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Thrush and Diabetes

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deebee59

Member
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11
As the wife of a really "bad" type 2 diabetic, I have asked questions before on your forum.
My husband has Type 2 Diabetes, and was diagnosed some years ago. He is now on 2 diabetes drugs, Meteforman and Glicizide and he has to monitor his blood sugar levels now as well, and still take a careful view of his diet..(that's a joke).
He insists that it's fine to eat the amount of sugary things that he does, for example last week between the hours of midnight and 7am he consumed 210gram bar of Cadbury dairy milk, a large bag of Mars Planets, a medium bag of Peanut M&Ms, and large share bag of Malteasers. This doesn't include all the crisps ,biscuits , and ice cream he eats every day and the amount of diet pop he swigs into the bargain and he will then ask me to buy in some sweetener for his cups of tea?? What's the point??
He also tells me that his practice nurse says and I quote" it's a natural progression from Type 2 to Type 1 and insulin dependency!!!!"???? This cannot be true!!
Apart from all this he suffers almost constantly from Thrush... Can anyone tell me are there any steps that I can take yo stop this. He is usually prescribed canesten for this, but as soon as use stops the Thrush returns.

And to top it all off after not smoking for almost 2 years, he is back on the cigarettes and close to 20 a day.

Am at my wits end... I have tried everything to keep him on the right track but he just says I am nagging, so I now don't intervene at all.
He will die before he's 60 ... He is 54 now... And was told years ago stop smoking or die.
Am sick, tired and fed up of trying on this one... Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Refuse to buy him the junk food.

It is natural for type 2's to go onto insulin but it will happen a lit quicker if he eats the things he Us eating.

I'm nit going to come across as a saint as until recently I was eating lots of **** but the thought of going onto insulin scared the bejeesus out if me and am really focused now.

Unfortunately this is your husband's journey and until he sees the light there is little you can do other than know you are not enabling him by buying all the bad things etc

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Thanks for your reply... Can I just say I don't buy him the junk food, I would have at one time, but I know how important it is that he gets things under control so I stopped and buy fruit and veg etc.
so because I do this he buys his own and stashes it like a child in his car and collects it just before bed.
I do understand that it's his journey too... It's just so hard watching him grow old so quickly, and be so hell bent on self destruction.
 
he does seem to eat a really bad diet. I thought I was bad in winter I have SAD, but I eat nothing like that amount of sugar. If he is also using his meds to keep him clear of Hyperglycaemia his weight will rocket up making his insulin resistance worse. I wonder if he would benefit from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help him modify his eating habits.
 
Thrush is encouraged to grow by glucose body fluids It is one of the things that alert GPs to diabetes. Thrush can be treated with cream and tablets for men, plus pessaries for women. It will keep coming back if he keeps refusing to stick to his diet. Tell him he looks like the woman on the ad that may help him ditch the sweeties.
No I am not an angel last week I ate half a tube of dextrose tablets because I felt `funny' it took me two days to get my glucose levels back to where my nurse-who I rarely see- wants them. :thumbup:
 
Hi,

Even when I wasn't really taking my diagnosis seriously I didn't eat that much. I think maybe you need to employ some scare tactics. The health implications are numerous, one for men I believe can be impotance. Maybe that will get his attention? Thats apart from losing feet, sight etc.

Maybe you could get some leaflets, or print out pics and reports of the internet and leave them lying around where he might read them?

Thursh will not clear up whilst he keeps feeding it with sugar! I know, this is how I came to be diagnosed.

I don't mean to upset you with the possible complications but maybe that is the only way to get through to him. Also IF he gets it all under control, there is nothing to stop him living a happy, healthy life.
 
When I was having a blip, my other half made it clear that if I developed any complications then he would refuse to be my carer. Try to make him realize that he is your husband and you're not there to wipe his ar$e.
 
DeeBee: I really think it is the same as being an alcoholic. He is addicted to that ****. That's why he can't stop, and that's why he's doing stuff like buying it secretly and hiding it in his car. I know because I used to do stuff like that too. But once I was diagnosed with diabetes, it gave me the kick I needed to overcome the addiction, because eating like that is a sure route to self destruction. The trouble is that it's no good you knowing that - your husband has to realize that, and care. He has to care more about it than he does about feeding his addiction. And like any addiction, I think the only way to break it is -a) to want to: it's no good somebody else wanting it on your behalf and b) to go cold turkey. He must be on literally hundreds of grams of carbs per day, maybe even in the thousands. Those carbs are causing his blood sugar to spike, causing the thrush among other things, and and also causing a vicious cycle of addiction. IF he cares enough about his health, he needs to cut his carbs drastically, to maybe 100g per day initially, and for a week or so, he may well really suffer for it. But if he can remain strong then the cravings will pass when his blood sugar normalises.

A progression to insulin is common but *doesn't* need to be inevitable. But it is certainly going to be inevitable for him, if he carries on as he is. But I think all you can do is encourage him, you can't make him change. He has to want to. Does he definitely know of all the long term complications of diabetes that he's at really high risk of getting? Even the thrush alone must be pretty unpleasant, and he could probably cure that permanently in a couple of weeks. The body doesn't make high levels of glucose all by itself. He's got high glucose because he's eating lots of carbs. And his diabetic nurse isn't really doing him any favors by implying its inevitable.


Type 2 on Metformin, diagnosed Jan 2013, ultra low carber, Hba1C at diagnosis 8% (11mmol), now between 5 and 6 mmol. 20kg lost so far :)
 
His diabetic nurse is also a diabetic he says and she is headed the same way as he. Finzi

I know he has to want help himself and all I can so is encourage him but he sees wncouragement as nagging no matter how you do it.

He knows better than anyone what abuse will do, he lost his father last year... He too was type 2 progressed to Type 1, lost the toes on both feet, so lost his mobility, was insulin dependent, yet still continued to eat the rubbish.
My husband refuses to admit that he is at greater risk of stroke, heart attack, multi organ failure, etc. and says his intake of sugar is nothing at all to do with Thrush...just like his smoking 20 cigs a day is nothing to do with the disgusting cough he has, and the breathlessness he feels when moving around.

I must sound like a right moaner, but am lost and extremely worried about his state of health. I think maybe I need some therapy to stop me caring...
Am no angel on the food department myself, and have spent most of my life dieting, but I eat healthy and exercise regularly to combat a decline in my health and maintain the health I do have even with a dodgey thyroid, and I take no medication at all. He is old before his time. You input is much appreciated .. It helps immensely to chat. My own father was Type1, brought about at 16 years old the result of trauma... An accident filled by a coma. He was a saint as a diabetic yet he died from Multi Organ Failure brought about by his diabetes at aged 36.
 
Thanks TUMBLE... Your input made me chuckle... Have actually tried what you suggest.. And he said well for a man in self destruct mode I feel scarily comfortable.
 
Type 2 diabetes does not lead on to Type 1, they are two seperate things. Type 2 diabetics can progress to needing insulin.

Have a look at this link http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-comp ... tions.html it particularly states High blood sugar levels is one of the main causes of thrush

I was diagnosed aged 31, only 3 years ago, I have changed my life style and Im finally losing weight and have so much more energy. I plan to live a long and healthy and happy life. I can only imagine that your husband is always tired and maybe cranky? Also symptons of high blood sugar.

As you say you cant make him and he feels your nagging, but keep telling him that your only nagging cos you love him. It must be very frustrating for you. Good luck, if you need support this is a great place.
 
Thanks for that Lenny 3, and you are spot on, my hubby has no energy for anything...is very unsociable and quite obviously has high blood sugar level...

Last night, at bed time I saw him slipping his usual chocolate bar into his pocket for bed, I said "that isn't what I think it is?" He said it is and shut up...
It is very frustrating, I am watching a 55 year old man destroying himself for a bag of sugar and a packet of cigarettes. Have shown him leaflets, pictures testimonials, on how diabetes could affect him... It like banging your head against a brick wall. Still have has the chance to get it off my chest ... It does help to share it.
 
I really feel for you. I can't believe he knows the dangers yet still ignores his health.

Unfortunatley Diabetes is pretty much a silent condition. For some people its not until complications arise that they really think about what they have done.

Personally I dread going blind or loosing the feeling in my feet and being unable to walk.

Maybe you could try to distract him? As he's about to pick up the chocolate, distract him from it, somehow, ( :wink: ) and make him forget all about it? Worth a try :lol:
 
Firstly
there's no Progression from T2 to T1. The progression is from non-insulin dependent T2 to Insulin dependent T2. It's STILL T2. Either he's mis understood the nurse, or she doesn't know enough.
Secondly
If he won't look after himself, he won't and you can't make him. Mine was a lot like that until he had a couple of nasty scares.[and he's a T1!] He's come to his senses just about in time..
I went as far as to threaten to leave, because the stress was so unbearable.
I do wish the Health Care Professionals didn't make so light of diabetes, after all most of them have seen the consequences of poor control. I understand they don't want to scare patients and they truly believe there's not a lot can be done to avoid "inevitable" progression. Actually there IS!
For some patients scaring is the only thing.
Diabetes is a major cause of both blindness and amputations. In my years of campaignin, I've met many amputees and a fair few people who have lost most of their sight, not to mention those needing kidney transplants.
My husband has lost the sight of his right eye.
Hana
 
You can't help those that won't help them selves. His he selfish or what does he want to leave you a widow do you have children and grandchildren because if you have he cannot think much of them or you granted been of rails myself but my husband,children and grandchildren mean more to me to keep me straight

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Um. I've been too embarrassed to bring this sort of question up but now someone said 'thrush'

My err special friend is a T1 and I am undiagnosed but often run over 10mmol and get thrush a lot.. I'm wondering if the combination of my BG and his BG and the mingling of body fluids is a recipe for disaster x(


Hello OP I feel your frustration!! My T1 friend eats nothing but fast food. He takes insulin, therefore pigging out is ok. Meanwhile I'm scared to touch that hamburger he's insisting I eat. @_@

Your partner needs a stern talking to. Just because thing have gone already doesn't mean he shouldn't be working to slow further deterioration :/ if not for himself but for you.. So that he is around to be there or you for years to come.


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I totally agree with you Destiny, but if I came out and said this to him he would totally disagree. One of our sons gets married this year and when they were chatting about it he quipped "yes I'll be there, well as long as I am still here". We have 3 grown up children and 2 grand children.
I thought I was easy going and understanding, but I can so do without the stress. I know he has to want to help himself, but I don't understand why he sees his diabetes as such a shroud.
 
Perhaps he feels like there is a death sentence over his head already.. Or e is afraid that if he tries to eat right and keep his numbers down something bad will happen anyway so he buries his head in the sand?

Fear can make us do so many irrational things. It is worrying that he said something so matter-of-fact (or nonchalant ) is the only other way I can hear it in my head, is worrying. Is he depressed, do you think? He is trying to shrug these things off.

You're right it is not fair on you at all. Maybe you need to confront his and ask him outright why he wont try, again if not for himself, but for his family. It might make him upset, and it might make him defensive but it needs to be said. *hugs*
 
I would like to thank every one on here for listening/ reading my post and saying their piece.
I much appreciate the input from every one.
I understand that hubby may feel alone on the diabetes front, even with support. I really have to try harder I think to help him understand that diabetes does not mean the end of your life. Maybe I am not supportive enough! No one is perfect.
 
*Cuddles*

You were being supportive looking out for his health and hopefully all he needs is you being supportive emotionally.

Don't for a second think it's 'your fault' or anything though, you have been great trying to take care of him.

But yes, perhaps he will feel motivated to try and take care of himself if he feels more positive about life in general and the diabetes doen't mean he is necessarily 'doomed anyway'. Changes can be made, he can get it under control and be a happy person again for your entire family

Best of luck xxxx
 
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