Gastroparesis/Walking, Stubborn Mother and dinner at 11 pm

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1

Hey everyone,

Mom was diagnosed with Gastroparesis, as many of you guessed it. Dr. prescribed Reglan but she took it before for nausea and absolutely despised it. The Dr. did mention walking after meals( which she did before but it didn’t do much) but I figured what’s there to lose if she tries it again? Let me tell you. It works. Don’t know why before it didn’t but recently it has. Before, her blood sugar right after 7pm would jump into the 280’s-350’s despite adjusting the basal/ bolus. I took her walking a few days after meals or she did 10 minutes on the treadmill post meals and her blood sugar stayed within the 96-120 range. I cannot explain in words just how much of a relief I felt.

But.
There is a problem and a very difficult one. My mother is very stubborn( Sorry Mom). She refuses to walk after meals now, instead she wants to nap/sit down. Even after knowing how great of an impact walking was for her blood sugar- she does not want to do it. She feels tired and just complains. I have tried forcing her, somewhat applying pressure and that has done nothing but lead to arguments where she is yelling up a storm. Mom’s blood sugar is back in the 300’s again and I just don’t know what to do, really. I feel so bad for saying this but I completely left her alone today. I didn’t ask her what her blood sugar was, or if she ate- nothing. I slightly kept tabs from afar. I really am at my wits end. Even 5 minutes on the treadmill did wonders. Nursing home would never be an option. I really don’t know what to do anymore. I work from home now but come March, I will not be able to work from home - which means I won’t be able to keep an eye on her. If she’s refusing post meal walks now- I doubt she’ll magically start walking with the Home attendant in March+.

Oh and she’s started to have dinner at 11 p.m. Yep. Completely out of control. Stubborn nature is just getting worse and worse.

Thoughts, suggestions, magic spells?

And like always, I really do appreciate everyone’s feedback. I have learned so much from many of you on Tudiabetes and for that, I will always be thankful.

Stay safe and healthy,
TinSyl.

2

Sorry to hear about your mum. I cannot make many more suggestions other than the ones you have already commented on.
Exercise for me really does help. I do this in the afternoon just before dinner. As well, sometimes splitting bolus, especially after eating a big meal can avoid the spikes hours after eating. I have to eat dinner early 6 or 7pm as I cannot lay down in bed straight after eating as it makes it harder for the food to go down… gravity does more then you think!
Do you have access to domperidone where you are? That made a world of difference for me, as well as the exercising.
GP is a hard thing to deal with and I really feel for you and your mum. For now you can only try to be supportive. When you feel nauseous and tired all the time its hard to be motivated- believe me I know. Maybe suggest small changes to start… exercise before dinner, take a walk outside or even at the shops? if she’s not feeling tired and try to have dinner earlier

Hang in there,
Dell.

3

It may help to know why previously she felt well enough to walk after meals but now is so tired that she just wants to sit down and take a nap.

4

An alternative to reglan is domperidone. Please look into it. It typically has far fewer side effects than Reglan.

Maybe your Mum is not feeling so well for some reason… aside from just being stubborn…

You are good to care for her this way… while having decent blood sugars is really ideal, there is may eventually be a balance to some degree of what you can realistically achieve with both of you maintaining your sanity and your relationship…

5

you might ask if Zofran can be used for nausea. I use it with good results. but of course, I do not know the drug interactions.

6

Eating dinner later than 7 PM + Type 1 = A bad idea.