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Medication question

J

JJ4

Well-Known Member
Messages
52
At what point do Drs consider moving onto other medications to control diabetes? I know it's a difficult thing to answer since everyone is different but just generally I mean.

I mean, a Dr can't force someone to eat better, cut carbs, exercise and generally look after themselves but that lack obviously causes diabetes to be out of control and uncontrolled diabetes is bad as we all know. So, in that case, I assume they would add or adjust medication rather than try and fight a battle that can't be won?

Am I making sense? LOL It's early and I was just thinking outloud. Yes, it's connected to my hubby who has no motivation really to look after himself - his blood sugars are becoming out of control, up in the 13's a lot but almost always around 7-9. He's on 500mg x 3 of Metformin per day for his Type 2.

Weird thing is that his last HbA1c (in Dec) was excellent according to his GP, at 6.6%. I personally don't think it's excellent, good but not excellent - well from what I've read about the test anyway. So it's odd that his habits haven't changed but we're seeing a quite a lot of higher readings the past few months.

The best thing to do would be for him to help himself but *if* that's not happening, can I drag him back to the Drs and would they try and adjust/alter/change his medication to try and get him better control or just sort of refuse since he's not doing anything to help his cause?

Appreciate any input! :)
 
Hi jj4,
Reading through your post it is obvious that you are frustrated with your husband and his lack of trying to control his diabetes.
His HBA1c looks good but it does not show the spikes that he is having and he really does need to put more effort into it. There are three types of diabetics, those who carry on regardless and deny that they need to change, those that follow their Diabetic team's advice whether it is good or bad and those that empower themselves and research and do what is right for them.
You cannot make your husband change his outlook but without taking proper control he will need more and more medication, maybe insulin and his eyes, feet and general wellbeing will be affected.
How about appealing to him on behalf of the family and their love for him. You all want him to be happy and healthy and avoid complications. Does he really want more medication and/or insulin?
I really don't know how you can motivate someone. It has to be their decision. Perhaps if you keep quoting articles you see on here it might help. (Read my response out loud to him)
My thoughts are with you .Catherine.
 
Thanks Catherine, much appreciated.

I am frustrated but actually I'm past frustration really, I'm more scared for his (and our) future at the rate he's going. But I just figure if he won't actively help himself then perhaps just aiming to get his BS sorted - thinking of a change/addition of medication, so it's a sort of damage limitation angle, might be the next best thing?

He is intelligent, he knows what diabetes is all about. His brother and father both have it, hubby was diagnosed a year after them and they went on to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure and then both went on to have a heart attack. Hubby has followed suit to the letter, all but the heart attack. Yet... :( And he's far more overweight and inactive than either of them. I hear the clock ticking loudly. :(

So far he's not had any other complications but I know with sugar levels like his and with the other factors, it won't be long at this rate.

I'm worried I'll tag along to the GP with him and will want to scream at the Dr for giving him the 'we can't help you any further until you help yourself' spiel. That's not going to help in the immediate future in my opinion.
 
Hi jj4,
With a family history like your husband has perhaps he views it differently and perhaps he is sitting back and waiting for the inevitable to happen? His knowledge of diabetes is a bad one so he can be forgiven for his attitude.
He has to get the message that things can be better than he knows and diabetics do not necessarily have horrific consequences. With a positive attitude, good diet and exercise things can improve dramatically. The Dr. cannot make him change how he is feeling or insist he takes more control. Change is scary but is usually a positive experience.
None of us knows what lies ahead but we still owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to do the best we can.
I hope that you can get him to change his mind . Ask him what he wants for the future for himself and the family. Does he know how his attitude is affecting you?
Catherine.
 
Hi again,

He does know, he's not scared, he knows that he needs to be healthier but because he sees no problem apart from high BS, he's not bothered about doing anything about it. I guess if his eyesight were to start deteriorating or his feet started to lose sensation then he might start getting his butt into gear but until then...Well.

I'm just thinking of changing tactics here, if he can't or won't change his habits then perhaps at least lowering those BS some other way with medication would be beneficial to stop any complications from even begining.

We lead very busy lives - 3 children under 5 for starters and he works very odd night shifts and we rarely eat 1 proper meal, let alone think about low carbing etc. And with such busy lives, we have very little time for an structured exercise too. I know it is achieveable but for us, it's impractical and actually I'd go as far as to say virtually impossible and that's not me making excuses.

Anyway, thanks again for the replies. :)
 
Hi JJ4

Having reading your post it reminds me so much of what i used to be like, diabetes in the family so it wasn't a case of if i got it but when.

Was in denial for ages, not totally i knew i had it the docs told me, but i didn't want to do anything about it.

Soooo you may think what changed, well i grewup basically and i wanted to have grandchildren and want to enjoy them rather than not being able to walk and play with them or to see them.

At the end of the day you can rant rave jump up and down and run down the road naked but your hubby will not take notice until HE wants to. He is an adult at the end of the day and he makes the choices in his life. Whether they are the wrong ones is for him to decide.

So maybe you need to ease up on him after all he knows what diabetes and high bs is all about and yes it is selfish as you will be expected to look after him when that time comes and his health deteriorates, but its his choice to make, you can not emotionally blackmail him into sorting his diabetes control out he needs to do it for himself for all the right reasons (and am not saying yours are not the right reasons far from it)

Lets face it hes not stupid and knows whats what, but this is one battle he needs to win, yeah support him be there for him but you cant fight it for him.


Juliexx
 
Someone I know elsewhere remembers in childhood she just assumed that all old people had limbs missing, because that was what happened in her family.

We have the technology and knowledge to stop this now. Hmmm, print out some of the Success Stories, maybe that will convince him his future is not inevitable?
 
Coming back to say thank you again for the new replies.

I don't think my hubby is resigned to the fate that he's seen others in his family have, it's more that his desire to get his diabetes under control isn't huge as he isn't suffering in any way so it's easy for him to just take the tablets and leave it at that and carry on his way.

I'm not trying to force him to take control either. He fulls supports me in trying to get him some help in a field that baffles him - medicine.

What I'm doing is saying ok, he isn't going to do x, y and z to help his cause which is leading to him having high BS. So since constant high BS is bad for him, what can we do to try and bring those down using other methods? The only answer I could find was for him to approach our GP again and ask about either adjusting his Metformin or adding something else in or even trying something new on the medication front.

What I want to know really is can his GP decline this request?
 
Hi

well yes his gp can say no and you can put forward your arguements for it, but at the end of the day yes he can say no.

But you can and it is your right to ask for a second opinion to be referred to a diabetes specialist and then put your suggestion to them.

At the end of the day you have his best interests at heart and you want to reduce his bs which inturn will effect the amount of care he will need in the future so am sure you have a valid point for your gp to think about.

I used to have the same attitude as your husband, i didn't have any symptoms and the diabetes wasn't effecting me so was not bothered to do somthing about it, but i was worrying ppl around me.

Juliexx
 
If he doesn't feel bad now, he will eventually. Consistently high BG leads to all kinds of complications. I'm not trying to put the frighteners on both of you - just sharing my own personal experience.

Please don't put all of your faith in medicine/advice from your GP. You'll need to do a lot of trial and error research, starting with what he does eat everyday, and what he should be eating every day. I'd guess that working nights means he doesn't eat very well. That has to be priority No 1 to get sorted.

Good luck - we're all here to help.
 
Hi JJ4

Have a similar problem myself, I'm a type 2 diabetic diagnosed a year ago but only just starting to do something about it. My wife has similar BG levels but won't go to the Doctors because if she hasn't been diagnosed she hasn't got diabetes.
Doesn't matter what arguments I put forward she continues to eat all the things she shouldn't despite seeing the effect cutting down on carb has had on me.
If I find a way of getting the message through I'll let you know - in the mean time just keep on trying - perhaps you can reduce the amount of carb in his diet to lower his BG - It's not all rabbit food :)
 
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