Workers' Compensation Discussion Forums

Hello To My extended Family,

Sorry it took me a couple days to give this report from my Neuro visit on Thursday but yesterday I was so sick.

This has been a horrible week for me with pain and starting this dibetes med as I have been having these horrible spells since I started taking this Glucophage. It is prescribed 2 times daily and I take it in the morning and bedtime. If any nurses or diabetics can offer any suggestion it would be appreciated. It seems like when I wake up I am in the sweats and feel weak. I get up and try to have my coffee but take a couple sips and I start feeling so bad I have to head for the bed. The sweat just pours off of my entire body. I go back to bed and fall asleep. I am use to getting out of bed around 5:15 but yesterday I went back to bed a few minutes after I got up. I slept until 11am and when I woke up I was still haveing these awful sweats and still feeling bad. I tried to eat something and drank something and tried to stay up. I did manage this but I also did not take the Glucophage yesterday morning and I did not take it last night. I feel like what is happening is during the night my blood sugar must be dropping and upon awakening I am in a probably low blood sugar spell. This happened to me 3 times this past week. I did not start feeling somewhat normal until around 3pm yesterday afternoon. Last night I did not take the med either. I did take it this morning and so far I am doing ok. I do not plan on taking it at bedtime as I want to see how I am feeling tomorrow morning without having taken it. Maybe 2 doses a day might be more than I need. I just don't know as I am checking my sugars and trying to figure this out.

I am still just bidding the time until I see the kidney doctor again in a few weeks and have blood work done again to see if I will need the kidney biopsy to check for Amodolydosis. I am also just bidding time for the next few weeks until we get the results of Kyzer's repeated PKU test. He also had to have his hearing rechecked because he failed the test at the hospital in his right ear. Beau and Kailey had the test done a few days ago and everything is okay......thank God. I was suppose to babysit him yesterday afternoon for my son to so play golf but I could not do it because I was feeling so bad. Ask me if I was sad? Yes, I was cause I wanted to be with him and hold him and love up on him....well I cried yesterday.

OK, I saw the neuro and brought the myelogram which he had not seen, only the 2nd opinion neuro has seen it because he orderded it. The 2nd opinion neuro states that this herniation is not from my injury. OK, so now what. My regular neuro I saw Thursday states that from the time I had the MRI done on Dec. 18, 2008 from the time I had the myelogram done on May 26, 2009 I have alot more that is going on than what the MRI showed. Since Jan. my neuro has been wanting to do my surgery and WC had not approved it but played around with it until they sent me for a 2nd opinion in May. So the question is, If the surgery would have been approved would all this other stuff going have occurred. I now have herniations on both sides instead of just on the left. I also have spinal stenosis and alot of arthritis going on. He stated that this surgery will entail alot more than the others I had because I have so much going on. Before he tried to schedule surgery he is sending me back to the neurologist for another EMG/NCV to check and see if there are any changes involving the nerves and nerve damage. Right now I am scheduled for that visit on Nov. 4th but will go earlier if they have a cancellation. My appt. to see my neuro. surgeon is for Nov.5 unless the neurologists is able to see me earlier then I will see my surgeon earlier. My surgeon also told me that I have to get off the Oxycontin before he will do this surgery. He states that patients that are on this med he finds does not do as well after surgery. As of Thursday I have started weening myself off the Oxycontin. He is sending a note to my PM doc to get him to prescribe something for me that is non narcotic. He is also dictating a letter to WC to let them know that he feels that alot of what is going is is due to my injury. I sent my lawyer a note about all this but have not heard back from her yet. I am just ready to have my Medicare pay if they don't approve so I can get this behind me. I am so tired of being in this condition and have to try and find some type of relief.

That is about it for now. I will keep you posted when I hear something else. Again, sorry for the delay but when you are too sick to do something you are just too sick. I know everyone understands what that situation is like because we all live it everyday. My prayers are with all of you that you are all doing well and making good progress with whatever situations you may be dealing with at this moment. My love to each and everyone of you. I love all of you dearly.

Cajun Hugssssssssssssss,
MJC

It certainly sounds like low blood sugar to me. That sweating I know what you mean. Maybe it will take some time to get regulated on the Glucophage. Must be hard to be diet controlled and then be put on meds. You have to adjust your eating along with the med. Diabetes can be such a difficult disease to manage.

Will be praying that all works out with the Neurosurgeon and Neurologist and that you finally get some relief. You know all of this , the pain, stress and other meds do not help control your glucose at all.

MJC, Are you checking your blood sugar every morning?. Try that and see where it is.....If you think you are taking to much, Please check with your DR.
Sweetie are you at that age? That also could be the problem.........
Good Luck to you and God Bless.......

Hi. Im type 1 diabetic. It happened to me 7 years ago. my pancreas decided to quit working. You totaly are suffering from low blood sugar. Sweating, weakness, cant focus or understand are symptoms. i dont know much about medication, im insulin dependent. Sometimes i think it's easier than type 2. You obviously have too much. t
Try to eat something before bed. Also have some apple or grape juice handy for when your sugar drops. Drinking something will raise it faster than eating. I describe it as going down in an elevator and all of a sudden coming back up. or like having a fever and then it breaks and you get chilled after being hot and sweaty. Also, dont be afraid to test! Do it 6,7,8 times a day if necessary and try to log your highs and lows. Taking cinnamon is also a good way to naturaly lower blood sugars. eat it or take it in a supplement found at any health food or vitamin store.

MJC,
I hope that your Dr's get you relief from all of your pain and that your diabeties gets under control soon. My father was a diabetic and had to use insulin, he had many times where it appeared that he was drunk or confused. His insulin was adjusted many times. I'm hoping you don't need to start using insulin. Be carefull when you stand up in the mornings, you may lose your balance or become dizzy. I wish you well, keep us informed.
Love
Vickie

MJC.... I believe you should call your doctor. Glucophage should not be taken when taking a lot of medications such as in your case. I am sure that you doctor knows what he or she is doing but I think you are at risk. I found something I beleive you should read....

"Glucophage could cause a very rare—but potentially fatal—side effect known as lactic acidosis. It is caused by a buildup of lactic acid in the blood. The problem is most likely to occur in people whose liver or kidneys are not working well, and in those who have multiple medical problems, take several medications, or have congestive heart failure. The risk also is higher if you are an older adult or drink alcohol. Lactic acidosis is a medical emergency that must be treated in a hospital. Notify your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following:

Symptoms of lactic acidosis may include:
Dizziness, extreme weakness or tiredness, light-headedness, low body temperature, rapid breathing or trouble breathing, sleepiness, slow or irregular heartbeat, unexpected or unusual stomach discomfort, unusual muscle pain


don't let this scare you, but please call your doctor about your symptoms. Del is on this drug and when he first starting taking it, he had similar s/s's but not as enhanced as you are describing. My oldest daughter also took this drug and she has NASH disease, Graves Disease, and a few others which means she takes a combination of drugs... and she started getting really sick and had to go off of the drug. Is your stomach upset at all? This is rather common also. You have all met Del and realize that he is slender.. but this was not always the case. When I was in the military he weighed about 60 lbs more than he does now ... he lost his weight in a 2 year period due to this drug... he tolerates it ok, but as I said his s/s were not as extreme as yours are described. Call your doctor and tell him or her about your smptoms as soon as you can. Let us know what he or she says. Red

i could not take it ,i stayed in the bathroom ,now i am taking metformin which i think is a form of it but it dont bother me ,please get a hold of your dr there is too much other stuff you can take than be sick with this one . i also take shots along with the pills

Thanks to those of you that replied. I was sorta beginning to wonder if anyone was out there......lol. I knew we had nurses and diabetics so I was just waiting for some responses. I have not called the doctor but I have been checking my sugars and they appear to be low at night. What I have done is stopped taking the night time dose and I am feeling alot better. I do have some concerns with what Red has posted. I will put a call in for the doctor today and try to further discuss this. Years ago before I was able to get this problem controlled with my diet I was taking Amaryl. I took it for about 2 years and then I began to have the low blood sugar spells in the afternoon. Those spells are just horrible. I adjusted the dose myself and began to do better. Then I got to wear I guess the things I was eating was better for the problem and of course my eating habits decreased and my pharmcist told me that I was not eating enough. I could have called him also because he is very versed when it comes to diabetes. In fact he was the person who helped me when I had the problem on the Amaryl. He had made me log my food intake and my blood sugar reading for 2 weeks then he reviewed it with me and told me my food intake was not enough. There were times he told me instead of having a salad I should have been eating a big hamburger and fries cause my sugar reading was so low....lol. I am going to take everyones advice but I am going to call my doctor about this. In fact I said I was taking Glucophage because that is what the doctor said he was putting me on but when I filled it they gave me the generic which is Metformin....so Sweet, I am taking the same thing you take. I am glad that I am feeling better without that night time dose and my sugars are not high at night so I don't feel I need it at night. I am not a snacker so I don't eat between meals and at meal time I don't eat very much of a portion. In fact Red can vouch for that because when we had lunch my Sis and I shared a hamburger and fries. When my sis and I are together we always share what we are eating because neither of us eat that large of a portion at one sitting. Thanks again for the replies as it is very much appreciated. I am open minded to all of your input. God Bless all of you and I love y'all.

Limbo,
Thanks for the advice to get myself attended to instead of continuing to fight with WC right now. I made my mind up and I will use my Medicare and deal with WC later. My health needs to come first and they have played with this for over 9 months as I have continued to develope other problems from their neglect according to the studies I had on Dec. 08 and then May 09. Enough is enough! Thank you my friend for always being there for me. Tell Ellen hello and God Bless you and yours. Love ya!

Cajun Hugsssssssssss,
MJC

MJC...I'm sure you'll be fine now with all the great advise. I have read about Glucophage and what Red is describing. I was going to suggest you talk to your pharmacist. Mine will not fill certain meds if he feels there's is a problem without talking to my Dr. to make sure everyone is on the same page. I have what's called the "Dawn Phenomena" I read high first thing in the morning but that is from not eating for 12-14 hours. I have tried a snack before bed and it hasn't changed things. After eating I read anywhere from 99-150 which I understand is good. I am still diet controlled as my A1c has not reached 7 yet. I like Pennylane's suggestion of the small glass of juice. It has come in handy many times for me when I am low. Horrible, horrible feeling. That sweating, room spinning stuff. Best of luck . I hope it all works out for you.