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Advice and help for my dad Please

Emma83

Emma83

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Insulin
hello

I'm hoping for some help for my dad. He is Diabetic and has been for 35 years. He injects beef insulin (this is the old type). He eats very well and has looked after himself very well with his diabetes, he is now 62. He has always managed his diabetes correctly. The last 15 months he has been really unwell: exhausted, no energy, generally feeling very ill, some days he can't walk to the end of the drive. He has been in and out of A&E and they cannot find anything wrong with him, hes had scans, x Rays, blood tests. All ok. He's starting to get depressed as he feels so Ill and cannot find an answer. The only thing the hospital mentioned to him today (he went back in today on the advise of his GP - they said all is ok) was that his insulin is the very old type, not the new modern ones. He's now wondering if it could be that, he's been on beef insulin for 35 years. I'm his daughter, and I just want to see him get back to his normal self. He doesn't do anything now, he's just at home feeling ill, oh he also has a bad cough and struggles to sleep. Some nights he says its like he can't get enough air in and if he goes outside and breathes in the cold air he can feel a bit better. It's all so odd, we just don't know what's going on with him. The hospital have checked his lungs, everything and they say he is ok. Can anyone help??
 
If your father's bloodsugar level is ok, then it doesn't really matter what type of insulin he takes.
To get a true objective picture of this, which all (your father, you and the healthcare providers) can relate to is the HbA1C test, which is a way to take a simple small blood sample, which by special test analytics can say with rather precise certainty what your fathers average blood glucose level has been over last 3 months. You can read about it here: http://patient.info/health/tests-for-glucose-sugar-and-hba1c
So a diabetic patient cannot really 'cheat' just on the day of blood test to ensure the result is looking good, as the result is direct indicator of total average over past 3 months. If too high, then it will indicate a potential reason why your father may have less energy compared to previous. Again, we all get older, and our metabolism and need for insulin also changes over time, so good in any case to get checked.
Another typical challenge for men getting older is the cardiovascular system. As you explain lack of energy and out of breath, then its a fair recommendation to see a cardiologist. Especially as a diabetic. The heart muscle may no longer be as strong as it used to be, there can be some arrhythmia, the valves may no longer close optimally or the coronary arteries may have narrowed down. All resulting in less blood being pumped out for each beat. A Cardiologist can check for this ambulatory, no pain or invasive stuff involved at all, and takes typically max 1 hour.
If not done already, would also recommend a quick blood screening, just to quickly rule out some of the most common diseases/infections.

Best wishes!
 
Has he had a stress test to check his heart function? I'm sure his symptoms are not down to the bovine insulin - I'll tag @CarbsRok who has been using bovine insulin for many decades
 
Hi Emma and welcome to the forum.

Your dads gp should refer him over to the hospital diabetes clinic where he can discuss his insulin and diabetes control with the specialist team there, its so difficult to say if its insulin or diabetes related and only a diabetes consultant can say either way.
 
HI @Emma83

In addition to all the good responses above, get the medical professionals to check his iron levels, oxygen levels and his prostrate (if they haven't already). It could be something like low oxygen or iron or that he's caught a viral chest infection (there has been one that's been hitting people for six this past winter/spring), or it could be something less obvious, yet serious, like prostrate cancer.

In the intervening period, try getting him to take some vitamin and mineral supplements to aid his overall health: Omega 3 and Evening Primrose Oils (for heart and arteries), Vitamin D3 (immune system), Vitamins A, C and E and L-arginine (for increasing oxygen intake in the blood stream).

If he can increase his intake of dark green veggies (kale, brocolli and spinach) and beetroot, then he can probably get away with taking the L-arginine supplement.

Aldi sell a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement ("30 A-Z Multivitamin & Mineral Tablets") for £1.99, as well as High strength Cod liver oil; Wilkinsons sell a good "1 a day energy release" effervescent tablet at £1.50 per 20; but I would buy the Vitamin D3 and Eve Primrose via Holland and Barratt, unless you/someone else knows where else to get good quality versions.

All the best.
 
Hi @Emma83

Cracking advice above.

Regarding the cough. As @ConradJ said there is lurgy going about.. After a dose of flu last Christmas I was left with similar cough symtoms for a few weeks after.. (In fact everybody & their dog in my neighbourhood had the same with trouble shaking it off.)
Talking of which. The only break I got from it during that time was either when I was walking my mum's dog in the cold dry air.. Or funny enough. I sing in a heavy metal band & couldn't pull the gigs. Bawling out iron maiden worked too.. Really.!

Your dad may have elevated blood sugar levels if he has an infection?

Get him professionally checked out.

Wishing you both the best..
 
Thank you for the replies. He did have a bad chest infection a few months ago. He had antibiotics for it at the time. He's had his blood checked for iron and anaemia, for both he is ok. At the end of last year he had a stent put into his heart, and has since been checked over and they say everything there is ok. It's all so odd. He's seeing his GP on Friday. I think he's at the stage of giving up with it all, he thinks the hospital etc think it's all in his mind, but it's not.
 
OK Emma, so you father do then unfortunately have cardiovascular disease, as already had a stent put into one of his coronary arteries. They do work miracles, but at progressed age and typically more arteries impacted its not like a couple of stents fixes everything back to like a 20 year old. Probably a good idea to sit down with the cardiologist to review current state and what that means. This way you at least get clarity on the cardiovascular situation and understanding/expectations set on what that mean to the general health and well being of your father. That said, worth pursuing other avenues in parallel to make sure nothing has been overseen.
 
Hi Emma,
I use bovine insulin with no problems and have done so for 50 years :)
does your Dad take statins? Has he been checked for Addison's and ME?
Wishing you both well.
Thanks @robert72
 
Hi @Emma83

OK, as per @Celsus, your dad's arterial and coronary issue is likely to be playing a major role - but that is not to say that you both should not keep exploring and pursuing all avenues.

What you may need to review is his diet - the very factors that will have contributed to his stent implant will not have been cured by the stent. If diet and/or smoking was a key factor (and evidence going back 30+ years is showing a major link in this) then, unless he had radically changed these things once the stent was put in, the build up of arterial plaques would have continued, thereby reducing his body's ability to transport oxygen and other nutrients to where it is needed.

Six months ago I suffered a series of - frightening - heart palpatations and the diagnosis of Reynauds Syndrome as a result of Himalayan Mountain blood glucose results going on 36 years. I've been presecribed and take 75mg Aspirin daily; occasionally I increase to 300mg on days when I feel the palpatations first thing in the morning.

But I know that the aspirin is only a sticking plaster to the more serious underlying problem and so I have stepped up the fundamental dietary and activity changes (as much as I can do as a 'stay at home dad to a 17-month-old), including the consumption of vitamin and mineral supplements, etc., that support 'detox', 'cleansing' and 'revitalisation' of the body - hence my previous post about EPO, etc.

I learnt a lot about this from both online sources (Wikipedia often has very non-medicalised descriptions of conditions, symptoms, etc, that may help you both get to the bottom of this), as well as books: "Say no to Diabetes" by Patrick Holford has some very interesting words and ideas regarding diet and the use of supplements during the transitionary period between old and new lifestyles, and that formed the bedrock of support for me as I progress through my '5 year plan' of wresting control of my body from diabetes and the corporate food industry.

Also do check out the Low Carb forum (if you haven't already) and sites such as www.dietdoctor.com for info and ideas about changing things on a food level - you will not regret it, I can vouch for that.

One thing to note is that such changes can trigger palpatations - having read around this a fair bit, I was able to pinpoint that my palpations were principally occuring during hypos and were also linked to the theory that my arteries are shedding years worth of arterial plaque, which sometimes may be a little larger than my blood vessels and valves are designed to deal with. Aspirin will widen arteries and that helps reduce/eliminate the potential for heart-attacks/murmurs/palpatations, etc.

If he does need to change his 'lifestlye' he should not try to do it all at once or in big jumps, because that in itself can be tiring and usually ends up in failure. Start with small steps and a list of things to 'cut out' / 'eliminate' and a parallel list of things to introduce / increase; then pick two items from each list and set a target of three months to have reversed the habit; once he feels comfortable, happy and 'used to it' then start on another two items from each list. If he finds this easy and wants to do three or more from each list then or only from each then play it by ear because the whole strategy is about changing life-long habits that have contributed to the current situation in a way that seems so casual as to leave you both wondering how he never did it before.

That's what I began in 2013 and even now as I type this I cannot believe how it is that I can treat a hypo just by taking the appropriate amount of glucose rather than stuffing my face with glucose and biscuits and Crunchie bars, or conrflakes and three dessert-spoons of sugar, etc. etc. Or how it is that I haven't bought - let alone consumed - a single ginger nut biscuit since June 2013 and now only so rarely think "Oh I wouldn't mind one with a cup of tea" - so rarely, in fact that I hadn't had that very thought cross my mind since before 2014 came and went!

Anyway, apologies to all for the ramble I just wanted to illustrate that looking at the issue from all angles is essential, but also don't rule out the obvious no matter how disagreeable the 'medicine' may at first appear to be.

Best wishes,
Conrad
 
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