Hi
They have said that I have tested positive for GAD antibodies so its likely LADA, and have changed my treatment. As my bloods are in range with the meds, they dont see the immediate need for insulin but I am to keep a close eye on things, and have been referred into a specialist clinic which is different to my current one although I haven't been yet,
Who was "They"? The referral to a Spec Clinic is good, presumably that will include a DSN.
With the hypos, I am hoping that dropping the Glimipride dose will now stop these although I certainly dont feel comfortable yet. Some days are fine, yet some days I can eat a decent meal (example being 3 eggs, 2 wholemeal toast) and less than 2 hours later my bloods are below 5 and I can feel that I will need to eat.
Yes, can be normal. Depends on a number of things, in fact there are at least 42 factors that can affect BG - not necessarily all at once(!); the 43rd is the D fairy! But activity and exercise can move the goal posts and can affect your BG 24 hrs (or more) later. Without knowing what else has been happening, or you've been doing, its difficult to pin-point exactly why.
So at this stage you can only be alert to going hypo and have a response kit very close to hand. By response kit that might need to include unscented wash-wipes, so you can test a clean finger; you will know if you are likely to have contaminated hands - what you don't need is delay while you wash and dry! Plus a snack of high GI carbs, such as Dextrose, Jelly Babies etc, within very easy reach at all times.
Once the hypo has cleared consider taking a small snack of medium or low GI carbs (eg 1 small biscuit @6-10 gm CHO) or even a little more (eg 1 Nature Valley bar, 13gm, out of a packet of 2) - to reinforce the recovery; particularly if you are even mildly active.
Hypos are unpleasant, particularly deep ones. They are also frightening, initially; over time you will come to realise they aren't unduly dangerous - just unpleasant and inconvenient. In fact, the likelihood of you going so low you are getting towards comatose is surprisingly small, and you seem to have a reasonable hypo awareness. So the quicker you can confirm you are hypo and treat, the better. But if also you can resist "over-reacting" then that helps a lot. By this I mean stay relaxed and don't let yourself get stressed, if at all possible; and resist over-eating (surprisingly difficult when hypo and all you want to do is eat ... ) then you reduce the possibility of a really high rebound into hyper.
At present- If I go much longer than 3 hours without eating, I will feel the jitters which is super frustrating. On the occasions I have dropped below 4 and had to eat something to raise the bloods, I end up feeling pretty rubbish and tired- is this normal??
I certainly used to feel rubbish after some of my hypos. Also, for no obvious reason some would last for ages, not seeming to respond to my first JBs; whereas others were done and dusted in a relatively short time. Going hypo can be tiring; your body gets stressed simply because your BG is too low and in its (unsuccessful) fight to help, you get tired. You are also, at this stage, still not particularly well and dealing with the consequence of being diabetic; this is in itself stressful and tiring.
One generic is that we are all different, so individual response to most aspects of DM can be quite different from person to person. This applies to your personal responses to hypos. Keep a log of exactly what you did and when; then adjust your procedure if that didn't work out so well.
Another generic is think of Diabetes as akin to running a marathon; slow and steady (learning as you go) is better than a sprint. Learn from a bad day, but start afresh the next day and don't let that bad day drag you down.
I'm away this weekend and got a difficult funeral to attend on Monday, so I'll be stepping back for a bit. But I'm sure others will pick up on your posts.
