March 3, 2007
Aches and Pains
Question from Louisiana, USA:
I have had diabetes for 20 years. I am 46 years old and am in good shape since I work out regularly. I do experience highs and lows often. I take 1 unit of NovoLog for every 10 grams of carbohydrates and 20 units of Lantus daily. Also, I take 20 mg of Vasotec, and 5/40 Caduet daily. My blood work is good.
Lately, I have been having a nagging pressure in my temples, not bad enough to take aspirin, but just a nagging pressure. I wake up in the morning fine and as the day progresses I feel the pressure. A friend of mine who has diabetes also said he had that also and told by his doctor the he was chasing insulin.(too much on the brain). He was put on a pump and it went away. Some days, I don’t have pressure at all. What do you think?
Also, I am considering an insulin pump and am looking at Animas. Is this a good one? What is the best on the market today?
Answer:
In addition to low blood sugars throughout the day, there could be several other explanations for the problem. Tension headaches may present this way. There is even a condition called temporal arteritis that is associated with inflammation of the blood vessels in this part of the head. More needs to be done to sort this out. I would recommend you speak with your physician about this. There may be some blood tests that are required for more work-up. A sed rate or C-reactive protein is used to diagnose the arteritis and has to be obtained as a blood test ordered by your physician.
JTL
[Editor’s comment: Please see our page on Insulin Pump Therapy and the web site about the OmniPod insulin delivery system. You may find our previous questions on Insulin Pumps helpful as well. In general, the members of our diabetes team do not recommend any specific pumps.
BH]
