PLEASE help me.. my friend will die if someone doesn't help...

[Chaos Ranch]

My friend Sabrina, (the one who had the tiny baby Jadin with the broken collar bones) she has severe diabetes. Type 1 I think that's what they call it.

She's only 21 years old, she's about 104 lbs. prolly about 5'4" tall. Tiny girl. She's had diebetes since she was 8 years old. They've always had trouble with her levels but most of it was because she was a kid that didn't take it seriously and she kept eating candy and stuff she shouldn't have.

Well now that she has Jadin she's been trying harder to keep it under control. She's messed up several times eating something she shouldn't... it does take extreeme will power and self control ... something she has in only small portions.

Ok. I can always tell when her sugar is up. And when I say up, I mean 400-600 and beyond. When she lost a baby nearly 2 years ago it was because her sugar was nearly 900 and she was in ICU. So when I say her levels are high, I'm talking over 600.

I also figured out a long time ago that any time she's very stressed, has ANY type of infection at all, or is about to start her period her sugar goes up.

About a month ago she had a cold, her sugar was up over 600, she was throwing up from her sugar being so high, she was crying terribly, VERY angry/snappy, and lethargic. I KNEW it was because her cold had gone into a sinus infection, insisted that she go see the doctor. I was right, he treated her infection, her sugar went back down to resonable levels.

Ok... here's the part that's scaring me. About 10 days ago her sugar starting jumping way high again. I looked for the usual culprits... stress... nope.. not really. Cold/infection ? Nope. She's fine. They even checked her blood to insure there was no infection. Well gee... period? Nope... she had just had one.

She was here a week ago. She was pale, very pale, very cold, then very hot. Her chest hurt her, and she was VERY moody. Her sugar was over 600 that morning, she gave herself 20 units of fast acting insulin. That afternoon it was still over 500 so she gave herself 20 more units of fast acting. Still nothing. At 8 pm. it was testing over 600 so she called her mom. Mom says give her 25 units of long lasting, and 10 units of fast acting. She did that...still at 11 p.m. it was nearly 600 again and she was really feeling bad. She finally got it to go down to 409 at 1 a.m. so they went home.

Sunday night they were here playing cards. I can watch this girl spike out on her sugar. I tell her, hey, Sabrina, your sugar is high. She just sits there and trys to push past it. I tell her husband, HEY... get her home, her sugar is high. Check it. So, they go home. She texts me and says it's testing over 600 (the meter stops reading at 600 and just warns you it's High).

20 minutes later her husband calls, scared half to death... her sugar went from testing over 600 down to 100 in just 20 minutes !!! She's in the fetal position on her bed with her chest hurting so bad she can barely find the breath to cry. Straight to the ER he goes. In the 10 minutes it took for him to get here there and get her tested again her sugar was already down to 39.

They kept her in the hospital overnight and got her sugar resonable. First they gave her something or another and it went from 39 at around 1:30 to 356 at 2:50 a.m. They let her go the next morning and told her to see a nutritionest on Friday. (Today.)

Well, all week long her husband and I have been bugging the daylights out of her... her sugar averages 48 to 400 back and forth going from one extreeme to the other. This CANT be good for her body.. it just can't be. I know from reading odds and ends that it can have some very severe effects on her, both short term and long term.

What can I do to help her ? Where in the world do I find a doctor that will put her in a facility, find out what the h*ll is going on and fix her? She has a 5 month old baby girl that needs her, and I'm not so sure I could hold her husband together if she didn't make it... I've held him together on lots of really tough things, but I would be hurting so badly myself that I am not sure I Could be what everyone needs me to be for him if she were to not make it. And her baby girl.. she needs her momma... why doesn't any of the doctors consider this when they see and hear what's going on ?

I just texted her about 30 minutes ago...asking her sugar level. 549.

She's sitting there and the nutritionest is wanting to "try carb therapy" ... try ??? Try it... test it out over time to see if maybe it might work ? I do not want to sit here and watch her go through this while they experiment with her carb levels... I want them to FIX her and make this stop... I am no expert on diabetes... in fact I'mm very novice ... but I DO know what this family needs, and I DO know that she can't possibly survive this going like this much longer.

Does anyone here deal with this type of diabetes? PLEASE tell me what to do to help her... who do I contact, where do I turn to help her ? She needs intensive treatment now... not try this for awhile, then try that for awhile. Please please send me a website, send me a doctor/hospital name, please send me whatever you know that might help her.

 

[Jill]

Oh man

Does she see just a general doctor? I think maybe she needs to see an endocrynologist.

As I understand it (and I probably don't very well), someone with Type 1 diabetes can / does bolus their fast acting insulin (novolog, humalog...) to cover their carbs and if they do it right, they can eat anything then want including sweets. Then there is long acting insulin (lantus is one...), and that helps cover between meals.

I have type 2 though I do take insulin, 4x a day (before meals w/ rapid acting, humalog, and at night with long acting, lantus). I know when I'm sick or before my period, my numbers can be real out of wack, and also if I'm emotionally stressed. But when all else is normal, my numbers always make sense based on what I've eaten and the amount of humalog I took.

It sounds like she needs more expertise than just a GP may have.

There are members here with type 1. Hopefully some of them will have some good advice.

Also, there is a diabetes forum a lot like this one and I've learned a lot from the members there. There are people with all types (Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, and Gestational).

http://www.diabetesforums.com/

 

[ctinsley]

Hi Kim, this is Cindy in Poplar Bluff there is a diabetic specialist in Cape Girardeau at the Cape Diabetic Clinic. You might check that out, I haveType 2 diabetes and have been thinking of going to see him myself.

 

[susanne]

I absolutely agree with Jill -- your friend needs to se an endocrinologist. The specialist at the diabetes center is a great place to start.

General practitioners can be shockingly ill-informed about type I diabetes, not understanding the difference between it and type II. They are quite differentdiseases.

I don't know what her nutritionalist means by carb therapy, but I would confirm that she knows this is type I...I have to reiterate this information with everyone I deal with in the Kaiser Permanente system, sadly.

I'm type I, and use Lantus and Novolog.

Be VERY careful when dealing with that high of blood sugar. The fast-acting insulins like Novolog and Humalog acting almost instantly, for good or for bad. I've had levels of 35, and believe me, you cannot think when this happens. If not for the ingrained habit of "EAT NOW," it would be so easy to not get help or not eat...and the result would be death.

You are a great friend, and every diabetic needs a parapathetic diabetic as a friend or partner. My husband is great at knowing when to listen to me and when to shove food down my throat. If I were you, I would personally get her to this clinic...then, if possible, you AND her husband (And her mother) should learn all you can and talk with her specialists about helping her find a healthy balance.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Odd as this may sound you might want to check into therapy dogs for your friend - there are many dogs that are trained to "know" when something isn't right with their owner -- there was a big write up about them in a major magazine a couple of weeks ago, my sister was epileptic and our dog always knew when she was about to have a seizure - it was a lifesaver for her.

 

[Kitty]

I would seriously recommend the ER at this point. Messing around constantly with blood sugar over 500 will cause permenant damage to organs. I would be very curious to have a HgbA1C done on her and see what her sugars have been averaging the last 3 months.

If she is not a person that normally runs high, something is wrong, urinary tract infection (very common reason), respiratory infection or ?

She needs to take this very seriously and I know she wouldn't want to hear it but IV insulin and a few tests is not a bad idea, even it is takes a day or two in the hospital to figure it out.

There must be a larger hospital down there with decent doctors? I would recommend Mayo but it isn't far from us.

Where's Adam. I think he would have some input here also.

 

[wade3504]

If she hasn't like the rest said she needs to see an endocrinologist and if she is and they aren't doing anything then she needs to find another.

One thing that she does need to work on is the willpower thing. I had type 1 since I was 17 months old up until I was 30 and then had a dual tranpslant. A few years in my teens I screwed up and paid the price later on. My kidneys failed in 2004 as did the sight in one of my eyes. Since she's had this problem, her chest pains could be from having trouble breathing as when they go as high as hers your breathing is affected or it could even be damage to the heart. I'm thinking her heart should be checked out.

One thing that she could look into and is suposed to help those who are brittle diabetics is the insulin pumps.

How much does she know about a diet? Does she take insulin regularly or just when her sugars go high? (I've skipped shots when I was younger as well).

If she's been on the same insulin for a long period of time she may need to change it. I ended up having to do that.

She also needs a medical bracelet in case something happens when away from home. They also put that you are diabetic or insulin dependent on licenses now.

Since it's not been that long since she's had her baby maybe it's hormone related???

Sorry this rambled on so much just typing as things come to mind.

She needs to have her kidneys, heart, eyes, etc. checked.

She also might need to do her shots in different spots on her body if she does them for the large part in the same place. If she does there will be scar tissue and the insulin won't get absorbed the way it should.

There's also the possibility that she's blowing it all off. I did when I was rebeling.

I hope she figures out what's going on.

Amanda

 

[minie812]

My brother and I are both DMll and he has a worst time then me controlling his. She probably needs on a pump permanently. Sounds like she is a brittle diabetic (Out of control) She NEEDS and ENDO DOC and quite fooling around with a general doctor. Past experience and working with doctors has taught me you go to someone that specializes in that disease. She could be doing permanent damage to her internal organs...kidneys and heart. Also have her thyroid levels checked as this sometimes goes hand in hand with diabetes (autoimmune) and your thyroid is the master key to the whole body. When my DMII was out of control my GP just kept increasing me with pills( no results)I thought...mmmmm...she does not know what she is doing...called a ENDO Doc took 3mths to get into him. He pulled me off all the crap my GP had me on and tested the thyroid(no TSH levels) at ALL. He said I could have had THYROID STORM(can kill you)

 

[susanne]

Do any of you (type I esp, but type II as well) have Kaiser Permanente? I'm so frustrated with them, and am still trying to get around in the system. Their specialists and surgeons are great, but the GPs are a joke (mine is, anyway).

 

[dreammountainminis]

Not to scare you at all but in 2005 my mom 69 years old diabetic for 20+ years had a sugar attack at my house rushed her to er her sugar level was 1200+ she was in diabetic acidoses sugar coma they admitted her to Icu she spent 5 days in the hospital They got her sugar level under control it was caused by a uti ..She always had levels above 400 and would drop drastically fast , My mom passed away 8 days after being discharged from the hospital of a massive heart attack , Get her to an ENDO Now , they said that the acidoses had done the damage to my moms heart and we was not aware of it until it was too late . I had been a cna for 5 years and the cpr that I did didnt even help ...I can feel what you are going through ..Does she have an insalin pump maybe that would help but I think an Endo would be the best ...

 

[sedeh]

I'm so sorry your friend is having so much trouble! Diabetes is a tricky thing but there are so many new diabetic drugs out there and better ways of managing it. She may need an insulin pump at this point.....I'm in total agreement with the other posters though.....she needs to see an endocrinologist asap! They can figure out what's going on! She may be insulin resistant and there are meds now that help facilitate the insulin getting to where it needs to. I had a friend that was horrible about controlling his diabetes....he died when he was 28. So I know you have a very real fear for your friend.

 

[Mercysmom]

My friend Sabrina, (the one who had the tiny baby Jadin with the broken collar bones) she has severe diabetes. Type 1 I think that's what they call it.

Does anyone here deal with this type of diabetes? PLEASE tell me what to do to help her... who do I contact, where do I turn to help her ? She needs intensive treatment now... not try this for awhile, then try that for awhile. Please please send me a website, send me a doctor/hospital name, please send me whatever you know that might help her.

First, she must see an endocrinologist, nutritionist and a social worker to manage her life. (I have had type 1 diabetes, insulin dependent, for 18 years next month).

Yes, stress, monthly cycles, moods can all interact with blood glucose levels.

The Joslin Center has a lot of helpful links, also American Diabetes Association.

Medtronics MiniMed makes pumps and continual glucose monitors that can simply life with diabetes. I have the pump and am going to go on the CGM as my numbers will do stupid things like be normal at bedtime, spike over 300 at 2:30 am and be low by 6am. On a pump you have to change the basal rates (an endocrinologist would make these determinations) to balance everything out.

The pump would also help when she is eating - by testing blood sugar, you can program your carbs and sugar into it and it calculates the insulin.

Good luck - your friend is very lucky to have you but her hubby will need to get on board with this as well..

Denise

Silversong Farm