autustic son diagnosed diabetic

[mrsphas]

Hi all, I am type 2 diabetic and my 27yr old autistic son has just been newly diagnosed as "type 2" after being taken to hospital from GP's with an infected hole in his left big toe, to the bone, and another starting on his his right big toe
he was on iv anti bis for three days and then sent home with same anti bis orally for 3 more days
having been seen by the diabetic feet people the oinfection has gone into the bone and he has to have a picc line fitted to have iv anti bis at home
obviously being autistic he didnt understand this and had a complete meltdown at the thought of something being left in his body for weeks
no one is able to do a finger prick on him as he is completely needle phobic, but they got a sample from his cannula in hospital and we were told his blood sugars were 24.7 - but have no idea what that means
he has been advised to eat a no/low carb diet and been ok with that, lots of lean meat is his happy place

so having given you the background, does anyone know if there is a non invasive way to monitor his sugar levels ? has the no needle tester actually been invented yet and if so is it available on the nhs
having read through several posts im going to ask that a blood test is done re autoimmune antibodies, as I myself also have SLE and many co morbids alongside my diabetes

thank you if you got this far
sharon

 

[azure]

Welcome @mrsphas : )

Sorry to hear about your son's problems. I think asking for an antibody test makes sense.

There are blood glucose monitoring things like the Freestyle Libre, but that does require insertion and stays on the body. Would that stress your son more than a finger prick test?

 

[ellagy]

I know this might sound silly but how about Hypnosis? I was only thinking of this problem last night. My son had 6 nurses holding him down...and I had to have my blood taken all to no avail. I was wondering if hypnosis would have helped him at that time! Good luck with your son's current problem.

 

[catapillar]

no one is able to do a finger prick on him as he is completely needle phobic, but they got a sample from his cannula in hospital and we were told his blood sugars were 24.7 - but have no idea what that means

so having given you the background, does anyone know if there is a non invasive way to monitor his sugar levels ?

A blood sugar level of 24.7 is really rather high. Did they also manage to test your son for ketones? Did they give any treatment to get his blood sugar down, or just the diets advice?

There is no non invasive way of monitoring blood sugar. There are continuous glucose monitors or flash glucose monitors. But these require the insertion of a sensor via an injection. Then the sensor is left in for a week or more. It sounds like your son might be adverse to that.

Could you get him to test your blood sugar and then test his own; practice on you to do one on him? The lancets for blood sugar monitoring aren't really needles, they're pins. And he obviously has managed with needles having pic lines inserted. I just wonder if giving him the control over the testing might help facilitate the testing?

 

[Squire Fulwood]

24.7 is just short of the meter stopping working and just saying "High" so it's not good. One of the side effects of a low carb diet is weight loss. There have been more than one person who have gone low carb just to lose weight although that is not the original intention. Your son has ulcers in his feet so I am assuming he is overweight. I apologise if I am wrong.

A non invasive procedure would be to weigh him once a week. If he has high blood sugars his weight will increase and if he has had low blood sugars he will likely lose weight. That is the only non invasive measure I can think of.

 

[Freema]

24.7 is just short of the meter stopping working and just saying "High" so it's not good. One of the side effects of a low carb diet is weight loss. There have been more than one person who have gone low carb just to lose weight although that is not the original intention. Your son has ulcers in his feet so I am assuming he is overweight. I apologise if I am wrong.

A non invasive procedure would be to weigh him once a week. If he has high blood sugars his weight will increase and if he has had low blood sugars he will likely lose weight. That is the only non invasive measure I can think of.

welcome here mrsphas I do understand you worrying but....
I think his condition is far to servere to not have the possibility to be able to inject him, actually measuring his blood numbers every day will maybe be a good excercise before maybe having to put him into hospital and putting drops in his arm with antibiotics and other more drastic doings...I think that what is wrong with his toes can easily devellop to a much more servere condition... so the best will be to already now train him to tolerate needles,,,

maybe you his mother could do it on yourself when sitting besides him so he gets used to see it, and then offer him something he likes for trying himself after a while.. just give him his favorite thing to eat in a little amount for letting you prick his finger... and keep this that he likes to eat only for this occation..

 

[Squire Fulwood]

welcome here mrsphas
I think his condition is far to servere to not have the possibility to be able to inject him, actually measuring his blood numbers every day . so the best will be to alreasdy now train him to tolerate needles,,,

I feel that if the OP considered all that a possibility then they wouldn't have asked for suggestions for alternate methods. A 27 year old autistic man would have to be strapped to his bed to do all that.

 

[Freema]

I feel that if the OP considered all that a possibility then they wouldn't have asked for suggestions for alternate methods. A 27 year old autistic man would have to be strapped to his bed to do all that.

you are right about that, but the best person to move his borders will probably be his mother , as impossible as it looks anyway, your suggestion is also very intelligently thought actually.. but maybe there will be to Little time for it...if the condition worsens.

 

[4ratbags]

My heart goes out to you. I have a son and daughter on

 

[4ratbags]

Sorry I hit the wrong button. I have a son, daughter and grand daughter on the spectrum so I know how challenging it can be. If you have changed his diet I wouldn't worry about testing his blood sugar, all it will do is cause stress and upset for you both. I remember when my son was 7 and it took 6 people to hold him down so at 27 that would just be a nightmare. Be rest assured that by changing him to a low carb diet that it should be lowering his blood sugar.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

you are right about that, but the best person to move his borders will probably be his mother , as impossible as it looks anyway, your suggestion is also very intelligently thought actually.. but maybe there will be to Little time for it...if the condition worsens.

The condition is already a little dire but we shouldn't give up. Any corrective action could stop things getting worse and there is no option but to do everything possible in the hope of improving things.

 

[catapillar]

A non invasive procedure would be to weigh him once a week. If he has high blood sugars his weight will increase and if he has had low blood sugars he will likely lose weight. That is the only non invasive measure I can think of.

OP says her son is being investigated for antibodies, I'm assuming that's investigation for type 1.

Remember that one of the key symptoms of type 1 is weight loss. This weight loss is accompanied by high blood sugar in undiagnosed type 1 diabetics.

There is an eating disorder called diabulimia where diabetics stop taking their insulin to lose weight, this weight loss is accompanied by uncontrolled high blood sugar.

Uncontrolled high blood sugar causes weight loss. When all your glucose is sat in your blood and cannot get into your cells to give them energy (because insulin is needed to get the sugar into the cells), your body thinks you are starving and tries to get energy by breaking down your tissue to release glucose (starts of with the fat, but doesn't stop there).

I understand the logic behind "if he has low blood sugar he will likely lose weight" I'm just a bit concerned it's maybe a bit over simplistic and might be falsely reassuring.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

OP says her son is being investigated for antibodies, I'm assuming that's investigation for type 1.

Remember that one of the key symptoms of type 1 is weight loss. This weight loss is accompanied by high blood sugar in undiagnosed type 1 diabetics.

There is an eating disorder called diabulimia where diabetics stop taking their insulin to lose weight, this weight loss is accompanied by uncontrolled high blood sugar.

Uncontrolled high blood sugar causes weight loss. When all your glucose is sat in your blood and cannot get into your cells to give them energy (because insulin is needed to get the sugar into the cells), your body thinks you are starving and tries to get energy by breaking down your tissue to release glucose (starts of with the fat, but doesn't stop there).

I understand the logic behind "if he has low blood sugar he will likely lose weight" I'm just a bit concerned it's maybe a bit over simplistic and might be falsely reassuring.

Give the mother some alternative advice for a non invasive procedure then.

 

[AndBreathe]

you are right about that, but the best person to move his borders will probably be his mother , as impossible as it looks anyway, your suggestion is also very intelligently thought actually.. but maybe there will be to Little time for it...if the condition worsens.

In a 27 year old man, I would say the person most likely to shift his borders is the young man himself. Sure, Mum may be able to try to persuade him, but if he is determined, I'd wager Mum will be in for a frustrating time.

@mrsphas , I really do hope you can find a way forward with your son. It must be an enormous concern for you.

 

[catapillar]

Give the mother some alternative advice for a non invasive procedure then.

As previously stated, at post #4 , unfortunately there is no non invasive means of monitoring blood sugar currently available.

 

[kokhongw]

he has been advised to eat a no/low carb diet and been ok with that, lots of lean meat is his happy place

This is good advise. Lowering his blood glucose will help with the wound healing.

Some fatty meat/butter/avocado/nuts/virgin coconut oil would likely help too.