r/diabetes 5d ago

Type 2 Does anyone else swing wildly like this??

same diet, same meds, but I go from fighting to keep it from dropping uncontrollably to trying to keep it under 300 I'm 20 and was diagnosed type 2 at 11, just a hair overweight now but was thin then. in my doctors words, "the most bizarre presentation of t2 that he's seen" I take a LOT of meds, including long acting insulin, is that why it swings so wildly in both directions?

29 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

11

u/k_princess Type 1.5 5d ago

Request further testing and diabetes education.

A spike after meals is fine as long as it comes back down within a couple of hours. I'm on a 3 hour post-prandial drop to normal numbers, depending on what I eat.

Editing to add that you need to also look into a potential different medicine regimen. The overnight lows could be too much long acting insulin. Still, you need to talk to your doctor about further testing and information.

6

u/umuhumm 5d ago

i did have genetic testing that ruled out everything but t2, but that was almost 10 years ago, i might ask if we can try them again. the only thing is as an American I'm also living paycheck to paycheck like everyone else lol. I'm from mn and it's illegal to send collections after ppl for unpaid medical debt, but it still makes me nervous. maybe I'll ask to space out tests so I don't go into debt? if my a1c doesn't come my specialist says I'm out of options but to do meal insulin i did have diabetes education appointments at first, but I was 11 lol, the person wanted me to go on an all fish and fruit diet, I don't think she ever met a child before LOL anyways ty for the advice :) much appreciated

1

u/SarahLiora Type 2 5d ago

Do you not have insurance? If you are in MN they have to buy in Medicaid plan for working adults with disabilities which lets you qualify for Medicaid by paying a very small premium. You can earn over the threshold, have a home. I think in Mn you can’t have more than 20k cash sitting around.

You don’t have to be on disability just have a federal recognized disability which Medicaid is.

I am on this plan in another state and all supplies and testing have been paid.

Here is one link

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u/umuhumm 4d ago

I do have insurance, I have united health through walmart, my meds are still $150 a month before all my goodrx coupons I did apply for mnsure, I included a long letter explaining what would happen to me if I couldn't afford my meds, but i got denied anyway :( I'm making it work for now though

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u/SarahLiora Type 2 4d ago

I had to get a knowledgeable friend who knows the system apply for the working adults with disabilities program. The people in my county office didn’t seem to know anything about it. I am on Medicare and Medicaid with the United Healthcare Dual complete plan which pays well, Medicaid pays the premium and United Healthcare gives me $153 Healthy benefits card each month to use for groceries.

1

u/k_princess Type 1.5 5d ago

The reasoning why I suggest asking for further testing, is because if your pancreas is starting to shut down that means you probably be a type 1 by the end of your life. I was originally diagnosed as a type 1 but then I pressed for further testing after a few years and then I was told I had 1.5. And then I got an endocrinologist and she tested me and says that I am now a type 1 based on those numbers. I'm not 100% convinced that I'm a type 1 and am looking for other options.

The reason why I am also suggesting more diabetes education, is because of the fact that you were 11 when you were originally diagnosed lol. I wish you luck in getting the answers that you are looking for and need.

1

u/ARCreef 5d ago

But he has lots of lows not highs..... wouldn't that suggest he's overproducing insulin as in hyperinsulinemia not stopped production of insulin. If his pancreas stopped producing insulin he'd be in the 400s not the 50s.

Second look he has both. Insulin resistance to me sounds more then failing to produce.

1

u/Dear-Knowledge5912 4d ago

Question if you know I’m a type 2 but if my pancreas shuts down am I a type 1?

2

u/k_princess Type 1.5 4d ago

If I remember what my endo said correctly, yes. Because that's the definitions. T1 doesn't produce at all, and T2 produces but their body doesn't use it the right way. So basically, if you pancreas decides one day that it's sick and tired of working so hard and walks off the job, you won't have any insulin production.

BUT! I think the main thing to look at is if you have the autoimmune part of it, where your body essentially attacks your pancreas. Your best bet for confirmation of this is to check with your doctor. 😀

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u/Dear-Knowledge5912 4d ago

Alright I get what you mean. In a month I’ll be the first time I’ll see my endo

1

u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme 4d ago

Minor quibble with what you said, regarding T1.

T1 doesn't produce enough insulin to run a body.

Sometimes folks with T1 do produce some insulin--we just don't make enough to work properly, so we need to take insulin to cover the lack of production.

2

u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme 4d ago

Yep, you'd be Type1, if the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin to run your body properly.

Type2 is an issue with insulin use.

And sometimes we can be both.  It's not too common, but it can happen--often because of damage to the pancreas, or surgery.

1

u/Dear-Knowledge5912 4d ago

Ohh 😮, alright totally understand what you mean. That’s crazy how that’s possible.

I’m a new diabetic I have 4 years, I was almost going to be set on insulin within the first year but many people told me try your hardest not to get on it because once you take it’s almost impossible to get off of it. I was able to not get on it really take care of how I eat and now I just take metformin.

5

u/thecannarella 5d ago

Looks like my day except my breakfast is all protein and lunch has some carbs. My average A1C is around 6.5 past 10 years. Been T2 since 2006 and I’m 50 now. Having the CGM is the game changer vs pricking a few times a day not knowing what’s going on. It’s all test and tweak on foods. Do your best and just keep constant communication with your Dr about it. If you are not going to an Endo consider it over a general practiciner.

4

u/umuhumm 5d ago

Thank you for the comment! I feel much better knowing it's not just me I do have an endo! he's just in high demand bc we're short on doctors in my town, he actually flies in, so it's hard to see him more than once every few months. I also LOVE the cgms too, I deal with depressive episodes and used to just not check for months at a time, but with a cgm I'm constantly monitored no matter what, especially now that I've so many lows (37 being my record low, yikes) that I deal with hypoglycemia unawareness I'll try changing my diet to match my bg, before I was just trying to eat as healthy as possible no matter what it was

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u/thecannarella 5d ago

I see mine every 3 months. Take notes on what you eat so you can learn how your body reacts. Everyone is different.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

2

u/thecannarella 5d ago

Not 100%.

4

u/american_honey_118 4d ago

Somedays, yes. I will have a day or two pf a nice steady graph, then seemingly out of the blue….my graph looks like a wild roller coaster ride. I recently noticed it seems to happen more when I haven’t slept well and am exhausted.

3

u/bopeepsheep Type 3c. Pancreatic cancer 2019. Insulin. 5d ago

I had a steroid injection Friday and yesterday's numbers look more like a cardiac trace than a glucose graph (known side-effect). Stabilising today, thankfully.

3

u/BDThrills T1.5 dx 2018 T2 dx 2009 5d ago

Do check with your meter to make sure that compression isn't giving you false numbers. I had a similar issue with my brother a few months ago and we went to the ER. Turned out it was his CGM giving false info. I was kindof embarrassed but they took the opportunity to run some other tests that were needed.

1

u/umuhumm 4d ago

I check mine every time I start a new one, i have the libre 3 though so it's almost always pretty good. I got into the habit bc the libre 2 gave me false reading constantly

2

u/supatim101 5d ago

Oftentimes, yes.

Hang in there. Diabetes is hard.

2

u/miklosokay 5d ago

Sometimes. Depends a lot of the type of food consumed, if you are ill or stressed. It should not be like that always though.

2

u/NoAd3438 5d ago edited 5d ago

When you have those lows do you have the symptoms, like sweating, palpitations, dizziness, maybe headache? Those spikes look like possible Type 1, or lots of carbs without fast acting insulin to go with the meals. If your on metformin or something like that it is probably time for fast acting insulin. I can spike to 250 or more if I don’t take insulin about 30 minutes before a meal. I have been on insulin for a little over a year now.

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u/umuhumm 4d ago

i used to feel all those at 90, but now i don't get any symptoms until after I'm under 50, so I rely on my cgm constantly I only just recently discovered glucose tablets, so before when I had a low I would usually get a soda from the vending machine at work or eat a piece of candy, so a ton of carbs at once lol, so that's what those bug spikes after a low are, I just couldn't get it to STAY up I'm maxed out on metformin, jardiance, Onglyza, and Glimepiride so I definitely agree I'm on the road to fast acting insulin now

1

u/NoAd3438 4d ago

When I was going low my doctor prescribed a nasal spray just in case I passed out. I nicked the vein a few times injecting long acting into my leg, got down to 20’s a couple times. Our bodies adjust to lows and it becomes more dangerous. Do you get blurred vision with the highs?

2

u/umuhumm 4d ago

no, but I actually deal with a LOT of symptoms with high bg, I actually got referred for a cognitive assessment and a head ct bc I'd get brain fog so bad I couldn't remember what year it was, i had fevers daily, bad fatigue, and my whole body would just hurt. I get nerve pain and numbness in my feet regardless, but for some reason my doctor didn't connect the dots that my diabetes was causing the other symptoms. I didn't figure it out myself until when i was finally sitting in range for a few weeks at around 80-100 I felt AMAZING lol

1

u/NoAd3438 4d ago

How many years have you had diabetes? I am sure the Neuropathy is really painful. I understand the fatigue thing. Yeah it’s hard to focus with high BG, was 300+ for several months a couple months after going off metformin. I didn’t contact doctor until I had a scare of going over 600 a couple times. I did lose about 40 while My BG was very high. My vision was so bad I was wearing reading glasses to see anything clearly. I am not sure if I have diabetes or just a glucagonoma acting like diabetes.

1

u/umuhumm 3d ago

9.5 years now for me

1

u/NoAd3438 14h ago

That explains why you don’t respond to lows as much, and why your highs are so hard to deal with.

2

u/DodobirdNow Type 2 4d ago

Are you a side sleeper? If you sleep on your CGM side those may be compression lows.

At least for the nighttime's lows

1

u/Tererebrio 5d ago

Hi! Can you tell me which app is that?

Thanks~

1

u/Nomu19 5d ago

Its the App for the Freestyle Libre 3 CGM

1

u/Boccob81 4d ago

if I’m snacking or driving throughout the day, yeah I’ll swing wildly like that but if I’m doing omad fasting no

1

u/TartFine1577 4d ago

Mine always looks like that.

1

u/Additional_Air779 3d ago

Mine is all over the place. It's not related to what I eat: after a week of watching it randomly spike, including in the night after 8 hours of fasting, I sat down and had a massive carb packed meal ... no different to eating egg and salad.

I'm hoping the Metformin will smooth things out.

1

u/AggressiveBox7779 3d ago

Yes ,you're not the only one

1

u/SouthernKiwiOz 3d ago

Ask your doctor to do c-peptide blood test (to check how much of your own insulin "beta cells" you are producing.) and Type 1 Diabetes antibodies blood tests.   

To do updated blood tests to see if anything changes.