Something in the Water?

So now a nurse from my husband’s PCP office called and said his A1c is 6.2 and he should eat less carbs and no more than 2000 calories a day. He has a healthy BMI and does not need to lose weight and he already eats low carb, gluten free dinners every night because that’s how I need to eat. He isn’t a sweets guy, his only splurge has been coke at lunch lately. His glucose issue is different than mine, fastings that are a bit high and only small spikes after eating carbs. I have more of a rollercoaster kind of BG dysfunction, normal fastings but spikes over 200 if I eat too many carbs (with ketones) followed by reactive hypoglycemic lows (that went undiagnosed for years so that I’m now hypo-unaware). Anyway, we’re a little freaked out that we both have blood glucose problems, he says I gave him diabetes! (He’s kidding…I think!) I do have a family history of T1 including adult onset, although my own diagnosis is still a bit “fuzzy”, my husband has no family history of diabetes. I can’t help but wonder just what is going with diabetes, not just in my own home but in the general public?

Just checked his BG 2 hrs after a GF chicken breast sandwich, fresh veggies, and water and it’s 193. I’m going to put my Dexcom on him Sunday and see what is really going on. Now I’m really getting worried:(

193 @ 2hr? Sounds like full-on diabetes to me. Especially with an a1c of 6.2.

If I were the health care resources god, everyone in your and his situation would be offered a cgm and insulin, if you wanted it.

If I could have started wearing a G4 and tooting Afrezza 15 years ago when I was diagnosed, my last 15 years of life would have been much better in may ways, and I have no doubt my D would not have progressed nearly as far as it has.

The irony. There's no question in my mind that I'd be a much, much cheaper diabetic to care for.

Today, after the Libre gets approved, early-stage diabetics like your husband have a relatively inexpensive treatment modality: A Libre monitoring system (cheaper than a G4), and relatively low total monthly Afrezza requirements to keep BG in line with mealtime and occasional correction boluses.

His pancreas will take care of holding fasting BGs.

This is much less expensive than where it eventually will lead without insulin intervention right now: CGM, pump, lots of insulin.

And don't be fooled by the beta cell stimulants (sulfonylureas etc.), long-acting analogs (Levemir, Lantus), or the GLP1 products... All of these do one thing: Increase insulin. But they do it in ways that have nasty side-effects.

They are all trying to do the same thing that simply adding exogenous insulin would do, but attempting to make it "easy" for the patient.

If your hubby can handle something like Afrezza and a glucose sensor, push hard to go there, IMO.

How lucky he has you there to help! You probably know about A Sweet Life, but if not, it's a site run by a couple who both have T1. http://asweetlife.org/about/ Neither was diagnosed until after they were married! When I first heard that, I became convinced my husband was going to get D and I still do worry about it, so I know how much this must be freaking you out. I hope you get some answers that will help you both figure out how best to manage things.

It could be the sugars and flavorings they put in the waters :)
I think T2 is 80% diet and drugs and exercise 20%

http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/SpringboardWebApp/userfiles/espdi/file/March%202014/PP%20Unwin%20final%20proofs%20revised.pdf
it’s a long page and a few good video’s
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

Celialact.com discussess glycemic index and GF products and says:

“Gluten-free diets are not inherently low-GI. In fact, gluten-free processed foods, such as breads, cookies and pasta, are typically even higher GI than their wheat-based counterparts. Most processed gluten-free foods are lower in fiber, more processed and devoid of whole grains. They are often based upon high GI white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and corn starch. Even those that use higher-fiber, moderate-GI raw ingredients are processed in a way that may raise their glycemic index.”

So maybe the GF bread in the sandwich contributed to the spike? Something to look into, for sure. Best of luck!

Sorry your husband is having bg/D issues now also. I hope he figures out what is going on soon. No one in my family has any D that I know of either, just other autoimmune diseases.

I figured out I’m going to need to go easy on him, me having a Dex and using insulin is one thing, but now that it’s him also with BG problems he’s going to need some time to absorb all this. We all know that overwhelming feeling we had at first. Instead of pushing him to use the dexcom I think he needs to get used to testing with his own meter for a week (he’s been using one of my spares). The fact that he has no apparent risk factors for diabetes yet left his doctors office with an A1c of 6.2 and no suggestion that he get a meter and test post prandial BG is sadly typical of what many of us experienced. He also has been drinking and using the bathroom more over the past month so I’ll have him check for ketones if he goes well over 200, which I’m pretty sure he was after those lunches that included Coke and fries. I’ll have him call his PCP and ask for a c-peptide, fasting insulin, and maybe an OGTT if his numbers continue to look bad. Maybe antibody tests too since he’s thin? Other than taking metformin if he’s insullin reisitant I for sure won’t recommend any orals, we already discussed that. It’s so weird and ironic, his post meals are worse than mine right now, I was looking forward to trying Afrezza but don’t think I’m going high enough now that I’m honeymooning (I went from 75 to 135 after eating the same meal that sent him to 193) but now my husband looks like he needs it more, it’s like we’ve stepped into the diabetes twilight zone around here!

That’s true, rice and potato starch could have contributed to the spike, we’re going to have him test a lot this week after different meals and see what’s going on!

Part of him thinks he’s lucky I think, the other part wants to be in denial and wants me to stop talking about it! I’ve visited the site a few times in the past but didn’t realize her husband had diabetes too, I’ll check it out.

Haha could be Jack, coke syrup and sugar probably don’t help! I do think our processed food diets are a big part of the problem in the states, although we really don’t eat too bad in our home, but then again more veggies and more exercise might be on the menu this spring! Maybe environmental too?

He was having some wonky kidney test results, those came back good but now I’ve gone and given him my BG problems, on we go.