DKA Recovery Question

[Gerald]

I am a type 2 diabetic and I was hospitalized in April for little more then a week with DKA triggered by pneumonia. Since then I have been working hard at recovery including keeping my blood sugar under control with insulin therapy. Even so I seem to have some longer lasting issues and I haven't been able to find are what, if any, typical symptoms of the aftermath of DKA and what a typical recovery pattern is.

For example, for myself I find the muscles in my legs are very tight, stiff and sore. In particular, if I sit down for awhile and then get up I am basically doing the old man shuffle for five minutes until everything loosens up. I started jogging in May and this has helped quite a bit but I'm wondering if this gets better on it's own or I need to push harder on the exercise?

In addition to the soreness of legs I'm generally quite lethargic compared to before being hospitalized. I pretty much require a full eight hours sleep a night to be functional at work and I sleep a lot on the weekend to recover enough for the following week of work. I work as software consultant so my work is not physically tiring but is mentally challenging. My wife thinks this is mostly pneumonia not DKA because she remembers it took her about six months to lose the lethargic feeling after she got pneumonia.

Anyways the above are just examples, what I'm really looking for is an informative link of "typical symptoms while recovering from DKA consist of XXX and typically take YYY to recover". I've googled but been unable to find any references, do people normally make a quick recovery with no lasting issues and I am just unlucky?

[notme]

I have not heard of lasting effects from DKA. What have your blood glucose readings been since you were released from the hospital? My concern would be slow onset of DKA if your readings are high.

Are you taking any statin drugs for high cholesterol? I had serious muscle pain and lethargy as well as depression from taking Lipitor.

[Gerald]

Thanks for the response Nancy. I have been averaging about 8 on the glucose readings, it would actually be a bit lower if not for DP. Other then insulin I am not on any other medication though.

[CaptainMike]

I feel pretty tired and lethargic feeling when my numbers get up around 140. (just below 8.0) I have not ever heard of long term afteraffects of DKA.

Make sure you do LOTS of stretching before and after exercise. If I do any heavy running or biking without stretching properly, my legs feel like they are made of lead and do not want to bend at all.

[deb wardle]

Hi Gerald

I have had DKA 8 times in two years and have never recovered properly. The last time I had it was in April this year, it was so bad I was in a coma aand in ICU for three days and nearly lost my life. Since then I have been very tired, feel sick all the time, my energy levels have dropped so much even going to the super market tires me out so much that I have to lie down afterwards,I also feel down and depressed all the time,don't want to go out, answer the door or the phone. it could be the after effects of repeated DKA. My consultant just says I will fell better with time, and that there is no specific recovery time,we are all different and recover at different rates. Hope you feel better soon.

Deb

[BriOnH]

How have your blood sugars been? How often do you exercise?

imho, off the info you posted, it sounds more like the pneumonia and possibly high blood sugars.

On the weekends you might find it beneficial to exercise instead of rest. Even if you are dead tired while exercising, the sleep you get that night and the energy you will start to feel the next day are like a cure to most ailments.

Some people can not exercise when their health is bad. Always talk to your doctor about your health problems.

[Gerald]

Thanks for the replies, to be honest I was pretty happy with an average of 8 as I have noticed quite a few improvements in my body. I use to have fairly think callouses on the bottom of my feet and those have mostly disappeared, as well my gums would bleed from time to time when brushing and that has stopped as well. Is an 8 average considered high and should I be aiming for lower scores, with my DP (usually 9-11 in the morning) lowering my average could be hard to achieve.

In terms of exercise, I do exercise on the weekends as well as the weekdays, I run about four times a week using a two on, one off type of pattern. It is only a moderate run, maybe 2km (1.2 miles). When I originally started I could barely do 100 yards and now I run the whole distance quite easily and am planning to increase the distance starting next week.

[shockme]

hi gerald and welcome to df! i am confused [not like that's anything new..:D ].you are a type 2 and only use insulin? why not a pill to deal with the insulin resistance that we type 2's have? alsoi was under the impression that only type 1's can go into dka...type 2's go into something else?:questionm i'm sorry you still don't feel well! take care,trish

[Gerald]

hi gerald and welcome to df! i am confused [not like that's anything new..:D ].you are a type 2 and only use insulin? why not a pill to deal with the insulin resistance that we type 2's have? alsoi was under the impression that only type 1's can go into dka...type 2's go into something else?:questionm i'm sorry you still don't feel well! take care,trish

Type 2 diabetics can still get DKA though it is rare, in my case I got pneumonia which prevented me from keeping any food down for 2-3 days which in turn I guessed caused my body to release a lot of sugar driving the levels up. Insulin therapy is the standard treatment for DKA, I'm hoping to get off of it if my H1AC numbers are OK when I test in a couple of weeks,

[LantusFiend]

I was in DKA last year. They put me on potassium because being in DKA can deplete you of potassium, among other things.
It took me about three months to fully recover from DKA. In those three months, my stomache ache went away slowly, my hair grew back in (yeah, I lost my hair in DKA- rare, aren't I?), my vision was funky but slowly stabilized (to something more acute than before!), the aches went away during the first month, my energy had a huge boost within two or three days but overall came back more slowly, um... yeah.
The CDE said that most people totally recover from DKA within two months, but I took a month longer than that.

[Alice]

There are many Type 2's that take insulin. It lowers blood sugar...better than anything else! (not meaning to start a debate between pills and insulin...they are different drugs completely)

Also, it allows Type II's to eat the carbs they need/want...in healthy moderation as with all of us. Many doctors (my last two in different states) put Type II's on insulin before tissue damage occurs with running "slightly high" for years.

Gerald, I hope you are feeling better.