What Can I Do?

[Crosser]

For the past several years my best friend and I have been very close. So when his step father died two months ago he and his family really needed some support. Right now he doesn't have anyone living with him. This means that no one is there in the early morning hours that can check on him. He has been known to have very low blood sugars while he sleeps and now I am worried.

His mother and him were recently in an argument and she doesn't seem to be checking on him in the early mornings either. With no one there to check on him, I fear to go to bed at night because he could be dead the next morning. He lives about 10 to 15 mins away from me so if someone needs me to check on him I'd gladly do it. One of his cousins has been sleeping over for a few nights the past week but that can't continue. As of tonight, his cousin is suppose to call him around 9 to 10 am but he often has his lows in the very early mornings (6 to 7 am).

There is also the issue that he hates that someone has to check on him. I fully understand his feeling on this because I to have to live with my family because of heart problems. I guess what I'm trying to say is that because of a death in the family he is very depressed and upset lately. This has led to him seeming to not care about his diabetes and how it affects him and his friends and family members. He is not suicidal but he just doesn't care if he dies anymore because of having to deal with his problems.

I don't know what I can do for him. He and I are both on Medicaid so payment of medical supplies isn't usually a problem. He does use a pump as well. Until he is able to find the right balance for his blood sugars at night this will continue to go on. So what I need to know is if there is some sort of service that will call him to check on him via the phone/in person that Medicaid will cover. I've heard there is a device that can checks his blood sugars for him while he sleeps and will call 911 if they get to low.

PLEASE HELP ME! I don't want to lose my best friend! He is my only friend I have and losing him because I don't know where to turn just doesn't seem right. All I can do is pray for him but that isn't enough. I won't let my best friend die from something that can be helped. I already lost my little brother two years ago in a bike accident. I won't lose my friend! So please help me!

 

[SophiaW]

If your friend is using an insulin pump then it should be fairly easy to adjust his basal insulin to avoid the hypos in the early hours of the morning. If he's tending to have a hypo around 5 or 6am then he needs to lower his basal insulin 2 to 3 hours before - so around 2am to 3am. I think the best thing you can do for your friend is encourage him to go along to visit his diabetes specialist nurse or consultant and explain what readings he's getting, take a diary of readings for the past month or two. They will be able to advise how to adjust the pump settings to avoid these hypos. Alcohol can also cause hypos later on in the evening or early morning, I don't have first hand experience of dealing with alcohol and you don't mention drinking, if your friend does drink then perhaps someone else who knows can give some advice about that. If he's living alone recommend that he has hypo treatments in an easy to reach place should he wake up from a hypo feeling confused. If subconsiously he knows where the hypo treatment is and it's easy to get to (maybe in a draw next to the bed rather than in the kitchen) then he will have a better chance at quickly treating the hypo himself even if he is feeling a bit confused.