Newcomer here

Hi,

I'm Missy, a 32 year old with what my doctor is calling duel spectrum diabetes, where my hypoglycemia is apparently becoming type 2 diabetes. Found out back in Feb of 2013 when I went to ER over extreme stomach pains which started a cascade of downhill problems not really related to this forum. My blood work showed I had an A1C of 8.8, and was immediately put on 500mg of Metformin and another insulin med. Both made me very ill. Metformin caused me to have constant diarrhea which my doctor said was a negative (have to stop med over it) side effect, and the other caused me to constantly crash with blood sugar not rising above 40 for hours no matter what I ate.

I have tested my blood sugar as often as I can afford (I have no insurance), and my diabetes responded to the medicine Januvia 100mg. After my emergency gallbladder surgery (in Oct 2012), I was taken off Januvia for a time, and had been told at the time it was no longer required, my A1C had dropped to 2.1.

Now, my most recent test shows my A1C at 7.6 again, but my blood sugars have never reached above 110 after meals and never above 80 after fasting. Is this normal for someone who is changing from hypo to hyper? They want me to start taking another diabetes medication again, but I'm terrified of going through the crashes as I'm now less able to get help quickly and no one to check up on me regularly. (My husband had an at home call-center job and now works away from home at another job 8 hours a day 5 days a week.) I have other health issues that already make me a fall-risk and cause me to suffer symptoms like low-blood sugar such as chronic migraines, so knowing when there is a hypo attack or not is extremely hard sometimes. Especially if it happens during a migraine episode.

Which brings another question, if I might ask two in one post? Are chronic migraines common in hypo and hyper diabetics? Does anyone else have these two conditions side by side?

My diabetes is currently diet controlled and my migraines are controlled by Diltiazem (I believe I spelt that correctly).

Thanks for reading!

Missy

Thanks Lanie for the input. :) My youngest daughter is a Type 1 diabetic, and when pregnant with her I was diagnosed as a gestational diabetic. My blood sugars were insane (500+ even on their strict diet and on 75cc novalog at each meal, 25cc for snack and 150cc lantus at night) and she ended up being a preemie but thankfully no complications. The specialists that handled me when I was pregnant said my A1C was very high for pregnancy and suggested I might be a normal diabetic, but no further testing was done. The specialist handling my care retired and the one who took his place didn't seem bothered by it.

I do keep a record of my sugars, but have been reluctant to keep a food diary, I suppose it would probably be a good idea to start one. I didn't realize that headache was also caused by hyper, I thought only hypo brought those one, so that's something I'm writing down for sure! I do already eat several smaller meals throughout the day due to other health concerns and issues, and have learned the painful lesson that PB&J are now officially bad foods as I crash really hard and fast.

I guess my issues lay on that spiders thread where doctors fear to tread, so to speak. But thanks so much for the input and ideas. I will see if I can get my doctor suggest an endocrinologist to see if they can better handle this problem.

Thanks again!

Missy

I have never heard of Vitamin D3...I'll have to make sure we've been tested for that as well! And I will check into that book, I've read a lot of books since my daughter was diagnosed years ago, but that one doesn't sound familiar. I have recently gone to the doctor regarding my lump problems in health and he's putting me on a low-carb diet to see if it makes any of my problems better. Since I'm diabetic, that's already a bonus, and if the diet helps he is going to try to test me on a starch allergy. He thinks it might also be why my diabetes is so whacked out as well, he told me that when you mix immuno-responses (or something like that word) with diabetes, it creates really unstable results, kinda like being sick, very hard to tell what is going to spike or crash you.

My daughter is doing about as well as she can be, she's also a moderate-severe autistic, so trying to get her to understand stuff is a struggle, especially with a sister who also has an eating disorder (she flat out won't eat) and gets to eat lots of "junk" food that isn't allowed for a diabetic. Her little body is changing so its a little less controlled now than it was a year or two ago, but we're getting it handled pretty well with her specialist. :) He even lets her have sweets as long as she gets a shot and isn't already too high, which takes pressure off of us! But she's a little ray of sunshine, as long as she isn't high or super low lol

Thanks a lot for all the info Lanie!
Missy

As many problems as I have, and the issues with the family, the fun is twice as important to have. :) I try to make my issues as light as possible with the girls, and give them my all, which helps me forget about my problems, even if just for a few moments at a time. The girls love to play outside and catch butterflies and bugs, play with their new kitten, and draw pictures with me and tell me stories about their made up worlds, or get my help in playing one of their numerous Mario games or Pokemon games. (Nana and Papa spoil them at Christmas :P ) Recently they went to a nearby zoo and got to play with the animals there hands-on. We (as a whole family, grandparents and me and my husband) try to do our best to make sure that the problems stay just out of sight, and aside from those painful reminders its not as easy as it should be, we often forget that there is anything wrong with us. :) But its the little things that make each day fun, painting pictures or drawling pictures with my oldest. Watching my youngest (who has autism and is diabetic) create fake foods and furniture for her toys out of household items and turning duct tape into a work of art.

But on another note, when I head to the store tomorrow, I've listed to look up the vitamin D3 while I'm there. Always good to do my end of research before asking her specialist doctor if she needs it too, so I can have responses to his questions and new questions for him if she does need it. :)

Thanks a lot! Again, I can't thank you enough!

Missy