Diabetic Caregiver (Husband)

Okay I am a diabetic woman too. It is a psycho-social illness it is brittle. I was in a hospital for five months last year being treated for my mental health. Then later had a relapse and went back to a different hospital for three months. Health care is expensive though so it's a tough call. If you support her financially she should be spending four hours at the gym. Minimum. Doing stretches and light weights and ten minutes of cardio to start and work her way up to a half hour a day. She needs to be exercising everyday.

Okay the other thing is diet this is huge! Learn about the low glycemic food index and make sure she is eating that and not sweets. It's a hard job my man. I don't follow it all the time but I'm on an antipsychotic called Zeldox 40mg morning and night. I am on an anti-depressent called Effexor 150mg at night. Then I take 2mg of Ramipril which is a blood pressure medicine that protects the kidneys. You can IM me if you want.

What type of insulin is she on? What are her dosages? Does she have an insulin to carbohydrate ratio? Does she use correction dosages? It is very hard for a diabetic to go through this alone and I think it helps that you are around. But I know how expensive health care is. So it is especially difficult. Good luck!

ps give her homework to focus on. Get her to write down her bloodsugars/times/insulin dosages test strips are expensive but it is essential that she be testing six times/day

Courtie, thanks for the reply, I forgot about this forum for the last 5 months! We are seeing her Endocrinologist this month and I will mention all your info, especially the insulin:carb ratio. She has been on an insulin pump with Humalog for about 5 years and you would think all the bells & whistles would really help; but it doesn't. I hate being her Gustapo for routine checking and food monitoring but this is what it has boiled down too. Thanks Again

There is a device in the US that measures the amount of sugar inside oranges through the skin of the orange. I was made aware of this ten years ago. The potential of this device is that a protocal can be made to test human blood sugar through human skin. This would solve a lot of the problems humans face with impairement caused by bad blood sugars. It would be worn as a watch and checked frequently. Unfortunately I think the only barrier from going further on this project is that developers have a conflict with insurance companies in the US who like the money they recieve for blood test strips unfortunately.

I am also on a long acting insulin called Lantus Glargine Solostar. I take 15 units before bed. I take humalog. 15 units at every meal. Then when I get a low blood sugar I drink one bottle of glucerna. The only problem with glucerna is that it makes me fart and it is really bad. But some people think it''s funny. I usually have to leave the room to fart or else let them know I fart and they might have to leave the room.

I actually stopped with the glucerna because my farts are so bad. Instead I drink a small glass of berry juice and it works pretty good, about 3/4 of a cup to one cup (6-8 ounces). No more glucerna for me. lol.

I haven''t been exercising lately either because I don''t have the drive. Just sometimes I go for walks.