Urgent, information needed.

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Mitch13

Mitch13

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Hello all, I’m in desperate need of information. My disabled brother was taken into hospital with blood glucose of over 70...not US levels, our levels. I believe we almost lost him. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Any help most appreciated.
Mitch
 
Sorry to hear your brother is in hospital @Mitch13 Does he have diabetes? Or did he suddenly become unwell and then it was found out his blood sugar was very high?
 
Hello @Mitch13 . I am sorry to hear about your brother, what a worry for you all . I am assuming that is an on the spot fingerpick test rather than the Hb1ac.
As your brother is now in hospital , he is in the best place for his diabetes to be brought under control , I assume they now have him on insulin as that is what he needs . With those glucose levels I assume he also has DKA . Fingers crossed he will be out of hospital soon and feeling oh so much better in himself, quite a few of our members here just like your brother were rushed into hospital very ill indeed then diagnosed with diabetes. I am sure some will be along soon.
Perhaps @everydayupsanddowns or @trophywench will be along soon.
 
Hello @Mitch13 could you clarify the figure you give above is it in mmol/L or in mg/dL.
This would make your 70 figure in mg/dL = to 3.9 mmol/L which is borderline hypo.
Did they say if your brother was hypo or hyper?
A little more precise information would be helpful please.
If your brother is 70 mmol/L that is very high indeed and hospital is the best place for him.


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It’s quite possible for an undiagnosed type 1 to reach levels that high, my daughter was 46 mmol/l at diagnosis but the consultant said they’ve had them in the 60s and 80s. He will be put on fluids and then insulin to bring him down again. He’s in the right place. He should be feeling much better soon.
 
Hello all, yes, he was only diagnosed last year. His mental capacity means he couldn’t really understand what diabetes could do to him. He is in the right place, that’s certain. The doctor explained ‘we’d like to see his BG between 4 & 5, that’s normal. We’d be concerned in the 20s, but this is 70+. When I searched for information online it kept defaulting to US sites, where 70 wouldn’t be so bad. His reading is in mmol/L.
Because I can’t get to him I wondered if anyone else had ever experienced such high levels?
Thank you all for taking the time to reply
P.S. he’s 61 and T2.
 
No, but if he doesn’t understand how to manage his diabetes and is just eating whatever he likes and not taking his insulin then he could easily end up that high, it would be the same as if he was undiagnosed. In fact he’d probably go up that high more quickly than in the first instance, because when diabetes is first coming on it takes a while for all the beta cells to die off, but once they are already dead (quite likely after a year or so) then if you stop taking insulin you go up extremely quickly. My daughter can go from normal levels 5-6 to in the 30s within as few as 3-4 hours if her cannula isn’t working and we haven’t noticed yet, so I think someone could quite easily go much higher if they didn’t understand what they needed to do to correct the problem. Does he get any help managing his diabetes already?

Edit - just noticed you’ve said he’s T2, I don’t know so much about that one or about how high their blood sugars can go, what I do know though is that many people get mistakenly classed as type 2 purely on the basis of age, because some GPs still think that type 1 only appears during childhood and therefore if you are over the age of about 20 at diagnosis then you must be type 2. Not true, there are plenty of people who were diagnosed type 1 much older than that. Could it be possible that he is actually type 1? Or maybe one of our type 2s can comment further!
 
Sally71 said:
No, but if he doesn’t understand how to manage his diabetes and is just eating whatever he likes and not taking his insulin then he could easily end up that high, it would be the same as if he was undiagnosed. In fact he’d probably go up that high more quickly than in the first instance, because when diabetes is first coming on it takes a while for all the beta cells to die off, but once they are already dead (quite likely after a year or so) then if you stop taking insulin you go up extremely quickly. My daughter can go from normal levels 5-6 to in the 30s within as few as 3-4 hours if her cannula isn’t working and we haven’t noticed yet, so I think someone could quite easily go much higher if they didn’t understand what they needed to do to correct the problem. Does he get any help managing his diabetes already?
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Not yet Sally, but we’ve been working on it. Because of Covid he wasn’t directed to services within Rep of Ireland. Today, the whole of Ireland‘s health system is being held to ransom by hackers so everything is up in the air!
I’m grateful for all responses, I knew you all wouldn’t let me down.
Another P.S. my own pre-diabetes is now reversed with diet.
 
Didn't tell me my initial glycosylated haemoglobin test results (now called HbA1c) on admittance only that my BG was 13% and should be 5% ish, so I'm no help whatever I'm afraid - they hadn't invented fingerpricking blood testing monitors then.

In any event - your bro is in the ONLY place that can help him right now.

Was he even taking insulin before he collapsed ?
 
trophywench said:
Didn't tell me my initial glycosylated haemoglobin test results (now called HbA1c) on admittance only that my BG was 13% and should be 5% ish, so I'm no help whatever I'm afraid - they hadn't invented fingerpricking blood testing monitors then.

In any event - your bro is in the ONLY place that can help him right now.

Was he even taking insulin before he collapsed ?
Click to expand...
He was tried on Metformin but reacted badly, so he was put on FORXIGA 10mg, once a day, but I don’t think he took it regularly, maybe not even at all. He doesn’t have social care.
 
Was he even monitoring his own blood ketone levels?
 
Sorry to hear about your brother @Mitch13

I wasn’t aware that fingerstick monitors could read above 30-40 (not sure about lab results). So there’s a chance it might be HbA1c mmol/mol rather than fingerstick mmol/L, which is still quite high and in need of urgent attention (the level for diagnosis is above 48)

But it sounds like hospital is the best place for him. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
 
I merely looked up Forxiga on the bnf website to discover that when going onto it it should be discussed with the patient they are asked to monitor ketones for a while before they start taking it and regularly test them thereafter. Hence I wondered if he had or hadn't,

(Sorry - just the NHS really has been lacking for a lot of people in a lot of places over the last 15 months.)
 
Thanks everyone, I was able to speak with him tonight, he sounded pretty good. We’ll be monitoring the care and attention he’s getting from now.
 
UPDATE and many thanks.
My brother left hospital with a Lantus pen and a BG monitor. He seems stable but because of his ‘extra’ needs (I don’t like the term special needs) I’m unsure if he will manage. The good thing is he is now on the radar as someone who will need closer monitoring.
Thanks so much everyone, your advice was gratefully received.
 
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