I deal with this health condition every day. Not for myself, but I care for a 60 year old man in my home and have for almost 2 years now.
He had been diabetic for years and would never watch what he ate. He thought as long as he took his medication it was fine. He also never tested his sugar levels.
I have several relatives with this also and one who is constantly in the hospital for it as she neglects to eat, or when she does she eats the wrong thing.
It is very important to eat and to eat the right foods. Several smaller meals a day are recommended but if you or someone you know has this and they feel that is too much at least make sure of 3 meals a day.
It is also important to take your blood sugar level at least twice a day and some recommend 3 times.It is done simply by pricking the end of a finger and putting a drop of blood on a strip which gets inserted into a machine, that will read up the count for you and it is a good idea to write it down.
If you have trouble maintaining the correct blood sugar level for you, you might also want to write down what you eat at each meal and if you watch this you might see what is causing it to go to high or too low.
Of course people with this condition crave sweets. There are many sugar free candies and cookies and even ice cream available or you can bake things using artificial sweetener.
It is very important to take your medications. These may be in pill form which have the proper dosage in so all you have to do is remember to take them. Those that are on insulin have to measure the correct amount into the needle and this can be hard to read at times so if you need help please ask some one.
Taking insulin is done in the stomach, it can be done elsewhere but it doesn’t hurt as much in the fatty part of the stomach.
My patient has a tendency to drop his blood sugar level at times so that it is too low and can be dangerous so I keep glucose tablets in the house which can be bought over the counter and if it goes too low he chews 2 or 3 of those. If you have none you can give someone a few spoons of peanut butter and or a glass of orange juice to bring their count up. If the count goes too low the person can go into a coma.
It is also very important to take care of your feet and not to clip your toenails too short. It is actually best if a professional does this for you.
As I said my patient never took care of himself and he has to have treatments on his kidneys 3 times a week and will need a kidney transplant in order to live. He has also had to have both legs amputated.
This condition is serious so please don’t take it lightly. If you are in the early stages and taking a pill for this please do all that your doctor says so it does not get out of control.