- Messages
- 10
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
Hi All,
If a person is pre-diabetic, how fast can they go to full Type II?
Husband (now 38, morbidly obese, family history of diabetes on his mother's side) was hospitalized for heart failure over a year ago. Was immediately put on Warfarin, Furosemide, Ramipril, Spironolactone, Bisoprolol Fumarate, Pantoprazole, and a cpap machine. He has since stopped Furosemide and halved Warfarin. At the time his blood sugar readings from the meter was around 6.
Type II myself, I tried to reduce his sweets and sweet drinks and put him on my diet, with higher vegetables + meats and lower starches, which helped lower my own blood sugar from HbA1c 9.7% to a steady 5.5% over the course of two years (1 year on Metformin, which I had to stop due to B12 issues). We are not strictly low carb by any definition, as we still eat fruits and the occasional root vegetable, and do eat moderate starches and desserts around twice a month. I have caught my husband eating fast food and drinking diet coke behind my back several times. He also doesn't watch what he eats during company lunches. Also despite being prescribed test strips, he absolutely refused to test at home, even at the family doctor's and my own urging. My in-laws think we should be eating slightly more carbs to prevent spurts of binge eating. I am on the fence about this suggestion, as my husband used to binge eat before he's cut any carbs.
Half a year ago husband went into surgery for a perianal abscess infection. After one orange juice from the hospital dinner, his glucose meter reading was around 8, which was not as worrying at the time.
Fast forward to present day, the infection reoccurred, and was thankfully fixed this time with timely antibiotics (ciprofloxacin). The reinfection scared him into finally using his meter. He is now testing at 9.5-11 before meals, and 11 fasting, a month after stopping ciprofloxacin.
Despite all my complaints, husband has lost 70 pounds from his maximum weight of 360, doing half hour evening walks every other day, and is eating much better than before we've started dating. He has even quit a super fast paced start-up, took a pay-cut, and moved to work at a slower paced older organization. But IT hours are IT hours. I am worried even with all these improvements in his lifestyle, how short a time it took for his blood sugar to almost double. Is this jump normal for transition from pre-diabetes to diabetes? I've read some heart and blood pressure meds have adverse effects on blood sugar, but the two specialists he is seeing are not at all comfortable with reducing his prescriptions at the moment.
He is booked for HbA1c and glucose tolerance test the week after next. I will be accompanying him to the family doctor's after that. Would it be worth it to ask for referral to an endocrinologist?
Also how to transition to better eating for someone who used to not watch what they eat at all? I used to have terrible eating habits, and my T2 diagnosis scared me into changing my lifestyle. If even heart failure at such a young age is not a wake up call, what could family members do to help more?
TLDR: Husband with heart failure on multiple meds had bg readings go from 6 to 11 within two years, despite some weight and lifestyle improvements.
If a person is pre-diabetic, how fast can they go to full Type II?
Husband (now 38, morbidly obese, family history of diabetes on his mother's side) was hospitalized for heart failure over a year ago. Was immediately put on Warfarin, Furosemide, Ramipril, Spironolactone, Bisoprolol Fumarate, Pantoprazole, and a cpap machine. He has since stopped Furosemide and halved Warfarin. At the time his blood sugar readings from the meter was around 6.
Type II myself, I tried to reduce his sweets and sweet drinks and put him on my diet, with higher vegetables + meats and lower starches, which helped lower my own blood sugar from HbA1c 9.7% to a steady 5.5% over the course of two years (1 year on Metformin, which I had to stop due to B12 issues). We are not strictly low carb by any definition, as we still eat fruits and the occasional root vegetable, and do eat moderate starches and desserts around twice a month. I have caught my husband eating fast food and drinking diet coke behind my back several times. He also doesn't watch what he eats during company lunches. Also despite being prescribed test strips, he absolutely refused to test at home, even at the family doctor's and my own urging. My in-laws think we should be eating slightly more carbs to prevent spurts of binge eating. I am on the fence about this suggestion, as my husband used to binge eat before he's cut any carbs.
Half a year ago husband went into surgery for a perianal abscess infection. After one orange juice from the hospital dinner, his glucose meter reading was around 8, which was not as worrying at the time.
Fast forward to present day, the infection reoccurred, and was thankfully fixed this time with timely antibiotics (ciprofloxacin). The reinfection scared him into finally using his meter. He is now testing at 9.5-11 before meals, and 11 fasting, a month after stopping ciprofloxacin.
Despite all my complaints, husband has lost 70 pounds from his maximum weight of 360, doing half hour evening walks every other day, and is eating much better than before we've started dating. He has even quit a super fast paced start-up, took a pay-cut, and moved to work at a slower paced older organization. But IT hours are IT hours. I am worried even with all these improvements in his lifestyle, how short a time it took for his blood sugar to almost double. Is this jump normal for transition from pre-diabetes to diabetes? I've read some heart and blood pressure meds have adverse effects on blood sugar, but the two specialists he is seeing are not at all comfortable with reducing his prescriptions at the moment.
He is booked for HbA1c and glucose tolerance test the week after next. I will be accompanying him to the family doctor's after that. Would it be worth it to ask for referral to an endocrinologist?
Also how to transition to better eating for someone who used to not watch what they eat at all? I used to have terrible eating habits, and my T2 diagnosis scared me into changing my lifestyle. If even heart failure at such a young age is not a wake up call, what could family members do to help more?
TLDR: Husband with heart failure on multiple meds had bg readings go from 6 to 11 within two years, despite some weight and lifestyle improvements.
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