No idea where to put this, had the scare of my life!!!

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  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
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    He's lucky to have you in his corner, fighting for his health. Keep in mind it's a lifestyle change and not a death sentence. My dad has been a diabetic since he was 28. He's going to be 74 in August. He does have macular degeneration but it is stable and so is his blood sugar. He's worked hard to keep it under control for many years. It can be done and it makes a huge difference in the quality of life for a diabetic.

    Exercise and staying active is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, regardless of whether you have diabetes or not. It is important for your husband to get up and move as much as possible. If he won't or can't work out, park as far from the door at the grocery, shopping mall, etc. Buy him a pedometer and challenge him to walk a certain amount of steps each day.

    Also, whole food and clean eating is really the way to go. No one likes to hear it but processed foods are not our friends! Think of how your grandparents might have eaten. Desserts, sweet, and such were rare and far between. Meals were generally simple with foods cooked from scratch. Try to make up your meal with lots of veggies, lean protein, and some whole grains. My dad tells me that corn raises his blood sugar so he has pretty much eliminated it from his diet. Oatmeal keeps it stable for hours, especially if he adds in some walnuts or almonds. Have your husband test his blood sugar and find out what spikes it.

    Don't give up-you can do this. Once you make the changes you need to make, it will become routine and easy to live with. You all can do this!:flowerforyou:
  • mamax5
    mamax5 Posts: 414 Member
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    Yeah, low carb + low fat = FAILEO diet. Glad you're not afraid of fat, OP. I'd avoid that weird vegan book.

    Best wishes to you and your husband. :flowerforyou:

    Hahahaha....FAILEO...oh that's good....thanks for the laugh, I needed that...! :laugh:
  • jmadams111
    jmadams111 Posts: 145 Member
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    On the bright side, he can beat it. I was diagnosed as Type 2 about 10 yrs ago and mildly moderated my diet, took my meds....and finally. in the last year, dropped 100 lbs. Dr says I can stop the meds.
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
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    I was diagnosed T2 14 years ago. I have to say that the big goal is to get BG under control however that needs to be done. If it means he needs to be on insulin then that is what he needs. It doesn't mean he will need to stay on it forever. When BG is elevated it causes a host of problems that many people generically refer to as rot since that is more or less what it does to your body. You can go blind, lose circulation in your extremities and end up having to have them cut off. Ultimately, you can stroke out or have a heart attack. Your risk is greatly reduced if your BG stays in optimal range.

    So do not freak out about any meds. I have to say that for many T2s they can be on meds and get off as they improve their health. If he is overweight he can improve his BG by losing weight, exercising, and watching carbs. It is not failure if you cannot get off meds. I am not terribly heavy but my BG control continues to get worse despite a lot of exercise and eating fairly decently. I am in a normal range for weight and often get very obsessive about running. I have lived on 20 carbs a day before and still had high BG. In my case, it requires lots of drugs to keep me healthy but if you ever met me you would never know I was diabetic unless I told you.

    He needs a meter and a visit with a dietitian. Go with him so you know what he is being told to eat. Realize that you cannot make him do anything and it will be a battle to get him to do something he doesn't want. He should go to the bloodsugar101 site that has been recommended. There is a good description of how to eat to your meter which is very important. What works for me may not work for someone else. It is an ongoing experiment even now after all these years.

    The diabetes group here at MFP is great and supportive. I used to participate in it but I'm pretty busy and don't have time to post there anymore.

    Good luck!
  • mamax5
    mamax5 Posts: 414 Member
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    I think the biggest reason I am freaking out is I think that if my hubby goes on insulin it will give him an excuse to quit trying to be under control. You know without meds, diet and exercise....I just hope he gets this under control!
  • jillibean1785
    jillibean1785 Posts: 3
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    I am a type 1 diabetic so I understand how scary this is! I would recommend also to check out www.diabetesforum.com.

    I just recently joined there and here, and there are so many type 1 and 2 diabetics who are so friendly and helpful. That site is the reason why I found and joined this one and the reason why I am trying to work on being healthier.

    Good luck with everything, it's scary but he can do it!

    Also, trust me, the insulin is not an excuse to not try to eat well. I've learned that the hard way because I tried to do that for the past several years, and now I am 27 with beginning stage retinopathy and slight neuropathy from uncontrolled diabetes. It may seem like you can just take as much insulin needed to eat whatever you want, but it comes back to get you. :(
  • SlinkySpencer
    SlinkySpencer Posts: 139 Member
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    Someone has probably already suggested this, but... Call a few different hospitals (or call your doc and ask if they know which hospital would have it), and find out if they offer free diabetes classes. Most of them do. It is indeed completely free and you'll learn quite a bit about how to handle this change (and you'll also get free coupons, a glucose meter, etc). Make sure you go with your husband to it so you can know all the info, too. Hope this is helpful.

    Take this news as a wake up call for your family, not a death sentence. You'll be surprised how much you can change your lives for the better.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    It's not a death sentence! My hubby is type 2 diabetic, has been for 30 years, and he's on daily insulin. He leads a normal life, he's active and happy.
  • SlinkySpencer
    SlinkySpencer Posts: 139 Member
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    I think the biggest reason I am freaking out is I think that if my hubby goes on insulin it will give him an excuse to quit trying to be under control. You know without meds, diet and exercise....I just hope he gets this under control!

    I get that fear. Hopefully it'll sink in for him that insulin isn't a magic wand that makes bad food choices go away (I've seen people use it that way). Over the last four months, I lost two great people in my life, and the root of their health problems was diabetes, which led to heart and kidney issues for both of them, which led to a weakened state they couldn't recover from. (Sorry, I didn't bring that up to scare you, but I know that scaring my mom with the truth really helped her when make a change she was diagnosed a year ago.) A healthy diet and exercise program is *even more important* to him if he's on insulin.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    I think the biggest reason I am freaking out is I think that if my hubby goes on insulin it will give him an excuse to quit trying to be under control. You know without meds, diet and exercise....I just hope he gets this under control!

    It is actually the opposite - there is a lot involved with taking and dosing insulin properly so you do not go too low or too high.
    You need to time your insulin properly so your insulin peak matches you food peak. You need to match the amount of insulin to the amount and type of carbs. So there is a lot more to this than just "throwing" insulin at things.
    I find to keep good control I have to be totally accurate with my carb, fiber and protein counts for each meal, then calculate dosing based on what my current BG level is and then factor in how much insulin might still be working from prior doses. It takes attention to detail and honesty with what you eat and drink, it takes a lot of testing to see how foods effect your numbers.
    This will be a work in progress - and your understanding of the process and support will help him a lot.

    A good book to read again and use as a reference is "Using Insulin" by Walsh, et al. it is the best book I have seen.

    http://www.amazon.com/Using-Insulin-Everything-Need-Success/dp/1884804853/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366026176&sr=1-1&keywords=using+insulin
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
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    I used to eat a lot of hot pockets. They really are a truly terrible food. :/

    Best of luck to you guys.x
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
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    I think the biggest reason I am freaking out is I think that if my hubby goes on insulin it will give him an excuse to quit trying to be under control. You know without meds, diet and exercise....I just hope he gets this under control!

    I'm not sure how true this is - but, my fear of insulin was that my problem (type II) is that my insulin was already too high. While I am sure that adding more insulin to the mix would reduce blood sugars - but it seemed counter-productive to "fix" insulin resistance by adding more insulin.

    And it seemed like this would be the beginning of a death spiral where I'd have to add more and more insulin while gaining weight and then needing more and more insulin, etc. I'm relatively young - I need a solution that will enable me to be around for 30+ more years. Addressing it with diet and exercise seemed like the way to avoid this "trap".

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