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Posted 6/19/2005 9:38 PM (GMT 0)
I am a 50 year old diabetic woman and I've had insulin dependent diabetes since I was 15. I have always had alot of low blood sugars, but in the past two years I've had my drivers license suspended for driving with a really bad low, gotten a job in a grocery store I can walk to, and still I continue to take too much insulin, not to eat, and to have low blood sugars. I'm pretty complication free and I know that I believe that's because I have frequent lows. My license has been suspended for two years now and I'm feeling like a disabled person. Can anyone relate to this or have any advice?
Posted 6/20/2005 4:08 AM (GMT 0)

Wow! 35 years. I've been type 1 since '64 so I can relate. It goes without saying you know your body with 35 years under your belt. Are you testing regularly? I never miss that "before bed" test. It keeps me balanced thru the night and the next day. I still drive but I've had a few of those "manic" experiences over the years. Trying to keep driving while your mind is veering out of control. Are you ever going to get back behind the wheel or are you banned for life?

-Modfos

Posted 6/20/2005 12:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for responding. When my license was suspended two years ago I immeadiately responded with the appropriate doctors letters saying that I was fit to drive. The board of doctors at the DMV however, chose not to approve my doctors opinion, and wrote me back saying I could reapply for my license in one year. Now it's one year after receiving their letter, and even though my control is considerably better than two years ago, I have lost selfconfidence and distrust myself more than ever. I do test a minimum of 4 times a day... sometimes as often as 10 times.
Posted 6/20/2005 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
You and I have been Type 1 long enough to know the difference between "Beef and Pork" and Humalin insulins. In my opinion, the

Humalin insulins sneek up on you. It's much harder to detect low blood sugars. The only effective way I could deal with it was to keep a really strict routine. It's boring as hell and I'll wander off occassionaly but keeping the same activities, insulin in-take and meals consistent makes it a lot easier to predict when my sugars are going to drop. I cycle 15 miles a day but it's always the same two routes so I know at what point I'll need orange juice. Like I say, it can get pretty boring but what's my alternative?

-Modfos

Posted 6/21/2005 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
When I switched to humalog I had that same experience with the change in action; but I always thought that I was loosing sensitivity to low blood sugar symptoms. And your alternative would be to lead the kind of life I'm leading, a pitiable raft in a diabetic tempest....anyway that's how I feel. But you are the very first person I've ever contacted over the internet and I very much appreciate the exchange.
Posted 6/21/2005 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
"a pitiable raft in a diabetic tempest"....very nice.

In your original manifesto you wrote too much insulin -

not enough food.....so, you know the problem without

the help from others. The only time I've felt "out of

control" where I lost confidence was work-related....when

my blood-sugars were thru the roof and even insulin didn't

seem to have much of an effect - but that, I later learned, had everything to do with stress. Too much stress, in my opinion,

can have an extreme effect on some diabetics like myself. It makes me wonder if there's something in your life - something that took place over the past two years that may have made you more sensitive to insulin. Could be a million things but who knows?

Posted 6/21/2005 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
I had to reply because I'm dealing with the "lows" all the time. I don't have diabetes, and I don't have hypoglycemia. I can't get a diagnosis because every time I have a blood sugar low or "crash", my levels actually come back as normal! it's the most bizzare thing.

 

What I think is happening to me is that my adrenal glands aren't working properly. Cortisol (which the glands produce) works with insulin. If your glands aren't working then the insulin doesn't have  the cortisol to tell it to "back off"!  I've been taking prednisone for my lupus. It's a synthetic form of cortisol. The more prednisone I take the better my blood sugar levels are. The less I take the more low episodes I get. I get them pretty much all day long, even though I'm eating regularly. 5 or 6 smaller meals a day.

 

So Modfos, you are on to something with the 'stress' idea. Cortisol is your fight or flight hormone. And stress is something it helps with. I'm still doing more research on all this. But I understand your situation My worst enemy, I get the lows when I drive too. I have to make a b-line for a place to eat or I'll be all over the road. Sorry your license has been suspended. That is really unfortunate. I hope you can get the answers you need ASAP.

 

Thanks for letting me add my piece!

 

God bless,

Ginny

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