. He has got type 1 diabetes which hasn’t been under control until recently and now this happening.
 
Hi

Can you explain things a bit more about your step son and his diabetes. How long has he been diagnosed with Type 1 (roughly in months or years)
It could be that the comment about his pancreas being dead is a reference to the end of his honeymoon period. After we are initially diagnosed with Type 1 there is a period of time where our pancreas continues to produce a bit of insulin, but not enough to keep Blood Glucose (BG) levels under control. This is called the honeymoon period and for some people it can be quite helpful as they need smaller doses of insulin and it helps stabilize their levels. For others their pancreas spits out amounts of insulin sporadically, making their levels very erratic and difficult to manage. I am wondering if perhaps your step son has experienced this but his pancreas has run dry of insulin production. It is worth understanding that the pancreas does other functions beyond insulin production so referring to it as dead in this situation is a bit of an exaggeration as it will still be producing digestive enzymes which help to digest food. If it is truly dead and not functioning at all then your step son will need to take digestive enzymes (usually called Creon) with his food and he would be considered Type 3c diabetic as his pancreas is so badly damaged. Usually you will suffer from weight loss and digestive upset in this latter scenario, often with significant diarrheoa, whereas the honeymoon period coming to an end with Type 1, just means you need more insulin, because your body is no longer making any.

How old is your step son? Does he live with you or come to stay? Will you be needing to support him with his diabetes management?
 
rebrascora said:
Hi

Can you explain things a bit more about your step son and his diabetes. How long has he been diagnosed with Type 1 (roughly in months or years)
It could be that the comment about his pancreas being dead is a reference to the end of his honeymoon period. After we are initially diagnosed with Type 1 there is a period of time where our pancreas continues to produce a bit of insulin, but not enough to keep Blood Glucose (BG) levels under control. This is called the honeymoon period and for some people it can be quite helpful as they need smaller doses of insulin and it helps stabilize their levels. For others their pancreas spits out amounts of insulin sporadically, making their levels very erratic and difficult to manage. I am wondering if perhaps your step son has experienced this but his pancreas has run dry of insulin production. It is worth understanding that the pancreas does other functions beyond insulin production so referring to it as dead in this situation is a bit of an exaggeration as it will still be producing digestive enzymes which help to digest food. If it is truly dead and not functioning at all then your step son will need to take digestive enzymes (usually called Creon) with his food and he would be considered Type 3c diabetic as his pancreas is so badly damaged. Usually you will suffer from weight loss and digestive upset in this latter scenario, often with significant diarrheoa, whereas the honeymoon period coming to an end with Type 1, just means you need more insulin, because your body is no longer making any.

How old is your step son? Does he live with you or come to stay? Will you be needing to support him with his diabetes management?
Click to expand...
He was originally treated as type 2 diabetic from his old surgery some 12 years ago, but about 6 years ago he moved so got a new GP they couldn’t control it with tablets and he had a few hypers/hypo he was hospitalised a few times when they told him he was type one and was given the libre sensor and put on insulin which has been changed a few times. He is 44 years old and doesn’t live with us, he has a partner who he lives with. All he told us this morning is that he has a dead organ in his body p, he has lost a lot of weight over the 12 months or so and he’s not eating much either. It’s very worrying, but we will wait to see what his consultant has to say about this. Not sure what the injection is for just said him and his partner have to and be taught as to when and how they have to use it. So confusing.

thank you so much for replying.
jan
 
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