husband sleeping a lot

Hello All - I am usually on the colitis forum or Parkinson's forum on this very informative website, but today I am writing in regards to my husband who has diabetes. He was diagnosed with diabetes 10 yrs. ago, and has been in denial ever since. He takes metformin/januvia 2 x a day. He is not on insulin at this point. He was on acto plus met until recently when some disturbing information came out about problems with kidney cancer. So now he's on this new drug. He does not watch what he eats at all, and depends of the medication to keep his sugar levels stable. He does not take his blood sugar count - ever - and he is now sleeping much of the day, and can still sleep at night. After breakfast, he will sit down and watch t.v. and fall asleep again for about 2-3 hrs. He will take an afternoon nap, and then fall asleep again around 8 pm while watching t.v. He is 68 yrs. old and has been retired for a few years, but during nice weather, he does odd jobs for people in the neighborhood, which keeps him from taking his afternoon naps. He is about 50 lbs. overweight, and of course will not listen to me at all when it comes to what he eats. He now has a sinus infection, which he gets frequently, and it has hit him hard. He hasn't moved from his recliner for days now. He says he's too weak to take a shower. He is functioning at a very low level. He says his AC1 levels are 6.4 when he goes for his blood work, and that the doctor feels this is o.k. So he just eats what ever he wants, and the blood work comes out all right. He is not honest with the doctor that he is sleeping his life away. It is disturbing to see this day after day. Denial is a terrible thing and I'm afraid for him. He was sleeping a lot even before being diagnosed with the sinus infection. It's getting worse by the year. (We've been together for 22 yrs.)

What can be said about him sleeping all the time. I feel it is a blood sugar thing, but he says he's fine. I might add that he had by pass surgery 18 yrs. ago, and sees a cardiologist too. He doesn't exercise at all except for the few odd jobs he does for others.

Post Edited By Moderator (LanieG) : 2/18/2013 7:03:23 AM (GMT-7)

Thank you for replying to my post LanieG. I finally called the endocronologist this afternoon. The doctor is not in, but they said the nurse will call me. I am going to 'rat' him out as every time he eats, he falls asleep for hours. He has been on the Janumet since December, but I'm using this new drug as the excuse as to why I have to call the doctor. He was falling asleep a lot too when he was on the Acto plus Met. Now it's more magnified. And yes, I too was thinking he's got some sort of depression going on, but he will never admit that! It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon now, and so far, he's been awake long enough to eat lunch, and now he's sleeping again. That's after his morning nap after breakfast. I know it's not good. He doesn't have a death wish, but he just won't admit that he has diabetes. This is the worst he's ever been. I wish for once, his blood work would show something to alert his doctors, but it's not bad enough to warrant his doctors to change his meds or get on his case. They just send him on his way when they see his blood work. His cholesterol is within range, HDL good numbers, LDL good numbers, (not great, but not that bad), and A1C is 6.4. But to see him sleeping hour after hour every day is not right. It's too the point now, that even if he eats veggies and meat - with no starch, he still falls asleep. That's why I feel his blood sugar must be really screwed up, and he needs to see the doctor. I'll keep you posted. TY

Lanie - Just a note that I spoke to the nurse in the doctor's office and she said that she asked the physician on call today if the JanuMet would cause this sleepiness. He said that this medication would not have this side effect. She recommended I call his primary care physician and make an appt. with him and take it from there. When I told my hubby about this, he said that he didn't want to go for tests, because the last time this doctor sent him for all kinds of tests for dizziness, that he felt he didn't need. It turned out to be an inner-ear thing, and he's been fine for years with that. I told him that it's his health. We'll see what he wants to do. He doesn't exercise at all, and just watches t.v. all day and sleeps. We'll see what happens. Thank you for your suggestions.

sarcasm not intended Gregory22