Ellen
Im so sorry for your troubles. Im afraid I agree with everyone in that you cant make him take care of himself but there are maybe a few things you should know that might help you make decisions at times when they are difficult (appreciate you might already,so forgive me If I sound patronising). Can you tell us what insulin he is on, and maybe people could make suggestions that you could implement which might allay your fears
Alcohol
Diabetics ARE allowed to drink, it just usually depends on what, and how much. Drinking will LOWER your bg as your liver, which is involved in bg regulation, is busy processing alcohol so cant be involved in this. I wouldnt swear on it but roughly 1u alcohol takes 1 hours to get 'out' your bloodstream. I can have a few spirits and mixer with no probs but If I drink 6 onwards
then I need to watch. Your husband is concerned about hypos but takes 60 of insulin at night on top of alcohol. That is madness
BG levels
My meter says anything above 16.8 and I need to check for ketones. Ketones in essence are a by product of your body having not enough insulin to help use up glucose.It upsets the PH balance of your blood and can result in a thing called Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Very dangerous and deadly if left. A bg of 28 saw me admitted to hospital at the time of diagnosis so if its this high, it needs to be dealt with pronto. I assume the whacking amounts of insulin were some recognition from hubby that this was too high but if he learns what 1 unit drops his blood sugar by then he could safely reduce high bg without hypos as I cant believe a T1 would take that much in one go and be safe!!
Hypos -anything below 4 in essence, though some manage at the 3's. If he is going low a lot at night ,which btw might not
kill you if left untreated but can cause brain damage (sorry,but its a fact) so frequent hypos might be to blame for his foggy brain though jury is out on this re research which suggests that it serious hypos that causes versus ongoing hypos. High bg will make him feel rubbish though and be to blame too. If he is going low to the point where paramedics etc are required you can get a Glucagon kit which is injectible into the
muscle and can be used if people cant 'help' themselves with hypos (ie well enough to guzzle the lucozade or whatever). This might give you some reassurance that you can treat him if it ever gets to that point. Another tip, if people cant drink - try and get some icing sugar tubes, they are good for squeezing into someonnes mouth if they are a bit lethargic due to hypo
I am truly sorry for your woes, I was dx around a year ago, aged 33. I know it must be horrible having had a it a long time but my fear of complications is such that I know I will never leave the straight and narrow. There are sites, medical journals and a plethora of infomration that highlight that complications are a very real part of diabetes. Just about every diabetic forum on the web has a section on it, and its full of people with serious problems ranging from background retinopathy to full blown kidney failure so hubby needs to realise that its not scaremongering. Its fact. I know of someone whose only had it 7 years, but seems to approach it in a similar way to your hubby ie eat what i want, doesnt count insulin dose, hypo every afternoon, collapsing after drinking sessions. He's already had a skin graft on his toe after dropping something on it. I know another whose had it 30 years, A1c is not that high but higher than it should be. He has neuropathy, sexual dysfunction probs, heart bypass
Its not too late for him, but ultimately he needs to see it