Question.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Question.....
8
Wed, 02-18-2004 - 6:39pm

Hi all. I have a quick question for everyone. My dad has diabetes and last night his blood sugar sky rocketed to 595 and he was sent to the hospital. He's been feeling bad all week...just felt kinda lousy. And my mom didn't think to check his blood sugar level. So, anyway, they got it down by giving him some insulin. He's got an appointment tomorrow with his doctor.


My question is, what makes your blood sugar level jump high like that? I don't know much about diabetes, so if anyone has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it! Maybe someone could post some websites that I could send to my parents that may help with this.


Thanks!

Avatar for cl_d_minnick
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Thu, 02-19-2004 - 2:02am
Hi Mandy, I am one of the community leaders for this board who has been a type 1 diabetic for over 28 years now and also on a insulin pump for over 6 years. There is many things that can cause a diabeic's blood sugar to sky rocket such as a illness, infection, excercise, over activity, stress, eating to much food high in sugar like candy and cookies, and not monitoring your blood sugars better so that a doctor knows how to treat you for your diabetes. I really hope your father is gets to feeling better and never has this problem ever again. Do let us know what his doctor has to say about this incident. Take care and do have a fabulous day!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Thu, 02-19-2004 - 7:04am

Hi! Thank you for your

Avatar for cl_d_minnick
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Fri, 02-20-2004 - 12:57am
Hi Mandy, I am so sorry to hear about your fathers blockage. I know how scary that can be and to me there is no such thing as a small one that is nothing to worry about especially when it can do harm to a very vital organ. Is your father seeing a Endocrinologist who specialise in diseases such as diabetes?
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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
In reply to: arowland23
Fri, 02-20-2004 - 2:56am
Well, The American Diabetes Association is always a good site. www.americandiabetesassociation.com, I think. WebMD is a good resource, also. I'll look in my stack on my email for health and send more.

Good thing your mom got him to the hospital right away. He could have gone into a coma!

Something tells me that he hasn't been following the dietary requirements. Stress can make it (the measurement of glucose) much higher, but not into the 500's. If he's had surgery lately, he may have been given an IV with glucose in it. Be sure that he has a bracelet to wear that shows he's diabetic so the EMT's done give him the wrong stuff.

Ok...guidelines: fasting range is 70-110 and 2 hours after eating a measurement should be below 140.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Fri, 02-20-2004 - 7:03am

Hi all. Well, the doctor is assuming that it

Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Fri, 02-20-2004 - 12:15pm

Hi Mandy,


I am the other community leader for this board. I am a type 2 diabetic and a registered nurse. Any advise I may give is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from a health care practitioner of your choice.


My take on this is that your dad's diabetes has not been in good control and that he is not meeting the minimum treatment guidelines. Also the number one cause of death in diabetics is heart disease. Diabetes causes inflammation of blood vessels, amoungst other things. This leads to increased heart problems and strokes. Also with a blood sugar this high his beta cells in his pancreas may not be able to produce enough insulin anymore.


How long has your dad been diabetic? what type of insulin did they put him on?


One of the problems with Medicare (I am assuming that your dad is on Medicare) is that they only pay for the diabetic to check their blood sugar once per day and that isn't adequate. Your dad should be checking his blood sugar himself unless his isn't capable of doing that because of his stroke. At this point he needs to be checking it four times per day so that his physicians can tell what is going on.


Most meds don't cause an elevation in the blood sugar. The exception to this is psych meds. They are notoriously bad for causing elevated blood sugars and increased weight.


Please see if there is a diabetic clinic near you that your family can be referred to. There they would meet up with dietitans who specialize in diabetes and certified diabetic educators. Your dad needs to be eating a diabetic meal plan and he needs to be exercising as much as he can with his limitations. At the moment probably only walking will be allowed by his physician.


There is a very good web site with information for the newly diagnosed as well as the long timer. It is the Joslin Diabetic Clinic which is part of Harvard University. Look at www.joslin.org

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Registered: 03-28-2003
In reply to: arowland23
Fri, 02-20-2004 - 1:20pm

Mary,


Wow! Thank you for

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
In reply to: arowland23
Sat, 02-21-2004 - 9:00pm
Glad that things seem to be settling down for your dad. I promise I'll send you those sites. In fact...I'll go there now and be right back. It's under another identity.

"healthy" is one and "fitness" is this one...ha ha...too bad neither of them are accurate.