I have a small problem, has anyone experienced that there are any doctors capable of understanding our dilemmas.
It took a lot of persuasion to find that I had reactive hypoglycaemia and this was acted upon, I was given drugs for diabetes that had me collapsing all over the place.
I now find my blood sugar readings are extremely high at 12 to 14 every morning and have to go for more blood test which will probably see me put on insulin for type 1 diabetes ,my local gp's obviously cannot see past their noses even with my case files in front of them.
Has anyone else out there experienced low blood sugars which has since turned upside down and has become exceedingly high, also what about your gp's.
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zookeeper
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Have a look under the post HYPOS and try searching on the tags, as this has come up quite a bit before. I think I would also ask your original specialist nurse / specialist dietician for some support as well.
Try and understand the details of, and reason why the medication you were given had such a bad effect. Did it effectively give you an insulin overdose, for instance?
You might also discuss the evidence for why you are regarded as having Type 1 diabetes rather than Type 2.
As I understand it, your insulin:glucose levels may fluctuate wildly, because undigested food is reaching your intestines earlier than it would otherwise have done before the surgery shortened your system. There is some information on the OPA website, and I suggest that you print some of this off for the information of the GP.
As I understand it, I think that a true diabetic will have lost the ability for the body to redress the balance. This may, or may not be true for you. There is also something called insulin resistance that develops after a long period of these fluctuations. Having the surgery does not disqualify you from having other issues that may or may not have developed anyway, but it does mean that the investigation has to be more careful. Monitoring the readings at different times of the day can be a very useful thing to do, and, say, an hour or two after having food.
I think you probably have to consider adopting a diabetic-type diet, that is low glycemic index food, and stay away from any food where the ingredients contain anything with -ose on the end, any added sugar, any artificial processed sweetening agents (eg inc maple syrup). Plus avoid the carbohydrates that convert into sugar very rapidly. Keep a food diary, and see if this improves things. The idea behind all this is to lengthen out the natural fluctuations in insulin that occur when the body finds glucose being created; it makes it less of a 'spike'. There is an awful lot of sugar, even in bread, that we do not normally notice, and our national palate has become used to a lot of added sugar which has gradually been added to the contents of the supermarket shelves.
Your digestive system is a complicated and delicate balance at the best of times, and the surgery makes it even more so. The consultation with the doctors seems to work best when we are able to understand what is going on inside us and why; and then working in a kind of knowledgeable partnership with the doctors, who statistically as GPs will not have come across many oesophagectomy cases before.
I see that you first posted on this topic a year ago - what has been going on in the meantime ?!
IMHO you don't have a small problem you have a major problem in that your life may be in danger.
It simply is not realistic to expect anything from the average GP who is most unlikely to have encountered another patient with similar symptoms before and they have neither the time nor the inclination to read up on what is an enormous and difficult subject.
You may appreciate my point of view if I relate just a little of my own history.
I had my Ivor-Lewis in 1991 - very early days for the procedure.
In 1998 a routine Hypo (IE I experienced several a week and in blissful ignorance never took them seriously) was exacerbated by exercise - walking. Whereupon I became unconscious and suffered a massive seizure.
During the fit I fractured my spine in two places. (We all have some degree of Osteoporosis) I was lucky not to be paralyzed.
The major teaching hospital where I was ambulanced were baffled and I was met with complete skepticism by the consultant fraternity.Fortunately during a six week stay in Orthopedics I encountered a young Registrar who admitted to having read about Dumping in American literature.He persuaded his superiors that I should be thoroughly investigated for Diabetes etc.
The gold standard test is a three day in-patient procedure.
Happily I had neither Type 1 nor Type2 but was the victim of Dumping . For more on this see:-
I do hope you will take this rant in the spirit it is intended.
Our NHS is number 1 in the world in crisis situations but anything but when it comes to routine aftercare -- in addition to my own experiences I speak as an ex-medical student with 30-odd MB/MD relatives.
I just wonder why it is that with all our writings and thoughts on these blood sugar related problems That there is not more knowledge by medical professionals on this subject can it be that all patients are on a giant experiment and we are being used to find ways to cures.
Sorry to rant and thanks for your input I'm sorry that you took a bad tumble I was lucky in that my wife was with me when I head butted a concrete floor whilst on hols no adverse effects yet why was I to learn when others like yourself have had this problem for ages well before my op.
Why is so much knowledge on after effects of this op are withheld and we as individuals have to learn the hard way,
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Swallowing difficulties 5 months post-op
Bad dumping incident?
advice please for Creon 
