new here need advise

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millymolly1

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Hi my sister has type 1 diabetes she finds it very difficult to control. Can I anyone tell me if this is ok for someone like her to do? She very rarley eats and when she does it's usually bread and cheese. We were out on Friday and during the day all she wanted to do was eat, she had 5 coffees each with 2 large sugars, three very sugary desserts and 3 meals over the day and fruit juice. She began to shiver and become very cold we gave her coats to wrap up in while we were walking back to the car then she collasped to the floor and stopped breathing. No one knew what to do just to raise her legs in the air and wait, she finally gasped for breath, got up and we got her to the car, were she feel asleep during the journey home. She has had type 1 for 12 years and she is very under weight. I was with her for a week and she did not have any testing strips and I very rarley saw her having her insulin apart from the day she also eat alot? Can anyone advise me on this becasue I feel something is very wrong and don't know what to do to help her?
 
hi millie welcome to the forum well done for finding here ...that is a scarey story but i will let the more experienced folk with T1 come on to offer advice we have a number of young adults with T1 x 🙂
 
The one thing we all have in common no matter what type of diabetes we have is to eat sensibly. I believe type 1s may have a little more leeway in what they eat, but not to the degree your sister seems to be doing it. Do you have the same doctor, is there a chance you can talk to them about your concerns? They may have some ideas on how to help. Other than that, the only thing I can suggest is that you sit down with her and tell her how worried you are about her and much she frightened you the other day when she collapsed. Perhaps that will wake her up.
 
If she's type 1, then bread and cheese, is OK, particularly if it's wholemeal bread rather than white, but lots of sugar would need to be carefully monitored and balanced accordingly with insulin. How she would do this would depend on the type of insulin that she is taking, and the methods of monitoring and control that she agreed with her dietician and Diabetic Specialist Nurse or GP.

Personally, and I hope that I am not speaking out of turn, if she had collapsed and stopped breathing I would have called an ambulance, particularly if she is not willing to test her blood glucose levels. A large amount of sugar going into the body if not matched with appropriate insulin could lead to hyperglycemia, which can lead to Diabetic Ketoacidosis which can be very dangerous indeed. Even if you don't share the same GP it might be worth talking to your own GP about the situation as they will have some advice for you.

Hope you get things sorted out with her,

Regards,

Richard
x
 
A difficult situation, and worrying for you, but assuming she's an adult, she has overall responsibility for her health. Only thing that can over-ride is sectioning under Mental Health Act, but there's a few things that might work before investigating that major step.
A few ideas, which you've probably worked out for yourself: she's probably cold because she's underweight; she could be underweight because she's not eating enough or because she's not taking enough insulin, so food energy is effectivly peed out; bread & cheese is OK, although some fruit and veg would be good additions to diet; not all people with diabetes like other people to see them inject or test, although if she had no testing strips, then she couldn't have been testing.
Agreed with talking to your own GP, although patient confidentiality will prevent any direct action, even if you share the same GP / practice. Worth finding out if she has any contact with any other health professionals, who might be able to help / refer to diabetes team eg mental health workers, optician, dietician, physiotherapist etc. Agreed that ambulance to A&E might have been a way into services.
 
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Hi Milly, welcome to the forum.
 
Hi there, that sounds like a very scary situation! I know you must be so worried abiout your sister. I was just wondering how long she's had diabetes for, how old she is and does she get much help from her team? If she's had it for a long time she may not know about some of the newer insulins or ways of treating it like counting carbs or insulin pumps, which make it easier to lead a more normal life. Next time you see her could you explain how scared you were on Friday and offer to work with her to find out what she finds hard to deal with and what changes could be made to make life easier? For example, could you go to clinic appointments with her, or to a course run by her clinic about carb counting? Or get her a new meter which is quicker to use or something?

I hope you are able to find out what is going on and that she can get in control of her diabetes.
 
Thanks everyone for your advise. My sister has had T1 for 12yrs she is 43 and has never come to terms with her condtion. She has had lots of support via family and hosp in the past but 2yrs ago moved to northern France to get away from everyone who was interferring in her life! I was visiting when she collasped and it was just for one week, she collasped on the night before I was leaving. Could she have done it on purpose is my niggle in my head, hense me coming here for advise. She is very complicated and has lots of issues, I feel she is self harming and I have said in the past she should be sectioned but no one else but me will say it. :(
 
Hi Millymolly. What a bad situation for you to be in.

If you know some of your sister's issues, could you research some self-help advice (books, forums, etc) that's aimed at people with her problems (non-diabetic issues) and see if you can find some angle that may help you to win her confidence ?

If you can help her to come to terms with some of her other stuff, you may be able to persuade her that the diabetes needs a bit of attention too.

Beyond that, there's not much I can think to offer other than good luck. It must be awful to see her self-destructing and not be able to get to her.

Rob
 
millymolly1 said:
Hi my sister has type 1 diabetes she finds it very difficult to control. Can I anyone tell me if this is ok for someone like her to do? She very rarley eats and when she does it's usually bread and cheese. We were out on Friday and during the day all she wanted to do was eat, she had 5 coffees each with 2 large sugars, three very sugary desserts and 3 meals over the day and fruit juice. She began to shiver and become very cold we gave her coats to wrap up in while we were walking back to the car then she collasped to the floor and stopped breathing. No one knew what to do just to raise her legs in the air and wait, she finally gasped for breath, got up and we got her to the car, were she feel asleep during the journey home. She has had type 1 for 12 years and she is very under weight. I was with her for a week and she did not have any testing strips and I very rarley saw her having her insulin apart from the day she also eat alot? Can anyone advise me on this becasue I feel something is very wrong and don't know what to do to help her?
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Hi What a terrible position you are in, my heart goes out to you and your sister. Apart from being underweight , she sounds if she is on the road to self destruction. I went from 8st 7 to 7 st 3, that's when I was diagnoised with type 1. She doesn't seem to except her condition, maybe there are underlying issues that haven't or wont come to the surface. If you can't talk to her about this, could you write her a heartfelt letter or next time you see her hold up pre written flashcards. It might make her think about what she is doing to her self. Take care with lots of good wishes to you. Sheena
 
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