Message Boards for the CF Trust

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pinkgirl

Posts: 77
From: Ireland
Registered: 06-Nov-2006

CFRD questions (sorry!)..
Posted: 06-Dec-2006 18:07

Reply

I know that if you are constantly high, say in the teens, that that isn't good for your overall health. Like a person who constantly runs at 16 is going to perhaps have more health problems then one who runs at 5. But are there long term side effects of going low too often? Say one hypo a day? Apart from dizzyness and yadda yadda, are there any actual long term effects?

Does diabetes (CFRD anyhoo) come from having a crappy pancreas. As in, if one person has to take loads of creon compared to a patient who needs hardly any, is the former going to be at a higher risk of developing cfrd?

And I had another one, but can't remember it now! oops. Anyway I think I have rambled enough. Thanks!

pebble

Posts: 9
Registered: 11-Nov-2006

Re: CFRD questions (sorry!)..
Posted: 06-Dec-2006 19:48

Reply

As far as I understand it, the long-term health implications of high blood sugars - retinopathy, neuropathy, heart problems and all the rest of it - wouldn't follow from low sugars: it's a very different situation biologically. However, that doesn't mean lots of lows are a good idea. Quite apart from anything else, constantly having to treat hypos tends to push you into a yo-yo-ing situation where your sugars are spiking up very high in between plunging down low, so you get the worst of both worlds. But more immediately, /very/ low blood sugars can result in serious, immediate consequences, the most obvious being the risk of diabetic coma. That's not something you want to mess with, and the more often your sugars are low, the greater the risk, especially as you're likely to lose your hypo-warning signs. One mild hypo a week is generally considered okay (and to a certain extent, a sign that your control is at the right end of normal), but one a day is probably too much.

I'm not a doctor, though, so as always if this is an issue for you, it's your medical teams you should be bringing it up with...

Emma S

Posts: 59
From: Battle, East Sussex
Registered: 06-Nov-2006

Re: CFRD questions (sorry!)..
Posted: 06-Dec-2006 20:17

Reply

as far as the creon question goes - the pancrease releases the enzymes (including insulin) and the less enzymes there are around the more creon you will need, therefore if someone needs loads of creon it suggests that the ducts are blocked or fibrosed, and nothing much is getting out, including insulin. This lack of insulin release/available is what leads to CFRD
emma