How many of you are diabetic along with your lupus? I am worried about ending up on steroids and
and blood sugars going nuts. I am also bipolar ( feels like a big risk to share that. Hope no one makes any assumptions about people with mental illness. Have had a bad experience in the past), steroids affect My mood and sleep. Because of stomach problems I can't take N'saids either. Any one else out there with simmaler problems? How do you cope?
I am not diabetic, although I am insulin resistant. I just wanted to say that no one here is going to make any assumptions regarding your bipolar condition. Many of us (including me) are trying to cope with conditions such as depression, anxiety, and others. Please feel free to share whatever you feel comfortable with and you'll find so much support!
Hello! I am a nurse and I work on an inpatient behavioral care unit. My daughter has bipolar disorder. I admire you and everyone else who struggles with any type of mental illness. What makes a tough situation even worse is the side effects of medications to keep the lupus under control. I hope you are surrounded by people you can trust who support you. The social stigma that is often associated with mental illness is about the same as fibromyalgia and lupus. I think that everyone copes in different ways. What helped me was finding a doctor and finding others who are experiencing what I am. You might want to talk to your doctor about different meds. I have felt better on Cellcept. But..one step in the right direction is all you have to do!
I have neither diabetes or bipolar but I do know people who are bipolar and all I can say is I am so sorry that you are dealing with so much. No judgement from me either. I do suffer from depression and sometimes anxiety. Good luck to you and many blessings.
Are you on plaquinel? it its shown to bring down overall blood sugar.
Thanks to you and all you that have replied. I seem to have the trifecta of lupus,
Fibro, and. bipolar along with complications of diabetes and low thyroid. I am lucky to not have psychotic breaks when I am manic. Unfortunately I do not have any family and few friends. It is a complicated story,as are most of ours are I'm sure. I just don't see how all the meds for lupus are going to fit together. It is becoming too complicated. But thanks again for listening.
porkchop said:
Hello! I am a nurse and I work on an inpatient behavioral care unit. My daughter has bipolar disorder. I admire you and everyone else who struggles with any type of mental illness. What makes a tough situation even worse is the side effects of medications to keep the lupus under control. I hope you are surrounded by people you can trust who support you. The social stigma that is often associated with mental illness is about the same as fibromyalgia and lupus. I think that everyone copes in different ways. What helped me was finding a doctor and finding others who are experiencing what I am. You might want to talk to your doctor about different meds. I have felt better on Cellcept. But..one step in the right direction is all you have to do!
I am dealing with type I diabetes and lupus. I was put on Benlysta for the lupus. It does not bother my blood sugars, my last A1c was 4.9. I will pray for you, as it sounds like you need as much support as you can get.
Wow strangegirl Give yourself yourself big pat on the back for that A1c of 4.9. That is great and gives Mr hope,thank you and keep up the good work.
I am type Ii as of three months ago. I wanted off of anti-chloesterol meds because I can really see the difference on my sugar levels. Normal when not on them! But doctor says no. Can't take NSAIDs either because of stomach and have tinnitus from taking 500mg. Ecotrin for many years. I have major depression so we are in similiar boats. Having bad insomnia for fhe last three nights. I had several new meds added for Nodular Prurigo (rare skin auto-immune disease) so I am thinking the insomnia may be due to them. Going to look at side effects today on Google for them. Have a lot of other auto-immune diseases, I am getting so tired of having these problems. But I am not all about health problems I have a lot of things that I really enjoy like reading and posting reviews on-line.
I have had SLE Lupus for almost 10 years and became a Type II insulin dependent diabetic right after starting steroids. I inject a minimum of 50 units per day. My rheumo has been trying to get me off of the steroids for years and nothing has worked. Everything has caused me to have infections and I have to keep going with the steroids or I'll end up in bed all of the time.
I am bipolar, too, and just got out of a psych hospital. It was supposed to be a voluntary stay, but they ended up making it involuntary because my liver labs came back so out of control and they thought I was an alcoholic! I haven't had any alcohol in over 10 years!!!! Anyway, they put me on Lithium and Clonipin (sp) and they were very toxic to my body. The doctors had to stop the toxic meds and keep me there until they were out of my system...I still came home shaking all over!
Long story short, it is a puzzle trying to figure out which meds to take because of the lupus and the bipolar issues. I'm also severely depressed, OCD and have panic attacks. Right now, I'm taking Xanax, Prozac and Topamax for the mental issues, but they aren't strong enough. Going to get help at the ER put me in the psych hospital, where they poisoned me, and didn't do any good because they had no clue about my medical history.
Sorry to ramble......I've got GI issues, too, with reflux and need to have surgery.
My point is, you are NOT alone.....I'm taking one day at a time, one minute at a time. That is the best that I can do. Try not to let ANYTHING stress you out. Find good doctors who are supportive.
I have an appt. with my shrink in a few minutes and it will be my last one with him....he's an idiot. I've been telling him that I'm suicidal for years and he's been very lax about it...I finally check myself into a psych hospital and that failed horribly. I refuse to give up and will find a new doctor who WILL help me!
Prayer helps me....all of this suffering is a challenge and I know that I'm stronger for it!
Much love!
Lori
I am diabetic - on insulin and taking glipizide. I have other autoimmune diseases - one of which require azathriopine which suppresses my immune system. It seems that once we get one condition, others follow. I don't find that my blood sugar reacts too much to drugs..just diet. I may be wrong about that, but I have been on and off so many drugs and no great variance in blood sugar. Hang in there!
I am Diabetic and also diagnosed with SLE and Alopecia. My docs are now looking at Reynaud's as an additional autoimmune condition for me....It is very difficult to have both diabetes and Lupus. For me, the mental illness (major depression) came post autoimmune diagnoses. My Endo does not want me to take steroids, unless I am in a major lupus flare. Since I am on a pump, he feels he can help me, but is very concerned about what the steroids could possible do to my blood sugars over time. My worst flare was so bad that prednisone made me feel so much better, that anyone barely noticed my moodiness. They were just glad I was up and out of bed. I hope things get better for you.