could us some help ?????

My father just found out he has diabetes I had to almost force him to tell me. I'm really worried about him I feel he is not telling me everything. As a matter of fact he got very weird when I started asking questions. He says they put him on oral meds but he does not have to test his blood. Can this be true ??? When I had gestational diabetes I had to test 4 times a day even though I was not on any type of meds I was able to control it easly with diet. He keeps talking about just dying so now he's really making me scared and there seems to be nothing I can do about it because his Dr can not speak to me. I guess I'm just trying to find out if he is telling me everything. Also his kidney's have been bothering him and he says the Dr. says he has kidney stones. I really hope he is telling me the truth I would be devstated to loose him over something that can be controlled. Thanks Laura

I just found out I've got diabetes too. Like your father, the docs put me on oral meds, and they never said anything about having me test my blood either. In fact, they haven't really told me anything other than "take a pill with breakfast, and one with dinner" which surprises me because I thought you were supposed to change your diet and take other precautions. I assume your dad has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes like me, because you mentioned he was put on pills? Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is based on your fasting blood sugar level being higher than a certain amount, but that level can vary from person to person. It's possible your father's level was not overly high, just a bit higher than what was necessary to classify him as "diabetic" in which case the docs may feel confident that just putting him on the pills will be enough to get his sugar level under control. I think testing your blood all the time is more for the insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetics anyway, the people who can get sick or go into a coma if they don'****ch their blood sugar all the time, because their blood sugar levels can fluctuate wildly. With gestational diabetes any drastic changes in blood sugar levels affect both you and your baby, so they want to monitor that carefully. If your father is like me, he probably didn't even feel sick or realize he was diabeti****il the docs decided to do a test on him. Is he overweight? That's why they decided to test me. They may test him again after he's been on the meds for a period of time, to get an idea if the dosage is right or if they will have to adjust it. With type 1 diabetes, your blood sugar can drop very fast and you can get sick or go into coma. With type 2, your sugar is high all the time, and usually stays high and doesn't fluctuate as much, so they prescribe pills to try and bring the sugar levels down a bit. The pills work by absorbing glucose from your blood, if your dad's on the same one I'm on (metformin, or "Glucophage"). I can understand why you're worried about your dad, and he's probably worried or scared too and that's why he acts a bit odd when you ask him questions. It's pretty scary to be told "you've got diabetes" when you hear all sorts of horror stories about diabetics going blind, losing limbs etc. But these days with good medical care, there's no need for those things to happen. He also may not know the answers to a lot of your questions, and he may feel a bit uncomfortable with not knowing the answers. I wouldn't blame him, because sometimes I feel that way myself. I think also maybe your dad doesn't want you to worry about him, and he doesn't want you to know he's worried either. I don't know what to tell you to do, exactly, but you could remind your dad that you're there for him if he wants to talk, and that might help him open up to you. Maybe you could also find out if there are any followup appointments or tests scheduled with his doctor, and if he balks at telling you, just tell him you want to be sure that the doctor is keeping an eye on his condition. Tell him you will worry less about him if you know he's getting good medical care. If you push him too hard, or he feels you're nagging him, that may make him feel worse. Just be there for him, I'm sure he knows you love him and that you care. Another thing you can do, to ease your mind a bit, is to learn more about Type 2 diabetes. I find I worry less when I know more. There are plenty of sites with information on the Internet, and also online support groups. In many places there are also local diabetes associations or presentations/seminars held at hospitals, drug stores etc. You may be able to find these by going to the American diabetes association (? I'm Canadian so I don't know what the American group is called) website. I hope this information will help. All the best, Patti

Hi Patti, Be careful. Don't kid yourself. I have type II diabetes, and have to take both pills and insulin, but in the beginning, I only took pills. I still had to monitor my sugar at least twice daily, as the medication is to bring your sugar level down, and if you don't eat as many carbs, or sugar, then sometimes my bloodsugars would drop drastically. I once lost conciousness from low blood sugar,while taking only glucophage. Anyone who has diabetes bad enough to take medication for it, needs to keep a close watch on their blood sugars. Take care, and be careful. regards, Jenni

The diagnosis of diabetes can be a real shock and jolt to people, and it might be that he is borderline (with the new standards) and as of right now his A1C is low enough that they are not requiring testing. I know that my own mothers response to her diagnosis was strange to me, but we are all different. She went on a binge of eating huge amounts of sugar, and refused to test herself even though she was given a testing kit etc. She also talked about dying and said she refused to accept that there are some huge consequences to allowing your sugars to be out of control. In the end he is your father and a grown man and you have to go by what he says and just hope that he is doing what the Dr. orders. We are all our own advocates when we have diabetes and we are controlling our own health.

Thanks Jenni, I admit I'm a bit miffed at my doctor, I had my second test a couple of weeks ago and heard nothing back at all, and no new appointments have been scheduled. All I got was a prescription and that was it. No information, no monitoring, nothing. I don't know what I should be eating or not eating. All I've done is cut back on sugary foods and drinks, and I've been eating more vegetables and less fatty meats. I have very little idea how to tell if my sugar is high or low or what. I know that sometimes I feel a bit stoned when I've had something sugary to eat, and that I get irritable and sometimes bad headaches if I don't eat for a long time. That's it. I'm calling them next week to book another appointment. I want to know exactly what they plan to do now that they know I'm diabetic. Too many docs just give you pills and send you on your way. She made some mention of sending me to a "diabetes clinic" or something, so I will push her to refer me to that, if she can't be bothered to take the time to advise me on diet or exercise, or monitor my condition. I will do my best to learn more about my condition and take good care of myself. All the best, Patti

Dear Laura, Your Dad is very scared right now. I remember when I was diagnosed with diabetes - I was devastated! I knew that being overweight and having a family history of Diabetes made me a candidate, but I thought ' this won't happen to me. I don't eat a lot of sugar.' Well, I was wrong. The first doctor to diagnose me told me to take the pills and watch my diet. That was it. He handed me a prescription and a diet sheet for an 1800 calorie diet that he said was good for diabetics. And off I went. Shortly after that I moved too far away to continue with this doctor and found another doctor. She put me with a nurse who specializes in diabetes care and this helped me tremendously. She gave me a glucose monitor and told me when to test and showed me how to work the machine. I was sent to a dietician for education in foods, how to eat out, and what to eat when I felt bad, sick, had an infection, was stressed, etc. Everything in life affects our well being. First, sit down with your Dad and talk to him gently. Fathers tend to spook easliy when it comes to medical things. Tell him that you are going to help him with this and that he is not alone by any means. Family support is so important. Find out if the doctor gave him a glucose monitor and showed him how to use it. If your Dad is not severely diabetic, he needs to know how his sugar levels change during the day. To start, have him test when he gets up in the morning before he eats or drinks anything. This is his fasting blood sugar. Normal is 70 - 110 or 120, doctors vary on this. I use 120 as my top level. Next , he needs to eat breakfast. Have him test an hour after he eats and have him write it down. (You may want to be prepared with a small notebook marked into columns labeled for breakfast,lunch,supper and bedtime.) Then he does the same thing for lunch and supper. The last test of the day is right before he goes to bed. Write it down. Have him do this for a month. Then take it back to his doctor and have him review the results. This way the doctor will have a pretty good ideal if your Dad needs more medication or less. ALL diabetics need to test! As far as diet, a good basic diet is fine. Go easy on carbs until he figures out which ones are his worse triggers. Mine are white potatoes in any form and ice cream. I usually eat sweet potatos with my steak and salad, and have only a small rise in blood sugar. I try to avoid anything that's white or is made from something white (like flour). For sweets, I have found that fruit usually satisfies the sweet tooth and doesn't get me into trouble. Exercise is important. Get him moving, up on his feet. Walking is really good. Couch potato - bad! If your Dad should become sick on his stomach, break out in a sweat, start shaking, feeling faint - check his sugar immediately. These are signs of low blood sugar (below 70) and he needs attention quickly. Give him something sweet to drink like fruit juice (I like apple or grape best. Orange juice upsets my stomach), and something with protein and a little carbs in it. (Peanut butter sandwich). Then recheck his blood sugar in a few minutes. Keep testing until he feels better. He should recover fairly quickly in a matter of a few minutes. If not, contact medical services or 911 for help. If an hour has past and he isn't feeling a whole lot better, he needsd to be in the emergency room. I know this isn't everything you need to know, but I hope that it helps. Please feel free to email anytime. Good Luck [email protected]

you dad is probly either scared of it or in denial or both even though the dr never told him to check it he should be so he knows what his normal blood sugar is and what it should be i had gest dia 16 yrs ago and never had it checked again cause i read that it went away when you had the baby (wrong ) sometimes it dont go away in my case it didnt i am insulin dependant now and have been for a while he needs good support and to learn all he can he is scared just give him support and love and tell him for his sake he should take the first step in checking to get what his normal is good luck debby/ maine

I concur with most of the above. Been T-2 for 10 years and the only way to know what you sugar is doing is testig it. Best time is first thing in the morning before eating. You can test it again in two hours to see how your body has handled the sugar. Almost all T-2s start on orals and then move to insulin cuse we somethins do no****ch our diet and walk.

well if your dads MO, then he should look into WLS. The good news is that most type2 are off all meds after the RNY, and for some its a cure.. This article is from the WebMD Medical News Archive Diabetes Improves After Obesity Surgery Gastric Bypass Surgery May Be Realistic Option for Improvement of Diabetes Complications By Jeanie Lerche Davis WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Monday, October 06, 2003 > Email to a friend > Printer-friendly version Oct. 6, 2003 -- Gastric bypass surgery -- often a last resort for severely obese people -- can vastly improve diabetes, a new study shows. The finding adds yet another benefit to this weight-loss procedure. Chest pain, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, and sleep problems also drop substantially, researchers have found. However, the effects of gastric bypass surgery on diabetes have not received much attention, writes lead researcher Philip R. Schauer, MD, director of bariatric surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His report appears in the current issue of Annals of Surgery. Even though diabetes is usually treated with medication and insulin, eventually it can progress to kidney failure, blindness, erectile dysfunction, even amputation, says Schauer. 'Very Dramatic' Diabetes Results But his study showed the procedure can actually "cure" diabetes, Schauer tells WebMD. "Overall, after surgery these patients had complete resolution of diabetes -- very dramatic." Jennifer Marks, MD, a diabetes specialist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, has counseled a number of gastric bypass patients. "Gastric surgery is a technique for people have tried everything else to lose weight and not been successful," Marks tells WebMD. "I recommend it as an option. It can work." She, too, has seen remarkable effects on diabetes. However, if patients regain weight, "it also means their diabetes could come back," Suzanne Gebhart, MD, a diabetes expert with Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, tells WebMD. All the 144 people in Schauer's study weighed over 300 pounds before gastric bypass surgery and were considered morbidly obese. Most were women with an average age of 40. The surgery involves restricting the size of the stomach by stapling most of it shut, so that patients feel satisfied with small amounts of food. And some of the food isn't absorbed. These two mechanisms allow patients to lose weight. The study's patients all had some degree or risk of type 2 diabetes, ranging from very mild to moderate to severe, he says. Some were taking no diabetes medications; others were taking several prescriptions plus insulin. Some patients had had diabetes for less than five years, some for more than 10 years. Normal Blood Sugar, Fewer Meds Schauer tracked the patients' weight loss and their diabetes during the five years after gastric bypass surgery. Overall, they lost about 60% of their body fat -- nearly 100 pounds apiece. The women's fasting glucose levels, an indicator for diabetes, got much better: For 83% of the women, glucose levels returned to normal levels; for 17%, there was marked improvement. 80% of patients reduced the amount of diabetes medications and 79% required less insulin. "Even patients with very severe disease, *****quired more than 100 units of insulin every day for more than 10 years, were cured," Schauer tells WebMD. In fact, 30% of patients could quit diabetes medications immediately after hospital discharge, even before they lost much weight. The most dramatic changes in improvement in their diabetes was seen in patients who had had diabetes for shorter periods or less severe diabetes. Diabetes-related complications also improved significantly: Nerve damage was present in 47 patients prior to surgery, after surgery 50% of patients reported improvement of symptoms; 18% of the men with erectile dysfunction had improvements. Other health improvements: 89% had improved blood pressure; 78% had better cholesterol; 80% got better sleep because their obstructive sleep apnea improved. The sleep-related condition occurs when breathing temporarily -- and frequently -- stops because neck structures around the breathing pipe collapse, usually because of excess weight. Gastric Bypass Surgery: Truly a Cure? "One of the big messages here -- the major message -- is that early surgical intervention in these patients is most important," he tells WebMD. "If we catch them early, almost all of them will be cured." Also, patients who lost a modest amount of weight did quite well, he points out. "This brings up a very interesting question, is it the weight loss or something else that's going on?" The findings add insight to the insulin-production process, Schauer says. "We're still very early in understanding role the gut plays in glucose metabolism and onset of diabetes." Here's what may be happening: After gastric bypass surgery, food bypasses the stomach and upper intestine. This bypass seems to affect hormones produced by the upper intestines and islet cells produced by the pancreas, which is key in producing insulin. All these mechanisms play into onset of diabetes, Schauer explains. These factors also affect the amount of diabetes medication patients are taking, he adds. "Some were taking 100 units insulin a day, and taking three to five oral medications," he tells WebMD. "After surgery, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of medications they were taking. The vast majority was able to get rid of all their medications." In the five-year follow-up, some patients had "a modest regain of weight, which is typical," Schauer admits. However, other studies of gastric bypass studies have shown that 15 years down the road, patients will keep most the weight off, he adds. "Most patients do quite well with gastric bypass surgery, Marks tells WebMD. "Even those people who had not yet developed diabetes improved. That's very important, that even when blood sugars are within the normal range, there can be some improvement." In dollars-and-cents terms, it makes sense, she adds. "The decreased use of diabetes medications may make the surgery a cost-effective intervention." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCES: Schauer, P. Annals of Surgery, Oct. 2003; vol 238: pp 467-485. Philip R. Schauer, MD, director, bariatric surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Suzanne Gebhart, MD, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. Jennifer Marks, MD, endocrinologist, University of Miami School of Medicine. Obesity Surgery Could Cure Diabetes By LINDSEY TANNER, AP CHICAGO (Oct. 13) - Patients who undergo obesity surgery get far more than cosmetic benefits - many also shed fat-related ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, researchers say. Their report - an analysis of 136 studies - suggests that in some cases, the drastic operations may alter the patient's body chemistry itself and relieve conditions that can lead to heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. The analysis was funded by a Johnson & Johnson Co. subsidiary that develops and markets surgical instruments, including staplers for obesity surgery. But the results echo what many doctors have reported seeing. Diabetes was eliminated in nearly 77 percent of the affected patients; high blood pressure was eliminated in nearly 62 percent; cholesterol improved in at least 70 percent; and obstructive sleep apnea - episodes when breathing stops during sleep - disappeared in almost 86 percent. All four conditions are strongly linked to obesity and can have lethal consequences. While significant weight loss by diet, exercise or medication can have similar benefits, obesity surgery patients typically lose at least 30 percent of their body weight and keep it off long-term - results that are extremely difficult to achieve with other methods, said Dr. Samuel Klein, a Washington University obesity specialist who was not involved in the research. The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. About two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight, and of those, almost half are grossly overweight, or obese. Surgery in which the stomach is reduced or restricted is typically reserved for people who are at least 100 pounds heavier than their recommended weight and for whom other weight-loss methods have failed. Doctors have long known that losing weight helps improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels by reducing stress on the cardiovascular system. But with diabetes, obesity surgery may have unique benefits, said University of Minnesota surgeon Dr. Henry Buchwald, the study's lead author and a consultant to the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. There is evidence that when the intestinal tract is rearranged in obesity operations, patients who were diabetic are "cured" even before they start shedding significant amounts of weight. That may be because such operations alter the intestinal hormones, Buchwald said. Buchwald and colleagues reviewed studies on obesity surgery published in English between 1990 and 2003. The studies involved 22,094 patients ages 16 to 64, at least two-thirds of them women. The researchers found patients lost an average of 61 percent of their excess weight. The greatest weight loss occurred with the most complicated surgery, an operation called a duodenal switch, which is more common in Europe. It involves removing three-fourths of the stomach and rearranging the intestine so digestion occurs in a shortened channel, resulting in less food being absorbed. The most common U.S. obesity surgery, gastric bypass, involves creating an egg-sized pouch in the upper stomach and attaching it to a section of intestine. The procedure reduces the amount of food patients can eat and results in less food being absorbed. The researchers found it resulted in a 62 percent loss of excess weight. Obesity surgery is a major operation, not cosmetic tinkering, Buchwald emphasized. The risks include malnutrition, stomach problems, infections and, in rare cases, death. The average 30-day death rate following surgery was about 0.6 percent in the reviewed studies. Buchwald said nonfatal complications also occurred, but no more than with other major surgery. A report last week from the government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said about 20 percent of obesity-surgery patients experience complications, most of them minor. The report also said surgery is more effective than other methods for weight loss and for controlling obesity-related ailments. 10/13/04 07:15 EDT Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The