Appointment with diabetic nurse / pain management clinic / hip & knee consultant

[CarbsRok]

@CarbsRok .....as I mentioned in my answer to your other question (on other thread) ....I also think lack of activity is a key issue

Well if he was hypo or feeling hypo the last thing he needed to do is exercise You say he is in a great deal of pain due to hips and knee problems, then perhaps exercise is not an option. Have you thought about a joint (sorry pun not intended) exercise plan? Can you both swim, if so perhaps think about the local pool for a dip as this would be non weight bearing..
But then again if his blood sugars are so high his body will be incapable of doing very much at all. So first priority is get the blood sugars down, then start some gentle exercise.

 

[Molly56]

Well if he was hypo or feeling hypo the last thing he needed to do is exercise You say he is in a great deal of pain due to hips and knee problems, then perhaps exercise is not an option. Have you thought about a joint (sorry pun not intended) exercise plan? Can you both swim, if so perhaps think about the local pool for a dip as this would be non weight bearing..
But then again if his blood sugars are so high his body will be incapable of doing very much at all. So first priority is get the blood sugars down, then start some gentle exercise.

Am not convinced now about my hypothesis of hypo as seems a bit unlikely but generally if he is starting to feel unwell then perhaps in a strange sort of way this may be a good thing…..perhaps he will start to take things seriously and make some effort to do something about it….

@CarbsRok ….good idea about gentle exercise and swimming …but unfortunately he can’t swim so that one won’t work. Am not sure how much pain he has but my opinion is that it is just a general apathy / aversion to movement of any kind….I could be wrong here I know but even a walk to the end of the garden and back or to the end of the street and back would help to ease some of the joint stiffness that results from his inactivity…surely we all suffer from aches and pains if we sit still for too long (I know I do)… .perhaps even some stretching exercises would help…but no he doesn’t see this…
……..Am fighting a losing battle on this one….perhaps I should just give up now….

Will continue to see how we can bring blood sugars down by looking at what we eat and cutting back on carbs where I can to see if that helps…

 

[Molly56]

Have just had a conversation with my partner and he tells me that he felt dizzy / wobbly on his feet when he got up this morning......I had gone out to work so wasn't here .....

Was wondering if this is starting to indicate that his blood sugar levels are coming down to a level where he may suffer from a hypo...I asked if he had tested and he said no.....just suggested that he test it now but he refused.

Am not sure what, if anything, he did to deal with the symptoms but assumed that he just took his morning medication and then went out as per normal (skipping breakfast) to have his lunch (evidently he had eggs on toast) and to get the newspapers and some shopping......

Which leads me to the fact that he did not test before driving........so now I will need to start worrying about that again.......I know this was a previous concern but based on the fact his levels were in the high teens I had concluded this was not the most important issue I was having to deal with at the time.....

If now his levels are falling .....last reading was 9.9 in the morning about a week or so ago....perhaps the potential for hypos is now more relevant.

It could of course be that I am reading something into this that is not there ...............but who knows.....

Following on from yesterdays message (quote above) ....have just got home and he tells me he felt the same when he got up this morning plus also felt nausea....have just taken his blood sugar levels (4pm) and they were 16.1.....

....could this account for the symptoms he is feeling and should I be worried about it / what should I do......what else should I be looking out for....

.....I am becoming increasingly confused / not thinking straight at the moment so thought I would post on here for some quick advice....

 

[Brunneria]

Following on from yesterdays message (quote above) ....have just got home and he tells me he felt the same when he got up this morning plus also felt nausea....have just taken his blood sugar levels (4pm) and they were 16.1.....

....could this account for the symptoms he is feeling and should I be worried about it / what should I do......what else should I be looking out for....

.....I am becoming increasingly confused / not thinking straight at the moment so thought I would post on here for some quick advice....

Could it be blood pressure?

 

[Molly56]

Could it be blood pressure?

He is on blood pressure medication and last time it was checked by the nurse it was ok.....guess it could have changed though....

 

[donnellysdogs]

We, well I know I have mentioned this previously. I know I asked whether he had any preparation for retiring.... Again, you can't drag a horse to water.... He has to want to do it. I been through this type of scenario with hubby.. But it took a joint counselling with a really straight talking counsellor to tell him to buck up his ideas. He is a changed guy totally now, but unless you can get him to change his mindset then it is downward path, and I fear you will become no more to him than an unpaid Carer.

 

[Molly56]

Following on from yesterdays message (quote above) ....have just got home and he tells me he felt the same when he got up this morning plus also felt nausea....have just taken his blood sugar levels (4pm) and they were 16.1.....

....could this account for the symptoms he is feeling and should I be worried about it / what should I do......what else should I be looking out for....

.....I am becoming increasingly confused / not thinking straight at the moment so thought I would post on here for some quick advice....

Have just tested his blood sugar levels again today at 4pm....now up to 24.3.......evidently he had lunch about 1pm so surely they shouldn't be this high now....

At what point are blood sugar levels deemed to be dangerously high......should the 24.3 be ringing alarm bells ....or should I just ignore it...

Will try to test again later but I am getting so confused with everything at the moment....am personally just going through a bit of a bad patch I think...

 

[donnellysdogs]

Personally I would get him to a&e.. Sorry. Tell them the feelings of last few days, his bg's etc... Get him in tonight. Pack an overnight bag...

 

[donnellysdogs]

Leave him there after you have explained everything.....You go home.
There is no reason for this. He has brought a lot on himeslf.

You need to take him, explain and then walk away.

His morning symptoms will probably be because he is much higher.... He needs help from medical trained staff, not you. You cannot do more than you have done.
Pack an overnight bag and get him to A&E...

 

[iHs]

Molly

I havent read all the msgs on this thread. Who buys the food when you go shopping at the superksrket and puts it in the shopping trolley? If it's you, then you need to start buying food that is lower in carb......a bit less biscuits, bread, rice, pasta etc. Hubby can only eat food that is bought. If its not bought, then it cant be eaten.

 

[loobylou]

Hey Molly

@donnellysdogs is right. He needs to face up the fact that he has diabetes and if he continues in this way, it could have dire consequences. He cannot continue to stick his head in the sand. I can tell it's really affecting you now too. He is an adult and not a child, yet you are worrying about him like a mother for her child.

In a funny kind of way this may be what it takes, him being admitted to hospital.

I am living with a diabetic hubbie , type 1, fairly recently diagnosed, and on the whole he is really good, starting to realise he can't just eat what he wants and he is getting his head around the low carbing. He can sometimes forget to take his metformin or his insulin at night and I have to remind him but this is nothing compared to what you are facing here Molly. I so wish your other half would wake up and smell the coffee. Does he not realise what he is doing to himself but also to you?.

I hope it will come ok for you both, Thinking of you

 

[donnellysdogs]

Please take him to A&E and walk away after giving recent symptoms and just let A&e deal with.

Your hubby has not at this stage lost his ability to talk for himself ref symptoms.. They can see blood levels.

You do not need to do anything more but go home and leave nhs personnel to soet him out. Levels of 16-24 need attention...and this is going on too long and those symptoms worry me Molly56......

 

[Anie]

I agree he needs to go to a & e or at least be seen by a GP. I was ill with an infection earlier this year and was told to test and if my level went over 20 I needed to seek medical advice.

Good luck

 

[iHs]

A bg level of 24mmol is high but unless other symptoms show, a hospital will probably discharge back to the care of GP and the possibility of other diabetic meds added which may or not have side effects.

 

[Molly56]

Molly I havent read all the msgs on this thread. Who buys the food when you go shopping at the superksrket and puts it in the shopping trolley? If it's you, then you need to start buying food that is lower in carb......a bit less biscuits, bread, rice, pasta etc. Hubby can only eat food that is bought. If its not bought, then it cant be eaten.

@iHs Generally speaking he will buy the food as he is retired and his routine is to go out for lunch and do some shopping whilst I am out at work....however I would say that he does not eat much bread now (doesn't like the loaf I eat), we do not have rice or pasta...I have a small drawer for my packet of biscuits, other than that there are no biscuits in the house...I only give him about 3 small new potatoes....

The things he does eat are a bowl of porridge (some mornings but certainly not all as he generally skips breakfast) ....cereal has run out and not been replaced...today he had eggs on toast for lunch when he was out...he will eat yoghurts and I have introduced the idea of eating nuts and cheese for snacking if required......if he buys a cake he will now buy one for me but not for himself......we generally don't have desserts...

So unless I am missing something there I would say that we are cutting down on foods that contain carbs...... (am happy to be corrected if I am wrong)...... and that where possible I am providing reasonably healthy meals at dinner time...... I also feel that he is gradually becoming aware of what he shouldn't eat which in my book is progress on where we were a while ago when i think back to what he did eat before.....

If he does choose to buy or eat other things whilst I am out at work etc there is nothing that I can do about that....but my general view is that he is trying to be better with regards to eating...

Clearly though something isn't working right to still have such high blood results.......tested again this evening and it had come down to 17.1...an improvement on earlier but still high..

A bg level of 24mmol is high but unless other symptoms show, a hospital will probably discharge back to the care of GP and the possibility of other diabetic meds added which may or not have side effects.

Other than his head feeling a bit strange there are no other real symptoms that I can identify which the hospital could work with....will try to monitor more closely over the weekend and if still high after the weekend I will book an appointment with the GP / nurse for next week...

 

[CarbsRok]

@Molly56 have you noticed a nail varnish smell on his breath? If so he could have high ketones. If he is cutting down on everything and his meds are not working then either his meds are not enough or quite simply he is a slow onset type 1. I can't remember how long you said he had been diagnosed. Perhaps othes have some views and helpful suggestions.

 

[Molly56]

@Molly56 have you noticed a nail varnish smell on his breath? If so he could have high ketones. If he is cutting down on everything and his meds are not working then either his meds are not enough or quite simply he is a slow onset type 1. I can't remember how long you said he had been diagnosed. Perhaps othes have some views and helpful suggestions.

@CarbsRok ...have not noticed anything like that....he has been diagnosed for over 15 years as far as I know.....have only been with him for the last five but he told me that he had it for at least ten years before that....could be longer though...
Will try and get some more readings over the weekend to see how it is going....

 

[jack412]

it wouldn't hurt for him to get some urine ketostrips from the chemist. To test for ketones when he's high, but it's really up to him.

 

[loobylou]

Molly, this sounds SO familiar....... . @CarbsRok is right. When hubbie was diagnosed in January, and was given metformin to take, his BG would not come down below 15 fasting. He was cutting down on carbs, eating really healthily, exercising more and basically doing everything he could within his knowledge at that time. Doc then gave him glicizide (not sure of spelling) to take along with metformin. Still no real improvement. By the time he was referred to see consultant in March,. non fasting blood was 24 and he was put straight on insulin. 10 units of Lantus before bed. This had an immediate effect on his levels. Following morning after first dose of insulin BG was 13, we were ecstatic! It continued to come down. It later turned out he was type 1 and not type 2. He came off the glicizide, still takes the metformin and 8 units of lantus. It sounds like your other half is now making an effort and you are def. doing things right. I'd book that appointment with GP and broach the subject of type 1 and see what the says. I hope it's not but better to explore that possibility. Let us know how it goes over the weekend.

 

[iHs]

Quite a lot of people dont realise that they need to look at the carbohydrate content of the food that they buy and just look at the sugar content instead. Unfoftunately for your husband, he doesn't realise how damaging high bg levels end up being over the long term. If he tested his bg levels a lot more, then he would realise the damage that high bg was doing and once this started to make him feel unwell, then its a case of adjusting diet a bit more and eating less carbohydrate or seeing GP to get more med and the possibility of using insulin.

Insulin is not the end of the world, but if it can be avoided, then so be it.