I used too be able to anything ya my BG would drop and go high. Could still do a lot and not get sick. Now I am 40 and swtihed from aspart to humilin insulin. Now I am noticing if I don’t want to be sick all the time I have to give up the things I love to do. I was a general contractor and now I can’t even build a shed without my BG going all over the place. I have realized anything that is exerting makes me feel like crap for about 3 days. Just not feel either around my eyes get puffy and turn dark and start to get bags. My skin goes very pail. Over exerting is as little as 3 appointments in one week and a grocery store visit. One appointment made me really exhausted after words mentally. Now it is 2 days later and I still don’t feel like I have recovered. I am so tired my BG has been in target and I have been sleeping. Well anymore it is sleeping I can’t remember the last time I got uninterrupted sleep. My pump or even just to have to go to the bathroom. Anyone else have to change a lot as they get older?
Hey! I’m 41 and have almost an identical story! Message me, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned works for me, being a brittle diabetic.
Duston. don’t know if this will help. been a type 1 for 66 years and Doc and I decided that if I run a higher BS (and she recommends tis for us older T1d) I feel better, no more sudden drops. Average during day is 140+ and I eat before bed to avoid Dawn Phenom. Ave at night 130-160. Doc was telling me that there are so many older t1d running into problems because they try to keep their Bs within the 99-120 range and our older bodies don’t do well in that range, too dangerous for us older ones. Last night my bs went from 111 to 87 in less that 10 minutes. But at bedtime my bs was at 136 I should have made it higher, won’t make that mistake again. Hope this helps. Bye Jan
Hi Janice @JaniceD, good advice from another “long-timer” - you’ve got two years on me.
A couple of years ago, two different doctors, both top level endocrinologists, suggested that I get my HbA1c up to 6.5% which reflects an average 90 day total body glucose of 140 mg/dl. The reason was, as you say, to avoid unexpected lows that creep up on us.
Another point, doctors now are suggesting that time-in-range for older, long-term PWD is acceptable at 65% rather than the customary 70% for the general population.
Dennis, something else I learned after all these yeas is that my body never read the instruction manual, shoot I don’t think it was even written back then. My a1c is usually between 6.9 to 7.3 I feel much better at a higher rete. Another thing I learned. Our brain only works on sugar as a fuel, and if I have an episode of Neuropathy I just rqaise my blood sugar and it goes away almost immediately, one Dr. had a fit when he saw my A1c at 7.5, I explained the Neuropathy cure to him, he told me that he had never considered that cure but now he sees how well it works .going to rty this on his patient instead of drugs. Told him that anyone suffering should test their BS when it hurts to see if their bs is in the same range each time, my range is 112-118 and my right hand itches then hurts. Once you know your range you can avoid the pain. Works for me and my drs are ok with it. What do you think? Stay safe. Bye for now Jan
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Dennis, forgot to give you the most important bit of info, sorry. Anyway, the brain only works on sugar, so it it doesn’t have enough the brain will steal from the glucose covering the P. Nerves, that is where the pain comes in, because now you have, for lack of a better way to put it, exposed nerves. My range is 112-118 sounds like enough sugar based on the rules, but apparently my brain doesn’t think so. . Below 110 the symptomology for me changes. My right hand hurts bad then goes numb, below 100 things get worse. That is why I need to keep my BS 140+ Once I explained the situation to my doctors they don’t give me any trouble. Sorry I didn’t explain this correctly the first time. Stay safe, bye Jan
Hi @lisandustin and thanks for writing in. One thing I noticed was your comment that you had switched to a different insulin. A couple of suggestions:
- First off, apologies if I’m telling you something you already know, but there may or may not be a “1:1 exchange” between insulins. Your new one may be more powerful than the old so you’ll need to adjust downward; and there may be variations in how far in advance you should take it before eating and even what time of day to take certain long acting insulins (I use a pump so can’t speak to that).
- While some people can make a change with little or no difficulty, some find that the new one simply does not work with their body (who knows why). So it might be worthwhile to see if you can return to your former formulary and see if you have the same experience you did previously. Insurance companies do sometimes change their preference - mine has, a couple of times (as if everything works the same for everybody!), but my doctor was able to get an override so I could continue, by providing a letter or documentation explaining why only “Formula X” would do. In my case only certain insulins can be used in a pump; but some people are allergic to particular ones, or they simply don’t work for them.
So if you haven’t already done so, speak with your doctor to see if adjusting the dosage helps; and if that doesn’t work see about getting an override to return to the one that worked well before.
And one last thing (I think I promise 
): while diabetes is often our first assumption, it is possible there is something else going on. Not that I’m trying to add anything to what you are carrying now, but it might be worthwhile, when situations allow, to see your doctor (maybe your primary care) about your other symptoms. They may be able to do a video conference for the time being - not as helpful as an office visit but they may be able to order some blood work (labs are still running) to rule things in or out and start a treatment plan if they do find something. I’m not a doctor but it could be a vitamin deficiency or an (hopefully) easily treatable disorder.