I am new to this board. I am writing in concern for my husband. He just turned 40 years old. We've been together for 6 years and the entire 6 years we've been together, his sugar has been mostly out of control. He does check his sugar, he takes his medication (metaglip and avandia). At one time, a year or so ago, he was put on shots, but the doctor decided they didn't want to keep him on shots. His sugar is consistently never lower than 220, and on an average is about 280. It's not uncommon for him to have several readings of over 400 in a month. He is active and drinks probably 2 gallons of water a day.

This man is the love of my life. He is the most calm, considerate, polite, wonderful person I've ever met. He is not a complainer, so if something is wrong, I have to drag it out of him. I have growing concern because 70% of the time he has an upset stomach, and like I said he doesn't complain, I have to catch him in the act of being sick. He has also started staying cold for the last three weeks or so, and his hands are ice cold. That's not like him. I'm wondering if there are circulatory problems. And last, but not least, he is now suffering with ED. We have never been as active as rabbits, but it is nice sometimes, and we've not had sex in many months. I know this bothers him, but he just blows it off as one of those diabetic things, and really doesn't talk about it. He was given some samples of Viagra, and that didn't help at all, so does that mean there is severe circulatory problems???

I am 32 years old and although I would love to make love with my husband again, the most important thing right now is taking care of him. Do you have any advice for me?? His father is also a very bad diabetic, and his mother is also diabetic, not in as poor health as his father is from it though, and also one of his sisters is diabetic. I don't want to lose my husband. We have a 4 year old son, and I want him to be here with me to raise him and I want for us to have time together after our children are grown.

Thank you for listening. I look forward to hearing from any of you.

Helen

I'm new at this diabetes myself and have been experimenting with what works and doesn't work for me! I'll be glad to share it with you because I'm very satisfied with my diabetes management program. See my post in this forum about "Is anyone trying Garcinia Cambogia........" I would like to suggest a "brisk" 10-15 minute walk after eating and then check BG level 2 hours after the meal. This also assumes that he is eating a proper diet and minimizing carbs, calories, bad fats and starchy foods! I found out that rice and potatoes were like poison to my BG levels and quit eating them. I have become aware, since developing diabetes 2 months ago, that I have become the product of my bad diet and lack of "exercise." Just being active does'nt cut it when dealing with this desease! I have to exercise to may my cells more insulin sensitive. I feel better now and actually enjoy the walk. One mile after each meal takes me about 15-18 minutes and I'm 56 years old and down to 219 pounds. Lost 16 pounds in the last two months! Ron

Everything that you describe could be attributed to high blood sugars. Constant thirst, low sex drive and ED, feeling cold due to circulatory problems, stomach problems, etc. They can all happen with long term hyperglycemia.

At this point, I would shoot straight with him. Everything that you describe will only get worse as his body is under constant stress. Let's add the fact that there is stress that you don't see. The heart is stressed as is the circulatory system when blood sugars are high. The kidneys are stressed.

He needs to take a hard look at his priorities. Once you get in the habit of taking care of yourself it becomes exactly that... A habit. Good luck to both of you

I totally agree with Mindy. I was that person with the high sugars for yrs. I was in denial for the first five yrs and then for five more yrs i just didn't care. Two yrs ago i became aggressive in my own diabetic care. I try to walk 3 to 5 miles per day, strict high fiber diet and take my meds on time.

Because of my carelessness, i have suffered with circulatory problems and hpb and had two heart attacks. I am now taking this very seriously. I no longer have high glucose readings.

Ditto everything Mindy said. I'm also curious as to why his doctor "didn't want to keep him on shots." Are you sure it was the doctor and not your husband who didn't want the shots? If it was the doctor, and he knows how high your husband's blood sugars are running (and he should!), then I would find another doctor immediately.

Your husband should be seeing an endocrinologist, and he should probably have a c-peptide test done, even if he had one when first diagnosed. It's possible that he's a type 1 1/2, which is basically a slow-onset Type 1, and if so, the only thing that will control his blood glucose will be insulin. Even if he's a T2, at this point the illness has probably advanced to the stage where he needs insulin.

I believe I read somewhere that some (not necessarily all) of the complications he's experiencing might be partly reversed if he gets his blood sugar under control and keeps it there.

Ruth

I'm with Ruth on this. It is imperative that blood sugars are brought down into an acceptable range. Those very high blood sugars are doing enormous damage, much of which is not neccessary. With blood sugars like you describe, the medication is clearly not working.

The problem with drugs like metaglip is that they steadily flog the pancreas to death. And if he continues to use them, your husband will probably have to start taking shots anyway. The best way to to preserve whatever pancreas function is left, is to take some of the strain off it by at least starting on a basal insulin like Lantus.

Cheers,

Mark