Worrying about my brother

[night carer]

Hello all, I am very worried about my brother. His blood sugar levels have been in the high 20's for months he was on insulin but stopped taking it because he said it made no difference. He is losing weight, has terrible pain in his feet he says it's like wearing shoes that are 5 sizes too small or walking on glass, his teeth are dropping out, he wakes up soaking in sweat, he is verbally aggressive and impatient, and struggles with everyday tasks, it's like he can't figure out what he should be doing. He won't go back to the doctor because none of the medications given to him have made any difference so he has lost faith

 

[Inka]

Welcome @night carer 🙂 No wonder you’re worried - your poor brother. He sounds overwhelmed by things. High blood sugar can cause a lot of damage as I’m sure you know, and his foot problems could be part of that.

Would he go to the GP with you? If not, could you speak to them and let them know the situation? They could then ‘randomly’ give him a call as part of a ‘diabetes check’ or whatever and see if they can get him back on track and support him.

 

[Sally71]

Oh I’m so sorry to hear this, it sounds like he wasn’t properly supported, if the insulin wasn’t having much effect then probably he just needs an adjustment to his dose, it usually needs tweaking from time to time. Or maybe the one he was in didn’t suit him and another would have worked better, there are always options. Please, please try to get him back to the doctor, it sounds like he is very ill and will be in hospital soon if he does nothing.

How old is he - was he diagnosed as type 2? Because it sounds like he is type 1, which can actually happen at any age but some GPS are still labouring under the delusion that type 1 only strikes during childhood, which isn’t true. Could you go to the doctor with him and argue for him if he isn’t sure? Good luck

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi night carer, welcome to the forum.

So sorry to hear about your brothers' condition. It seems as though there are lots of factors at play here, so I can understand your concern.

The tricky thing with diabetes is that sometimes the type f diabetes can be misdiagnosed hence why medication doesn't work or there are coexisting issues that are impacting the functionality of the medication.

It's really important that he gets some kind of medical assistance as he could continue to develop significant health complications. It might be useful to give us a call so that we can talk though some options and look into ways of getting support. Feel free to reach out on 0345 123 2399 an we'll be happy to talk things through with you.