My husband, a 15 yr. vet of diabetes, gets very low blood sugar
frequently.. I’d say 3-5 times a week. Sometimes he gets low enough to
break into a sweat (for him that means he’s under 30) and he always
losing motor coordination. He looks like drunk when this happens. He is
keeping a log for his next Dr. appt., but he refuses to write down when
he gets these low BG episodes! There was one occasion when I had to call
paramedics (he was at 24), another when he went to put cars in garage &
wound up passing out & rolling backward into the street. Whenever we go
to a party or dine out, I know he takes extra insulin because he always
gets severely low that night in spite of extra food, but when I ask him
about it he lies. This is bordering on substance abuse as far as I’m
concerned. He is lean, not skinny, so I guess that means he’s going to
get low more than a person with some body fat, but can someone tell me if
this is considered normal? 3-5 times a week? He gets very defensive
about it, too…help!
26
Feb
HELP-LOW BG-HOW OFTEN IS NORM?
In a previous article, YFLA…@prodigy.com (Carole Kasak) says:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
>My husband, a 15 yr. vet of diabetes, gets very low blood sugar
>frequently.. I’d say 3-5 times a week. Sometimes he gets low enough to
>break into a sweat (for him that means he’s under 30) and he always
>losing motor coordination. He looks like drunk when this happens. He is
>keeping a log for his next Dr. appt., but he refuses to write down when
>he gets these low BG episodes! There was one occasion when I had to call
>paramedics (he was at 24), another when he went to put cars in garage &
>wound up passing out & rolling backward into the street. Whenever we go
>to a party or dine out, I know he takes extra insulin because he always
>gets severely low that night in spite of extra food, but when I ask him
>about it he lies. This is bordering on substance abuse as far as I’m
>concerned. He is lean, not skinny, so I guess that means he’s going to
>get low more than a person with some body fat, but can someone tell me if
>this is considered normal? 3-5 times a week? He gets very defensive
>about it, too…help!
No, it’s not "normal" for skinny guys to get more hypoglycemic than fat
guys. Your husband’s got some kind of denial problem — but that’s not
so unusual in dealing with illness. Whatever insulin/food schedule he’s
on is clearing not working for him, and if neither you nor his doctor
can straighten him out, he risks a REALLY serious insulin reaction —
say, while driving a car. So if just for the sake of other people on the
road at the time, I wish you’d get him straightened out pronto.
–
David Cohler, South Pasadena
This sounds to me like the diabetes isn’t the only problem
here, your husband sounds a little too much like me and perhaps
he is very resistant to "pressure" from others. You may have
to try very hard (I’m sure you ARE trying) to avoid being
accusatory, pushy, or bossy about your husband’s shortcomings.
Does he read this newsgroup at all? (Maybe he does and he’s
decided the "super control freaks" (keeping Blood sugars at
or below 50) are what he needs to excel.
BTW, I am "skinny as a rail" and continually have trouble with
HIGH sugars, insulin reactions are less than weekly with me and
they very rarely get that bad since I am a trueblue eater of
non-diabetically correct food!
If he is OD’ing on insulin, be assured that crankiness and
inability to appreciate other folks’ concerns about his health
are going to tend to increase. When my wife notices me being
weird and starts "gently suggesting" I go check my blood my
usual reaction is one of disbelief, I think she’s being
overreactive, what does she know, she’s not a diabetic (and she
really IS lacking in lots of basic understanding though I’ve
been diabetic about half our married life now, 13 years or so),
but when I do go "check things out" sure enough, I’m way too
low, scrounge up something sweet, eat, etc.
When I (along with lots of other diabetics) am low on sugar, it
creates many problems, most importantly for me the slowdown in
mental prowess and increase in confusion. I tend to start
feeling sorry for myself, often do not think I should eat
anything since I’m "usually" too high, get into a sort of blue
funk of not quite knowing what to do next, waste time puttering
around, etc, and often only when a real hunger pang hits me or
I feel a little "woozy" do I consider a possible blood sugar
problem. Unfortunately often when I need to eat the most is
when I want to the least, hypoglycemia often leaves me with a
slightly queasy feeling that makes me think food is the last
thing I’m interested in even though I actually NEED some to
overcome the same nausea etc.
Are you mentioning these things to his doctor? Perhaps a phone
call when hubby is not around to listen could help the dr. be
better forewarned about problems he’s not hearing about from
his patient. I "tell it all" to my personal physician but have
learned to put on the "all’s well" face when being interviewed
by my company physician, when I casually mentioned I
occasionally got a little dizzy (she asked how I detected when
I was low on sugar) she immediately tried to write me up for a
"no driving, no heights" restriction on my job duty profile.
This would have severely restricted my ability to PERFORM my
job duties at all. I have never passed out nor been unable to
wake up though I’ve been pretty confused and turned around a
few times (lowest BG for me has been 29 I think). One night I
recall waking up to go to the bathroom and was so confused I
couldn’t find the door in the dark, I spoke aloud and woke up
my sweet wife who got up and gently took me by the hand and
opened the door and walked me in.
If your husband has a friend or relative that he respects
perhaps they could get involved. Often those closest to us are
the ones we listen to the least (at least in MY background
Especially if he has someone else with diabetes he can relate
to … I often discount non-diabetic advice since I’ve yet to
meet one who seemed to really understand what I was going
through. Best dr. I ever had was a fellow who had a diabetic
dad, boy was he strict with me but I tended to obey and listen
since he seemed to "feel" as well as "know" what he was talking
about.
*********** Jim Devenport WB5AOX **************
* PO Box 445, McIntosh NM 87032 *
***********************************************
Allowing BG levels to fall below 40 three to five time a week is
difinitely not normal. I also am on the lean side and have been a
diabetic for ten years. I am active in outdoor sports such as
bicycling, hiking, ans skiing. I experience low BG episodes about once
every two weeks, usually after a hard day’s exercise. In my early days
of insulin treatment I would have many more episodes. I have kept a log
recording insulin taken, exercise, and reactions if any ever since I was
diagnosed with diabetes. (I also record BG levels at different times of
the day) From this log I can adjust my insulin up or down accordingly.
If your husband keeps a log of his reactions his doctor will be in a
better position to advise your husband on how to adjust his insulin or
oral medication to reduce the occurances of his severe reactions. There
must be a balance between insulin and food (carbohydrates, sugars,
ect.). The key is to find that balance.
–
The Albuquerque ROS – (505) 296-3000
Your orginal note said:
"Whenever we go to a party or dine out, I know he takes extra insulin
because he always gets severely low that night in spite of extra food."
I can understand taking extra insulin in anticipatrion that you are going
to more than you might normally eat. However, you DON’T take extra insulin
if you think you are going to be low anyway. I hope it’s clear that
insulin works to LOWER BLOOD SUGAR — LESS INSULIN will result in a HIGHER
BG.
If he is CONSISTENTLY having a reaction after eating a fairly substantial
meal, then he should probably take LESS insulin in anticipation of this
happening next time.
I hope I didn’t misunderstand that statement quoted above.
mikesa…@aol.com
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
In article <497m4j$…@condor.ic.net>, vi…@mail.ic.net writes…
>In article <48ob4b$2…@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com>, YFLA…@prodigy.com
>says…
>>My husband, a 15 yr. vet of diabetes, gets very low blood sugar
>>frequently.. I’d say 3-5 times a week. Sometimes he gets low enough to
>>break into a sweat (for him that means he’s under 30) and he always
>>losing motor coordination. He looks like drunk when this happens. He
>is
>>keeping a log for his next Dr. appt., but he refuses to write down when
>>he gets these low BG episodes! There was one occasion when I had to
>call
>>paramedics (he was at 24), another when he went to put cars in garage &
>>wound up passing out & rolling backward into the street. Whenever we go
>>to a party or dine out, I know he takes extra insulin because he always
>>gets severely low that night in spite of extra food, but when I ask him
>>about it he lies. This is bordering on substance abuse as far as I’m
>>concerned. He is lean, not skinny, so I guess that means he’s going to
>>get low more than a person with some body fat, but can someone tell me
>if
>>this is considered normal? 3-5 times a week? He gets very defensive
>>about it, too…help!
One advice that often helps is to adopt a multiple shot routine;
namely, take a reading before each meal and also at bed time
and based on that take the necessary amount of Insulin (or the appropriate
glucose tablets, if too low) — based on the mealt you are going to have
and the amount of excercise you are planning to make after that.
By this routine, you take small amounts of isulin each time, so you are bound
to have small mistakes.
I you are interested in such a routine, please contact me by e-mail and I shall
supply more details.
I am using this method for many years and never had a single hypo episode.
Rachel