I've had out of control, all over the charts, readings for most of the duration of my fourteen years with diabetes. I've been trying to take better care of myself and get my sugars under control and have been noticing that while doing that, I feel worse than when my sugars are really high or really low. I've talked to my doctor and a diabetes educator about this previously and their explanations made sense. Basically if you have a large amount of sugar in your body for a consistent period of time (with the consistent high numbers) and then all of the sudden your numbers go into the normal range, your body is being deprived of that sugar and it makes you feel bad. I get really bad headaches, feel out of it, cannot focus on my work, feel shaky (like a low does) etc. when I have a reading of anywhere from 100- 160. Curious if this anyone else ever felt this way when trying to get their blood sugar back in control?
well i can tell you that when you have your blood sugar in your target range for a long amount of time without the highs and lows and you have a number that is just a little high like 200 it feels like its around 400 and feels like hell.
I can't say I've had headaches when I'm having good numbers, what insulin are you on?
Andrea - while I haven't had that issue, I have heard of it happening many times. Sugar is very addictive although no one really wants to say that. There are a slew of people with candida issues these days - mainly feeding off of the sugar that they are eating. It takes a while for your body to 'detox' , if you will, and get used to the new levels. It is not near what you might be going through but it's kinda like if I have a 'bad diabetic' day, the following day I will crave sugar like nobody's business and will get a headache and generally feel horrible. Hang in there, it does take a bit but you'll start to feel better.
I have an Animas Pump and am using Novolog. It's not that I always have headaches, it's just that if I go through the day and have a 200 in the morning, I don't feel all that bad and then maybe two hours later I will be 110 and my head will feel so "cloudy". It's bizarre and very frustrating.
The more you stay with in a 'normal' range, the sooner you will start to feel better. It may take a while for your body to adjust so try to be patient with it.
Cool. Thanks guys.
andrea, I had horrible control for years, I can't really tell you how horrible because I never tested my bs or went to get an A1c. but then I got pregnant and I straightened up overnight basicly and started testing 6-8 times a day and got my a1c in normal range within the first 3 months of my pregnancy. but I do remember feeling horrible for a good little while. i told everybody it was just hormones but i know it was because my body was in shock to actually have normal sugars. I remember the headaches best. it lasted for several weeks than i never felt better and now 21/2 years post pregnancy I am happy to say I am very happy with a 6.4 a1c reading. it takes commitment to get through that hump but please try, it feels great to be healthy.
Perhaps even more frustrating but along the same lines, certain diabetic complications like retinapathy and neuropathy will also get worse before they get better when blood sugar control is made tighter. There no question, however, that in the end tighter control decreases complications and gives you an overall healthier feeling. It is worth pointing out, however, that Type 1's are not immune from other conditions which can cause headaches, like migraines. It's not the case with you because you say you feel fine when you blood sugars are in a higher range, but even when blood sugars are pretty much normalized it's possible to come down with another completely unrelated illness.
I had really high blood sugars for a while. When my doctor told me that I needed to get them undet control, I tried. It didn't really work. I dind't feel right. I only felt "normal" when my sugars were high. But as soon as my sugars starting getting better and back to normal, I started to feel that too.
after i was first diagnosed i felt this way. i felt like this whenever my sugars were anywhere below 200, but after a few weeks when i got everything under control, i felt a lot better when i was in range. :)
Andrea,
This same thing happened to me last year. I was all over the place and then when I started really watching and taking care of myself I felt like complete crap, it was horrible. I was feeling lows symptoms at 90. My highs felt like I was a blood sugar of 900. The worst dry mouth, headaches, fatigue 24/7. I couldn't focus at work. But, I kept at it because I knew these feelings were only temporary and they were. Once my blood sugars leveled out I then started feeling sooooo much better.
And then you know what? I started getting more energy. My blood sugars kept getting better, and it made me want to take care of myself even more. I started exercising more, eating right and now I feel the best that I have felt since my diagnosis 9 yrs ago!
The best thing I can tell you is to keep at it. You will start feeling better, I promise!
well I can speak for my daughter...I have an 11 yr old. We found out be in october that she is type 1....and yes her a1c level when she was diagnosed was 15%, so when her sugar level go below 110 she gets the same symptoms and that's when her migraine kick in...We aslo have a history of migraine in my family...poor thing, so you not alone with those symptoms
lately my blood sugar has been high due to no excercise and finally it is going back to normal but i feel low just under my target range which isnt actually low.