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Organ damage if Blood Sugars over 6 mmol?

I suggest you get her a copy of Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution - that way she can understand what to eat while keeping her blood glucose below 6mmol/l. If she is unable to do so while eating reasonable quantities of the right food then she may need medication to help achieve this.
Some may not get complications of diabetes with blood glucose over 6mmol/l but some will.
Dr Bernstein's target is 83mg/dl with maximum rise or fall +/- 10mg/dl after meals (divide by 18 to get mmol/l) - he and his patients seem to do well on that bases and have 3 meals a day.

Some people also seem to do well on one meal a day but all need to eat sufficient.

Good luck
 
In Response said:
I agree with you that restricting levels to under 6mmol/l at all times is unnecessarily restrictive.
If you use google to find Libre graphs for people without diabetes, you will see their levels are not flat and can rise to 9 or 10. The difference is that their levels will fall back to "normal" numbers pretty quickly.
It is prolonged high levels that cause complications rather than a spike that come back down.

This page (https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html) provides recommended target ranges, You will see these are higher than 6mmol/l
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We're not doctors here and forum rules don't let us diagnose, but if your wife is suffering from an eating disorder there are some useful comments that can be made (speaking from my own personal experience dealing with ED sufferers).

ED sufferers typically have all sorts of reasons why they shouldn't eat, the illness makes their thinking about food and hunger irrational and reasoning with them about it doesn't work. EDs can cause damage to all parts of the body (including liver, kidneys, heart etc).

Has your wife's medical team actually suggested that she should restrict her diet in any way?

If you think she may have an eating disorder, please get her medical help. EDs have the worst mortality rate of all psychiatric illnesses.
 
In Response said:
It is prolonged high levels that cause complications rather than a spike that come back down.
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I would love to see sources for this before I see my doctors next Monday.

keithgg said:
she is underweight.
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That would put her at extra risk of glucose spikes, which according to some studies lead to complications.
These may well be the same studies she uses as an excuse not to eat.
 
Dear all,

Thank you so much for your replies. I'm really in such a difficult position, my wife is so fixed in her beliefs that she has to do this extreme diet, she will not listen to anyone who suggests she needs to eat more.

Every time I try to encourage her to eat more, she viciously accuses me of being an unsupportive husband and wanting her to reach diagnostic levels. I believe she suffers from "confirmation bias" - even when reading this thread where many replies suggest she has an eating disorder etc. she will only see the answers that support her beliefs, and will completely reject all the ones that suggest she has an eating disorder.

In response to the questions about whether any medical professional has recommended this diet - the answer is simply no. She is entirely self-diagnosed, and has no trust in doctors.

She is under the care of an NHS Mental health nurse, but unfortunately rejects any suggestion that this is an eating disorder mental health issue, and is refusing all counselling etc.

I'm genuinely at my wits end. E.g. this morning despite a FBS of just 4.0, she is has only eaten a single chicken thigh, and cup of tea for breakfast, and is refusing to eat anything else all day. She is now underweight and visibly extremely thing.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced a loved one (in my view) completely over doing what is needed to control diabetes? (to the point where is dangerous for them) I imagine it's far more common for tension caused by people not taking diabetes seriously enough!!!

Super thanks for any input, I feel very lonely in this situation.
 
keithgg said:
Dear all,

Thank you so much for your replies. I'm really in such a difficult position, my wife is so fixed in her beliefs that she has to do this extreme diet, she will not listen to anyone who suggests she needs to eat more.

Every time I try to encourage her to eat more, she viciously accuses me of being an unsupportive husband and wanting her to reach diagnostic levels. I believe she suffers from "confirmation bias" - even when reading this thread where many replies suggest she has an eating disorder etc. she will only see the answers that support her beliefs, and will completely reject all the ones that suggest she has an eating disorder.

In response to the questions about whether any medical professional has recommended this diet - the answer is simply no. She is entirely self-diagnosed, and has no trust in doctors.

She is under the care of an NHS Mental health nurse, but unfortunately rejects any suggestion that this is an eating disorder mental health issue, and is refusing all counselling etc.

I'm genuinely at my wits end. E.g. this morning despite a FBS of just 4.0, she is has only eaten a single chicken thigh, and cup of tea for breakfast, and is refusing to eat anything else all day. She is now underweight and visibly extremely thing.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced a loved one (in my view) completely over doing what is needed to control diabetes? (to the point where is dangerous for them) I imagine it's far more common for tension caused by people not taking diabetes seriously enough!!!

Super thanks for any input, I feel very lonely in this situation.
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Has she ever been actually diagnosed as diabetic by a GP?

I urge you to get support and councelling for yourself. You are carrying a huge burden. At the end of the day, you can't make her do anything, so look after yourself and your child/children.

I am sorry you are going through this. Watching a loved one in this situation is very hard. Be gentle with yourself. This is not your fault. Please get some support for you. Best wishes.
 
@keithgg My heart and sympathy goes out to you. I have had a close family member go on what is essentially a course towards self destruction, though in our case it wasn't through food.
Being the support, the person on the outside is extremely hard.
As has been said above you cannot change your wife, only she can and that won't be until she is ready to do so. What you can do is look after yourself and your children, both physically and mentally. It's a bit like on an aeroplane where you are told to put your mask before helping others. You need to be fit and strong to cope, in fact you need to be fitter and stronger than the average person!
I'll do a few links at the end that might help.
Practically keep her mental health nurses number handy. You might want to try contacting them to say how severe the situation has got.
Meanwhile the Samaritans are there as listeners for both of you
116 123
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
More in next post as pc playing up
 
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