Anyone else have bowel problems that could be related to their diabetes?

[hollyberry08]

My bowels seem to have gotten out of balance. I was having regular bouts of diarrhea which I attribute to the glucophage since it is known for it's stomach distress. I was on that quite a long time, but switched to metformin which is another form of glucophage. I also take glucotrol. I got off Avandia a few months ago. They also started me on lantus about a month ago (25 units). I can't get my sugars in check because I think there's something going on with me that would cause the sugars to stay high (avg. 170 on fast).

My bowels have gone from having diarrhea to not going at all. I don't really call it constipation since I'm not cramping up or pushing. I'm getting no sensation that I need to go. I can go two days w/o going, so I'm taking Col-Ase and started on Miralax. I used to go about 3 times a day, and now it's totally changed. I wish I knew what's going on.

I have doctor appt next week. I know that some diabetics get some type of condition that affects the digestive system. Nerve damage that can affect the intestinal tract.

Anyone else experience this? Any input welcome.

[subbster]

There's more to your picture than I can comment on. But something worth mentioning is that fluctuating and high blood sugars can really dehydrate the body and cause bowel problems (and I get that when my blood sugars play up, as a type 1. Especially going high can cause this diarrhia-blockage swing you speak of).

So while you try to solve this problem, make absolutely, positively, sure you drink plenty of water, in the realm of 2 litres a day, and eat daily fibre and roughage. No meds or anything else can replace these two basic activities for the basic functioning of your bowels. Good luck working out what else is going on.