Breaking the vicious cycle

Hello folks,

I am new to the diabetes subsection. I went through a few threads here to get an idea, but I don't find a case similar to my mother. My apologies for the long post. I appreciate any advice/suggestions you may have.

65YO mother, obese (BMI 32), has diagnosed Pancolitis, osteoporosis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, type II diabetes, and probably neuropathy. She went into menopause in her early 40s. Since then she started putting on weight. I am trying to get things in order. Things were under good control until my father was alive but after his passing 4 years ago, she has become careless. Her current Hb A1c is 10.

In addition to the diagnosed conditions, her body aches all the time. Due to pancolitis, which is in remission for more than 25 years without meds, she can not use regular pain killers. So it gets really tricky to address pain on a day-to-day basis. I suspect that her pain, muscular pain, has some of the other sugary angles. I just don’t know what it is and how to address it. Her pain was relieved significantly when she tried Cinsulin from Costco.

Due to the muscular pain or other ailments, she can not sleep well. Even with using melatonin (5mg slow release), it takes a couple of hours to sleep. After she sleeps, she can not get more than 2-3 hours of sleep at night. I am pretty sure this lack of sleep adds to all the health ailments she has.

If she is to do any physical exercise, her muscular pain is so much that she can not walk more than a block. She does not have access to the swimming pool and due to COVID, she is pretty much stuck at home.

Her diet was never bad, to begin with. Even now, her diet is completely plant-based and little to almost no sugar/starch ingestion. I think, everything taken together, she is stuck in a vicious cycle. Until she breaks that cycle, adding one drug after the other is not going to cut it. She does not have access to a functional medicine physician where she lives, and not willing to travel to the US.

I suggested her calorie restriction, on top of what limited diet she has, but she complains, if she tries that, she becomes so shaky that she can not take a few steps from one room to the other. I believe that is an indication of hypoglycemia. She is afraid, if she falls, osteoporosis will bring new troubles. I am extremely worried as she lives alone.

She is on Telmisartan and Amlodipine for hypertension, Metformin, and Glimepiride for sugar control, and Gabapentin for neuropathy. She does not have access to GLP-x class of drugs. If things don’t improve, the physician is only going to increase the dose or prescribe insulin shots.

Does anyone have any ideas, how she can break the vicious cycle and get things under control?

Thank you, Lanie.

I actually talk to her almost daily. A stationary bike is a good idea. I will look into it.

The state that I described is going on for some time. Since she has not followed up with her physician due to COVID, not too sure if he would be making any changes to her meds.

What I am looking into by this post is, if anyone tried not-so-mainstream methods to get sugar under control, or if there is any component I misunderstood, like, if she is to do caloric restriction or intermittent fasting and she ends up shaking a lot, is my understanding correct that its an indication of hypoglycemia, so on so forth?

hi, yes, the intermittent fasting and calorie restriction unwatched will lead to hypoglycemia....
The shakes, blur vision...etc.
I am 48, male, diabetic, mobility issues, pain-nuropathy , arthritis, bp meds etc.
I can empathise with pain, and nuropathy and not wanting movement,
however, stabilising the food intake, more good stuff
will help with energy and thus movement.
I now have, just recently bought a smart watch, i set up the sedentary function,
get a buzz and it says move!

If ya mum has no digestive issues, then diabetic supplements are pretty much
useless.

Yes, i would look into the depression. Plays a major role.
Little walks are better than none, even inside.
Keep strong. HT

My husband takes Metformin...and with the addition of the supplement Berberine, his blood sugar is under control now.

It's definitely worth a try with an A1c of 10

You can order it online.

Always discuss with her Dr.

edit to add: his last A1C was 5.6

I really can't add any more about what she should do, to be honest. She has different health problems that need addressing and should have a doctor that does this without blowing her needs off as if they're not important. This sometimes happens to older people (and especially to older women, I might add), but these health concerns are important. Regulating blood sugar is tricky because there are other factors besides the food she eats that affect it: lifestyle, other meds, pain, being sickly, etc. That all needs to be taken into account

When you say she eats well, I don't exactly understand what you mean. Can you give me what she eats everyday? For different meals? And what she drinks?

I can't help you with supplements personally, sorry. Beside the link in my signature, you might check into the books and website for Richard Bernstein, M.D. He is a type 1 diabetic and has written a very detailed book The Diabetes Solution. You might also check out his other website: http://www.diabetes-book.com/

When I lived overseas years ago, the tap water was not potable and the fresh fruits, vegetable and greens had to be treated/washed because of parasites. There are different ways to handle this but the easiest and cheapest is using bleach. First you filter the water if necessary. Then put two drops of bleach per liter or eight per gallon and let the water sit for about half an hour. The best thing to do is always keep containers of treated water in the fridge so you know it's safe for cooking and drinking. As far as vegetables and fruit, we would always peel them if possible. We would wash and soak lettuce in treated water (I always upped the bleach content for washing food.) Some people used white vinegar. In any case, though, cooking will kill bugs but for fresh food. you do have extra steps to take but even that's not 100% effective depending on who's doing it.

And of course, growing your own food is the best.