My father just recently was told that he is diabetic, I need some basic info on !
Question: Can anyone help him.
he needs to know how to maintain his blood sugar and if because one day he didn't drink any type of soda at all and then the next day he drank some and his blood sugar went in half. Is it what he did the first day the reason it shot down or what? He doesn't have to take shots but he has to take pills. Any information is helpful, please I need any you have. He is getting depressed because it doubled again.
Answers: Can anyone help him.
he needs to know how to maintain his blood sugar and if because one day he didn't drink any type of soda at all and then the next day he drank some and his blood sugar went in half. Is it what he did the first day the reason it shot down or what? He doesn't have to take shots but he has to take pills. Any information is helpful, please I need any you have. He is getting depressed because it doubled again.
If he's not on any insulin, then he's type 2. (Type 1's cannot survive without insulin injections).
His blood sugar is way too high if its 300. He needs to keep it under 140, even after meals, but that won't happen all at once. It takes time to bring it down, especially when he's not on insulin.
I assume his doctor put him on Metformin. That's a good start, but he still has to reduce his carbs too.
The dose of Metformin will gradually be increased. It can cause stomach upsets, so its done slowly to help avoid these problems. Most people find that eating some yogurt with it will also help cancel out that side effect. Make sure he uses a sugar free, honey free (low carb) diet yogurt. One sweetened with Splenda would be great, aspertame is a second choice. It should be a yogurt that has live culture, since that's what helps counter the stomach and digestion problems.
If his blood sugar doesn't improve over the next month or two, he might need to try insulin too. His doctor will look at his glucose monitor to see how he's been doing, and adjust his meds if needed.
He needs to see his doctor frequently, usually every 3 months, for the rest of his life to get it under control and keep it under control. He will probably have to see him a little more often at first to get the meds adjusted.
He could try the South Beach Diet, its lower in carbs than what he's doing right now. Carbs (carbohydrates) raise your blood sugar. He needs to cut back on them. Any soda he drinks should be sugar free. He also should avoid fruit juice and anything with sugar added to it. He can use Splenda in tea and coffee, its safe for diabetics.
Get him to ask for a referral to a diatician or at least a diabetes nurse, who can help him learn more about it. Most will advise a fairly high carb diet, which may or may not be what's best for him. The American Diabetes Association has updated their attitude towards low carb diets, but I really don't know what they currently recommend.
Personally I choose a moderately low carb diet, and when I do any baking, I stick with low carb recipes.
Exercise will help bring his blood sugar down, but he should get his doctor's approval first. Walking is probably the best exercise. You can do it anywhere and its cheap and easy. He should not exercise if his blood sugar is too high, ask his doc about this. He needs guidelines.
Here is some basic info about diet
http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-re...
I highly recommend the book Diabetes for Dummies, and
also
The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (First Year, The) (Paperback)
by Gretchen Becker
Get them for him, from your library or online, and read them too, it'll help you understand what he's going through better.
The South Beach Quick and Easy Cookbook might be a good place to start for some easy low carb recipes for him.
If he has internet access, tell him to join a couple of groups at Yahoo for diabetes, he'll get lots of support and information too.
There are some links on this blog that give a LOT of information about diabetes.
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-NbDgUzQhf...
and there's a good low carb cake (torte) recipe at the top of the blog. He could have that for his next birthday if he likes chocolate cake. He needs to avoid regular baked goods, they have too many carbs.
Look for the
BEST LINKS ABOUT DIABETES
which include:
http://www.diabetic-talk.org/jennifer.ht...
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/sp2index...
and finally
http://www.mendosa.com/
Good luck!
PS. get your HbA1c tested yearly, since you are more likely to get diabetes too, now that you have a close family member who has it.
Is he type one diabetic or type two? There's a big difference.
Diabetes is a serious disease, more serious than your probably think. It caused blindness in my dog and can easily affect your dad aswell! You should see a doctor about it. They will answer all of your questions.
For now though, check out this website...might help:
http://www.fda.gov/diabetes/food.html
Diabetes is a curable disease.I was a diabetic and took korean red ginseng ang got over it
soda usually makes the blood sugar rise up. he might have skipped his meal thinking to compensate for the soda. he needs to eat properly and check his sugar regularly to keep it in check. What are his levels? It will register different depending on when he checks the levels. After meals it will naturally be higher, and if he is fasting it will be lower. There are special consultants he can work with, but he needs to really really know this disease in order to control it. He has to do it, you cannot do it for him.
Unfortunately, many people do not understand the life altering diagnosis that diabetes is. Diabetes can and will cause blindness, death, poor circulation and erectile issues. So here is where you are at. Most, if not all, hospitals have a diabetic education class that you and your Father should attend. They will give you better information than anyone will be able to give you on here. However, help him learn to keep his blood sugar in check. Like a child good habits start at the beginning. Diabetes is not curable in any country
first off is he a type 2 or type 1 diabetic. he needs to watch what he eats and drinks. Carbohydrates can make your sugar go really high. have him start drinking diet sodas they dont have much sugar or carbs in it. and when you guys go shopping for food look on the thing for total carbohydrates and serving sizes and even though he is a diebetic his sugar can go reallllly low too which can cause shakeyness, sweating and other symptoms. They make sugar tablets for when the sugar is to low. i recommend seeing a physician and a diatition. hope this helps
tell him to go to a sugar doctor they can help you gotta get under control you need to avoid pasta bread get whole grain sugar free pop diet pepsi is ok drink lots of water and check sugar eat smaller prortions of food more veggies fish meat and watch intake of pasta will up sugar go to library and get diabeta cook book or family video they have free videos to tell you what to eat ask any doctor they will also tell him what to eat im now on insuln its not fun because i ate the wrong food no sugar pop maybe once a month have a sugar pop theres lots of sugar free food but still gotta watch intake and exercise will help keep sugar under control
Diabetes is a complicated disorder of the body's inability to regulate blood sugar control. Diet and exercise are key components of assisting your body regain control over this. If you want to help the American Diabetes Assosciation has excellent info on this for free. If you understand how it truly complex it is you may really be able to help him understand that there simply is not a quick fix or magic pill to cure this. This is a truly complex medical condition that requires people to make lifestyle changes and commitment to better health.
First of all, keep your DR informed on any major changes in regards to his health. Since it's still in its early stages, keep a food diary. Write down everything that is eatten and put notes on how he feels before and after. This will tell you what foods make the glucose levels spike. Also, make sure he eats every 2-4 hours. The human body is like a car. Keep it at 1/2 to full tank and your blood sugars stay stable. Let it get down to empty, your sugars hit the floor and the body compensates by getting dizzy and telling you I NEED FOOD! During early stages of treatment, the doctor may refer to a diabetic nutritionist. They will show you what to eat and how big portions actually are. Depending on the situation, they may even order a GTT or Glucose Tolerance Test. They will draw a tube of blood at 1 hr intervals after 75g of glucose is taken. I work in a clinical lab so I do these tests often. Hope this helps some. To research more on diabetes, you can go to various websites. See source list below.
Type 1 Diabetes
This type of diabetes is mostly found in children and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin and you must inject insulin daily.
You May:
urinate often
be very thirsty
be very hungry
lose a lot of weight
be very tired
be irritable
have blurred vision
have trouble seeing.
Type 2 Diabetes
Most people with diabetes have this form of the disease. Type 2 is usually found in people over 45, who have diabetes in their family, who are overweight, who don