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Very Confused

09/20/2011

Question:

My girlfriend is 59. She has high sugar, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Her doctor told her that her pancreas has stoped working. I am confused because I can`t figure out what type she is. Metforman and two types of insulin work to get her sugar down to 140 150 but it goes back to 300 350 or more within a hour. She stays sick in her stomack 24 hours a day she has pink sores in her mouth and now they are starting to spread to her face. She is a small person about 115 pounds. She has a verry stressfull job. I can`t for the life of me figure what is what. Thanks.

Answer:

Thank you for visiting NetWellness. On this site, NetWellness experts try to answer general questions about health. Only a health professional performing a thorough clinical exam is able to evaluate your girlfriend’s symptoms. However, NetWellness may have some general information available that you can access through our search feature.

That being said:

1)  The fact that she is a small person with diabetes provides evidence that she is likely to have substantial insulin deficiency and that she may need to be on multiple doses of insulin per day, some to provide a basal component of insulin throughout the day as well as injections designed to increase the insulin levels in preparation for each meal.  The spikes of blood sugar suggest the need for better matching of the distribution of food intake, insulin and exercise.
  
2)  The complaint of feeling sick all the time may be an underlying problem or may be related to the metformin.  That would suggest that a trial of going off the metformin under a doctor’s supervision (probably with corresponding adjustment of the insulin) may help sort out whether the metformin is contributing to this problem.  If getting rid of the metformin doesn’t resolve the problem, it will be important to consider other possible diagnoses
Feel free to write back if you still have questions or need an explanation.

3)  It would be important for a doctor to look at the sores to determine possible causes. 

It sounds like your girlfriend needs further medical attention, whether from a primary care provider or from a diabetes specialist.

For more information:

Go to the Diabetes health topic.