Back from the Valley of the Shadow of Death

[chrishansenhome]

One of the joys that long-term diabetics have to look forward to is intestinal trouble. This can be due to one of three things: an infection, a reaction to metformin (one of the drugs that diabetis often take), or autonomic neuropathy. What's that when it's at home? Your innards are, of course, run from nerves. Neuropathy is when the nerves die. The autonomic nervous system is what keeps your stomach, small and large intestines, and probably God only knows what else going.



On Sunday morning I awoke at 4 am needing to use the loo. I had a case of diarrhea. Sometimes this happens to everyone, of course, so I washed, and dressed (at 9 am) and went to church. I did tell HWMBO that I would probably not stay but would be back after setting up when my assistant sacristan arrived.

That was the last time I left the house for four days.

I have had the most excruciating diarrhea for the past four days. I have been unable to sleep more than an hour at a time (and that was sometimes a luxury). I had to sleep downstairs in the easy chair because I could not guarantee that I would get out of bed in time to get to the upstairs loo. I have had to race to the loo more times than I can count; I have been cleaning up the mess and generally being very miserable. By this morning I just wanted to die. I had no ambition to do anything except sit in the chair and listen to the radio or watch TV.



I finally called my GP this morning and we discussed my "diagnosis" of autonomic neuropathy. She prescribed something called Lomotil and it seems to (in conjunction with my observation that the symptoms were diminishing) have relieved the diarrhea. I am leaning to the conclusion that the exenatide, which delays emptying of the stomach, might have something to do with this. I shall be getting one more pen but will ask for an urgent appointment at the diabetic clinic when I get back from the US ande ask that they stop the exenatide and start me on insulin. No point in delaying the inevitable now, and since I've now gotten used to injecting myself, there's no difference in injecting lizard spit from injecting insulin.

I ate my first full meal since Sunday this evening. I also slept for 4 hours this afternoon in my bed.

Now to figure out what triggers the condition (it's not present all the time—there seem to be foods that might set it off) and stop eating it.

I've probably lost quite a bit of weight, on the bright side (I suppose there must always be a bright side).

(thanks to am0 for telling me about this a while back; I would never have figured it out on my own)

Comments

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

that's pretty yucky, I'm very glad that you're on the mend.

I have a tendency for the gut to react in the same way as yours has recently (though the discomfort usually isn't nearly as bad as you seem to be having of late). My intestinal misbehaviour all got started when I had giardia, and then entamoeba hystolica [aka amoebic dysentery]. It can be pretty miserable. Then after various over-the-counter remedies weren't doing much, Barrymycutegaydoctor prescribed Lomotil. That stuff is wonderful as an intestinal fire extinguisher, solve-this-problem-NOW. Doesn't treat the root cause, but it stops the diarrhoea in 30min and keeps it stopped for a day.

I have a supply constantly available, should -er- any fires need to be extinguished.

All the best for your medical checkups and progress later this week.

[miak.livejournal.com]

lomotil is one of the medications i keep handy.

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

Ugh! Sorry to hear that. Glad it's easing up, though.

Triggers

[am0.livejournal.com]

The lack of motility of your intestine, brought about by either gastric neuropathy or the medication you're taking, causes increased exposure of the intestine walls to patches of irritant. The obvious cure is to increase motility by the addition of something like cayenne to your diet to keep the gut churning and reduce localized exposure. Common irritants are the foods most recommended to keep us healthy: dairy products with lactose; green vegetables, particularly of the cabbage family; whole grains; and fruits like apples and pears that are high in sorbitol, a strong laxative (also found in gummy bears).

[chantacleer.livejournal.com]

why did you wait so long before consulting a doctor?

[runecircle.livejournal.com]

Ahck, hope you get better!