Diabetes & Alzheimers

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skully70

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Type 2
Hello Everyone I'm new to this website. My mother has been type 2 diabetic for about 10 years now and also has Alzheimer's Disease (about 3 years); she's recently for the first time experiencing really sudden high blood sugars which is exacerbating her Alzheimer's terribly. She's still in hospital at the moment (day 4) as her blood sugars are taking a long, long time to come down. Does anyone else have any experience of sudden blood sugar highs? No changes to her lifestyle or diet have taken place. We're hoping today that her doctor will change the type of insulin she's taking, she's usually on Mixtard.
I'm guessing that her insulin needs a total revamp but any advice would be gratefully received.
 
hi skully and a warm welcome to the forum
I can really only suggest one thing from my own experience and that is this current weather we are having many of us are really struggling to have steady numbers at the moment. Im assuming the altzimers mixed with it all wont help either , but im sure many more will be able to give much more sounder advice
 
Thanks

Hi Steff

Many thanks for my warm welcome and your swift response. It's good to hear from other people and their experiences, the more info the better. The staff in the hospital aren't diabetic experts.

Thanks again.
 
Hello and Welcome to the forum Skully 🙂🙂🙂 I think the weather is playing a part in high levels for some of us at the moment , mine are erratic to say the least and my diet /exersise is the same :confused: I hope she starts to feel better soon.
 
Hi Skully, I don't have any experiences I can relate to your mother's, but just wanted to welcome you to the forum. Was her control good before this recent episode? Has she any other illnesses at the moment, as this would also keep her sugars high, as will stress, which she may be feeling by being in the hospital and away from her normal environment. My mother does not have diabetes, but has vascular dementia and can become very agitated when out of her 'comfort zone'.

Hoping things improve soon!🙂
 
Hi Scully and welcome to the forum. Can't suggest anything the others havven't said, unless there's a chance she's may have been eating or drinking without remembering she's done so, or without other being aware she has? Hope she feels better soon and the sugars stabilise.
 
Thank you......

Thank you so much guys for your replies. It really does comfort me to be able to talk to you guys about my mum.

She was due to be released from hospital on Tuesday as her BS was down to 9.5 but she had another sudden unexplained spike up to 26! She's so distressed and fed up in there now, it's made no better by the fact that she's on the wrong ward really. We check her menu sheets to check she's eating the food for diabetics but like one of you said we can't guarantee that that's what she's actually eating and of course she can't really remember. She has no other illnesses that we're aware of. She's had the same diet and lifestyle for many years now too. Perhaps it's just time to revamp her diet etc. Previously she's only ever suffered with hypos so this is all new to us.

Thanks again for being there for all your help and support.
 
aww thats such a shame to hear i bet she is feeling bad they is nothing worse then looking forward to coming out of hospital then they tell you or something happens when they cant come out , all i can say is she is under the best care and all you can do is be there for her like you are xx
 
Hi Scully, sorry to hear about your mum's distress - it can't be helping her levels either. Is she seeing a DSN or specialist while she's in there?
 
Thanks Steff x

Runner - apparently they're linking her up with one, they should have by now. Whilst I was visiting her in the hospital last week a DSN came and was asking her all sorts of questions which I thought was quite odd given that she has Alzhiemer's and cannot be relied on to give the right answers, so that didn't comfort me any whatsoever, especially when he stated 'well if you've been eating Sara Lee cakes all day that would explain the sudden high' - I could have hit him! Sadly I'm down in Bristol and mum's in Warrington so I'm not even there every day to chase things up. My step-father's with her though and doing his damndest to get things sorted.
 
god these DSN'S they can say the most insulting things and nt even realise , i do know because of people in here and myself personally they can be a very long wait to see dietician my wait was 3 month.
 
skully70 said:
Thanks Steff x

Runner - apparently they're linking her up with one, they should have by now. Whilst I was visiting her in the hospital last week a DSN came and was asking her all sorts of questions which I thought was quite odd given that she has Alzhiemer's and cannot be relied on to give the right answers, so that didn't comfort me any whatsoever, especially when he stated 'well if you've been eating Sara Lee cakes all day that would explain the sudden high' - I could have hit him! Sadly I'm down in Bristol and mum's in Warrington so I'm not even there every day to chase things up. My step-father's with her though and doing his damndest to get things sorted.
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So helpful and senstitive! Not surprised you felt angry! Does your mum and step-dad have any support in helping them manage the Alzhiemers - they may find help in managing the diabetes through that route too? If not, might be worth your step-dad contacting the hospital social work team. It must be very frustrating for you living such a distance away - been there myself - you may be able to ask for a meeting of the professionals involved with her care to coincide with a visit, to thrash out some of the issues and a plan for her care?
 
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runner said:
So helpful and senstitive! Not surprised you felt angry! Does your mum and step-dad have any support in helping them manage the Alzhiemers - they may find help in managing the diabetes through that route too? If not, might be worth your step-dad contacting the hospital social work team. It must be very frustrating for you living such a distance away - been there myself - you may be able to ask for a meeting of the professionals involved with her care to coincide with a visit, to thrash out some of the issues and a plan for her care?
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My mum doesn't know she has Alzheimer's (although deep down I think she does); she expressly asked that she wasn't told (as she would take her own life) and neither were me or my brother. My step-father didn't tell us for the first year. So this means that we can't mention the Alzheimer's or make any reference to it and have to ensure that any care staff don't either. I rang both the Diabetes and Alzheimer's helplines and found the Diabetes one to be the most informative and helpful. Her Alzhimer's is usually manageable, although now my step-father doesn't leave her alone due to a couple of hiccups. When her blood sugar's are high it exacerbates his Alzheimer's and she then fails to recognise my step-father which is just awful for her and for him and us. I think now that the hospital staff realise the fullness of the situation ie, her recent spikes were had under their care and her ensuing confusion they should now provide the correct care. Whether the Alzheimer's will have to be addressed fully and properly now I don't know. I had no idea diabetes was so unpredicatable and that it varied so much from person to person, this forum is marvellous for helping me to learn and understand more. Many thanks.
 
one of the big reasons for high numbers in hospital is inactivity. Mostly patients are sitting around so blood sugars are higher as no exercise to bring them down.

Is your mother doing her own insulin injections or is your step father supervising? I was just wondering if maybe she was not taking them properly or forgetting the doses. Mixed insulins are well known for producing highs and lows and very few people get really good control on them.

hope your mum gets out soon
 
sofaraway said:
one of the big reasons for high numbers in hospital is inactivity. Mostly patients are sitting around so blood sugars are higher as no exercise to bring them down.

Is your mother doing her own insulin injections or is your step father supervising? I was just wondering if maybe she was not taking them properly or forgetting the doses. Mixed insulins are well known for producing highs and lows and very few people get really good control on them.

hope your mum gets out soon
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I've just found out my mum's home!! I'm so pleased. They've got her blood sugars down now (quite quickly) this time. My step-father supervises the injection but mum does it whilst he watches. They've changed the injection site now too so that should help. Good tip on the inactivity, I'll pass that on. They're like different people now they're home and I can go and visit her on the weekend.
Thanks guys, you're all fab.
 
Oh and they have a DSN's phone number now for any problems Mon - Fri, 9 -5pm, she's due for her first check-up visit next week 😱)
 
OHH thats great news really is , hope she is feeling aload better x and good news on the DSN front x
 
skully70 said:
I've just found out my mum's home!! I'm so pleased. They've got her blood sugars down now (quite quickly) this time. My step-father supervises the injection but mum does it whilst he watches. They've changed the injection site now too so that should help. Good tip on the inactivity, I'll pass that on. They're like different people now they're home and I can go and visit her on the weekend.
Thanks guys, you're all fab.
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Excellent news! Hope the visit goes well!🙂
 
That's really good news skully. I can't really add any personal experieces to this but I've moved it to the general board as it may get seen more by someone with similar experiences.
 
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