seeking advice!

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Deemac

Member
Hello everyone.
I have recently moved in with my partner who has type 1.
I am trying to learn as much as I can about it and would love to hear from other partners/spouses if they have any tips or advice.
 
hi deemac firstly welcome to the site i spoke to my o/h the reason being before me and him got together he was with a t1 for 4 years and i wanted to know off him how he managed to cope with it , the main thing he said is you have to read up as much as possible on how to treat and get it stuck into your brain so when it happens you know instinctivly straight away how to deal with it , he also said you must stay calm you dont need to be stressed either or it wont help neither of you , thirdly he said THINK when he has a hypo go back to the last 4 hours and think what he has had to eat and pin point what it was that caused it.also if you could afford it maybe worth doing a basis first aid course , some are even free, they are invaluble and they give confidence in dealing with those situation.
 
Hi Deemac, welcome to the forum!🙂 It's good that you want to know all you can so you can help and understand your partner's condition. Has he discussed it much with you? Some people prefer not to talk about it too much, for a variety of reasons - maybe they don't want it to be a big issue in their lives, or maybe they think people won't understand or get bored. Others can be very open about it, and happy to discuss how things are going. Finding out from him how his blood sugar control is and what kinds of problems he experiences (if any) will give you a good starting point, as people's experiences vary considerably.

You might want to get a book to give you some background. One good one that I read when first diagnosed was Type 1 Diabetes: Answers at Your Fingertips (amazon link) It's in the form of a question and answer book and covers all situations in a very clear and understandable way. There are, of course many other books on Type 1, so you might want to look in your local library.

If there's anything you are unsure of, please ask away on the General Messageboard!🙂
 
Thanks Steff09 and Northerner for your response.
I wonder if you or anyone else can give me any advice on dealing with mood swings and irrational behaviour when a type 1 is low?
 
Like anyone who has to deal with the control diabetes can have on your life.it can be very hard to appreciate the good changing your life and taking that control back will do you!


I found it hard the first few days was angry and just didn't want to accept that there were things I just couldn't do, however I then began to appreciate the diagnosis in that rather than the diabetes controlling my life, I could take control and make the changes that not only suited me, but made my life healthier! yes it is easier said than done, its not good when you crave something and just know that it will make you feel like crap.

It may do him some good to speak to a counsellor and let him air his frustration, anger, resentment at someone who wont judge, or advise him.Someone who will just listen to what he has to say and help him find a a better way of dealing with all the pent up emotions.Someone who can be there whilst he endures the roller coaster that is his life. I have to say, that I am certainly not saying you don't provide this, but we all know how attached a family member is to the situation and its often easier to really offload to a stranger. I know it may be hard for him to even consider it, but if he perhaps grabs hold of the notion that his life could be better and that both of you could be much happier, then he may just want to try it!!.I think every single one of us have mood swings its part and parcel of diabetes and if some ones levels aint good it dont help neither.
 
Deemac said:
Thanks Steff09 and Northerner for your response.
I wonder if you or anyone else can give me any advice on dealing with mood swings and irrational behaviour when a type 1 is low?
Click to expand...

I would say it's important to know first how good his control normally is, so you can find out how he normally reacts to being high or low. People can be moody at eiter end of the blood sugar spectrum! Irrational behaviour is more likely with low blood sugar - so if he does start muddling his words or loking a bit spaced out etc. without him realising it, then you could try and persuade him to do a test. Don't get too worrried about it - you don't want that preying on your mind all the time. Depending on how good his hypo awareness is (whether he gets early symptoms that he is dropping low) he may recognise it himself and act anyway. If he has good awareness then he will catch it early and it is easily dealt with. For example, in the past year I have had 150 hypos, but all but three of them were slightly more tricky to deal with - the rest were really not a problem at all, and I dealt with the tricky ones by myself anyway. This is me, of course, and he may be different, so it's worth talking about it.
 
Hi Deemac,

I'm personally a right pain in the a$$ when I'm hypo.

It seems we diabetics go into some sort of defensive, stubborn denial mode when our blood sugar is low.

My wife says she can tell I'm hypo at least 15 mins before I realise, but she leaves me to get on with it because she knows if she asks I'll deny it.

Main thing is probably to be aware of the symptoms - sweating, shaking, talking nonsense and not making sense.

Most of the time your partner should realise and get themselves sorted but also make sure you know how to administer the Glucogon injection in the VERY unlikely case that they become uncontious.

Hope that helps, and feel free to ask any more questions.

NiVZ
 
Thanks NiVZ
Its comforting to know that someone else has the same problems, I was starting to wonder if the moods swings were entirely down to my not dealing with it very well!
 
i'm a miserable so and so when i go low, my partner is basically having to learn to live with it. if i'm aware i'm low, then i obviously try not to snap at him too much 😛 but if you're not aware it can be difficult.

i just wanted to say how great i think it is that you want to know so much. please feel free to keep asking us questions. also get your partner on here!
 
I get very very snappy and confused if having a bad hypo, my poor OH doesn't deal with it very well bless him, cuz he's not brilliant at spotting it quite yet so often thinks im just being a nasty cow! Though, when he does finally realise he's very good with it.

I am a bit of a pain though, and quite often refuse to admit I'm feeling funny. I worked myself hypo the other day at work (yay shovel monkey), knew I was feeling funny about half an hour before I was forced into stopping by the other diabetic girl I was working with!
 
Thank you Salmonpuff and Shiv
I feel like I'm living with Jekyll and Hyde!
I've been scouring the internet and have found that many, many partners and spouses are having the same struggle!
I managed to get him to look at this and other sites and he just keeps apologising and putting it down to the diabetes.
I don't want to give up on him but at times feel that his behaviour is down right abusive.
I think he's lived with it for so long (20 years) he has accepted it as part and parcel of the 'diabetes package'.
Sadly he has related conditions, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, underactive thyroid and stomach problems due to the medication! On top of this he has arthritis too!
He does have his blood sugar relatively well managed and injects insulin 4 times a day but it seems his mood swings with any fluctuation, going low being the worst though.
Again, I'd be grateful for any advice that anyone can offer.
Cheers!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top