Concerned about partner with Type 2

[Concernedpartner58]

My partner doesn’t live with me but we see each other regularly. He has recently been diagnosed with Type 2 with an Hba1C of 149 which I understand is completely off the chart. He is 64 and had become rather wobbly and vague as well as tired, napping all the time. He has lost a lot of weight over the last few months without changing his diet much. He drank a lot of full sugar cola and definitely has a sweet tooth. He says he has given all that up; he drinks Coke Zero but has still eaten the odd sweet when he feels like it. The doctor did not give him a blood glucose monitor or really, according to him, details about the problems of such high blood sugar. Apparently he said he had never seen such a high reading. He put him on Metformin twice a day and a statin once a day. My daughter had gestational diabetes with her last baby and so we became familiar with finger prick testing daily and keeping blood sugars low by not over indulging in bread, pasta, rice or potatoes, plus getting a resting glucose reading. He has been really resistant to this but I finally got him to do a test two hours after I prepared a low carbohydrate dinner for him. His reading was 16.3. His resting rate was 14.7. He thinks that because he is on Metformin he can eat his I usual food and doesn’t view this as a life threatening disease. I am really concerned about these levels and don’t know what I can do to persuade him that he is not really taking this seriously. He thinks he is. He thinks that all the symptoms he has had have improved so it’s fine, he doesn’t seem to think that more damage is being done. I’d like to hear from anyone who has either had this experience or gets why he doesn’t want to do everything he can to bring the blood sugars down. Many thanks

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum
Something you say alerts me to the possibility that he may actually be Type 1 or LADA as the warning signs are the loss of weight, high blood glucose and tiredness and probably thirst and frequent loo visits.
Metformin is not going to do much if anything at all unless he makes some serious dietary changes, but I would urge you to get him to go back to the GP and request the tests for Type 1 diabetes which are GAD antibodies and a C-peptide test.
With glucose levels so high there is risk of complications unless those levels are brought down.
Are you able to encourage him to come onto this site and have a look at the Learning Zone and tap into people's experience.
GPs often don't realise Type 1 is a possibility in more mature adults and associate it with young people but there are many people here with a Type 1 diagnosis as adults and older adults at that.
The other thing is with glucose levels so high he should have the means to test for ketones, either from the GP or dip sticks can be bought at a pharmacy.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Concernedpartner58 🙂 With an unexpected weight loss, it would be wise for Type 1 to be ruled out. Contrary to popular belief, Type 1 can develop at any age and is actually more common in adults than children. It tends to come on more slowly in adults and adults are often wrongly assumed to be Type 2.

Is your partner’s GP doing any follow-up tests? Has an antibodies test and a C Peptide been suggested?

My priority would be to rule out Type 1.

 

[Concernedpartner58]

Thank you so much for that insight. Type 1 hasn’t been mentioned as a possibility but the very high levels have me seriously concerned. I will show him your responses and see if he will go back to the GP. Thank you that’s so helpful.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about your partner’s diagnosis @Concernedpartner58

A diagnosis with diabetes, particularly one that comes on out of the blue, can have a big impact on a person. People can respond in very different ways, but going through a process very similar to grieving (with stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and ultimately acceptance).

It can feel overwhelming, and some people take a while before they can begin to engage positively with their diagnosis. It must be scary for you, but it!s not at all uncommon.

Let us know how the discussions go with his GP and whether LADA or T1 ends up being the reason for the rapid onset and the weight loss.

 

[Concernedpartner58]

Hello everyone and many thanks for your contributions. To update, so far, partner has not wanted to go back to GP for type 1 testing and says he was not offered testing by the GP. Obviously I would like to rule out Type 1 and I think he will do this when he is further along in his adjustment. However, I tapped into his natural enjoyment of data and now he has a glucose monitor and is testing his bloods - competing with himself to lower the blood sugars. They are still too high - his lowest after a meal was 9.5 and his fasting bloods are more like 14. He is still on the Metformin and statins but actually making sure he records taking them, to make sure he doesn’t miss any. The hardest thing for him to adjust to is losing his four slices of toast and marmalade in the morning. He does enjoy bacon, sausage and eggs but to him that is not his weekday breakfast. I am trying to find a low carb way to being him something that substitutes for the bread To satisfy that part of his brain that feels it needs bread. I realise that this has been a very difficult adjustment so far and that we are on a long journey but he is beginning to realise that he’s not fine, he has improved but it’s nowhere near a big enough improvement to bring him back to himself. It’s the things like he‘s beginning to understand that the lower sugars help him work more effectively in his job which is all about statistics and the data and requires your brain to be operating on all four cylinders!

 

[Leadinglights]

Hello everyone and many thanks for your contributions. To update, so far, partner has not wanted to go back to GP for type 1 testing and says he was not offered testing by the GP. Obviously I would like to rule out Type 1 and I think he will do this when he is further along in his adjustment. However, I tapped into his natural enjoyment of data and now he has a glucose monitor and is testing his bloods - competing with himself to lower the blood sugars. They are still too high - his lowest after a meal was 9.5 and his fasting bloods are more like 14. He is still on the Metformin and statins but actually making sure he records taking them, to make sure he doesn’t miss any. The hardest thing for him to adjust to is losing his four slices of toast and marmalade in the morning. He does enjoy bacon, sausage and eggs but to him that is not his weekday breakfast. I am trying to find a low carb way to being him something that substitutes for the bread To satisfy that part of his brain that feels it needs bread. I realise that this has been a very difficult adjustment so far and that we are on a long journey but he is beginning to realise that he’s not fine, he has improved but it’s nowhere near a big enough improvement to bring him back to himself. It’s the things like he‘s beginning to understand that the lower sugars help him work more effectively in his job which is all about statistics and the data and requires your brain to be operating on all four cylinders!

There are some lower carb breads that can be found in supermarkets so you could try those.
How about Keto pancakes for breakfast, loads of recipes on the internet.
If you are making adjustments elsewhere that will all help, but could you gradually reduce the 4 slices of toast to 2 and have some greek yoghurt and berries.

 

[Concernedpartner58]

Thank you those sound good to me - he hates yoghurt but maybe a little cream would be ok? Are skinny syrups ok to use?

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you those sound good to me - he hates yoghurt but maybe a little cream would be ok? Are skinny syrups ok to use?

Cream is fine carb wise and I'm sure the skinny syrups are if you can tolerate the taste, I don't like them as I find they have an after taste.

 

[Docb]

Thank you those sound good to me - he hates yoghurt but maybe a little cream would be ok? Are skinny syrups ok to use?

My thought on your question is to ignore the fancy writing on the front of a packet and check out the nutritional label on the back. Descriptions like "skinny" have no real meaning - it means different things to different people - and as @Leadinglights suggests, the manufacturer may have simply changed the formulation by substituting one ingredient with something you might not want.

Ignore the sales pitch and get to be able to read the only information on the packet that the manufacturer is legally obliged to be honest about and that is the ingredients list and nutritional information is what I say.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm with @Leadinglights on the Skinny Syrup. I hate to waste anything, even things I don't like or burn but I bought to Skinny Syrups and they both got chucked out. They are low carb but have polyols I believe as the artificial sweetener and I really dislike it. Far better to reeducate your palette than continue to feed a sweet tooth in my opinion.

Great that you have managed to motivate your partner with testing and that he is starting to feel a benefit from his levels coming down and being more clear headed. High BG makes it difficult to concentrate or even be rational sometimes.... it seems to make me more emotional and anxious. If you ever need to give him an extra push with his management, a Freestyle Libre sensor makes a great toy! It is a bit compulsive sometimes but enables you to see (just by scanning the sensor on your arm) what your BG levels are doing day and night. You can scan 100+ times a day and records the info even through the night when you aren't scanning so that you can check to see what happens when you sleep. I know what men and toys are like and if finger prick testing has given him an incentive, Libre would really get him going!! It's not cheap but they have a 14 day free trial if you have a compatible phone. If you go to the Abbott Laboratories website you will find information on the Freestyle Libre. If you need any other information on it we are always happy to answer questions. Only problem is that when the sensor runs out in 14 days he is going to want another one and they are not cheap!!