What is Diabetes Type 1
Type 1 diabetes (formerly known as "childhood" or "juvenile" diabetes or "insulin dependent" diabetes) is most commonly diagnosed in children and adolescents. The adult incidence o...
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my dads diabetes
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Hey everyone! im not sure if he has type 1 or 2..but last night for instance, there was a spider on the ceiling..i hate spiders! i called for him once, he responded but didnt come..i waited for a short minute while my heart is pounding from the spider..i called for him again, he then came. he seemed fine when he was walking up to me..then again i was thinking of the spider and how it must be killed. he killed it..it fell to the floor, we both got down to look for the dead scary thing..thats when it got weird. we found it, and he says "get me uhhhhhh" then like froze. i went and got a napkin...walked to him and then he looks and says -"ya thats good" ..that doesnt sound weird, but for him, not being quick with reaction and talking wasnt right. so then he put it in the napkin n just sat there. thats when i noticed he was pale white, and sweating sooooo bad!! i kept asking him whats wrong, what do you feel like, what is going on..i mean i even went down the list do you feel weak, shaky, dizzy, etc. i got NO responce..he just stared off like he was thinking or like he just didnt hear me. i sware i asked him over and over like 10x! i ran n got him water..once he drank some he started to "come back" he got up, started to walk to his room...and stopped in the hall-thats when i said im taking you to the hospital. he said no he just wanted to lay down. i was affraid for him to just lay down cause i didnt know what could happen to him if he fell asleep or what! so i got him more water, a cold wet towel, a dry towel..and just sat in there with him..he was talking back, seemed like he was becoming normal again but his words were a little slurry and he kept licking his lips like he was dry mouthed. he said he was feeling better now that he laid down. he did have some m&m's, were thinking thats what it was from..he does take like 5 diabete meds every day..he doesnt eat as much as he should..i know he will have a decent breakfast..he says he has lunch every day but im not there to see-he works, i work..so i dont know..and as far as dinner goes, we eat together mostly and when we do..we both stuff ourselves. But hes not getting enough veggies like he should. and probly having too much sweets. he likes his fudge bars or choc. candies.is the attack he had last night from the m&m's?
He usually is up in the morning an hour/hour1/2 earlier than i am..drinks his coffee(which he shouldnt) and reads the paper..this morning when i got up at 730..he wasnt up..i was scared, so when i asked through the door if hes up he said yes, asked what time it was-i told him..he laid in bed for another 15 min. or so. once he came out..he said he had a hard time sleeping-said hes been having a hard time sleeping for a week now..only getting like an hour of sleep. i had no idea. what is that from?? is that the diabetes??? he's also on 2 new meds for his knee and his back. could those have something to do with all of this? he didnt even remember the spider! or that i was trying to ask him over and over what was wrong. im affraid that something is really wrong, and that if im not there one day or night something might happen. any clue whats wrong? is there anything i said that gives signs of something that could be wrong or something?? im sorry this is long, i just have no clue about this and im scared for him! Posted on 07/21/09, 04:07 pm |
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awww hun you sound like such a good daughter looking out for your dad..if he had a hypo then he wont remember what he said/did while in it, a diabetic when hypo or hyper can act strange or drunk sometimes and confused over stuff ano its scarey for you to watch but he will always be ok if you get him sugar soon ...do you go with him to his hospital visits it would be a good idea so that you can both learn stuff..being a diabetic can make your sleeping a bit out of sync if you have had a lot os lows or highs..is he on insulin? when he gos like that again you realy need to check his sugar level to see if hes up or dwn before you give him anything (just to be sure) water wont realy help him any or just lying dwn (dnt ever leave him alone when hes like this)..you both just need to ask yr doc some questions..hope iv helped :) 
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I'm just betting the M&M's actually helped bring him back to "normal" as it sounds like a very classic insulin reaction (where you don't have enough sugar in your system)! Way to go on not leaving him alone as we can be very difficult to handle in these situations.
He sounds exactly like me when I go low. I too will often not recall what I did or said when I go really low. Cool sweats you betcha! And I also slur my speech and am basically "zoned out". LOL I even become very polite as long as you just let me lay down and take a brief nap. My husband doesn't even wait for me to test when I act like that. It's an instant glass of juice for me or some other form of quick acting sugar. Then when I come around I do a blood glucose test. That's where you prick your finger with a needle, put a drop of blood on strip that is inserted into a machine, and then the machine gives you back a number. Does your dad have one of these machines? They usually fit in the palm of your hand. If he does have one there's a bunch of us here that can help with interpreting the numbers. If not it's your next thing to "nag" your dad to get and use. Especially in these cases where you don't know what is physically going wrong. Hey once again good job on not backing down on your dad. They can be tough buggers to handle especially when they are out of sorts! I recently had a similar experience with my dad but that's a whole different story. Got to love those defenders of the princess from spider! (LOL Okay so really that's my spin when my dad or hubby has to kill one. :-D )
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I agree with Smith. It sounds like your dad would feel better if he was checking his blood sugar. Do you know if he has a meter? The safest thing to do if he is acting strange is to check this. Different areas in the world have different systems for measuring, without knowing your location I can't say what system you use or what his blood sugars should be.
Does he see doctors often? I think maybe at his next appointment you could come with him and have a word with the doctor about how things are. Depending on what the meds are they might have some effect. Or the fact that he has problems with his knee and back may mean he is not exercising so that affects blood sugars too. I find if my blood sugars are high it is hard to sleep, I get very restless. I would suggest talking to your dad to learn about his care. You need to know if he is type 1 or 2, and what medication he is on, tablets, diet and/or insulin, if tablets how many and what type, if insulin how much and what type. How long has he been diabetic? The two of you could go to some sort of training. The hospital may offer something or a diabetes charity might. Be aware that nobody is perfect. There are targets but we don't reach them all the time, and that doesn't mean we are bad diabetics. Some times family members are really enthusiastic, which is a good thing, but they end up going a bit too far and trying to make the diabetic do everything perfectly and telling them off if they don't manage it. Be gentle and take things slowly, and keep updated on how you are both getting on.
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but what if its the sugar that made him like that?? thats what im saying. i know hes not on insulin..well, i think. i havent seen him or heard him mention it. he just takes pills the VA hospital perscribed. gosh, he's been taken those for as long as i can remember. i has to take them every day. obviously. the thing is, im pregnant..and hes been letting me stay with him until i found an apartment. now that i found one..im supposed to move in on the 1st. i dont have a car, other wise i would be able to go see him and check up on a regular basis. im scared now to move. he's 63 and has always had a knee and back problem. he was only taking aleve, it hasnt done much but make him tired more..so now he has reg. meds from the doctor for that. he has to take those every 8hrs. with food. when he was having that "spell" and he was laying in bed, talking to me..he was mentioning that he used to check his blood sugar 2x a day. i asked him if he has the machine thing still, he said yes. so we need to do that every day again then? how often...and i dont know if he said he remembers how do it or not, if he doesnt..i need to know. being pregnant ive had my finger pricked at a bunch of times to check my glucose count..but not really sure what to do. thank you for all of your replys. im just scared. last night he said he slept ok, but he woke up at like 430am. thats much earlier than he would normally. oh boy, what do i do?
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Both insulin and pills can cause you to go low. I would bet the farm on it that if what you experienced with him was diabetes related (and not something like a small stroke which kind of acts like that as well - sorry I don't mean to scare you more with that it's just another possibility) but I'd still guess he was low which is not caused from eating too much or sugary foods.
Diabetes is NOT avoiding sugar or carbs to manage it. Diabetes is making certain you have the correct balance of sugar and insulin in your system. Not having enough sugar can be just as dangerous as having too much and sometimes even more so. So please don't jump to the idea that his having candy, fruits, breads, or pasta is bad for him or caused him to act that way. At times they could be the very thing that saves him. The only way to know for certain if he was low is to do a blood test. As for how often he should test that is really very individualized. Some say always before you eat a meal, two hours post meal, once when you wake up, once when you go to bed, and once at 2:00AM. Sometimes that isn't even enough and they will wear a continuos glucose monitor. Others are just when you feel off. So there isn't a correct number and a correct time that fits all. I know several type twos that do very well with just testing once or twice a week and whenever they feel off. If he's not injecting insulin with a syringe or on an insulin pump my guess is that he is a type two. If he isn't testing at all it would be a good start to have one right away before he eats anything in the morning (this is called his fasting blood glucose number which can tell the doctors a lot on how his control is) and whenever he acts different or feels different. Then slowly work up to checking before bed as well and then perhaps even before meals, but off course his doctor will have the best plan for him and this is only friendly advice. Also if he hasn't been testing in while it would be a good idea to check to see if his test strips are expired as past due ones do give some funny results. As for the not sleeping well, if his back pain and leg pain are anything like the pains I have with RA then no wonder he isn't sleeping well! So far I have not found anything when you have pain besides some doctor prescribed meds to make sleeping happen nicely. So you may want to ask him into getting those pains checked out professionally if he hasn't already. As for checking in on him, I see you are one of seven siblings?!? Is it possible you could do a daily call with him (you'll still be able to catch the slurred voice and a bit of the zombieness over the phone) and if he seems off perhaps one of your siblings could drive over to check on him in person or you could take a cab on those hopefully rare occasions? You don't even have to tell him it's his daily status check cause you have a wonderful excuse to call and tell him gee grandpa guess what your granddaughter or grandson to be did in me today! How can that not float your dad's boat and give you some piece of mind he is still well? Hey good luck with your move, pregnancy, and taking care of pop!
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Smith-thank you soooo much! althouh the stroke thing did a little scare, for the most part that was very releaving! i feel i know a little more about this now than before. gave me hope! thank you thank you!
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I asked my dad about checking the blood sugar, and he said he doesnt anymore because if it was high..he doesnt know what to do then. ???? is there even something you can do!?!
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Yes there are things you can do, what they are depends on what medication he is on. I think it might be good for him to speak to a dietitian as well, about how to control his blood sugars with diet and exercise. It is important to find a way of controlling them that is sustainable and fits into his lifestyle. I was exactly the same, the doctors did not explain what to do about blood sugars so I did not see the point in testing. I found an education course eventually and that really helped.
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ok so i need to first know what he is taking, then ask his doc. what to do when his level is high. thank you lizzie
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