T2 husband's BGs.

[davendeb]

Is there any particular reason why it’s 12.2 the reason I ask is my husband is type 2 it was under control having lost a bit of weight and changed diet but he’s been unwell for 18 months, GP said it was his diabetes in June last year so put him on Metformin but this hasn’t lowered his glucose level in a morning consistently 10-12 and two hours after meals 11, lost a lot of weight and weight loss has started again but we’re struggling to get GP to listen, he’s constantly fatigued, muscle weakness, just looking for some help/guidance and we really don’t think it’s his diabetes, we think there’s something else going on

 

[EllieM]

Hi @davendeb and welcome to the forums.

How long has your husband been T2? And how is it controlled?
(Edited to add: I see he's on metformin but what is his diet like?)

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @davendeb ,

The forum team felt you & your husband needed your own topic so that replies are specific for you.

Well, I know for me higher out of range BG can affect my legs.. (& feel fatigued.)
I also know that other syptoms can be blamed on the "bogie." By a GP. (Diabetes.) I had an ear infection affecting my balance once.. "Diabetes."

How often is your husband meter testing? Is there a regular pattern showing a "trend?"

 

[davendeb]

He was diagnosed as prediabetic in October 2019 and type 2 in March 20, by end of 20 we had changed diet a lot cutting out biscuits, crisps, chocolate and alcohol and HbA1c was back down to 49. October 20 he started feeling fatigued, muscle weakness and generally under the weather, but diabetes still well controlled with diet, he had a catheter fitted in March 2021 due to enlarged bladder/urine retention and while fatigue etc continued, his HbA1c started to rise again but diet stayed same, GP blamed diabetes for fatigue but the fatigue was present in Oct 20 so we didn’t think diabetes was anything to do with the fatigue etc but he agreed to Metformin but it didn’t change fatigue etc and by then he had lost another 10lbs in weight despite no change to diet, been on Metformin since June 21. He still has catheter, he used to ride his bike regularly but has no energy and if he does go out it takes him 2 days to recover. His diet is pretty much the same every day - he has cornflakes for breakfast, 30gram and some tinned fruit in own juice. lunch 2 slices of seed sensation bread and 30g cheese and lean meat and for evening meal, veg and chicken, pork etc, he drinks sugar free flavoured water and 2 cans of Pepsi max - these are all
Suggestions made by NHS nurse when diagnosed as diabetic, and is I think within range of carbs a day but maybe someone here can help, as I say, this is the foods he ate to get his HbA1c back within a good range back in March 20, he is quite a fussy eater, this evening he had chicken breast and veg, reading before meal 8.8 - two hours after 11.5

 

[davendeb]

Hi @davendeb ,

The forum team felt you & your husband needed your own topic so that replies are specific for you.

Well, I know for me higher out of range BG can affect my legs.. (& feel fatigued.)
I also know that other syptoms can be blamed on the "bogie." By a GP. (Diabetes.) I had an ear infection affecting my balance once.. "Diabetes."

How often is your husband meter testing? Is there a regular pattern showing a "trend?"

Hi @davendeb ,

The forum team felt you & your husband needed your own topic so that replies are specific for you.

Well, I know for me higher out of range BG can affect my legs.. (& feel fatigued.)
I also know that other syptoms can be blamed on the "bogie." By a GP. (Diabetes.) I had an ear infection affecting my balance once.. "Diabetes."

How often is your husband meter testing? Is there a regular pattern showing a "trend?"

Hi @davendeb ,

The forum team felt you & your husband needed your own topic so that replies are specific for you.

Well, I know for me higher out of range BG can affect my legs.. (& feel fatigued.)
I also know that other syptoms can be blamed on the "bogie." By a GP. (Diabetes.) I had an ear infection affecting my balance once.. "Diabetes."

How often is your husband meter testing? Is there a regular pattern showing a "trend?"

 

[davendeb]

He has just been testing first thing in a morning every couple of days but just lately we’ve been testing more often before tea, after tea then bed as he’s seeing GP next week so wanted to have info to try and prove our concerns

 

[Jaylee]

He was diagnosed as prediabetic in October 2019 and type 2 in March 20, by end of 20 we had changed diet a lot cutting out biscuits, crisps, chocolate and alcohol and HbA1c was back down to 49. October 20 he started feeling fatigued, muscle weakness and generally under the weather, but diabetes still well controlled with diet, he had a catheter fitted in March 2021 due to enlarged bladder/urine retention and while fatigue etc continued, his HbA1c started to rise again but diet stayed same, GP blamed diabetes for fatigue but the fatigue was present in Oct 20 so we didn’t think diabetes was anything to do with the fatigue etc but he agreed to Metformin but it didn’t change fatigue etc and by then he had lost another 10lbs in weight despite no change to diet, been on Metformin since June 21. He still has catheter, he used to ride his bike regularly but has no energy and if he does go out it takes him 2 days to recover. His diet is pretty much the same every day - he has cornflakes for breakfast, 30gram and some tinned fruit in own juice. lunch 2 slices of seed sensation bread and 30g cheese and lean meat and for evening meal, veg and chicken, pork etc, he drinks sugar free flavoured water and 2 cans of Pepsi max - these are all
Suggestions made by NHS nurse when diagnosed as diabetic, and is I think within range of carbs a day but maybe someone here can help, as I say, this is the foods he ate to get his HbA1c back within a good range back in March 20, he is quite a fussy eater, this evening he had chicken breast and veg, reading before meal 8.8 - two hours after 11.5

Hi,

I'm speaking as an insulin dependant Type one. So where I come from is manage the baseline to within healthy BG levels then work out what's happening with my diet?

Your husband seems a little high to start with. Though, to be fair to him with his choice there seems a movement from 8.8 to 11.1? Which is only 2.3mmol.

Testing after waking then prior to eating a meal then 2 hours after & prior to bed is a little ore preferable to building up a day to day picture on the BG trends?

From my personal experience of carbs. Tinned fruit in own juice, milk. Bread of any sort some flavoured water. Don't do me any favours without taking into account what I jab for. Carb wise.. (But that's something else entirely.)

Hopefully, we can get some of our knowledgable T2 members help you out..

I'm dealing with a non functioning pancreas, where as your husband may just need to give his metabolism a break with a diatary tweak.?

 

[davendeb]

Hi,

I'm speaking as an insulin dependant Type one. So where I come from is manage the baseline to within healthy BG levels then work out what's happening with my diet?

Your husband seems a little high to start with. Though, to be fair to him with his choice there seems a movement from 8.8 to 11.1? Which is only 2.3mmol.

Testing after waking then prior to eating a meal then 2 hours after & prior to bed is a little ore preferable to building up a day to day picture on the BG trends?

From my personal experience of carbs. Tinned fruit in own juice, milk. Bread of any sort some flavoured water. Don't do me any favours without taking into account what I jab for. Carb wise.. (But that's something else entirely.)

Hopefully, we can get some of our knowledgable T2 members help you out..

I'm dealing with a non functioning pancreas, where as your husband may just need to give his metabolism a break with a diatary tweak.?

Thank you, he doesn’t have milk, eats cereal dry, I understand where you’re coming from re bread and sugar free water but this is how we managed the initial diagnosis and GP was very happy but somewhere along the line something has changed

 

[EllieM]

He was diagnosed as prediabetic in October 2019 and type 2 in March 20, by end of 20 we had changed diet a lot cutting out biscuits, crisps, chocolate and alcohol and HbA1c was back down to 49. October 20 he started feeling fatigued, muscle weakness and generally under the weather, but diabetes still well controlled with diet, he had a catheter fitted in March 2021 due to enlarged bladder/urine retention and while fatigue etc continued, his HbA1c started to rise again but diet stayed same, GP blamed diabetes for fatigue but the fatigue was present in Oct 20 so we didn’t think diabetes was anything to do with the fatigue etc but he agreed to Metformin but it didn’t change fatigue etc and by then he had lost another 10lbs in weight despite no change to diet, been on Metformin since June 21. He still has catheter, he used to ride his bike regularly but has no energy and if he does go out it takes him 2 days to recover. His diet is pretty much the same every day - he has cornflakes for breakfast, 30gram and some tinned fruit in own juice. lunch 2 slices of seed sensation bread and 30g cheese and lean meat and for evening meal, veg and chicken, pork etc, he drinks sugar free flavoured water and 2 cans of Pepsi max - these are all
Suggestions made by NHS nurse when diagnosed as diabetic, and is I think within range of carbs a day but maybe someone here can help, as I say, this is the foods he ate to get his HbA1c back within a good range back in March 20, he is quite a fussy eater, this evening he had chicken breast and veg, reading before meal 8.8 - two hours after 11.5

That diet sounds potentially quite carb heavy, so there's scope to reduce them if you want to go that route. Here's my favourite link to low carb and T2.
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

But the weight loss is a potential concern. While I agree that there are plenty of possible non diabetic causes, there is one diabetic possibility that comes up when unintended weight loss occurs, which is slow onset T1, also known as LADA. You could ask the doctor for cpeptide (measures the amount of insulin produced) and GAD antibody tests to rule this out. (The GAD tests measure whether you are having an autoimmune reaction that is damaging your insulin producing cells). Note that this is nothing to panic about, it's quite rare (last time I attempted to do the math I reckoned maybe 1 in 20 T2s are misdiagnosed T1s) and is not the end of the world at all even if it is the case (speaking as someone who's been T1 for over 50 years). Having said all that, his levels may well not be high enough for the GP to consider the tests worth doing.

And there are lots of reasons for T2 diabetic control to worsen: stress, illness (covid anyone?) etc. And plenty of non diabetic possibilities for those symptoms. (I hate it when doctors assume any symptoms must be diabetic related.)

Good luck.

 

[Jaylee]

Thank you, he doesn’t have milk, eats cereal dry, I understand where you’re coming from re bread and sugar free water but this is how we managed the initial diagnosis and GP was very happy but somewhere along the line something has changed

To be fair to your husband's regime. Something has interviened & changed things for the chap.
Needs can change. Along with requirements to them?
His GP really should be thinking outside the box & exploring other avenues other than what is already written on the "notes."
Just to be sure..

 

[lucylocket61]

How old is your husband? You mentioned a catheter - has his other medical conditions changed?

I wonder if he has long covid or ME? Either way, I suggest more exploration of this tiredness and weight loss. You may have to insist the GP looks into this. It's not too always diabetes related.

 

[davendeb]

That diet sounds potentially quite carb heavy, so there's scope to reduce them if you want to go that route. Here's my favourite link to low carb and T2.
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

But the weight loss is a potential concern. While I agree that there are plenty of possible non diabetic causes, there is one diabetic possibility that comes up when unintended weight loss occurs, which is slow onset T1, also known as LADA. You could ask the doctor for cpeptide (measures the amount of insulin produced) and GAD antibody tests to rule this out. (The GAD tests measure whether you are having an autoimmune reaction that is damaging your insulin producing cells). Note that this is nothing to panic about, it's quite rare (last time I attempted to do the math I reckoned maybe 1 in 20 T2s are misdiagnosed T1s) and is not the end of the world at all even if it is the case (speaking as someone who's been T1 for over 50 years). Having said all that, his levels may well not be high enough for the GP to consider the tests worth doing.

And there are lots of reasons for T2 diabetic control to worsen: stress, illness (covid anyone?) etc. And plenty of non diabetic possibilities for those symptoms. (I hate it when doctors assume any symptoms must be diabetic related.)

Good luck.

Thank you, he’s such a fussy eater, and doesn’t like most low carb foods but I’m trying x

 

[davendeb]

To be fair to your husband's regime. Something has interviened & changed things for the chap.
Needs can change. Along with requirements to them?
His GP really should be thinking outside the box & exploring other avenues other than what is already written on the "notes."
Just to be sure..

Thank you, we’re hoping GP will start to look outside the box, I’m not doubting he is diabetic just that they at least look at possibility of another cause as he was fine just diet controlled for a year x

 

[davendeb]

How old is your husband? You mentioned a catheter - has his other medical conditions changed?

I wonder if he has long covid or ME? Either way, I suggest more exploration of this tiredness and weight loss. You may have to insist the GP looks into this. It's not too always diabetes related.

Hi hubby is 63 next month - had catheter fitted in March last year following MRI scan on back which showed enlarged bladder, he has enlarged prostate but on meds for that for two years and that was put down as cause for enlarged bladder plus query producing too much pale urine, this was tested and although not concentrated enough Consultant thinks he just drinks too much but he’s consistently producing 1.5-2.0 litres a night, easy to measure as he has catheter, but the tiredness, muscle weakness and wasting was happening before catheter etc x

 

[Jaylee]

Thank you, we’re hoping GP will start to look outside the box, I’m not doubting he is diabetic just that they at least look at possibility of another cause as he was fine just diet controlled for a year x

I fully appreciate your husband's predicament.. The first conclusion on the lips of HCPs no sooner than I explain the issue.
In my case ear infection. "Your diabetic." Busted rib.. "Ahhhhhhh, diabetes."

You both have may best wishes.

 

[lucylocket61]

Hi hubby is 63 next month - had catheter fitted in March last year following MRI scan on back which showed enlarged bladder, he has enlarged prostate but on meds for that for two years and that was put down as cause for enlarged bladder plus query producing too much pale urine, this was tested and although not concentrated enough Consultant thinks he just drinks too much but he’s consistently producing 1.5-2.0 litres a night, easy to measure as he has catheter, but the tiredness, muscle weakness and wasting was happening before catheter etc x

Does he have a lot of fluids? If so he may be flushing out electrolytes. Does he have enough salt in his diet? Either way, I suggest more medical investigation. Is he on diabetic medication?

 

[Ronancastled]

His diet is pretty much the same every day - he has cornflakes for breakfast

Ridiculous, about 78% carbs from memory

some tinned fruit in own juice

Could be pure sugar, what level of carbs are on the tin

lunch 2 slices of seed sensation bread

Bread would be a no no for most T2s unless it's a low carb/Keto version

2 cans of Pepsi max

Hopefully the zero carb version

these are all
Suggestions made by NHS nurse when diagnosed as diabetic

I'd be sacking her off straight away, that's medical negligence at best.

 

[davendeb]

Ridiculous, about 78% carbs from memory



Could be pure sugar, what level of carbs are on the tin



Bread would be a no no for most T2s unless it's a low carb/Keto version



Hopefully the zero carb version



I'd be sacking her off straight away, that's medical negligence at best.

I’m quite aware it’s not ideal but considering what he was eating before, the changes we made got his HbA1c down to 49, I think the Nurse realised that although not ideal, it was a big change for him, and any change was a work in progress and I have counted the carbs and sugar in everything that I listed and yes of course it’s zero carb and two cans against a 2 litre bottle was we felt a good compromise

 

[davendeb]

Does he have a lot of fluids? If so he may be flushing out electrolytes. Does he have enough salt in his diet? Either way, I suggest more medical investigation. Is he on diabetic medication?

He has between 3-3.5 litres (which Endocrinologist said was fine) but his output is usually 1.5-2.0 more and very pale, he has seen an Endocrinologist re diabetes Insipidus but tests were inconclusive, we have another appt on the 23rd Feb

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Your husband is very fortunate to have a wife like you

I agree with a lot of previous posters. Before I was diagnosed I was well overweight and the response of the doctor was quite often defaulting to 'it's because you are overweight'. It wasn't always (or even often) due to my weight.

So yes it can be easy for any medical profession to look at the diagnosis and blame everything on being a diabetic.

So before you see the endocrinologist on the 23rd my suggestion would be to do very regular testing of his blood glucose levels. Give him more information to consider. If the tests show that his levels are okay then that's something the dr can rule out. If they are high that's something she/he should know to consider in the overall picture. I would also suggest keeping a food and sleep and symptoms diary. It feels like a lot when you do this but giving the dr. more information can only help.

Good luck- I hope you get some answers!