unstable blood surgar

[worriedmother38]

My son has type two diabetes and is 20 years old.  He has had it for approximately 8 years.  Here is the problem.  His blood sugar will plummet to 20 if I'm not with him, and he goes into seizures.  We've met with doctors and have tried to follow their advice, but since he is an adult, he handles it his way.  Help.  I'm afraid that he is going to die.  I scheduled to meet with the screening board at Robert Wood Johnson for a pancreas transplant, but he refused to go.  He won't use the pump.  I know that he is in denial, but I AM NOT.  I have to get him help no matter what the cost.  Can anyone help me????

[pinkbubbles]

hi i have been diabetic now for 18 years and trust me its hard to accept .my sugars for one year were 21 to 28 normal is 3.5 to 7 ,so i know how frustrating it can all be ..tell your child he must watch his sugars ,i have had two mini strokes cause of not being careful.it was a real eyewaking experience for me life is just to precious..and im only 43 years old my sugar levels were to high for too long so good luck and tell him to hang on ,life with diabetes can be good... i hope this will help

[JDRF Volunteer SG]

He may be suffering from what is known as hypoglycemic unawareness, which happens when a person has a number of lows so close together that the body can't really recover from one before another happens. It really is up to your son to take care of the problem, but he may not really be having warning symptoms when he drops low. The solution is to ask him to test more often, say every 2-3 hours, until he is able to go 2 weeks without any lows. That will help him recover his warning symptoms.

Another thing that may be helpful is for you to figure out some way for him to always have some carbs handy wherever he is. Glucose tablets are sometimes the best for men because men don't carry bags like women do and therefore can't easily carry juice or snacks. Glucose tablets come in yummy flavors (I like orange ones) and you can purchase a bottle of them, and then put about 10-15 of them in a small ziploc snack baggie for him to carry in his pockets. Then he always has something handy if he feels himself getting a little low.