My husband has type 2 diabetes inherited and has had it 2 years.It is affecting our relationship as he can't show his feelings towards me eg emotional support,affection and also has mood swings.I need help how to cope as he won't seek help.
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Hi I am Keswick
- Thread starter keswick
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Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Could it be that his blood glucose if affecting him - I'm thinking particularly of the mood swings.
Do you know what his test results have been since diagnosis?
Is he on medication? Does he watch the amount of carbohydrate he eats daily?
Hopefully we can make a few suggestions that might help.
Do you know what his test results have been since diagnosis?
Is he on medication? Does he watch the amount of carbohydrate he eats daily?
Hopefully we can make a few suggestions that might help.
I am on medication to control my blood glucose levels. Carbs are reduced over pre diabetes levels but probably not low enough yet. The medication brings my levels within normal range provided I don’t eat anything silly. It has taken 2 years to get to this stage of control.
SueEK
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi and welcome to the forum. This site is great as everyone is very friendly and supportive, we try to help each other wherever we can. It can certainly be difficult reducing carbs depending on what sort of foods you like, I am a fussy eater so struggle with low carb but doing it as I have seen my bg’s come down into a good range. Perhaps you could let us know what medication you are on and what particular things you find hard or maybe you have some tips for us. Either way it’s nice to have you on board x
Hi Keswick, I know that when my bloods were high my emotions were all over the place, I was angry at everything and everyone but didn’t know why, I was snappy and moody. Wasn’t until things settled that my daughter admitted just how horrible I was 😳
My husband has joined the forum he is ug1234
Hi I struggle with the change in my husband and I have gone through two ops and have had no emotional support from my husband as his emotions have been affected by diabetes.He is a different person.I have found it hard to find help for myself to deal with diabetes there is alot of support for those who have it.
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Good morning Ug, and welcome to the forum.
It might be useful to start your own thread, as this would give people the chance to
focus their replies to each of you.
I am not sure whether you are currently testing you glucose levels at home? Many people with T2 find this helps them as it gives them a clearer picture of what is happening and helps them to make effective changes to their diet and portion sizes. Often with T2 GPs will not prescribe the test strips, so if self funding the cheapest
For those wishing to test, but not able to get strips prescribed, the following are the cheapest option we have come across:SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50....
A useful rule of thumb that helped me to do some swaps is
- veg grown under the ground are very high in carbs
- veg grown above the ground are medium carbs
- veg grown on the ground are low carb.
I hope that this is of some help.
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Good morning Keswick
As others have said emotions can change a lot with fluctuating glucose levels. Stabilising these can help. Reading through various threads on here can certainly give a variety of pointers to help with this, including suggestions about changes to diet and portion size, as well as self testing in order to identify the impact of specific foods on levels..
For yourself, I am sorry to hear that you have been through two ops, and hope that you have recovered well. Are you able to identify what you would like to know about Diabetes? For emotional support around Diabetes is there a local support group near you? These groups frequently provide support for the family as well. I know that I found it useful to take my husband with me to some appointments. It helps me that he understands what is going on and he is able to ask questions that I might forget, and remind me of what was said.
Has your daughter have any ideas to help me cope?
Thank you for your replies. I do not wish to alter the focus of this thread away from my wife. I will just give a bit more information that has been requested.
I am on metformin 2x850 (my maximum tolerance), alogliptin, glyclicide 40mg and atorvastatin. I do monitor my blood glucose occasionally so I know the tablet combination can bring my levels below 7.
I expect I can make some food swaps to reduce carbs and the levels of carbs in different vegetables is interesting. I also think I need to address portion size as I can be quite a big eater at times.
Whether all the issues are down to my blood glucose is unknown, Although it certainly looks like some are. One of the problems is I don’t recognise when I am being snappy until it is pointed out to me, which causes some friction at home, unsurprisingly.
I am on metformin 2x850 (my maximum tolerance), alogliptin, glyclicide 40mg and atorvastatin. I do monitor my blood glucose occasionally so I know the tablet combination can bring my levels below 7.
I expect I can make some food swaps to reduce carbs and the levels of carbs in different vegetables is interesting. I also think I need to address portion size as I can be quite a big eater at times.
Whether all the issues are down to my blood glucose is unknown, Although it certainly looks like some are. One of the problems is I don’t recognise when I am being snappy until it is pointed out to me, which causes some friction at home, unsurprisingly.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Taking gliclazide you ought to be monitoring fairly regularly - particularly if you drive as it can cause hypos.
I was started off on Metformin and Atorvastatin and I had a lot of problems both mental and physical in only a few weeks - which were all the more galling as all I needed to do to get to normal levels was reduce the carbs in my diet.
If you sort out the low carb veges and concentrate on them then portion size is not a problem - if you try to exist on tiny amounts of high carb foods them you are probably doomed to failure.
The low carb diet can reduce appetite, and I exist happily on two meals a day, and once settled on it it does seem to induce a happy state of mind so I can only recommend it to you.
I was started off on Metformin and Atorvastatin and I had a lot of problems both mental and physical in only a few weeks - which were all the more galling as all I needed to do to get to normal levels was reduce the carbs in my diet.
If you sort out the low carb veges and concentrate on them then portion size is not a problem - if you try to exist on tiny amounts of high carb foods them you are probably doomed to failure.
The low carb diet can reduce appetite, and I exist happily on two meals a day, and once settled on it it does seem to induce a happy state of mind so I can only recommend it to you.
My daughter said to tell you to take a deep breath and try not to ‘react’, it just makes it worse. She would sometimes just say gently, “mum you are not being fair”, then walk away. If she snapped back it was my excuse for an argument, I knew I was doing it but couldn’t stop. A bit like PMT on steroids
As my bloods came down I felt so much more in control of my feelings, sometimes she would just hug me, my instincts were to push her away but sometimes it did work. Focus on getting the diet right, work together on a food diary to track the readings against meals, maybe sharing this might help you feel more connected. Make sure you have time out for you, doing something that makes you happy, might make it easier for you to cope? I don’t think there is a quick fix, all I can say is I didn’t enjoy it, didn’t like myself very much and felt awful 😳 On the plus side it taught me how important it is to keep my bg under control, if I ever feel like cheating on my eating, I think about those early days......! Xx
Thank you for your reply and info from your daughter.It has been hard seeing my husband change so much with diabetes and feelings change.I joined forum to get help from people like your daughter who understand .XxMy daughter said to tell you to take a deep breath and try not to ‘react’, it just makes it worse. She would sometimes just say gently, “mum you are not being fair”, then walk away. If she snapped back it was my excuse for an argument, I knew I was doing it but couldn’t stop. A bit like PMT on steroids
As my bloods came down I felt so much more in control of my feelings, sometimes she would just hug me, my instincts were to push her away but sometimes it did work. Focus on getting the diet right, work together on a food diary to track the readings against meals, maybe sharing this might help you feel more connected. Make sure you have time out for you, doing something that makes you happy, might make it easier for you to cope? I don’t think there is a quick fix, all I can say is I didn’t enjoy it, didn’t like myself very much and felt awful 😳 On the plus side it taught me how important it is to keep my bg under control, if I ever feel like cheating on my eating, I think about those early days......! Xx
Bronco Billy
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
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