new insulin-dependent diabetic (by creed three)

Creed_three writes: "Anyway, happy new year! It is a good new year for us, despite this new health consideration, as hubby had every inch of his body tested and scanned recently (as per ICU protocol) and no return of cancer anywhere. He was very sick however with diagnosis of pancreatitis. His sugar was 33mmol (should be between 4 and 8) and ketones 6.5 (should have been nil) on admission to hospital. I am in Australia and from reading your board I think we are using a different numeric system but in essence he was very sick. Also severe abdominal pain on admission. He's been out for a week and injecting 4 times a day - all well. Long acting shot is at night. All well so far. I am a nurse but letting him manage this completely by himself. He doesn't use computers however which is why I posted to the prostate board on his behalf. Looking forward to posting an enquiry as it comes up. With regard to diabetes and the insulin, he had little trouble as we had a diabetic dog for five years! We all injected the dog, who lived well with diabetes."


This is Lanie now:

I'm so glad your husband is in the clear with regard to cancer; that's great news. I'm sorry about the pancreatitis and I suppose that's the reason for his becoming insulin-dependent. In any case, with some diet changes (probably), he will be able to have normal blood sugar with the insulin. Basically, just remember that carbs (all carbs but especially the simple carbs) will make the blood sugar rise and these include anything with sugar (or honey), anything made with flour, potatoes, rice and some very starchy vegetables like yams and sweet potatoes. Proteins do not affect the blood sugar unless they are beans and legumes and nuts which do have some carbs. Check out the two stickies that are at the top of our Diabetes Forum for more information, too.

Here is a site that has a lot of information about blood sugar: www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ This site has many different "rooms" dedicated to various aspects about blood sugar and there is a search box so you can enter whatever you're looking for specifically.

In the US we use a different measurement for blood sugar. (I have no idea why. I believe all meters have the capability of using either measurement, by the way.) Here is an equivalent table of our two systems.

Blood Sugar Conversion Chart

mg/dl ... mmol/l

72 ... 4.0
81 ... 4.5
90 ... 5.0
99 ... 5.5
108 ... 6.0
117 ... 6.5
126 ... 7.0
140 ... 7.8
154 ... 8.6
169 ... 9.4
183 ... 10.1
197 ... 10.9
212 ... 11.8
226 ... 12.6
240 ... 13.4

Hi Lanie and Will-Sandy,
Thanks for the advice. We have been eating rice! I will further check that out and find an alternative. With regard to the pump, Will-sandy, no have not thought about it because it's been only 12 days that he's been on insulin. He has a medical appointment in early Feb.

My first question:

They seem to think it is possible the situation is temporary (as in a year or so - or, alternatively permanent). The mystery is that the pancreatitis was not caused by recent alcohol overuse, as he doesn't drink (He did 30 years ago but not since then) - in fact he didn't even have an alcoholic drink at Christmas - just no interest. When looking to other causes they discovered an ultra high trigliceride level, in the 40's. His blood was stable on all levels 6 months earlier, so they put it into the 'too hard' basket as to what caused this acute medical crisis recently. He has had a substantial weight problem all our 17 years of marriage but has gained 30kg in the last 8 years due to a orthopaedic issues (he's booked in for a new hip at the end of this year - ex-bike racer!). His mum is a diet controlled diabetic.

Therefore, even though it could be temporary as there is nothing really wrong with his pancreas until now, I tend to think it could be more permanent. One way or the other, he has already lost a lot of weight through being so sick and they are reducing the insulin one unit at a time already, which is all good. But thanks for the diet tips. It is 5 weeks until he can see a dietitian so we are 'winging it' . He can't exercise so we are joining a heated pool next week.

So, have you heard of the association between high triglycerides and diabetes? Our family doctor said she has only seen it happen this way once before. It probably doesn't really matter but I am curious, that's all. Cheers, Lana