I'm going to talk to my endo about this when I see her this month, but I'm wondering if some insulin users are just always dizzy... Because I am. Ever since I started insulin treatment three months ago, I've been prone to dizziness no matter what my BG is. I mentioned it to me CDE near the beginning and she didn't think it was insulin related, plus I was already having symptoms that I knew were stress symptoms for me... so she and I chalked it up to stress. Then is lessened to where I barely noticed for little while, but now it's more notable again.
I honestly do have a lot of stress going on in my life right now. I hate my job with a passion, my boss stresses me out (sometimes intentionally, if she thinks I'm not upset enough about something that went wrong!), I'm job hunting (with no promising prospects), we've bought a new house and are still unpacking, we've been planning for a baby (which this diagnosis has put on hold for a while), and--OH YEAH--I was diagnosed with diabetes three months ago and am still adjusting. So stress still might be the issue... but it's a pretty big issue, because it makes detecting hypoglycemia a lot harder. :(
i have some dizziness issues related to other medications i take. is it possible you're on something else that may have this side effect? i agree, it makes hypos a bit confusing. my only "cure" is to test often. this way i'm not guessing as to whether or not i'm low - i know for sure. sorry i don't have any better suggestions :o(
No other new medications, other than a vitamin D supplement that I didn't start until after the dizziness. Though... I did restart some other supplements (B complex and L-tyrosine) after diagnosis because I had only quit them to be safer for pregnancy. Maybe I should quit them for a while again to see if there's any improvement.
Yeah, stress could definitely be contributing to the problem. But, that's likely not the only issue here.
I'm not giving medical advice, so you'll have to see your endo for treatment options but this is what I think is going on. Since you're a recently diagnosed diabetic, I'd assume it was one of the two things (or both combined).
One would be a viral inner ear infection. This is one of the most common causes of dizziness, and since your blood sugars have been likely THROUGH THE ROOF over the last 6 months or so it would be harder to fight off these infections. Be strong and keep those blood sugars in the right range as well as you can and hopefully the infection will go away as your body regains its immune function back to 100%. http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/labyrinthitisvest-neuritis.php
Second thing it could be (less likely) is a mild vitamin deficiency, maybe B6 or B12. Since you're producing a ton of urine when your blood sugar as high, it puts you at risk for all kinds of water soluble vitamin deficiencies. Water soluble vitamins are the ones that have an affinity for water in the body, so when you're producing and excreting a ton of water.... the risk of deficiency increases. Managing your blood sugars well will also get rid of this problem, and a multi vitamin supplement never hurts (as long as you can afford it).
Good luck! Let us know if you get the problem resolved. I had some dizziness pre-diagnosis too, actually it was mainly double vision and some jumpiness of vision (mild room spinning, or vertigo, I guess). I haven't had it for a while, so I think stress control and great blood glucose control must have fixed the problem. :)
No other new medications, other than a vitamin D supplement that I didn't start until after the dizziness. Though... I did restart some other supplements (B complex and L-tyrosine) after diagnosis because I had only quit them to be safer for pregnancy. Maybe I should quit them for a while again to see if there's any improvement.
Thanks!
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Hm, well I guess it's definitely NOT a B complex deficiency then. I'm betting on the inner ear infection, vestibular neuritis. Any hearing decrease to go along with the dizziness that you've noticed?
I think my double vision problem and vertigo symptoms were caused by cranial neuritis, too. Diabetics often get cranial nerve problems, and it IS usually reversible with good control.
[quote user="Mad Evans"]Hm, well I guess it's definitely NOT a B complex deficiency then. I'm betting on the inner ear infection, vestibular neuritis. Any hearing decrease to go along with the dizziness that you've noticed?[/quote]
Hmm, interesting. I don't have a decrease in hearing, but my right ear is a little
funky... I hear sort of "clicks" in my right ear
when I hear sounds only through my left ear (like if I'm only listening to music through my left earbud). So you might be on to something.
Yeah, viral inner ear infections are terribly common. Just talk to your doc about it, make sure your blood sugars are perfect, and hopefully it will go away. Good luck!
Thanks, I appreciate this "lead." Googling about it makes me think it's a pretty likely culprit, but I didn't even think of the possibility of an ear infection, since they don't hurt or feel "stuffy."
Yeah, and it's probably actually just the nerve that connects to the inner ear. The neuritis may even be caused by the high blood glucose over the past while, and you may not even have an infection at all. But, that definitely seems to be where the problem is and hopefully the fix, either way, will be to keep the blood sugar normal and allow your body to fix itself the old fashioned way.