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advice for wife of diabetic please!

diabeteswife

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hello all
I am new to this site but have already gained invaluable information - thank you!
I don't have diabetes but my husband is type 1 and it is a struggle for him and us (me and 2 boys). He has had it for 13 years and up until now we have just accepted the high and low blood sugars and the mood swings etc. But we are no longer prepared to accept that this is it!! Your postings on low carbing are news to us but seem to make sense. I have just started reading dr Bernsteins book which I am trying to take in!! I am very angry that Steve has not been given any info on carb counting and very little help regarding diet. we are keen to try a low carb diet and as I am the main cook in the house I will start searching through your delicious recipes later. How should we start?
he is currently on novorapid and levimeer, unsure of exact dosages but will check with him, and so far doesn't seem to have any complications. Is there anyone out there who is the partner of a diabetic to discuss it from a different perspective and the impact on the family?

Thanks for reading. Look forward to any responses!

Tamsin
 
If he is on insulin you will have to be careful to start with ,as lowering carb intake could cause him to hypo.You need to take this in very small steps until you see the effect that this has on him.I'm sure some of our experienced insulin users will be able to advise you on this.
 
My husband has been T1 for about 35 years and we lived with it whilst our daughter ( only child) was young
He's gained a huge amount of weight lately and is now cutting back on his carbs and his insulin. in the hopes of getting nearer a normal weight and helping his damaged kidneys. It's going fairly well, but he's reluctant to test often enough and there have been a few hypos. Still we have bottles of Lucozade to hand. The only dietary advice Peter has ever been given in all those years, is to eat plenty of carbs.
Reducing the bolus insulin has been easy.The Basal has been the difficult one. He's now down to half what he was using, but he is still 17 stone.
One thing I did do years ago, was to teach Jo to get help if she ever needed to. It did happen once. and she got it right. She could dial 999 on the, then rare, touch tone phone, by the time she was 4. 999 operators are well trained and I had to believe in them. The time she was called on, she was nearly 5 and had walked into the village with Daddy, who hadn't had enough food and had had insulin and had a full-on fit in the supermarket. Jo told the Manager our phone number so he could call me and he's already called the ambulance. No-one however took any notice of the tiny girl who said "give Daddy some sugar." The ambulance stopped off to pick me up and I had some to give him. the ambulance men didn't tell the A&E staff what I'd done and they couldn't figure out how someone who'd had a hypoglycaemic fit had normal Blood sugar.
 
Thanks very much for that advice. Not sure how well the waking up at 2 hourly intervals will go down with him. Maybe he could coincide it with when the baby wakes!!
 
Dear diabeteswife
you say:
Maybe he could coincide it with when the baby wakes!!



You can bet it won't! :lol:
 
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