Diabetes please advise we don't know what else to do.

[lisad123]

My mum has been diabetic for about six years now due to her weight and poor eating habits. She's never had it under control and I'm sure she lies to diabetes nurse! She had a major stroke at Easter which they said was because of bad diabetes management but my parents swear blind it's the meds!!

Only how she's home but still not checking her sugar levels enough. If she's unwell first thing I do is check levels and normally too high.
We went for dinner tonight and for pudding they had fruit, pancakes and ice cream. I served up and refused to give her anything other than fruit, my dad went behind my back and gave her the pancakes and ice-cream!! I was so mad. Before I left I checked her levels, they were 30.6!!!

I'm not sure how to manage this, shes slowly killing herself and my dad doesn't see the seriousness of it all :(

Can I call her GP? Nurse?
At what point is her levels high enough for me to tale her to hospital?

[deemented]

30.6??? Fucking hell!!! I worry if my levels get above 9!

I would definately have a word with either her GP or her nurse - something really needs to be done - she's going to kill herself if she carries on like this.

Is she on metformin or insulin?

She obviously doesn't want to see sense, i'm really sorry you're in this position.

[ColdSancerre]

Has she had the education stuff they do? Seeing diabetic nurse and dietician? I would call her diabetic nurse and ask if they can call her in for a training/advice session and your dad must go to it too.

I'm not sure at what point she needs to go to hospital as DP only monitors his via urine tests.

I hope you can get her help.

[lisad123]

Metaformin.
When she was in hospital they had her on insulin on sliding scale, as they needed to get it controlled.

[controlpantsandgladrags]

30.6 is really fucking high (sorry to be blunt). Was she walking around functioning normally with a level that high? If so, I'm astonished!

I would absolutely call her GP. And 30.6 is definitely high enough to be taking her to hospital.

[Mandy2003]

I'm a Type 1 diabetic, and if my sugar was 30.6 I would be puking from here to kingdom come and rapidly going into ketoacidosis! My Dad is Type 2 and not only does he take Metformin, he also takes 1 if not 2 other diabetes meds - Glicozide and another, probably an old-style one too. No faith in fancy new meds!

YY that she urgently needs to see the diabetes nurse, hopefully with both you and your Dad there as well to say what's been going on. Don't know who your Dad thinks he's doing a favour to be encouraging her to eat these foods though

[lisad123]

I have tried to tell her this is way too high and she just says "wellnit always goes high when I eat but comes down an hour or two later"

She was doing ok but since the stroke she's unwell. Whenever she is feeling poorly I check her levels and they are always high.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Yes, its way too high. Recently when we were visiting my diabetic MIL, the nurse measured her sugar - 28 - his eyebrows shot up, later that evening she went to hospital and was on the sliding scale.

She's 93, and till the start of this year was really good at checking her levels and administering her own insulin, and eating sensibly - that's why she's been able to live so long with diabetes with few complications.

I'm sorry about this, Lisa - it sounds like they both have their heads in the sand. Is there anyone who they'd take seriously who could give them both a good talking-to?

[controlpantsandgladrags]

wow it sounds like you're bashing your head against a brick wall with them

I take it she has been given all the relevant information relating to her condition and told what the consequences of poor control are? Does she see the GP/nurse regularly for monitoring? I really feel for you...it's bloody hard when nothing you say gets through.

[clucky80]

Hi Lisa, my goodness I really feel for you. Your mum must be feeling terrible too with sugars that high it is really hard to function with such high sugars, you have no energy, feel very sick, ache all over etc. I got type 1 diabetes when I was 12 and in my teenage years I went into denial I think and just chose to ignore it as I wanted to be like my friends. I was told about the complications and how they may affect me but I always felt that if it happened I would be old and wouldn't care! By the time I wanted to start looking after myself it was very difficult as my diabetes was so brittle and I had also developed crohns disease and was treated with steroids which put my sugars very high for a long time. Four years ago, when I was 26 I had a kidney and pancreas transplant as my kidneys were failing, I was losing my eyesight, had neuropathy, stomach problems etc. Fortunately my transplant saved my life and I am so so lucky :) I didn't know anyone else with diabetes until I had actually had my transplant and talking to people who have the condition definitely would have helped me when I was younger. I had always felt like I was the only one who found it difficult to manage and was a bit of a failure with it so what was the point. Maybe if your mum could talk to someone about her condition and get some good practical advice it would help. I was told 'just eat healthily' but saying this to a teenager (or someone who doesn't know much about food and nutrition) was pointless as it didn't mean anything to me. When I was older I went on a dafne course and learnt about balancing insulin with carbohydrate counting and it was a revelation to me. It finally felt that I was in control of the diabetes again and I knew that I could have a normal diet with the occasional treat, balanced out with my insulin. Unfortunatley the course came a bit too late for me. You could perhaps see if your mum could attend such a course? I guess at the end of the day though your mum is going to have to want to do it for herself - you are a great support for her but your dad will need to back you up too and I am sure it would help if he could change his diet so that all of the 'bad' foods aren't in constant supply in the house. Diabetes really is a cruel disease, i had no idea it could affect every part of your body. I am off insulin completely now and have normal sugars and the difference in me is amazing. I have so much more energy and also I didn't realise before how much high sugars affected my mood, I am much calmer and happier now too. I wish you lots of luck, I am sorry this is so long it's just something I am really passionate about.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Im a podiatrist and deal with diabetics a lot, and am also married to one.

Some patients cannot tell if their sugar is high, some do feel poorly. I suspect your mum is the former.

Your mums gp will be checking her HbA1C readings every 6/12 months and will be aware she is poorly controlled. They will give her the lecture. Patients lie routinely and I'm not above phoning practice nurses to ask them for the hba1c levels in a patient who has total loss of feeling in both feet and swears blind the gp says he has excellent controll.

The only person who can alter your mums controll is your mum. And shes not doing it, you cannot save people from themselves.

I really dont mean to be harsh but thinking the gp and nurse at her surgery dont know she is poorly controlled is a bit optomistic.

There is a small cohort of non-compliant patients in every surgery who either dont want to learn controll or think it really wont ever happen to them.

I have seen people lose legs because they think we are making way too much of this foot ulcer they have and why dont we just put a red hot poker on it like they did in the olden days.

Another problem is a lot of patients (like dh) see junk food as a normal way of eating and healthy food as revolting. e.g sausage, chips and beans good, low fat sausage, new potatoes and peas and gravy BAD. He spends a lot of time eating food he doesnt really enjoy because he does not want to be on tablets.

The only way for you to find out the extent of your mums diabetes controll issues is to go to the diabetes clinic at the gp's and sit in on the consultation, if she will let you. I had one patient swearing blind to his wife the gp said it was fine to have a whole bottle of red every night and a pudding and that his diabetes is perfect. It's the only way you will know for sure. But dont be surprised if the gp starts the session saying " as we have discussed previously mrs x ......".