Diabetes Talking

Question:

My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is called type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a specific time of day that she should take her shot? A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties. Thanks in advance for any information you might have.  Please CC replies — WARNING:        Unsolicited commercial e-mail: $500 per message:                 US Code, Title 47 Section 227                 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html

Response:

My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is called type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a specific time of day that she should take her shot? A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties. Thanks in advance for any information you might have.  Please CC replies — WARNING:        Unsolicited commercial e-mail: $500 per message:                 US Code, Title 47 Section 227                 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html

Response:

: A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never : has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at : her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties. Most people who take only one shot a day take it in the morning. However, one shot a day is no longer recommended by most doctors. She or her daughter should communicate better with the doctor about that. As far as her eating, please keep in mind that she’s in her EIGHTIES, and the rules that apply to younger people DON’T apply to her, because of her advanced age. She doesn’t need to worry about limiting fats and sugars as much as avoiding hypos, which are far more dangerous to her. I hope she’s seeing a dietitian with experience in the nutritional needs of elderly people. Most doctors prefer to see elderly people riding a little HIGH rather than experiencing hypos, and her diet should reflect that. One way of smoothing out BGs is to make sure there is some fat in each meal, and so perhaps her doctor isn’t worried about her eating high-fat foods. In addition, in elderly people, the digestion doesn’t work as well as in young people, and a slightly higher fat content MAY smooth that out as well. Please remember in all that I’ve said, that diabetes is a YMMV disease, and what works for one may not work for another. I hope she’s getting good medical advice, because that’s the FIRST place you should turn for answers. Smiles, ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- Natalie A. Sera, AKA Dr. Quack, with all her ducks in a row!!!!          ___ Type / 3, MI 4x (3Rs and an N) 30u a day, 2 years. Proud mother of Josh, age 22             ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._(` ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c-                                          Can YOU find the Ugly Duckling?

Response:

Hi Has your grandmother talked to the doctor about taking one of the oral tablets? She *has* to change her food habits if she wants to get her sugar under control. Otherwise it is very likely soon she will see other complications such as vision etc showing up. The doctor will be the best person to advise her. It is unlikely she is going to listen to anyone in the family. MKR – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is called type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a specific time of day that she should take her shot? A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties. Thanks in advance for any information you might have.  Please CC replies — WARNING:        Unsolicited commercial e-mail: $500 per message:                US Code, Title 47 Section 227                http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html

Response:

Hi Has your grandmother talked to the doctor about taking one of the oral tablets? She *has* to change her food habits if she wants to get her sugar under control. Otherwise it is very likely soon she will see other complications such as vision etc showing up. The doctor will be the best person to advise her. It is unlikely she is going to listen to anyone in the family.

It is even less likely she will listen to a doctor who TELLS people what to do.  Any reasonable doctor will explain the various alternatives, recognize that the medical profession knows very little about insulin resistance, AKA type II diabetes, and is willing to consider not just doing routine.  There are not too many reasonable doctors; I have not found one.  Many of the posters on this group know far more about diabetes, but NOT how to treat it, than most doctors treating it. MKR My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is called type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a specific time of day that she should take her shot? A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties. Thanks in advance for any information you might have.  Please CC replies

– Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399

Response:

My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is called type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a specific time of day that she should take her shot?

Probably, but without a ton of detail there is no way to even guess what time would be best.  Her doctor has much of that detail.  He is the best person to talk to. A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she never has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her eighties.

Again, the foods that are "correct" and the foods that are "bad" are determined by the details of her condition and the amounts and timing of the various foods.  It is not simple.  For example, real ice cream can be a very good food for some diabetics.  It depends on the circumstances.  It has high fat which slows down the metabolism of the sugar and is often used as an overnight snack to avoid iatrogenic hypoglycemia. —

Response:

: : :My Grandmother has in the past few years developed what I guess is :called :type 2 diabetes (my mother called it senile diabetes).  She takes one :dose of insulin via injection every day.  My question is, is there a :specific time of day that she should take her shot? : robably, but without a ton of detail there is no way to even guess :what time would be best.  Her doctor has much of that detail.  He :is the best person to talk to. : :A side note is, she is really bad about eating the right foods (she :never :has) and she routinely eats high sugar and fat foods and at parties at :her senior community she sometimes drinks alcohol!  She is in her :eighties. : :Again, the foods that are "correct" and the foods that are "bad" :are determined by the details of her condition and the amounts and :timing of the various foods.  It is not simple.  For example, real :ice cream can be a very good food for some diabetics.  It depends on the :circumstances.  It has high fat which slows down the metabolism of :the sugar and is often used as an overnight snack to avoid iatrogenic :hypoglycemia. : :– : Having been a Type II for a few years, I was under the impression, from everything I have read and what doctors have told me, that you are a Type II *only* if you have high BG and *DO NOT* need "insulin via injection". I change my BG from 180 to between 85 and 105, and only take one ‘pill’ per day.  In fact I was down to 5mg per day but the BG went up a little so the DR told me to resume taking 10mg per day. I also found that it you watch what you eat and cut out ‘most’ of the fats, this, by its self, will reduce BG.

Response:

: Having been a Type II for a few years, I was under the : impression, from everything I have read and what doctors : have told me, that you are a Type II *only* if you have high : BG and *DO NOT* need "insulin via injection". No, you are a Type II if your body secretes insulin, and you are not on the autoimmune road to complete insulin dependency. Thus many Type II’s DO inject insulin, but the injections are merely a "helper" to their bodies’ own natural secretion. Insulin-injecting Type II’s wouldn’t die of ketoacidosis if they stopped injecting. Their BGs would go up, and they might go into a diabetic coma and die if things went on that way long enough (years, or decades in some cases!), but it wouldn’t be a ketoacidotic coma. A Type I, on the other hand, would be dead in 2 or 3 days if they stopped injecting. Most Type II’s who inject insulin do so because they cannot achieve good control in any other way. (Some do it for the joy of sticking themselves with a needle? NOT!!  :)  ) And most Type II’s who’ve gone on insulin say they wish they had done it a lot sooner — good control FEELS so good! Smiles, ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- Natalie A. Sera, AKA Dr. Quack, with all her ducks in a row!!!!          ___ Type / 3, MI 4x (3Rs and an N) 30u a day, 2 years. Proud mother of Josh, age 22             ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._(` ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c- ._c-                                          Can YOU find the Ugly Duckling?

Response: