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84yr old Mum ketoacidosis

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button baggins

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:eh: hi everyone, my 84yr old Mum was admitted to hospital after collapsing at home, she was later sent home having been told she was fine. After i arrived the next day and witnessed her having strange 'seizures' every few hours i got her admitted into hospital. They thought she was having a stroke despite her blood sugar level being 15. She was put on 2 tablets and said she had type 2 diabetes. She was confused, terrified and not my mum at all. They put her on a cardio ward as thought she was having heart problems. After a lot of shouting on my point a lovely nurse realised something needed to be done about her constant high sugar level she was put on a sliding scale drip over night and her blood level dropped to 6. Her 'seizures' that she had been having every 5 mins at the end of the previous day stopped. But mum was still very confused and didn't know who i was. I managed to get them to give her a CT scan to rule out a stroke, but they sent her home to my invalid 84yr old father with a box of her medication and her glucose levels up to 11, and despite the fact she had lost a stone in weight and didn't know what day it was let alone anything else. I have a chronic illness myself and a family so was unable to move in permanently. I took her them to the GP and demanded they get advise and help for the diabetes etc. She has seen a diabetic nurse twice, but due to her continued confusion was unable to take much in. Despite her having Ketoacidosis the doctor has said she only needs her blood glucose level testing twice a YEAR!!!! My parents being older dont like to make a fuss. I feel she should need to test more regularly especially at home as she was so poorly before. Also has anyone had experience of memory loss caused by diabetes type 2? Thank you for listening from a very concerned and stressful daughter. x
 
*BUMP*
this is just dreadful, your poor Mum being left like that.
I think I would make a special double or triple appointment with the GP and have a long list of questions ready.
I hope that our moderator daisy is coming along with a summary of sensible advice, it's a good starting point.
Your Mum should ideally test her blood sugar before and after food, this way she will find out which foods she needs to cut back on so as to avoid damaging blood sugar spikes.
Unfortunately the NHS isn't all that forthcoming when it comes to prescribing test strips. You can buy some quite cheaply on ebay.
I am not surprised your Mum is confused after what she has been through. I am type 2 diabetic and have not always been well controlled, I know that having consistent high sugar levels caused brainfog, I became very forgetful at the time.
It's VERY IMPORTANT that your Mum gains good glycaemic control, it will help her to stay healthy and reduce the risk of developing complications.
Ask lots of questions, don't feel as if you are on your own, we are here for you.

A big hug for you and Mum, don't despair you can make things better again.
 
hey there
how scary for all concerned.
Although levels of 11 and 15 are high, they aren't incredibly high - many people go much higher before they get ketoacidosis. (eg I was at a level of nearly 30 when I was diagnosed). This makes me wonder if there are other things involved as well. Of course it is important to get her blood sugar down, but her confusion may be coming from underlying infections as well. Was she hydrated enough in the hospital? that could be part of the problem...
This article is in very jargony medical language but I am including it as a link just in case it's of use: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/7/1335.full
It might be worth asking your doc for help to see whether your mum may have been in HHS (hypersmolar hyperglycaemic state)
see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperosmol ... emic_state. It's similar to ketoacidosis but key differences are the role of dehydration and infection.
In other words, it's important to get her blood sugar down, but it's ALSO important the docs check those other aspects.
 
Hi button baggins and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information mentioned by WhitbyJet which we give to new members. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be there to help you.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
:D Thank you all so much for your help and advice. I have a lot of reading up to do for Mum! It all seems very complicated and trying to explain it to her in her present confused state isn't easy let alone get it sorted. :crazy: I am hoping to go and visit my parents in the next week or so and will take Mum to the GP with all this info and questions i have, i am used to getting a bit stroppy with doctors etc so intend to get some thing sorted. Thanks again its reassuring to know i have this website to help. xx
 
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