My mother is diabetic and has been so for the last - umm.....5 years at least? It runs rampid all over her side of the family, so she knew that she was going to have it, just didn't know when. Well...as mentioned, she's had it for several years now but has just never taken care of herself. She should test her blood 4 times a day, if not more, but you're lucky if she checks it 4 times a week! She doesn't watch what she eats like she should, she's always having McDonald's ice cream and says "because it's yogurt, I can have it". Well, I don't know about that, so I can't complain to her. I've desperately tried to get her back on track. I'm currently pregnant and have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. My doctor says that my numbers are great, so I must be doing a fair job of controling it (I hope). Plus, my A1C was 4.9, I believe.

Mom's readings are always in the 200's (she's not on insulin) and she still eats whatever. This past week she tells me that the doctor says that her numbers are high because of her stress level. He told her to eliminate all of her stress and now she says that she is doing just that. One of my questions is....wouldn't he try to get her eating habits/diet under control BEFORE the stress elimination?

My main question is....just how serious is diabetes and is she slowly killing herself? I could beat my head up against the wall with all that I see her doing. It's hard to watch her do this to herself. Do I truly have it "lucky" and can eat an entire McDonald's meal (INCLUDING large fries, buns on burgers AND a regular - not diet - soft drink) and then have readings in the 90's to low 100's? (With no exercise in between). I've heard/read a lot of things about diabetes and how you HAVE to control it. I don't want to see my mother slowly kill herself and just eat whatever she wants.

Hope I haven't rambled too much to where you can't follow my train of thought.

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks!

To be blunt, your mother is killing herself and there isn't much you can do about it. Your mother is the only one that can do anything about her diabetes.

Yes, "we" must take care of diabetes or suffer the consequences of losing a toe, foot, leg, or other. Diabetics are at greater risk for heart attacks too. Kidney dialysis will be down the road shortly for your mom too.

Your mother's numbers are way too high and damage is being done on a daily basis. Many of us have diabetes 10 years before being diagnosed so this means your mother most likely has had diabetes for 10-15 years and therefore damage to her body is accumulating. It is only a matter of time when complications will start setting in.

Diet and exercise is a must in order to control diabetes.

I assume your mother is on meds? If not, she should be on meds AND faithfully monitoring her sugar levels and reducing amount of carbohydrates she consumes per meal.
If she is over weight she needs to lose weight. Weight loss is very important for diabetics, if they are over weight.

This is what I was afraid to hear. She is on Glucophage, but her numbers are still high. I'm all for her taking insulin, but she says that if the doctor tells her to that she'll refuse. Hopefully that is just the bullheaded part of her speaking up. I know that this is her disease and that she's the only one that can take care of it, but is there ANY way to make her wake up and smell the coffee?

She is heavy, I don't know if she's overweight, but she does need to lose some weight. She can't go for a walk she says because her feet hurt all the time (peripheral neuropathy) (Isn't that caused by diabetes as well?) but...and I hope no one gets mad, because I AM totally clueless here......wouldn't walking make the pain eventually go away or is it just so unbearable that you can't stand to START walking?

I just wish that there was some way to give her a wake up call.

Thanks for your help!

Hello!
No I am sorry, but there is very little anyone can do as a wakeup call. Until the mind is made up, and the heart is in the right spirit, she will not do anything until she decides to do it on her own and for herself. I took over 20 years to wake up. It took bleeding in my eyes before I woke up. If you can find pictures about diabetic problems and showed them to her, maybe it may assist. It depends on her receptiveness. As far as walking, I'm sorry but neuropathy does not go away with exercise. It hurts very much and the more you aggravate it the more it hurts. This is and can be an extremely painful thing. But there are medications to help the pain go away. The pain shows that she has developed problems from Diabetes. Get some articles that explain the pain and sensation loss and have her read it. This might strike home. Maybe not, depending on how stubborn she is at the time. The pain is bad and gets horrible. I hope this is helpful for you.
Don http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I'm glad that this board can help by answering these questions. I had always thought that if she'd walk, she'd be doing better, but I guess not. I didn't realize that it wasn't something that would go away. Have you found anything that helps treat the pain? I know that she's always looked for something along those lines.

I am hoping that she will not need a serious wake up call, but it might come down to it. It's scary to think that you had bleeding eyes as a wake up call. I'm glad that it did do just that - wake you up!

Thanks for all your help!

Pumpkin & others http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Seems we're in the same boat. (I don't recall buying a ticket for this one - do you?) http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Please take a minute to read 'How do you help someone' & 'Dad Recent DX DiabII' if you haven't yet.
May be an idea?

Best of luck to you!

Pumpkin,

Couple of quick comments.

I agree with others that you mother is essentially killing herself. You can't keep having numbers that high without doing damage. Glucophage (metformin) is a good drug, but alone it may not be enough. There are other drugs to add (Actos, Prandin, and others), or even insulin, but the main thing is to get BG numbers down.

The second comment may be a little blunt. However if you eat what you say often and have been diagnosed with gestational then you also have diabetes in your future. This disease is genetic and pregnancy gives you a sneak preview of how your body will respond to being overweight. I would suggest that keeping an ideal weight, getting lots of exercise, and eating a healthy balanced diet should be a priority for both you and your mother.

Ron

[This message has been edited by Ron AKA (edited 10-14-2003).]

I went for 8 years knowing I was diabetic and refusing to do anything about it. i actually was self destructive and hoped it would kill me. It led to a stroke in Oct 2000. Since then even with the diabetes under control through medication, the long term damage to the body continues to show up. I now know it is nothing to play with, it can kill you, but even worse it can not kill you and make your life a living hell. I could tell you many horror stories.

Hi Pumpkin,
Ron DKA had a very good point regarding your own chances of developing diabetes. Women who have gestational diabetes are at a MUCH greater risk for eventually developing Type 2 diabetes, and you've also got a family history. So developing better eating habits now would stand you in good stead over the years.

Also, it occurred to me that perhaps if your Mom saw you making changes in your eating habits, it might spur her to do the same?

I think the next step for your mom might possibly be the use of glargine insulin, long acting insulin. i started with oral meds and then starting adding an injection of lantus once a day, this worked well for a while but eventually i dropped the lantus and orals, started doing multiple shots a day and now i am using an insulin pump.