New here, looking for support! (sorry long)
Hi there!
My name is Andrea and my husband has had type 1 for 15 years. He has
always been in good control and has had no big problems. Well, until
recently. Within the last 3 months, paramedics have been called twice
for insulin shock, and we’ve had at least 3 other close calls. Up
until now I have been just loosely involved in his maintenence, since
things seemed fine. To my knowledge, there haven’t been any major
changes to his insulin dosage, etc, except that he did start taking
Actose (sp?) in addition to the insulin. (I need to read up on what
Actose does)
So here I am, scared to sleep at night (I had to call 911 in the
middle of the night when I woke up to find him in shock, unresponsive,
etc.) and afraid to leave my kids with him because he seems so
unstable. Why would he become so brittle so suddenly??? I understand
that diabetes is a progressive disease, but this just seemed to come
out of nowhere. Also, is there some kind of glucose shot I can have
on hand in case of emergency (god forbid this happen again!) so that I
don’t have to call 911??? Any input would be appreciated. Sorry this
is so long!!! Thanks for listening.
Andrea
Chicago
July 10th, 2003 at 8:13 pm
That is really weird. Actose is almost never given to type 1
diabetics. You’ll see that as soon as you start doing some research
on it, it will often be referred to as a drug for type 2 diabetics.
It could definitely cause the low blood sugars you are suddenly
seeing. Is your husband seeing an endocrinologist? Do you trust his
doctor?
Does the doctor know what’s going on?
You should have a glucagon injection kit in the fridge at all times.
You’ll need a prescription to buy it, and you should have a nurse or
doctor explain how to use it. Your husband’s doctor should already
have taken care of this.
I’m not a doctor, not in medicine in any way. I’m just another type 1
diabetic. I would advise your husband to consider seeing another
doctor immediately.
If the doctor who prescribed the Actose is not an endocrinologist,
your husband should insist on being referred to a specialist.
Jerry
July 11th, 2003 at 10:37 am
Thanks for responding to me Jerry!
I truly appreciate your input and your comments have raised several
issues for us. I did contact my husband’s doctor (not an
endocrinologist) about the Actos and he said that there are new
studies that are combining the use of Actos with insulin for type 1
diabetics for better control. I am still very concerned and I really
do want him to see a specialist. We will work on that.
And, we are getting a prescription for the glucagon injection kit!
Thanks again SO much. It is so wonderful to find people out there who
want to help! :0)
Andrea
July 13th, 2003 at 5:40 am
Ask your DR to write you a prescription for a glucose emergency kit, its quite a big needle, but there if it’s needed. If you need to email me back and I can give you more information on it. I have a presscription to get one every month even thought the pharmacy tells me not to stock pile, only get another one if i used one, screw them. ha