Menopause and Type 1 Diabetes

Hello @stephanie73 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Another member, @2011panc, mentioned something similar in another discussion so wanted to see if she could come in and share her experience with you.

Have you consulted with your doctor on your suspicion of insulin resistance?

Thank you for coming to Mayo Clinic Connect. I was a 35+ year Type I Diabetic, difficult to control. January 2011 I received a pancreas transplant.
Before I received my transplant my blood sugars were quite erratic. I no longer had any time between feeling "low" and becoming unable to "rescue" myself. Additionally, I had no knowledge (without testing) that my blood sugars were too high. I was testing 4-8 times a day and I'm sure you can understand the toll these blood sugar swings took on my body.
The possibility that these swings were associated with menopause, hormonal changes or insulin resistance was never brought up.

I always attributed my condition to long-term, difficult to control Type I diabetes. I believed that the stress and damage to my body from these extreme fluctuations of blood sugars caused damage to my nervous system, which in turn, made the fluctuations worse and reduced noticeable signals.

I have both peripheral and autonomic neuropathy, which is what I assumed caused the loss of my ability to identify the extremes of my blood sugars.

I hope you find answers, all I can say is that your suspicions are plausible. Please check with your doctor, health care team and/or endocrinologist for better answers to your questions.

I wish you the best. Blessings.

Hi. New to this page. I am also looking for info/discussions on Type 1 diabetes and menopause. I am 53. Thanks in advance.

Hello, I am 51 and have been living with diabetes type I for 35 years. I've been noticing how difficult it is to control my glucose levels.In my case, I am constantly low... my sugars drop no matter how little insulin I take. I was in a diabetes coma a month ago (sugar dropped too quickly). It was the first time I didn't have any warning about this drop in my glucose levels.

Is there any book you would recommend? Some advice? My GP didn't pay much attention.

Many thanks!

M.Ei.

@mariaeileen welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Your post was part of a discussion on Menopause & Type 1 Diabetes. When I started reading it, it sounds like your main concern is low blood sugars. Wow can I relate! I’m 66, Type 1 since age 18. Diabetes can affect every other ailment you encounter and vice versa. It is a two way street in a bad neighborhood at night. The first priority is dealing with the lows (they can kill you!). The longer this goes on, you can develop a situation called Hypoglycemia Unawareness when you don’t get sufficient warning to catch and treat a drop in blood sugar. It is very serious. If your GP isn’t paying attention I suggest going to an endocrinologist or at the very least a different GP for a second opinion. Could you do this?