Hi - I'm hoping for some advice regarding my Grandads type 2 diabetes. My Grandad is an extremely stubborn man who won't allow a fuss and is reluctant to discuss his health. He's had type 2 for several years and manages with insulin however he's never been very careful with his diet and frequently has very high blood sugar. Over past weeks his health appears to have deteriorated: his weight has decreased and he has suffered with skin problems on his cheek (dry sore skin which we believe is an infection). Upon seeing him tonight he had a small cut on his nose which he said was a result of very sore skin and a very blood shot eye (which he claims is a result of central heating!). He did admit to seeing his diabetes nurse who had taken tests and said something wasn't quite right with his kidneys and that his weight has again gone down. He wouldn't be drawn any further but I get the feeling all his symptoms are connected and that this is not something to be ignored. Before I prepare to wear him down and get him back to the doctors could anyone give me any advice on the probable link and severity of his symptoms? Thanks in advance.
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Advice Needed!
- Thread starter hayley31
- Start Date
Patricia21
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,764
- Location
- Rochester Kent
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Animal crualty
Hello hayley and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear about your Grandad,people on the forum will advise if they can.but your Grandad will make his own decisions.
Have you any idea what his blood sugar is at the moment.
what is his age,and how long has he had type 2,and does he have a moniter to test his blood.
Would he be intrested in changing his diet.
If he will let you go to the Doctor with him it would give you some insight of what is wrong.
Diet plays a big part in keeping blood sugars down.
Sorry to hear about your Grandad,people on the forum will advise if they can.but your Grandad will make his own decisions.
Have you any idea what his blood sugar is at the moment.
what is his age,and how long has he had type 2,and does he have a moniter to test his blood.
Would he be intrested in changing his diet.
If he will let you go to the Doctor with him it would give you some insight of what is wrong.
Diet plays a big part in keeping blood sugars down.
Daibell
Master
The right diet is essential. It is quite common on the forum to see posts relating to older folk who are T2 on insulin and who are overweight with high blood sugar and not knowing what to do. It is absolutely essential in those cases to get the weight down thru a low-carb diet. I always suggest setting an initial target of 150gm/day and use the meter and scales to monitor and adjust. Being on insulin if an overweight T2 is often not a good match as it is just adding insulin to a body already overloaded with it. There are other injectables that can be better if overweight. All this of course may be easier said than done!
PaulinaB
Well-Known Member
Hi @hayley31, welcome to the forum.
It's hard to say anything without knowing actual readings of your Granddad, but assuming his blood sugar is high the symptoms he's getting may be related to his diabetes. Unintended weight loss can be caused by high blood sugar and lack of insulin - body cannot get enough energy from the sugar (due to lack of insulin), so it starts burning fat and muscles instead. Does your Grandad feels like he's very thirsty and has to pee a lot? This would be a typical symptom, when body is trying to flush out the excess glucose through kindeys. Because of this, he can become dehydrated - dry skin was one of the symptoms for me. His eye problem may also be caused by high blood sugar - it causes a blood pressure to rise in the eyes and can cause the tiny blood vessels to burst. This may eventually lead to retinopathy which can end with blindness.
Does he feel more tired and sleepy? This would also be a typical symptom.
If the nurse said that there may be a problem with his kidneys - flusing the glucose through kidneys is very damaging to them and will cause kidney problems (even eventually kidney failure).
I cannot guarantee that his issues are related to diabetes, but only give you my opinion. If they are, this is potentially very serious and can cause problems with eyes, walking, general feeling of being unwell, and many, many other problems.
Do you know what his blood reading are? I'm basing all this on an assumption that they are high most of the time. Do you know what kind of insulin he's on? 1, 2, 4 injections per day?
I don't want to be scaring you, but since you asked about complications I wanted it to be clear that this can be very serious. Hopefully your Grandad can get on top of it before any lasting damage!
Please let us know how you get on! Best wishes to your Grandad!
It's hard to say anything without knowing actual readings of your Granddad, but assuming his blood sugar is high the symptoms he's getting may be related to his diabetes. Unintended weight loss can be caused by high blood sugar and lack of insulin - body cannot get enough energy from the sugar (due to lack of insulin), so it starts burning fat and muscles instead. Does your Grandad feels like he's very thirsty and has to pee a lot? This would be a typical symptom, when body is trying to flush out the excess glucose through kindeys. Because of this, he can become dehydrated - dry skin was one of the symptoms for me. His eye problem may also be caused by high blood sugar - it causes a blood pressure to rise in the eyes and can cause the tiny blood vessels to burst. This may eventually lead to retinopathy which can end with blindness.
Does he feel more tired and sleepy? This would also be a typical symptom.
If the nurse said that there may be a problem with his kidneys - flusing the glucose through kidneys is very damaging to them and will cause kidney problems (even eventually kidney failure).
I cannot guarantee that his issues are related to diabetes, but only give you my opinion. If they are, this is potentially very serious and can cause problems with eyes, walking, general feeling of being unwell, and many, many other problems.
Do you know what his blood reading are? I'm basing all this on an assumption that they are high most of the time. Do you know what kind of insulin he's on? 1, 2, 4 injections per day?
I don't want to be scaring you, but since you asked about complications I wanted it to be clear that this can be very serious. Hopefully your Grandad can get on top of it before any lasting damage!
Please let us know how you get on! Best wishes to your Grandad!
