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when to seek medical advice

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rachaub

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8
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Stoke on Trent
My fil has read in the book that came with his sugars monitor that he should seek medical advice if his sugars reach 13.9, what he would like to know is should he go straight to the doctors as soon as it reaches 13.9 or should he leave it a few days to see if it goes down and if it does go down should he still see the doctor?

Your help will be much appreciated
Rach
 
rachaub said:
My fil has read in the book that came with his sugars monitor that he should seek medical advice if his sugars reach 13.9, what he would like to know is should he go straight to the doctors as soon as it reaches 13.9 or should he leave it a few days to see if it goes down and if it does go down should he still see the doctor?

Your help will be much appreciated
Rach
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Hi,

You don't say what type of diabetes he has, as this could be corrected with extra insulin if he uses insulin.

Most monitors have some sort of warning usually indicating to check for ketones after a certain reading.

If he feels unwell or starts to vomit or loses conciousness then seek immediate medical help.

If you are concerned call the NHS helpline to ask for advice from someone medically trained.(assuming you live in britain,if not and you don't have such a thing then an emergency doctors apoointment will be as good)

There are many reasons for higher blood readings than normal, sickness, stress, eating more than usual, not enough insulin (if this applies to him).

Don't worry too much as high reading don't always indicate the need for medical help but if this does carry on for a few days then best seeing a doctor than leaving it to get worse.

all the best :)
 
Is he type 1? What sort of insulin regime does he use?

I'm on a basal/ bolus regime, so if my bg was 13.9 before a meal I would include a correction dose of an extra 3 units of quick acting insulin along with the insulin for that meal. Obviously this would be different for different regimes. I would only bother seeking medical advice for high bg if I also had a lot of ketones present. And even then I'd probably try to treat it myself first as my doctor isn't great. But then I've been diabetic for ever...

I think it sounds like you need to get your diabetes specialist to explain all this more clearly for you. I also think a dafne course might be a useful thing to do. I did it in January and really wish it gad been available when I was first diagnosed :-)
 
He's just come out of hospital and no-one has said anything about any of this. All they have done is put him on so much insulin and told him to take it twice a day. All he knows is that he used to be on tablets and now he is on tablets and insulin. They haven't even told him what to do if he has a hypo :o ! Frankly his entire hospital trip was a fiasco from start to finish but that is a whole different story :evil: .
 
You need to clarify what his diagnosis was, is he a Type 1 OR a Type 2 on Insulin. This helps everybody to help you with the correct answers.

Ken
 
Frankly no-one has told him!
He didn't even know that you could be type 2 if you are taking insulin. He thinks that if you are controlling with diet or tablets you are type 2 and as soon as you start with insulin you are type 1.Consequently as he understood it he is now type 1 whereas he was type 2.
No-one has told him any different.
Personally the lack of information that he has been given has really shocked me :evil: No-one seems to be telling him anything! He only read the thing about 13.9 in the book that came with his meter, no-one has told him that either.
 
All the more reason that on Monday you must find out exactly what the position is. It makes a difference as to how you would be advised by anybody here. Are you able to phone today to the Hospital and speak to somebody there who can clarify all this ?

Type 1 has to take Insulin. Type 2 can also be put on Insulin, it doesn't make them a Type 1.

Ken
 
cugila said:
All the more reason that on Monday you must find out exactly what the position is. It makes a difference as to how you would be advised by anybody here.
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My thoughts exactly but unfortunately we don't know who to ring. He saw the doctor the day after he came out and he seems as confused as my fil (and he is easily confused :? )

cugila said:
Are you able to phone today to the Hospital and speak to somebody there who can clarify all this ?
Click to expand...
LOL This is the hospital staff that didn't know that he had taken a second dose of insulin even though they gave it to him while my husband was visiting. They frequently had to ask what his blood sugars were because they kept forgetting to put it in his notes(luckily he jotted it down each time for his own records)! They couldn't even give him a diet sheet. He even had to ask them to check his blood sugar before they gave him his insulin and they only did it begrudgingly.


cugila said:
Type 1 has to take Insulin. Type 2 can also be put on Insulin, it doesn't make them a Type 1.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this we didn't even know this. My guess is because he was on the diet plus tablets for 7 years before they put him on the insulin that he is type 2 with insulin. - how clueless are we? :oops:
 
I would start with the person who is in charge of the Ward he was admitted to. There has to be Clinical Records available which should show exactly what took place and why.

If no joy there then contact the Hospital Aministrator direct and with fil's permission demand to know just what is going on and a proper response.

As for your GP, firm but polite is the thing here. He must find out what happened and also what should be done. If he is as useless as you make out then demand a referral to an Endocrinologist where he should have all the questions answered.

Personally, I think he has been treated abysmally and a complaint is in order. Things such as this shouldn't happen.....unfortunately it seems some people aren't as professional as they like to make out. :roll:

Ken
 
Thanks Ken, I will try and see what I can find out. If it was down to me I would have made a complaint but unfortunately it isn't my call. I think his hospital treatment was absolutely disgusting.
Thanks again
Rach
 
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